Are my missing something? There was discussion about the Michael Buble arrangement of Save The Last Dance For Me in another thread. Donny posted it....I listened to it....I read his bio on Wiki. I listened to his Sway, All I Do Is Dream Of You, and Save the Last Dance. I’m not impressed. I’ve heard his name bandied about for years, this is my first listen and I was very disappointed!

He picks really good songs to do, but....he’s NOT a singer, he’s a stylist. Are my correct? In the three songs I listened to, there wasn’t a hint that he could sustain a long note and hold it. Maybe in his other 1000 songs he’s done, but I didn’t hear it in these three.

Even as a song stylist, he has no "trademark" personality in his music. I mean, when you heard Elvis, or Englebert, or Tom Jones, you knew who you were listening to!

Also the production! How did they let those three songs go out with the orchestra overpowering the vocalist? Or is that to cover up/enhance his singing?

The one thing I was really knocked out with were the arrangements. Some of the best I’ve ever heard! Does anyone know anything about who’s doing his fantastic backing? I’d buy his album, not for the singing, but for the music they wrapped around him.

So maybe I’m comparing him too much to the master, Frank Sinatra, but....why not? There was the benchmark everyone should be matched against. The man could do arrangements just in his head....sing whatever he felt......do anything with that golden voice of his....including sustaining a note!

I’m really not understanding this new breed of vocalists who are piling up awards?

Now before anyone goes into “defense of Michael Buble,” I’m not saying I don’t think he’s any good. I AM saying, from what I've heard so far, he doesn’t sound to me like any more than a good “night club” act.

So, please, fill me in on what I’m missing? I’m looking forward to your assortment of assessments!

P.S. I’ve been thinking since Ron (musicforyourday) posted about what HE'S doing, that THERE is the way to hit it big in entertainment these days. Take those great “singable” songs from over the years and bring them back to life with arrangements like Buble has!

Mark

Over compression and smart (light) auto tune is obvious in his songs.

"Vanilla" is still the most popular flavor ice-cream...Toyota Camry is still one of the best selling cars. Neither are the most "exciting" but they are tried and true.

Combine that with the old saying, "People may not know what they like, but they like what they know."

Buble presents familiar material in a very palatable format for what I call, the "common ear".

As Mark said above, "He picks really good songs." They are "old reliables", and he (or his manager) knows his target audience very well and gives them what they know.

Just my 2 cents.

Ian

I don't dislike him.

I sing over his arrangements in my Karaoke show for a fresh take on old standards. It goes over very well. Like you say, the arrangements are terrific. As for his singing, I think he is good, but not terrific, also.

who are we to judge?

Do you think he preordained by a higher power? Of course I can judge, like everyone else.

I was sort of amazed when Buble exploded onto the scene. Like he came from nowhere as the latest greatest. I totally agree his music is much better than his singing. I remember hearing he was the next Sinatra. That idea quickly faded.
The guy who I think could of been the next Sinatra and I'm a little dissappointed in is Harry Connick who really has some talent. He started out great with his big band, then changed gears to a small New Orleans Funk group and then decided he'd rather be an actor. I've seen him a few times and his first shows were the best. All that said who am I to knock success, just my opinion.

He and/or his managers must be pretty savvy in the world of music. They pick the right songs for the audiences they target, the arrangements are incredible, and they obviously, sell a lot of songs. As to his vocals, they're smooth, even and consistently good. On stage, he has a lot of charisma, interacts well with his audiences, and always looks good for the ladies, something I feel is paramount for his type of entertainment. It's similar to the same thing Rod Stewart did when he decided that after cancer surgery for his throat to bring back the standards. IMHO, Rod Stewart has a lousy voice, even prior to his surgery, but I would sure love to have the income from his standards album sales.

Cheers,

Gary

Bob Rock produced his current album as well as several songs off of his previous albums. David Foster produced the majority of Buble's work. Two major music producers with serious track records.

Buble may not be your cup of tea but he's generic enough to cross multiple music genres and is fairly personable. Two factors that have helped him sell millions of albums worldwide. It didn't hurt that David Foster backed him financially. Both Canadians I might add.

Foster has " fostered" numerous Canadian acts to great success. Celine Dion being most notable.

I'm with you Bill- I liked Harry Connick Jr. but he seemed to fall off the face of the earth after he did some work on Broadway following his popular recordings. Michael Buble has simply taken the spot. But I won't comment on his talent- there but for the grace of God go I...

So- who's next to be knocked off the pedestal boys? Not sure where that comes from- bitterness, professional (or not) jealousy, lack of self confidence, or maybe none of these ; rather simply stating an opinion and soliciting others. I'm done with it myself..

