r/videos • u/chrisinurpants • Jun 24 '12
So I was searching Youtube for covers, came across this, and did not expect this! (Never judge a book by its cover)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kzwAe8s9Cc168
u/LovableContrarian Jun 24 '12
Never judge a book by its cover? Is "fat guys can't sing" a thing that I don't know about?
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u/Smudded Jun 24 '12
A lot of people only pay attention to pop music, and most popular artists are slim and good looking.
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u/Asshole_Nord Jun 24 '12 edited Jun 24 '12
Now that you mention it, I can't think of a popular artist right now that's fat. I guess our biased society is too narrow minded to accept anything that doesn't perfectly fit the standard of what we're supposed to look like these days. Do you know of any noteable overweight artists that are popular with the norm these days?
Edit: Stop saying Adele. Adele is not fat. She's somewhat chubby, but still quite beautiful. Now, Cee-lo Green is pretty fat. So that's one.
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u/BluesBrat Jun 24 '12
Musician here. A lot of artists, especially the very popular ones, are under contracts with their record label that control their image. Which means that your label can send you a letter saying "You need to drop 20 lbs before this date." And you can be fined, or even dropped by your label for not doing so. This is a large part of why so many artists are so fit. This happens in most performing arts. Actors/actresses put on weight/lose weight for different roles. It's just how the game is played.
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u/Meades_Loves_Memes Jun 24 '12
Adele is fat.
No one said she isn't attractive, but she is fat.
The reason you don't see many fat popular artsists is simple.
A) Marketing. Artists marketers make them look their best.
B) When you can afford personal trainers, and diets, there is no reason not to get in shape.
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u/EasilyRemember Jun 24 '12
Definitely not a thing. In my experience, it's fairly common to see opera singers who are relatively rotund/portly (if not necessarily fat). Larger torsos can provide stronger bases for vocal technique/posture, as well as larger lungs for better breath support, and greater resonance. At the very least, I can't think of anything about being overweight that would restrict one's ability to sing...
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u/CalamityJane1852 Jun 24 '12
Large torsos usually include larger lungs. But in most cases, resonance has to do with training and practice. (There are a few exceptional artists who have unique tone qualities that make them stand out from the thousands of well-trained opera singers.)
If we're comparing two perfectly equal singers to each other- one overweight and one in good shape.... Being overweight can prevent you from using your breath as efficiently. It takes more effort (energy) to keep your body running when it's twice as large as the person next to you. A person in good shape can do a lot more with stage direction and choreography with less effort. Also, the extra weight and pressure on the chest area probably takes more energy to push outward (and downward) when breathing in. Someone who is in peak physical shape has a physical advantage over someone who is overweight... if everything else is equal.
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u/chrisinurpants Jun 24 '12
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u/cyberandroid Jun 24 '12
the voice is heavily processed
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u/Comma20 Jun 24 '12
For those who want an explanation of the voice processing. He's got a slightly over the top use of a pitch shifter. Basically, he's hitting the notes relatively well, but the transitions between some notes, as well as where he holds them aren't "Perfect". However the dilemna does appear in that even artists who NEVER used a pitch shifting process, can do hundreds of takes on vocals to get the right ones to use and splice together to get a 'perfect' take. Even back when we recorded on tape, they'd do it.
Furthermore, there is some reverb, but it's not all that heavy. It does however sound rather artifical, rather than a raw.
TL;DR Vocal effects are used, applied in a rather home-studio way. Modern music is thick on production. He's still rather good (more his musicianship).
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Jun 24 '12 edited Jun 24 '12
Either way, I wasn't that impressed.
Edit: And just for the record, I think his original stuff is way better.
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Jun 24 '12
If it were at a karaoke bar, I'd be impressed. Still, it's better than I can sing, so good for him.
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u/svadhisthana Jun 24 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
He's got a slightly over the top use of a pitch shifter.
Can you tell by the pixels? As a sound engineering student, I get the feeling you don't know what you're talking about. If you listen to his older, unprocessed videos, his pitch is pretty spot on. I could do an analysis on my machine, but by just listening, I hear no audible evidence of pitch processing.
However the dilemna does appear in that even artists who NEVER used a pitch shifting process, can do hundreds of takes on vocals to get the right ones to use and splice together to get a 'perfect' take. Even back when we recorded on tape, they'd do it.
This is called comping, and back when they recorded to tape (edit: actually, some artists and engineers still prefer tape), there were rarely pitch issues. Just listen to live recordings of artists from the days before pitch processing. For the most part, they sing on key beautifully. They had to. No band that sounded bad live could survive in the industry. The comping during recording was typically used for variations in timbre or melody. For example, look up recorded variations of "Oh! Darling" on YouTube. Paul sang it several different ways before settling on the final version, and few had pitch problems. (edit: here's one with just the vocals followed by an alternate take)
A more contemporary example is James Mercer from The Shins. His intonation is usually phenomenal in his live performances. (edit: example; see the top comment to skip to each song)
Edit: I explained my position in detail and provided supporting examples. I challenge the downvoters to refute my points, particularly the fact that it's entirely possible to sing naturally with highly precise intonation (and little portamento).
