Anyone else noticed? Matt for one tonight, (with the Simon Cowell obsessed grandmother, and the mother that seemingly couldn't talk,) and that girl who sang 'with you' from Ghost last night. All clearly pre-rehearsed with all the strings and backing music sounding like a whole band was behind them. There were a few more too... I mean, where is the music coming from???

What happened to the days of them using a little Hitachi stereo with a pre-recorded backing track?

I know some acts are scouted, but why make it so obvious? Some of these acts are sooo not amateurs.

[quote=Autumn-Dreams;83840301]Anyone else noticed? Matt for one tonight, (with the Simon Cowell obsessed grandmother, and the mother that seemingly couldn't talk,) and that girl who sang 'with you' from Ghost last night. All clearly pre-rehearsed with all the strings and backing music sounding like a whole band was behind them. There were a few more too... I mean, where is the music coming from???

What happened to the days of them using a little Hitachi stereo with a pre-recorded backing track?

I know some acts are scouted, but why make it so obvious? Some of these acts are sooo not amateurs.[/QUOTE

I doubt if any of those that actually get through are amateurs.

I'm noticing certain acts being heavily autotuned to the point where they don't sound human anymore.

You should make a list of them. Chances are they're the ones who make the live shows.

[quote=jerefprdterra;83840358]
How come your quotes never work in nearly all your posts? It makes them difficult to read.

Too true.

Perfectly polished? Matt was pitchy in spots, and those attempted unnecessary high notes did NOT work or do his tone any favours, because he can clearly sing and has a memorable(in a good way ) tone when not forcing it.

I have to disagree. All singers have had bad moments during their auditions. So what if they've got experience? Most aspiring singers do have it, and that's what they're looking for! Much better than someone who knows absolutely nothing about music and is only doing it for the fame.

I have no problem at all without scouting, most talent competitions have them, including The Voice. All they do is ask them to audition.

BIB - True, but not better than someone who has a good voice and really wants to be a professional singer but has little to no experience. I preferred those days.

Yeah true but nowadays it's so easy for singers to 'gain experience' - whether it's small gigs or gaining a following on YouTube. A lot of wannabe singers tend to upload videos to social media and it's rare for any amazing singers to stay quiet. Obviously, there is some, and we've seen quite a few this year but not any young ones.

What you hear is post production engineering the audio has been manipulated
basically it is a live recording lips in sync etc but not a true performance yes they have not auto tuned some of the vocal gliches that would be too obvious but never the less it is still a bit like polishing a turd

It was fairly obvious this evening who they are favouring. the favoured ones had reverb added at the very least. Doll woman (who I think will go a LONG way - she's weird and seems to have a good and marketable voice) voice was put through a whole Pro tools session - the last from the abusive relationship the whole thing was processed soundwise.

What's the point in going back into the rooms if they sound like they are in a studio? Makes it even more fake.

Usually when they cut to the family they don't dip the audio of the auditionee, but on Saturday's show one one of the favoured contestants (dont remember which one, it was a woman) had it happen during a big note. The auditionee's audio was made much quieter, they cut to the family where a family member loudly applauded. I immediately thought "if that isn't covering up a bum note I don't know what is".

I think a lot of the auditions are done acapella and the backing music is added in post production. It makes it easier that way for the editors to hack it to pieces.

This is the case. I'm pretty sure they do sing without a backing track and then it's added later

I reckon they do sing over a backing track but in the room audition, the music probably sounds really tinny as if they've taken the equaliser and turned everything down (i.e. bass, treble etc...) then they sing over the top.

By doing this the voices will always sound more prominent and then in post production, they re-add the backing track over the vocals and that's how they get that recording studio quality from a simple room audition.

If you want to see all manner of singers, including some with voices as good as the average XFactor contestant's ,who have unpolished talent and little real experience, there is an easy way to satisfy your listening tastes.....it's called "karaoke"

no such thing as a perfect audition you know

They can and do sing to a backing track in the audition room.

However, for the broadcast they use the vocals captured in room - probably autotune them and add a little echo - and then mix the live vocals back onto the backing track (or even a better version of the backing track) rather than rely on using the sound balance as it would have been heard in-room on the day of the audition.