Official 2011 GRAMMY Awards Show Discussion Thread

[themaidsroom]

Originally Posted by subaltern

Esperanza Spalding was the ONLY good/interesting thing about the night for me...

She is so great. I spent the afternoon recording her a few years ago and
it was truly amazing. Going from the wonder of the woman upright player as she arrived - she was on the session as the "bass player" - to the strangeness of herneeding a second mic for vocals and then a few minutes later to that sound coming off of the tape recorder and through the monitors. She really has a love/light Stevie sort of vibe about her which is beautiful. Very sweet. Very humble. Gracious.


Be Well


- Jack

[wildplum]

That- and pay the fee ($260 for a three yer membership).
oh, and i am a proud member of the P&E wing.

Originally Posted by MBishopSFX

It's not difficult. As long as the releases you have credits on are available to the public "somewhere", i.e. band web site, CD Baby, Amazon, downloads, etc., you qualify!

The qualifications: (from Grammy365.com)
====================================
Voting Member

This classification is for creative and technical professionals who qualify in at least one of the categories of eligibility. All recordings must be commercially released in the U.S. either through traditional distribution channels or recognized online retail settings.

Traditional Distribution:
If you have received technical or creative credit in any one qualifying category on at least six tracks or equivalent, you qualify. All recordings must have been commercially released in the United States and distributed through recognized retailers. One qualifying credit must have been released within the last five years.

Digital Distribution:
If you have received technical or creative credit in any one qualifying category on at least 12 tracks or equivalent, you qualify. All recordings must have been commercially released in the United States and distributed through recognized online music retailers. Applicants must be actively promoting themselves in their chosen field. One qualifying credit must have been released within the last five years.
===============================


.

[johnnybigdog]

Congratulations to our fearless forum leader, Mr. Steve Remote, for his 3rd Grammy win last night in the category "Jazz Large Ensemble Album" for his participation on the "Mingus Big Band - Live at Jazz Standard" recording. All the best and continued success.

[RKrizman]

No mention of Rhianna? Holy farkin shite. Sometimes you just gotta turn off the inner critic and let yourself be entertained.

-R

[hughesmr]

Originally Posted by Thomas W. Bethe

Which came first Lady GaGa or the egg???

I kept imagining that scene from "Spinal Tap" when the band hatches from those eggs ... or at least most of them do ...

[Plush]

What's a Bieber?

Congratulations to Steve Remote. A fine job recognized!

[Happy Musicfan]

Originally Posted by RKrizman

No mention of Rhianna? Holy farkin shite. Sometimes you just gotta turn off the inner critic and let yourself be entertained.

-R

That's actually a criticism of criticism. ---------- Anyways. She's got a silky smooth tone, and a great sense of soulful melody. Let's hope she doesn't get overprocessed in the process. Let her natural nuances and style *shine*. She doesn't *need* the overpackaging, stage theatrics and tabloid hype of a Bieber or a Gaga. She has a very mature, classic, traditional way of delivering a song. ---------- To continue the optimism, Esperanza Spalding and Janelle Monae (spellchecks please ?) are in the same league (even higher musical caliber though) of not needing the non-musical frills. Ever. The talent, artistry and skill is there - just let it be. ---------- BTW, speaking of musical skill, did you all notice John Mayer trying to keep up with Keith Urban ? Maybe if Mayer spent less time trying to look like Johnny Depp and more time practicing his scales and fingerstyle playing...

[Wave theory]

Mixing for the Grammy's™ has to be the toughest job of the year. I think the sound was the best it's been in a couple years. Last year the Amy Winehouse segment from London sounded better than the rest of the show.

There were some amazing players in the house band. Incredibly good brass playing. The piano sound on Striesand's "Evergreen" was really great, especially for a closed instrument.

Lot's of other highpoints, and some very good mixing, especially when we consider how tough of a show this is to do. Congrats to all. Maybe Hank Neuberger could drop in here and talk about how it all went down.

[hbphotoav]

My wife noticed the last vocal note of "Evergreen" hanging on a bit too long after she dropped the mic down. She says I've "ruined" her for movies and TV music. I don't care much about BS in any venue, so I wasn't paying attention. Anyone else notice? If anyone could mime convincingly, she's the one...

Just wondering.

[paultools]

Originally Posted by hbphotoav

My wife noticed the last vocal note of "Evergreen" hanging on a bit too long after she dropped the mic down. She says I've "ruined" her for movies and TV music. I don't care much about BS in any venue, so I wasn't paying attention. Anyone else notice? If anyone could mime convincingly, she's the one...