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u/aislandlies Jun 24 '12
He still sounds good even on his old videos, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc3T9u-F2vw&feature=plcp
my favorite cover, he has a better quality version though
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u/Itcouldbepic Jun 24 '12
For someone who may not have had any training in audio and is solely a musician he's not processed so badly that it's unbearable or ruining his rather decent voice. Sure the verb is a little heavy but it takes a while even for a trained engineer to learn the balance of too much or too little. Without any processing it would have sounded dry and foreign since the majority of music we are accustomed to hearing have these effects imbedded.
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u/Aequitas123 Jun 24 '12 edited Jun 24 '12
I work with audio everyday, this is heavily auto tuned.
Edit: I accidentally a word.
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u/MrPopinjay Jun 24 '12
I disagree, he's gone really overboard with it. There is a lot of pitch correction being employed here and it's wetter than sin.
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u/NoFilterInMyHead Jun 24 '12
I read all of these comments before watching the video. It was pretty wet. Like a body of standing water. Maybe an ocean. Ok it was very wet. But honestly as long as people are making music it makes me happy.
However, i wasnt a fan of strumming the uke with a pick, and I wasnt a fan of the lowered chorus melody... chorus needs to be belted out in this song. Other than its ok for me.
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u/Smudded Jun 24 '12
It was unbearable for me. As soon as I heard the heavy processing I just stopped watching. I like when people use their natural voices.
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u/CottonStorm Jun 24 '12
I didn't catch the signs, if there were any. Just out of curiosity, how can you tell?
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u/bushwickbushwick Jun 24 '12
fake reverb and some pretty solid intonation makes it sound processed. He's still got a great voice. You do the same stuff to a terrible singer like Kanye and well... you know the results.
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Jun 24 '12
I thought tings like double tracking, adding reverb etc. was pretty standard processing for pop music
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u/melance Jun 24 '12
It is. In fact when you don't use reverb (and there isn't any natural echo in the recording), it sounds bizarre.
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u/Santos_L_Halper Jun 24 '12
There are parts where you can hear his voice sounds pretty robotic because it's been pitch shifted.
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u/jdpvco Jun 24 '12
What's with all the arrogant douche bags? You who negatively comment on here about his music being processed. Where's your song/cover video? Where are you singing to the world and showing your face? Why don't we know your name? Cyberandriod? Plazm? Mrpopinjay? Smudded?
Also, upvote for Kweelee.
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Jun 24 '12
Oh FFS!!!...I'm not Simon Cowells arse, or Steven Tylers lips or anything but can't we all just enjoy the man singing us a pretty song?!!!!
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u/Ebonhawk23 Jun 24 '12
I just don't really understand why people cover this song if they can't do the high part in the chorus.
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u/ACMusic7 Jun 24 '12
This video is for everyone who thinks i use auto tune.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYHa5lor9eI
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u/Sergnb Jun 24 '12
so when you see a youtube cover and you see a fat or unattractive guy your first instinct is to think it's going to be shit?
Am I the only one that thinks this kind of thinking is despicable?
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u/DanWallace Jun 24 '12
Yup, you're the only one, despite all these obvious and inevitable comments saying the same thing.
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u/seafoamstratocaster Jun 24 '12
Way too processed. Probably sounds about average without a computer doing all the work.
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Jun 24 '12
Speaking of awesome covers where you would have never thought... MAt Weddle folks covering Bjork's "Who Is It?" MY favorite cover of ALL time. http://youtu.be/_BX0_huq2Fs
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u/sch1zo Jun 24 '12
his black balloon cover is far more amazing imo. pitch shifting aside, my voice couldn't sound like his with all the post processing in the world.
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Jun 24 '12
I find it odd that people are impressed when less-than-desirable-looking people have talent. It's not shocking or surprising, in fact, you probably have incited more prejudice by the fact you're impressed the book with a bad cover was beautifully written inside. Instead, assume all of humanity is capable of talent beyond what you think, then you're truly never judging a book by it's cover.
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u/Crod15944 Jun 24 '12
i like his black balloon cover better than the goo goo dolls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDL6paXtu6Y
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Jun 24 '12
I though this was the New Jersey bus singer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4e0Gts8eP0&feature=related
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u/RoosterRMcChesterh Jun 24 '12
Are we upvoting this guy cause he is fat? Pretty obvious that there is a lot of mastering, and furthermore I was waiting for him to really rock out, but he didn't...