I did "Home" like his arrangement. When I listen to me and then him, I realize why he is where he is

He Work with David Foster one of the Big time producers in the business he is his son in law that helps I think buble is creative he has great arangements he is a Berkle school of music Grad so he is no hack his timing was very good for the sound her produces

it fit my style of performance I am also a big fan of the Rod Stewart Great Amercian Song book I do many of there Arang and people love them.

Mark... if this is your first exposure to Micheal Bublé, and you have heard the name for years, you aren't really listening to much, are you?!

Whether you like him or not, staying on top of who is new, who is hot, who is not, is part of being a musician and entertainer. This guy has been big for six to eight years, and you are only just listening?

Sinatra is dead. Get over it. If everyone is benchmarked against the greatest that ever lived, and discarded if not the equal, well, all there is is Sinatra, maybe Bennett, and Ella. I'm not sure I want to go through life listening ONLY to them!

Not to mention, if you or I get compared to the greatest that ever lived, we're going to come up pretty short too, aren't we? LOL

All Sinatra was was a great nightclub act before he became the sensation. And, to be honest, without the well orchestrated Bobby-Soxer teen hysteria for him during the 40's, he might never have become who he ended up as. You are rushing to judgement in the first few years of his career, as many did on Sinatra during his early days (not all his press was good!).

Given the musical scene these days, to have ANYONE appeal to the young with hip, masculine jazz is a miracle beyond what Sinatra achieved... at least he didn't have hip-hop, cell phones and a generation of short attention span idiots to work with. People LISTENED to music back then!

So far, it seems you are far more interested in letting us know what you DON'T like (or have a high regard for). How about finding something contemporary to let us know what you DO like (so we can all tear it apart!)? Mind you, that would mean actually LISTENING to modern music, which you appear not to do much of, if this is the first time you have given Bublé a try!

Harry's a riot...lots of talent and GREAT in person.

Never got Michael, but most of the comments about what's familiar are "right on" in my mind.


Russ

Diki....I’m convinced by now that you can’t sleep at night unless you find someone or something to tear apart. Do you study the art of “scrutinizing posts” until you can find something wrong to write about....or does it come naturally to you?

Now, to respond to what you said....I never bothered to listen to Michael Buble because I never heard reports that he was “hot!” Popular, yes....but no big headliner like Lady GaGa, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Bieber, Kanye, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Pitbull, and of course, our very own....Gary!

Further....are my in tune with what’s on the scene these days? I’ve only been a professional disc jockey (and a Karaoke artist) since 1995. I think that qualifies me....don’t YOU think?

And, further, if you think it’s easy balancing your practice hours between the live music and what you need to know to DJ properly, try it sometime. They’re two completely different animals. I can guarantee you'll no longer have the time to run posts like this through the grinder any more!

Frank Sinatra.......I never really went out of my way to listen to him. But the more I hear today's artists, the more I realize that man was top of the line talent. His interpretation alone is unmatched by anyone today!

What do I like nowadays? .....mostly none of it. I tolerate today's music is what I do. When I have to play it, I think about something else while the song is spinning....pizza, my vacation, getting my oil changed, what's on Turner Classic Movies tonight.

But mostly I think about how can I write the perfect SynthZone post! One that Diki can go over with a magnifying glass and not find something to b___ about!

Mark

Are you actually comparing him to Justin Bieber??

I took Mark's comment to mean 'popularity wise', not 'talent wise' ...

I enjoy watching/listening to Michael Buble ... is he the greatest singer ever? ... maybe not, but then I don't know who is ... but I think the guy can swing a tune, sing a nice ballad, and mostly, have people enjoy his performance ... what I DO know is that many of us here would give our right (or left) testacle to do what he is doing ...
and let us not underestimate the musical talent and capabilities of some of these entertainers ... it was around the late 60's when I was at the Steel Pier in Atlantic city NJ ... I heard some music and walked into the big 'concert' hall where a big band was rehearsing ... a short time later Frank Sinatra JUNIOR came on stage and starting rehearsing with the band ... after a while the music director comes in with charts for the entire band and says to Jr "this song is on the top of the charts' we should include it in the show -the song was "Up, Up and Away" by the 5th Dimension ... he hands out the charts and the guys start 'fiddling' around with the tune while Jr is going over the lyrics ... a few minutes later the conductor has the band run through it - like they were playing it for years - as Jr was listening and looking at the score ... when they finished, Jr says "saxophones, 4 bars after letter such and such you are playing a B - make it a Bb ... that changed my impression that Jr was only making it on his father's coat tails ...