Just wondering.

Massive digital delay and reverb throughout the live performance, pushed up for the last note in particular.

[My Tiny Circus]

They were not eggs they were pods. Pods have veins and are often translucent. Pulsing lights help.

Didn't U2 get stuck in a lemon ?

Originally Posted by Louis Bernstone

How come no one is mentioning the lady gaga egg in relation to spinal tap!! They did it first!


Posted via the Gearslutz iPhone app

[My Tiny Circus]

A. Norah Jones - Unsurprising good
B. Keith Urban - Surprisingly good
C. John Mayer - Completely out of his depth and outclassed by A&B showing him up to be the over rated pretty (?) boy he is. The tragedy is that he's considered to be an example of the more musicianly end of the pop spectrum. A hint for the future, don't stand close to musicians much better than you unless it's to give them an award.

I'm sorry about the vitriol but didn't he dump Jennifer Aniston ?

Originally Posted by Happy Musicfan

That's actually a criticism of criticism. ---------- Anyways. She's got a silky smooth tone, and a great sense of soulful melody. Let's hope she doesn't get overprocessed in the process. Let her natural nuances and style *shine*. She doesn't *need* the overpackaging, stage theatrics and tabloid hype of a Bieber or a Gaga. She has a very mature, classic, traditional way of delivering a song. ---------- To continue the optimism, Esperanza Spalding and Janelle Monae (spellchecks please ?) are in the same league (even higher musical caliber though) of not needing the non-musical frills. Ever. The talent, artistry and skill is there - just let it be. ---------- BTW, speaking of musical skill, did you all notice John Mayer trying to keep up with Keith Urban ? Maybe if Mayer spent less time trying to look like Johnny Depp and more time practicing his scales and fingerstyle playing...

[Plush]

Originally Posted by hbphotoav

My wife noticed the last vocal note of "Evergreen" hanging on a bit too long after she dropped the mic down. She says I've "ruined" her for movies and TV music. I don't care much about BS in any venue, so I wasn't paying attention. Anyone else notice? If anyone could mime convincingly, she's the one...

Just wondering.

I'm a Barbra fan and I noticed. Poor Barbra--it was an emmbarrasment
when that happened at the end of the song.

She ended the song and did a natural arm movement fade away with the mic like in a concert and the voice sound kept going. It was not reverb, it *seemed to be* lip sync singing.
( I have been corrected by commentary below. thankyasomuch)

[paultools]

Originally Posted by Plush

I'm a Barbra fan and I noticed. Poor Barbra--it was an emmbarrasment
when that happened at the end of the song.

She ended the song and did a natural arm movement fade away with the mic like in a concert and the voice sound kept going. It was not reverb, it was lip sync singing.

How do you know?
I heard the delay trail numerous times throughout the song... I've used the same trick live and in studio.
If it was recorded, they chose a mediocre performance to mime.

[Plush]

Hello PaulTools,

YOu could very well be right. It wasn't that great a performance. It could have been an extended delay that I heard. Anyway, I'm not holding on to the moment. She was there because she was MusicCares person of the year.

It is so hectic during the tv show that historically the broadcast has never been a showcase for good mixing. That said, I thought the show sounded very good this year.

[HughH]

Hello Folks,

Barbra was positively live, not lip-synced. Any trail you heard was delay and verb.
The credit for the great sound of the broadcast goes to the large number of dedicated audio pros who work that show and other live tv broadcasts, some of the best in the business.
Tom Holmes - superb production mixer
Eric Schilling - music mixer
John Harris - music mixer
Mikael Stewart and Ron Reaves - superb PA mixers whose understanding of TV needs means the broadcast can sound good.
The unbelievably good engineering crew supporting those folks.

Extraordinarily long hours and hard work make for a great broadcast. And sitting in the broadcast truck with Phil Ramone listening to stories makes it fun.
Hugh

[paultools]

Originally Posted by Plush

Hello PaulTools,

YOu could very well be right. It wasn't that great a performance. It could have been an extended delay that I heard. Anyway, I'm not holding on to the moment. She was there because she was MusicCares person of the year.

It is so hectic during the tv show that historically the broadcast has never been a showcase for good mixing. That said, I thought the show sounded very good this year.

It was a great LIVE performance by one of the true masters of our time...it would have been a so-so RECORDED performance, given the opportunities for multiple takes, etc in a studio.

I thought things sounded great overall, although I say again that the audio was a few frames behind the video watching on Comcast in Boston, MASS.

