Lip-synching in music

Lip-synching in music is the process of performing with pre-recorded vocals while giving the impression of 'live' performance. It is generally considered dishonest, though in many instances it is required from a production standpoint, in the case of live performance.

Overview

Though lip-synching, also called miming, can be used to make it appear as though actors have musical ability (e.g., The Partridge Family) or to misattribute vocals (e.g. Milli Vanilli), it is more often used by recording artists to create a particular effect, to enable them to perform live dance numbers, or to cover for illness or other deficiencies during live performance. Sometimes lip-synched performances are forced by television for short guest appearances, as it requires less time for rehearsals and hugely simplifies the process of sound mixing. The practice of lip synching during live performances is frowned on by some who view it as a crutch only used by lesser talents.

Videos

Because the film track and music track are recorded separately during the creation of a music video, artists usually lip-synch to their songs and often imitate playing musical instruments as well. Artists also sometimes move their lips at a faster speed from the track, to create videos with a slow-motion effect in the final clip, which is widely considered to be complex to achieve. However, Bruce Springsteen's hit Streets of Philadelphia only uses the instruments as a backing track while the vocals were recorded with a microphone attached on the singer, giving it a different feel to it.

Lip-synching is almost always used in musical films, such as High School Musical (The Rocky Horror Picture Show being an exception), and in biopics such as Ray and La Vie en Rose, to add authenticity to a performance by an actor by using the subject's original recording. However, when songs appear in non-musical films, such as The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, where they are not large musical numbers, the actors sing live on set, but later dub their voices in ADR using a "better" performance of the song.

Complex performance

Artists often lip-synch during strenuous dance numbers in both live and recorded performances, due to lung capacity being needed for physical activity (both at once would require incredibly trained lungs).

Some singers habitually lip-synch during live performance, both concert and televised. over pre-recorded music and mimed backing vocals(a half-and-half performance).

Some artists switch between live singing and lip-synching during performance, particularly during songs which require them to hit particularly high or low notes. Lip-synching these notes ensures that they will not be out of tune and that the artist will not strain their voice too much during an arduous concert. Once the difficult portion of the song has passed, the artist may continue to lip-synch or may resume singing live. Some artists lip-synch choruses during songs, but sing the main verses.

The practice of synching also occurs in musical theater, for much the same purpose as for musicians. A production may include a mix of lip-synched and live musical numbers. In long-running shows, this may be done to help protect the performer's voice from strain and damage, as well as to maintain a high caliber of production. A notable example of using lip-synching as a special effect includes performances of The Phantom of the Opera, where swing actors in the same costume as the lead actors, to give the illusion of the characters moving around the stage with some mystery.

Artists may also lip-synch in situations in which their back-up bands and sound systems cannot be accommodated, such as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which features popular singers lip-synching while riding floats.

Some artists may choose to lip-synch during live performance because of stage fright or perceptions of inadequacy. Unlike studio recording, live performance provides only one chance to sing each song correctly. An artist may worry that their voice is not strong enough, that it will sound noticeably different from recorded versions, or that he or she will hit a wrong note. Sometimes lip-synching is falsely accused when fans sitting in the back of a stadium see a drummer hit a kit before they actually hear the sound- the delay can be mistaken for poor synchronization.

For irony and effect

Lip-synching, as a form of musical pantomime - in which the performer moves their mouths to a recording - is often performed by drag queens and, more recently, drag kings; Lypsinka is widely considered amongst the best and has starred in movies and several touring shows.

Other artists have chosen to lip-synch quite obviously for comedic value. During a short, pre-recorded performance, such as a guest appearance on a TV show, some artists purposely include in-jokes like swapping instruments between band members or dis-syncing their instruments in obviously erroneous ways, as a protest against being requested to lip-sync(i.e. fake a performance). A famous example is an Iron Maiden appearance in a German TV show in 1986, which was included in the DVD Iron Maiden - The Early Years.

A number of artists, such as Nirvana, Green Day, Oasis, and Travis, have also made similar mock performances in the British TV show Top of the Pops.