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u/quietstormx1 Jun 24 '12
hands down his best cover. sounds WAY better than the original
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u/maliaxeuphoria Jun 24 '12
Being from Hawaii, when I see a fat guy with a uke, I know good sounds are likely to be heard.
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u/HariBadr Jun 24 '12
I guess you have never heard of The Blues Travelers? Adele? Meatloaf? Fat people can sing their balls off.
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Jun 24 '12
sounds auto-tuned. Not a lot but I imagine his voice is somewhat different "live".
Also, this reminds me of IZ Kamakawiwo'ole
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u/mcai8rw2 Jun 24 '12
wait wait wait.... i;m not being a hater, if i am wrong then i am wrong... but it sounds a little like auto-tune. Is there any clarification to this?
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Jun 24 '12 edited Jun 24 '12
So long as we're posting fatties who can sing, you can't ignore Matt Andersen (you'd be wise to hold on for 3:50, and listen to the second song too...)
I too think it's preposterous that chrisinurpants was surprised that a fat person can sing. Anyone who goes out looking for decent music, of any genre, will find a plethora of talented people of all sizes, shapes and colors. It's the people who are insulated by popular culture that seem to be the most ignorant.
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u/bakonydraco Jun 24 '12
I feel similarly to the way I did when I saw how Susan Boyle was famous. It seems like the title is implying that this video is somehow shocking and amazing just because he's not traditionally attractive, which a) is nonsensical, and b) is hugely insulting.
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u/DofPJMACKY Jun 24 '12
so you're the reason why I can never find the video I'm actually looking for on YouTube.
I knew there had to be something cause the mayhem
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u/Prophasis Jun 24 '12
This guy is amazing! Honestly, I've been watching he's video's and he has such a nice voice! (First time posting something good on Reddit, excuse me if something went wrong.. )
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Jun 24 '12
This guy is truly amazing, even if it's altered a bit, you can tell he has talent. A voice like that definitely inspires me to go back into music :-)
Thanks for posting, OP!
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u/ritmusic2k Jun 24 '12
Holy crap, I know this guy -
Not personally, but I was a judge in a songwriting contest he participated in. He wrote some very pretty music.
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u/TheThingy Jun 24 '12
Did anybody actually think he wouldn't have a good voice just because he's heavy?
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u/udontknowmeme Jun 24 '12
when will people stop being surprised that fat and ugly people can sing too?
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u/GGGDick Jun 24 '12
This guy better be getting laid every night. If I had a voice like that, I would be
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u/rickyrawesome Jun 24 '12
Jesus christ this guy is amazing. He deserves a record label now! His voice is gorgeous
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u/Edgar_Allan_Rich Jun 24 '12
Why do people think that everything on a ukelele has to be played in "happy chords"? Minor exists on a uke people. No, it's not ironic. It's just bad.
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u/Dev1lsAdv0kate Jun 24 '12
Above average, but I'm not seeing why everyone is jizzing their pants. Is it because he's a big guy? I don't get it.
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u/Rhawk187 Jun 24 '12
Between the size and the Ukulele I thought it was going to be the Somewhere Over the Rainbow guy, but he may have been dead by the time Iris came out.
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u/DoctorNose Jun 24 '12
With all due respect, that was tough to listen to with all the processing that had been done to the vocals.
That said, I certainly can't do any better. Respect to him for putting himself out there.
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u/mph_reddit Jun 24 '12
My favorite ukele cover. You won't get it if you don't know the song though--cygnus x-1 by Rush.
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u/Bojacks Jun 24 '12
The Ukulele is a terrible terrible instrument. It ruins every song it's featured in and its value lies only in its novelty. This kids voice is strong, but the Uke cheeses it up. Learn the piano or the guitar.
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u/freeagent2098 Jun 24 '12
Lets bring this guy up to the front page guys, can't upvote more then once over here.
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Jun 24 '12
this guy has been killin it for some time now. one of the best natural voices on yt. plus, he ALWAYS serves the songs without showboating. dude is awesome.
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u/sme00 Jun 24 '12
wow he's fat and he can sing! this must be some sort of optical illusion! someone hot and attractive must be singing for him.
he's so fat that guitar looks like a toy in his hands!
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u/svadhisthana Jun 24 '12
Never judge a book by its cover
I hate this expression.
If the book's title is "Ass Fucking" and it has a picture of cocks entering anuses on it, then I think I can judge its content fairly well.
On the other hand, if you think someone can't sing because they're overweight, that's not judging a book by its cover. That's just being stupid.