[roonsbane]

My Tiny Circus sayed:

A. Norah Jones - Unsurprising good
B. Keith Urban - Surprisingly good
C. John Mayer - Completely out of his depth and outclassed by A&B showing him up to be the over rated pretty (?) boy he is. The tragedy is that he's considered to be an example of the more musicianly end of the pop spectrum. A hint for the future, don't stand close to musicians much better than you unless it's to give them an award.

I am not a huge John Mayer fan, but I have played guitar for about thirty years now and played on my first vinyl album twenty five years ago, I can say I could not disagree with you more about John Mayer's musicianship. He can play guitar! Also, about the musicians that he plays with. So the trio is: Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan. These dudes are the best of the best. And his regular band includes Robbie McIntosh and a bunch of other total bad-asses. Clearly your logic is not really adding up here. He can hold his own with the best of best including Clapton which he has done. Though I wasn't paying too much attention to his performance at the Grammy's, I did notice his strange Johnny Dep resemblance. I might blame a bad John Mayer performance to bad monitoring or just plain having a bad night.

Cameron

[jetam]

Originally Posted by SynthLine09

I'm boycotting until they stop rewarding the likes of justin bieber and such

thumbsup

[My Tiny Circus]

I am similarly old and experienced but less familiar with Mr. Mayer's work than you so I trust you when you say he's better than he demonstrated on this show. I hear him occasionally on the radio and think "Why is this guy a star ?".

Let's presume that the other two had plenty of rehearsal time and he got stuck in his dressing room trimming his facial hair.

More and more these days I hear artists that I consider very ordinary being lauded as great. Mr. Mayer is one such.

Originally Posted by roonsbane

My Tiny Circus sayed:


I am not a huge John Mayer fan, but I have played guitar for about thirty years now and played on my first vinyl album twenty five years ago, I can say I could not disagree with you more about John Mayer's musicianship. He can play guitar! Also, about the musicians that he plays with. So the trio is: Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan. These dudes are the best of the best. And his regular band includes Robbie McIntosh and a bunch of other total bad-asses. Clearly your logic is not really adding up here. He can hold his own with the best of best including Clapton which he has done. Though I wasn't paying too much attention to his performance at the Grammy's, I did notice his strange Johnny Dep resemblance. I might blame a bad John Mayer performance to bad monitoring or just plain having a bad night.

Cameron

[Happy Musicfan]

Originally Posted by roonsbane

My Tiny Circus sayed:


I am not a huge John Mayer fan, but I have played guitar for about thirty years now and played on my first vinyl album twenty five years ago, I can say I could not disagree with you more about John Mayer's musicianship. He can play guitar! Also, about the musicians that he plays with. So the trio is: Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan. These dudes are the best of the best. And his regular band includes Robbie McIntosh and a bunch of other total bad-asses. Clearly your logic is not really adding up here. He can hold his own with the best of best including Clapton which he has done. Though I wasn't paying too much attention to his performance at the Grammy's, I did notice his strange Johnny Dep resemblance. I might blame a bad John Mayer performance to bad monitoring or just plain having a bad night.

Cameron

Oh Mayer can PLAY. His tune 'No Such Thing' is a jazzy pop CLASSIC. I saw him on a Herbie Hancock documentary, just playing guitar (he refused to sing, out of respect for the jazz instrumental focus going on). But after his entrance into the music scene with 'No Such Thing', he has declined somewhat IMO into the realm of tabloidism, dumbed-down tunes and a greater focus on appearance, gossip and hype. Not sure that's all of his own volition though. He's a good songwriter and a good player - his talent has been diluted/tempered a bit over the last 7 years though IMO - maybe that's just the nature of the mainstream machine.

[roonsbane]

My Tiny Circus said:

More and more these days I hear artists that I consider very ordinary being lauded as great.

I could not agree with you more, but I think John Mayer does not represent this whatsoever.

