There is a german TV documentary from 1979 "Musicbox" about the "Jazz"-Tour.
And a sound engeneer called "Trip" tells the journalist, that he has the technical facilities to make "20 voices out of the four of them" by using delays and harmonizers.
But - whenever I hear any Queen- Live recording I just notice the usual "three" voices. The only exceptions are "Sheetkeeckers", which is probably overdubbed. And on some recordings of the Crazy-Tour there is some horrible harmonizer on some of Freddie's vocals.
So my impression is, that this technician made fun of the journalist. Or has anyone ever heard those "20 voices"?
People often exaggerate things. And people often use figured speech. When John Deacon said they gave John Anthony the elbow he didn't mean they actually presented him with a joint between the arm; when Freddie said 'I dress to kill' he didn't mean he was a murderer (and whenever he wasn't naked he was going to kill somebody, or had already done it). When Fred said he spent 'bloody ages' writing Bo Rhap he didn't mean he reincarnated many times, always spilling vital liquid, while composing it.
And of course, there aren't 180 simultaneous voices in that song, BTW.
James "Trip" Khalef is his name. VERY funny guy!!! What he meant was that he can make it sound like 20 voices but what he does for "Somebody to Love" for example is use delay during the break when Freddie get's the crowd to sing the chorus with the band. That's what he was referring to. By the way, did you see the very tired looking lighting director name Joe? That's my cousin. Lot less hair these days and no more beard! He was really good friends with Trip and when Queen came around a few years ago he tried getting in touch with him to get backstage in New Jersey to see Brian and Roger but not sure if Trip got in touch with him.
Spot on, Sebastian, as always. Just to add: Trip Khalaf was Queen's Concert Sound-engineer for many years, and both Brian and Rog have said only the best things about him, he seems to be a true genius (mixing Wembley must have been a nightmare), and I think he just meant that he could somehow reproduce a "fat" vocal sound in a stadium or a huge arena without having the opportunities given in the studio.
I remember asking about some of the fantastic harmonies in Bycicle Race on LK, and if they were overdubbed, and if I remember correctly it was you, Sebastian, who told me that it wasn't - they sound crystal clear, and that may also be not only the talent of our beloved boys, but also Trip's skills.
Sebastian wrote:
People often exaggerate things. And people often use figured speech. When John Deacon said they gave John Anthony the elbow he didn't mean they actually presented him with a joint between the arm; when Freddie said 'I dress to kill' he didn't mean he was a murderer (and whenever he wasn't naked he was going to kill somebody, or had already done it). When Fred said he spent 'bloody ages' writing Bo Rhap he didn't mean he reincarnated many times, always spilling vital liquid, while composing it.
And of course, there aren't 180 simultaneous voices in that song, BTW.
Oh yes...I took this quote literally and expected to hear exact 20 voices....[img=/images/smiley/msn/thumbs_down.gif][/img]
Listen to early live recordings of Somebody To Love and you can hear them using a delay during the middle part.
They used harmonizers during Sheer Heart Attack, and during '39, where a +1 octave layer would be added to Freddie's voice in the middle section. You can hear it very well at Live Killers. The octave voice doubles Freddie spot on, so it can't be real.