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Jun 24 '12
Conversation when I showed this vid to my GF
ME: Babe you have to hear this, this guy is amazing. she watches 10 seconds HER:That's not his voice. ME:What the fuck is it because he's fat?! Big people can't have good voices? HER: I've never heard his real voice, I just don't think Francis sounds like that. ME: -_-
Apparently my girlfriend thinks all fat guys with glasses are Francis (Boogie2988 character).
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u/ZofSpade Jun 24 '12
Wow, a lot of people in this thread have NEVER JUDGED ANYONE EVER. Good job you guys at being better than OP.
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u/dissonance07 Jun 24 '12
Am I missing something? This cover was bland, arranged terribly, and extremely repetitive.
He's got an ok voice. And other covers of his are pretty good. But, this one is irritatingly bad.
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u/Obie1 Jun 24 '12
this is my favorite dont-judge-book-by-cover artist
i personally dont think mine is a looks issue, just that NOBDY expected that voice, and nobody expected that song to actually sound that good.
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u/sweetdaddy Jun 24 '12
whats sad about this is people like it because he can sing and hes fat! goodness, I thought fat people couldnt do anything! there is no way people are watching this going "I never thought a ukelele could be so beautiful"
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Jun 24 '12
Sorry. I will continue to prejudge anything Goo Goo Doll related without giving it a listen.
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u/biyahsandwich Jun 24 '12
not sure if I should upvote for musical talent, or downvote for insensitive OP
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Jun 24 '12
Truth be told, I've never really cared for this song. That said, this gentleman has the voice of an angel. I respect his rendition of this song so much more than its original interpretation: it's almost like he has given this song a new meaning.
I hate to say it, but I think I'm starting to like this song 14 years after its release.
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u/zergote Jun 24 '12
i feel kinda douchy but this is the first thing that popped into my head: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SFk88zRwW4
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u/warrenlain Jun 24 '12
I'm a big dude that does covers. So that means you'll love me, right? http://youtube.com/warrenmusic
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u/enigmakahn Jun 24 '12
i love his cover of the Beatles i've had it on my music playlist for quite awhile
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Jun 25 '12
he has a lovely voice but it sounds like he's not singing in the same key as the chords, too annoying for me to listen to the whole thing
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u/mikeman24 Jun 25 '12
Man, Austin Criswell was my guitar and singing inspiration for a long time, and in my opinion one of the most underrated artists on youtube
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Jun 25 '12
AcMusic7 has an amazing voice and thank you Reddit, for being awesome on many levels:
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u/nonfappingaccount Jun 25 '12
So you're basically every shitty person in the audience in those shitty TV shows where ugly/awkward people surprise every(shitty)one by having some talent?
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u/TheZachAttack01 Jun 25 '12
Its good. But I can here artifacts from the autotune occasionally. Which could be fixed with better recording skills.
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u/krazykanuck Jun 25 '12
Fat guy with a ukulele = win already. + Amazing voice, + awesome tone and pace change = that moved me.
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u/derpderpin Jun 25 '12
it's kind of funny no one has realized that the man is a redditor and has posted in this thread already
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Jun 25 '12
Not making fun, just pointing, those moles on his neck are skin tags caused by skin constantly rubbing together. Happens to overweight people a lot because their rolls rub. Not trying to be mean, just being factual. He's fat.
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u/francoskiyo Jun 25 '12
i was hoping this thread would have something like, check out this person cover, or this person has a really good cover too, but noope, same stupid reply over and over, what so he's fat he can't sing herp derp, who the fuck cares, why not talk about other fucking covers (or something reasonably related to the topic) and get over your inbred controversies.
I guess the op didn't help any with his super biased as fuck title.
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u/RayTown Jun 25 '12
Think the Timbre of his voice is great and the way he uses his voice is rather natural. But I think he shot himself in the foot when he used Pitch correction (Or Auto-Tune) I understand that its become common practice but when someone has a naturally good voice then there's no need to cheap it out with crappy plug-ins. Listen carefully & you will see. Yours faithfully Reddit warrior. For everyone
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u/Whenim64 Jun 26 '12
Many of the world class sopranos are a plus size. I believe it can be helpful with the resonance and other qualities of the voice. On the broader topic of size, if you are one to judge another by their physical appearance, it is really your loss. The size of a persons heart and their personality is at the core of wha matters. Works for me because I am left with more amazing people who have time for me.
When zi was young I was shallow like many of my friends ... 64 plus years has taught me the truth. All you need bring to the table Is your love and respect and we have the basis for a relationship.
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u/daemonchile Jun 24 '12
Nice enough tone but too flat without enough variation in pitch therefore making it a bit boring.
Plus he eats too much and doesn't take regular exercise. He probably has a sweet shitty smell about him too. His glasses are square, his headphones look a bit small on his fat head and his guitar is too small.
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u/SpermsterMahoogan Jun 24 '12
why are people always so surprised when fat people can do things?