Is John lip-syncing some of his backing vocals?

[bosk1]

Well, now I can say without a doubt that John does NOT lip-sync.  Yes, there is a backing track in place as well on some songs to give the other harmonies.  And, yes, John is low in the mix, sometimes to the point that you cannot hear his voice coming through.  But I was less than 10 feet from him for most of the show last night, and I could hear him singing. 

[mikemangioy]

Mystery solved

[RaiseTheKnife]

I'm aware of TCOT one. When I saw that tour, I think I figured JR would have his keyboards in a guitar sounding mode for the intro.

And I was very disappointed that they used the taped guitar - considering that JR's been toying with the Harpejji for several years, that would've been the perfect opportunity for him to use it.

Before Count was played live, I imagined they might bring out an acoustic on a stand for Myung to play, which I think they did for Silent Man in '94

[TheAtliator]

For Count and TKH, I don't get why if they have 4 guys that totally play guitar in the band they don't use it. Why tapes, keyboard guitar, or Another Hand?

As for the thread, yea it's no mystery anymore, it seems to confuse more people than it should. Backing vocals are all on tape, and JP sings along. And it's worth noting James is DEFINITELY actually singing every note you hear of his part, no lip-syncing, no exceptions (and no transpositions which is awesome). I also don't get why Jordan and Mike don't do the backing vocals- they totally could, and then we'd actually have a totally live show!

[TheDisposableHero]

The only one that was SUPER DUPER OBVIOUS that there was a backing track over JP's vocals was The Mirror (TEMP - TA - TION, and all of those parts of the songs like that). That's not JP's timbre at all.

But other songs like The Enemy Inside, Trial of Tears, Lifting Shadows of a Dream, Finally Free and other ones are definitely JP.

I'm a bit unsure about JP's vocals on Surrender, Trust & Passion for Illumination Theory. I feel like he is definitely singing, but there is definitely a hint of backing track there as well.

[bosk1]

I also don't get why Jordan and Mike don't do the backing vocals- they totally could, and then we'd actually have a totally live show!

I think it would be great to have Jordan do backing vox.  Not sure how good a singer Mike is, but I actually don't want him near a mic.  He has a hard enough job following the click and playing his insane drum parts.  I wouldn't want the guy to take on any more right now.

[Laughingplace56]

Last Friday at Riverside he was definitely singing. I couldn't really hear the backing track outside of TSF and The Mirror.

[robwebster]

I also don't get why Jordan and Mike don't do the backing vocals- they totally could, and then we'd actually have a totally live show!

I think it would be great to have Jordan do backing vox.

I'd been sooooort of expecting this during... ahhh, might have been the Systematic Chaos era? But I remember him showing off his new rig with loads of different capabilities, and one of his keyboards had this properly exceptional vocoder plugged into it. Might've been Omnisphere, or maybe that's just a name I vaguely remember.

Something else to do with his hands, of course, but seeing as they've got a click I'd expect they could programme the chords so all he or John would have to do is sing. Just makes harmonies a bit bigger. And more reliable.

ETA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MnV5eMOjxo Maybe this was it?

ETA2: Yes, I recognise the end! That's exactly what it was. 2008, so SC era's right, too.

[TheAtliator]

Good point about MM already doing ten billion things. About John singing at Riverside, I was paying special attention, and he was singing, but I think a lot of what you were hearing was a backing track too, but it just blends because neither his mic nor the track is that loud. And the vocoder thing just sounds ridiculous  that's the LAST thing I want them to use, but I'm not too worried about that happening.

Also JLB's "temptation" track was even more awesome than the original! I LOVED it. But I'd love even more for it to be live.

[theseoafs]

JP is definitely not lip-synching on this tour.  ADTOE tour, yeah, for whatever reason.

[SystematicThought]

I also don't get why Jordan and Mike don't do the backing vocals- they totally could, and then we'd actually have a totally live show!

I think it would be great to have Jordan do backing vox.

I'd been sooooort of expecting this during... ahhh, might have been the Systematic Chaos era? But I remember him showing off his new rig with loads of different capabilities, and one of his keyboards had this properly exceptional vocoder plugged into it. Might've been Omnisphere, or maybe that's just a name I vaguely remember.

Something else to do with his hands, of course, but seeing as they've got a click I'd expect they could programme the chords so all he or John would have to do is sing. Just makes harmonies a bit bigger. And more reliable.

ETA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MnV5eMOjxo Maybe this was it?

ETA2: Yes, I recognise the end! That's exactly what it was. 2008, so SC era's right, too.

Or this from the same session
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaliEHcRWvI

[bosk1]

Good point about MM already doing ten billion things. About John singing at Riverside, I was paying special attention, and he was singing, but I think a lot of what you were hearing was a backing track too, but it just blends because neither his mic nor the track is that loud.

There were definitely times when I could hear JP because of my proximity to him, but he was inaudible through his mic, and you could hear the backing track of mostly James over him.  So I get why people might think that he is lip synching.  But it's just a case of the backing track being louder than him. 

ADTOE tour, yeah, for whatever reason.

Possible, but I highly doubt it.  I think it is exactly the same situation as this tour.

[KevShmev]

ADTOE tour, yeah, for whatever reason.

Possible, but I highly doubt it.  I think it is exactly the same situation as this tour.

This.  There is zero reason for anyone to think that he has ever lip synched. 

[theseoafs]

Also no reason to think he didn't lip-synch during the ADTOE tour.  I haven't heard a single recording of a show on that tour where he was even kind of audible.

But we've already had this conversation.

[RaiseTheKnife]

ADTOE tour, yeah, for whatever reason.

Possible, but I highly doubt it.  I think it is exactly the same situation as this tour.

This.  There is zero reason for anyone to think that he has ever lip synched.

As I mentioned in my Los Angeles review, I witnessed it a few feet away, so yes he does in some songs, and no on others.

[TheAtliator]

Good example you can hear both his voice and a James track https://youtu.be/uVB1TAcycVE?t=2h13m47s

edit: another where you can hear both the track and JP https://youtu.be/WwavTaI72Bw?t=2m24s

As for ADTOE, here's an example of harmonies that sound real, but I think they added tracks later in the tour. At this point I think it was only for one or two songs. Although, throughout the whole tour I'm pretty sure The Silent Man and Beneath the Surface were always real. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RJV86ze39c

[KevShmev]

ADTOE tour, yeah, for whatever reason.

Possible, but I highly doubt it.  I think it is exactly the same situation as this tour.

This.  There is zero reason for anyone to think that he has ever lip synched.

As I mentioned in my Los Angeles review, I witnessed it a few feet away, so yes he does in some songs, and no on others.

Just because you can't hear him doesn't mean he isn't singing. 

[jonnybaxy]

If a bear sings in a woods but no-one is around to hear it, does it really make a sound?

[MoraWintersoul]

If a bear sings in a woods but no-one is around to hear it, does it really make a sound?

basically

[RaiseTheKnife]

Just because you can't hear him doesn't mean he isn't singing.

yeah, but at that distance I could tell, especially on The Mirror.  Still a great performance though.

[bosk1]

I could hear him on The Mirror.

[Grizz]

On The Mirror, he definitely sings in addition to a backing track that is neither him nor MP.

[TheAtliator]

The spoken words on the track of The Mirror are most certainly James and they're AWESOME. Even better than the original.