Michael Buble`

Thanks, Donny. I actually like the guy. Can I say that on here?

Well I liked the guy and his singing until I attended his show

at an outdoor gig in Dublin 2010.

It was a beautiful summers evening, the burger stalls and beer

stalls were doing great business to a very happy crowd of

people. The promoters did great work with layout of the seating( football pitch covered over with plastic), the stewards were showing people to their seats in a friendly manner etc.

I was looking forward to a great evening,then the show started.

He started with the excellent band with a very appropriate

number " Call me irresponsible".

To be honest, he was half singing the song and seemed to be

fooling around with the band with "in jokes". This carry on

continued for awhile then he connected with young kids with

their Mums and Dads in the front row and they were brought on the big video screens by his videomen"one each side".

I might sound like a killjoy but this all happened in the first

twenty minutes and the audience were "straining at the leash"

waiting to hear this great singer.

I was hurt and embarrassed as I had two people with me, whom I

had told about this great singer.


I noticed some people leaving in discust, apparantly walk outs

are common at his shows and he dosent care

IMO He is a slightly older version of Justin Beiber mentality

wise and a reasonable singer/ performer. Having said all this. he packed 40,000 in to Aviva stadium in Dublin a year later, a lot of people like him.

Frank

How many Grammy's do you have to win before you put an artist up there with Justin Bieber, Mark? LOL

And trust me, I don't have to work even the slightest to find the ridiculous here, and reply to it! You aren't exactly making it hard.

How old are you, Mark, to be able to say 'I never really went out of my way to listen to Sinatra'? What planet are you on?

Diki.....how old are my? I'm old enough to have left behind my adolescent/grammar school days years ago where you went out of your way to be the class clown and bothered everyone else in a group.

Now, what on Earth has this reply of yours got to do with my topic? If you have to reply, say something even remotely connected to it, would you? Fact is, I'd rather you stay out of my thread if you can't say something nice or, at least, something constructive. Fact #2 is, when YOU decide you want to exercise your usual "disruptive methods" in someone's post, the thread immediately goes South....so South one has to look for it in Antarctica!

Now you're a very smart man when it comes to music matters....so smart I sometimes envy you with all that knowledge you have. Then I think how you act like a kid most times and I wouldn't trade places with you for a Harley Davidson motorcycle, the Congressional Medal of Honor, and 10 free Mambo lessons.

In short, grow up and do your mumbo-jumbo in someone else' threads, would you please? My topic was extremely important to me as it's given me some ideas on how maybe to get back into playing again. That's what's important to me right now...not the verbal sparring you seem to love to do. The last I looked, the SynthZone is a place where one can genuinely share ideas, thoughts and questions about music matters.....I don't believe it's a place for people looking to "rumble!"

Mark

Mark, forget this whole thread. With your talent and ability, getting back into performing is a no-brainer. It's what you want to do, and you excel at it.
You need a shove in the right direction? Here it is--go for it.
DonM

Mark ... as Don said "go for it" ... I've said before that when I moved to RI I left 26 great years of playing music with the same guys ... not having that 'security blanket' I did not play a gig for 7 years, until my wife gave me the push to do it because she knew how much I missed it ... I WASTED 7 years of playing time ...
Get out there NOW !!! ...

As for MB, I have to say I'm a fan. I've never been to his live shows but I do have several concert DVDs and recordings. I admire anyone that can perform both the old standards and also more modern sounding music too. He sounds authentic in both styles. I'm thankful that he's keeping the Great American Song Book alive.

Maybe some of his material will become standars in the future. I think there is even a Korg style called "Home". There must be lots of guys covering that tune.

LOL... a topic entitled 'So what’s your opinion of Michael Buble?' is your idea of a deep and important topic, possibly affecting your decision to continue making music as a career? Keep them coming, I need this daily laugh.

Now, maybe I should not respond to someone that apparently can't remain on topic without getting personal and quite nasty, but what the hell... you opened the lid to this cesspool..!

Truth is, you don't want ANYONE disagreeing with you. Apparently, that's all it takes for you to consider it 'disruptive'. Sometimes, 'constructive' isn't necessarily what you want to hear. Spend less time agonizing about what others are doing musically, and decide for YOURSELF what you want to do, then do it..! Do you think for one second I really give a rats about what anyone is doing in contemporary music, or whether it should have the slightest impact on whether I want to perform or not?

A musician is simply THAT... If you want to waste your time (and ours) agonizing over whether you should play or not, then I'm sorry. I'd have to say you aren't one.