Prevalence

On American Bandstand and most variety shows of the 1960s, vocals and instrumentals were all faked. In the '90s, acts like Janet Jackson, Milli Vanilli and New Kids on the Block admitted miming to backing tapes in concerts. Even when televised performances aren't lip-synced, there's a good chance that the vocals have been worked over(which is not miming but editing). In post-production, sound levels can be adjusted and vocal or instrumental mistakes can be corrected.

Protest and policy

In 2005, President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov banned lip-synching in all forms, including public TV performances and even at private events such as weddings, citing “a negative effect on the development of singing and musical art,”.

On November 10, 2008, China's Ministry of Culture published a draft of its new Regulations for Commercial Public Performances which outlaws performers who pretend to sing or play an instrument to pre-recorded music. Those who are caught miming twice will have their performing licenses revoked. These regulations arose when it became known that Lin Miaoke, the little girl singing "Ode to the Motherland" at the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony, had been lip-synching to a recording of another girl, Yang Peiyi.

Notable occurrences

Luciano Pavarotti at the 2006 Winter Olympics

On 10 February 2006, Luciano Pavarotti sang "Nessun Dorma" at the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Turin, Italy at his final performance. In the last act of the opening ceremony, his performance received the longest and loudest ovation of the night from the international crowd. Leone Magiera, who directed the performance, revealed in his 2008 memoirs, Pavarotti Visto da Vicino, that the performance was prerecorded weeks earlier. "The orchestra pretended to play for the audience, I pretended to conduct and Luciano pretended to sing. The effect was wonderful," he wrote. Pavarotti's manager, Terri Robson, said that the tenor had turned the Winter Olympic Committee's invitation down several times because it would have been impossible to sing late at night in the sub-zero conditions of Turin in February. The committee eventually persuaded him to take part by pre-recording the song.

Ashlee Simpson Saturday Night Live appearance in 2004

Ashlee Simpson appeared as a musical guest on Episode 568 of Saturday Night Live (October 23–24, 2004), and, as is customary for the show's format, she was scheduled to perform two songs. Her first song, "Pieces of Me", was performed without problems. However, when she began her second song, "Autobiography", the vocals for the song "Pieces of Me" were heard once again, before she had raised the microphone to her mouth. Simpson began to dance, but then left the stage while the band (not a recording) continued playing.

Milli Vanilli

In 1990, during a live performance recorded by MTV at the Lake Compounce theme park in Bristol, Connecticut, the recording of Milli Vanilli's song "Girl You Know It's True" jammed and began to skip, repeating the partial line "Girl, you know it's…" over and over. Due to rising public questions regarding the source of talent in the group, owner Frank Farian confessed to reporters on November 12, 1990, that Morvan and Pilatus did not actually sing on the records. As a result of American media pressure, Milli Vanilli's Grammy was withdrawn four days later and Arista Records dropped the act from its roster and deleted their album and its masters from their catalog, taking Girl You Know It's True out of print.

After these details emerged, at least 26 different lawsuits were filed under various U.S. consumer fraud protection laws. On August 28, a settlement was approved that refunded those who attended concerts along with those who bought Milli Vanilli recordings. An estimated 10 million buyers were eligible to claim a refund.

2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

In the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, the song "Ode to the Motherland" appeared to be sung by Lin Miaoke at the ceremony, but it emerged she had mimed her performance to a recording by another girl, Yang Peiyi, who had actually won the audition. It was a last minute decision to use lip-synching, following a Politburo member's objection to Yang's physical appearance. International Olympic Committee executive director Gilbert Felli defended the use of a more photogenic double.

Others

• 50 Cent was caught lip synching live on stage at the BET awards, watched by millions of people when DJ Whoo Kidd played the instrumental version of the hit song "Amusement Park."
• During a concert at Madison Square Garden, the R & B singer R. Kelly put down his microphone in the middle of a song and let his recorded vocals keep singing.
• Miranda Cosgrove was forced to lip sync during the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, however this is normal for all singers in the parade, so she is not a special case.

See also

• Audio to video synchronization
• Lip dub
• Playback singing