Mr. Mayer is hardly an average musician. Again, I am not really a lover of his music. I wouldn't go buy his albums. But it is very clear that the guy is a great, let me say it again great guitar player. I saw him about a year ago on Austin City Limits. Frankly I was blown away!. Not only did he have ridiculously juicy vintage guitar tone upon even more ridiculously juicy vintage guitar tone. The guy played mostly finger style like Beck, Clapton, Knofler. He had a total command over his instrument up and down all around the neck, not patterns like most guitar hacks. He was playing in the chord structure complete with guide tones suggesting the chord structure but with a tasteful Robben Ford Bluesy thing all along. Another thing I was impressed with was how inventive he was. He was getting a bunch of killer tones with changes in picking, tapping, Harmonics, etc, etc. He was full of chops! Not stupid chops like the metal jerk offs, but tasteful I can play anything I need to to get my melodic point across sort of chops. With well constructed melodic solo's. Nicely voice led comping with well chosen tensions added when musically necessary. All the while with a nice pocket and singing often very different rhythmic patterns. Beautifully creative! I think Robbie McIntosh was truly enjoying listening to the guy play while he, a guitar great in his own right accompanied him.
Cameron

[Wave theory]

Originally Posted by Plush

I'm a Barbra fan and I noticed. Poor Barbra--it was an emmbarrasment
when that happened at the end of the song.

She ended the song and did a natural arm movement fade away with the mic like in a concert and the voice sound kept going. It was not reverb, it *seemed to be* lip sync singing.
( I have been corrected by commentary below. thankyasomuch)

Well, I think Barbara is coming on 68 years old. Perhaps she's not as good as when she sang "People" in 1964, but how many singers could pull that off at her age?

I thought that she, the accompaniment and mix were pretty damned good, especially when we remember that it's coming from the most complicated music show in television!

[Fuzzy Logic]

i enjoyed this broadcast - its about time that sound, lights and video came together in equal proportions. the performances were pretty cool too.

Originally Posted by Wave theory

Well, I think Barbara is coming on 68 years old. Perhaps she's not as good as when she sang "People" in 1964, but how many singers could pull that off at her age?

I thought that she, the accompaniment and mix were pretty damned good, especially when we remember that it's coming from the most complicated music show in television!

[Timsplace]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy Logic

i enjoyed this broadcast - its about time that sound, lights and video came together in equal proportions. the performances were pretty cool too.

Show SOUNDED great. The lighting was an embarrassment! From the first song where the women of color were in darkness. A number of times people were completely UNLIT. Also, plenty of missed camera shots. Thank goodness I'm an audio guy.

[Wave theory]

Originally Posted by HughH

Hello Folks,

Barbra was positively live, not lip-synced. Any trail you heard was delay and verb.
The credit for the great sound of the broadcast goes to the large number of dedicated audio pros who work that show and other live tv broadcasts, some of the best in the business.
Tom Holmes - superb production mixer
Eric Schilling - music mixer
John Harris - music mixer
Mikael Stewart and Ron Reaves - superb PA mixers whose understanding of TV needs means the broadcast can sound good.
The unbelievably good engineering crew supporting those folks.

Extraordinarily long hours and hard work make for a great broadcast. And sitting in the broadcast truck with Phil Ramone listening to stories makes it fun.
Hugh

Hugh,

Thanks for this info. Is anyone else bothered by the fact that the audio credits for the Grammys were in the un-readable small type, speed reading part of the credits, while completely un-interesting folks, many of whom had nothing to do with the creative aspects of the show were in the key early credits?

Big ups to the mixers on this show. Best sounding Grammys for a couple years.

[Plush]

I am definitely bothered by the small print issue. It could have been the network's decision though. If not then
NAIR-ASS has once again miscalculated.

[Remoteness]

Originally Posted by HughH

Hello Folks,

Barbra was positively live, not lip-synced. Any trail you heard was delay and verb.
The credit for the great sound of the broadcast goes to the large number of dedicated audio pros who work that show and other live tv broadcasts, some of the best in the business.
Tom Holmes - superb production mixer
Eric Schilling - music mixer
John Harris - music mixer
Mikael Stewart and Ron Reaves - superb PA mixers whose understanding of TV needs means the broadcast can sound good.
The unbelievably good engineering crew supporting those folks.

Extraordinarily long hours and hard work make for a great broadcast. And sitting in the broadcast truck with Phil Ramone listening to stories makes it fun.
Hugh

And, let us not forget the excellent technical prowess of Joel Singer!

[Remoteness]

Originally Posted by Plush

I am definitely bothered by the small print issue. It could have been the network's decision though. If not then
NAIR-ASS has once again miscalculated.

Word up!

This is why I DVR every show and slow-mo the credit rolls when applicable.
If the type is too small, my face is up against the screen just because I can;-)

[bobkeiser@ieee.o]

Originally Posted by MBishopSFX

ANOTHER ITEM:

The music world is put back in balance last night: Esperanza Spalding wins Grammy as Best New Artist!

Who Is Esperanza Spalding, The Grammys' Best New Artist? : A Blog Supreme : NPR

Who would have thought that someone with real talent would win in this category?

.

I mean, REALLY!