... hmmmm ... does anyone have that style ... BTW, (to add fuel to the fire ) Blake Shelton did a nice job of that song as well ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkoT1nZOexY

Hi Tony, the style is on the KMA in the 8/16 Beat 2 bank. It's called "Home Beat". Sounds like a good fit to MB song "Home" to me. Is this style on your PA 600?

If you had a Yammie I could send you a half-dozen styles for that song.

Gary

duplicate post

Roland also has a style for Home.
DonM

Diki……..are you aware you have “anger” problems? I’m wondering what kind of music a person makes who carries “anger problems” like you seem to?

I also suspect you have mental issues that you, yourself are probably already aware of. You seem to function in two modes:

Mode 1: musical genius with a working knowledge of just about everything on the planet and who willingly passes that info on to others

Mode 2: a loose cannon who roams the Earth looking for openings where he can either instigate or aggravate (or both)

If you’re looking to “rumble” I would suggest you join the Jets as a cast member in the next production of West Side Story. Maybe even the WWW (World Wrestling Federation). Possibly you could train to become a Kamikaze pilot?

Until I hear otherwise from Nigel, I will continue to believe that the SynthZone is a place to share and support musical issues and have productive discussions. And that it is a group created for dedicated musicians interested in furthering their musical aspirations. And that those who are not interested in furthering their own or another members musical aspirations, should refrain from posting negative and insulting comments...and, in particular, should refrain from interfering in legitimate topics by inserting idiotic and child-like comments.

In short, shape up or ship out (of my posts). I don’t do them to keep you on life support!

Mark

Nice try, Don, but unfortunately I have this bad habit of not "standing down" particularly with people I find obnoxious!

But, thanks trying to sober me up. And...for the encouragement. It means a lot coming from you...who I consider a good friend, a first class musician and, more important, a gentleman. Not to mention you have good posture too!

Now........I didn't actually give up music.....I gave up playing to audiences. I still practice like the Devil every day but just for myself. What I gave up was playing those gigs that were becoming "difficult" and "depressing" (which was all of them).

But, seriously, for some reason Ron's post about switching from doing gigs to doing stage shows started this whole thing off for me.

That part about the "Sway" MIDI file he was using as backing that replicated the Buble version (and probably also the Pussycat Dolls version) just hit me a certain way. It was that great arrangement. It really moved me. That's how I want to get back into playing again. Doing shows this time around like Ron is doing. And.....using that PA3 that I bought that I've been using as an ironing board since I got it. And, maybe working on "great arrangements" myself on that "ironing board."

Now...with the positive attitude that folks like you and Tony M and others in the group have about playing music, I'm sure I'll find a way to get out there on the front lines again. After all the worst gig in the world is still better than driving a taxicab in NYC or slinging french fries and fatburgers in some fast food restaurant!

Mark

I've never really understood how a song is put together in a studio.

Can anyone tell me.....a song like this "Sway" how does it come together in a studio?

A producer puts the whole package together. Does he also have a hand in the musical arrangement?

I watched a documentary once about recording in a studio. It said they start with a "sketch," then maybe a bass line, some rhythm tracks, add a basic melody line, improvise fill-in' here and there, add and subtract instruments as they go along, process sounds, and they have a whole team of musicians working on one song taking it apart and putting it back together again until it sounds "right." Is that somewhat of a loose description of how it's done?

Up until then, I thought a song was written and just played and recorded in a studio....that most everything was done by the songwriter. So.....who are the key players in a studio (their titles) that make the music itself happen......put a song together and make a finished product? Who actually does the arrangements?

Probably easier to say.......what's everyone's role in the production of a record.

BTW I always thought the Four Seasons backgrounds were also top notch in almost every song they did.

Or, is there a website that explains all this? I could easily buy into trying my hand at working on good arrangements instead of good playing. This Sway arrangement really motivated me for some reason.

Mark

Maybe SemiLive (Bill) will see this post. He is in Nashville working with some of the best musicians and arrangers in the world. He says they can make him sound fantastic, instead of just really good! Sure hope he's right. He's spent a lot of time and money pursuing his dream, and we never know until we give it all we have.
He has put a few observations on his Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/billpittman?fref=ts
DonM

Don ... thanks for that info about Bill ... funny, I was thinking about him the other day and was going to ask where he has been ... I wish him every success ...
Plus, the more money he has, the more you can win on the golf course ...

Take a look in that mirror, Mark... the only one here showing anger management issues is you.

And sorry, but if you consider your posts here a 'a place to share and support musical issues and have productive discussions' perhaps you'd like to discuss your last couple of posts with our admin? Take a look at the second sticky on our front page...

"Please discuss topics in a civil manner or move on"

Time for you to move on. Utterly obvious you cannot adhere to this.