HIStory tour live vocals

[fraroc04]

I'm sure the MJ fanbase is aware of the bombshell that dropped this year about the HIStory tour, usually maligned for Michael and his band using backing tracks instead of live vocals and instrumentation. As it turns out, thanks to a recent soundboard recording that surfaced of the Munich 97 show, Michael was actually singing live over the backing track with his live vocals being made inaudible, and it's possible he did this for the entire HIStory tour.

Now I'm not going to lie, he sounded pretty rough in Munich. Especially during Beat It (which being done live in the original key, mind you) where he was practically screaming the verses. However I find the idea that he was singing live over the tracks the whole time instead of outright faking singing is pretty interesting. I'd love to one day, hear the live vocals of a HIStory tour show where he wasn't sick.

 

[ZeconMusic]

...and his band using backing tracks instead of live vocals and instrumentation.

I always find this comment baffling. Why do people seem to think the HIStory band do not play live? Naturally, there are some elements on playback, but most of these are the sequences directly ripped from those they had set up for the Dangerous tour. Other than that, the band plays everything right there and then. This Is It on the other hand...

 

[dethorro]

I'm sure the MJ fanbase is aware of the bombshell that dropped this year about the HIStory tour, usually maligned for Michael and his band using backing tracks instead of live vocals and instrumentation. As it turns out, thanks to a recent soundboard recording that surfaced of the Munich 97 show, Michael was actually singing live over the backing track with his live vocals being made inaudible, and it's possible he did this for the entire HIStory tour.

I still can’t understand why this was seen as such a bombshell. I thought it was common knowledge among fans that Michael sang live underneath the playback.

Michael Prince had revealed this back in 2017, and there were snippets which leaked during the Bad 25 campaign, of Michael singing Bad live underneath the playback at Wembley.

But then again, if one doesn’t understand the concept of multitracking, one probably can’t get one’s head around the fact that Michael’s live vocals, which the audience didn’t hear, could have been recorded.

 

[fraroc04]

I still can’t understand why this was seen as such a bombshell. I thought it was common knowledge among fans that Michael sang live underneath the playback.

Michael Prince had revealed this back in 2017, and there were snippets which leaked during the Bad 25 campaign, of Michael singing Bad live underneath the playback at Wembley.

But then again, if one doesn’t understand the concept of multitracking, one probably can’t get one’s head around the fact that Michael’s live vocals, which the audience didn’t hear, could have been recorded.

Maybe people have said that about the Bad and Dangerous tours, but it was widely considered until a few months ago that the HIStory tour was MJ miming to a track. Especially given the fact that his live vocals were made completley inaudible to the audience save for adlibs.

 

[fraroc04]

I always find this comment baffling. Why do people seem to think the HIStory band do not play live? Naturally, there are some elements on playback, but most of these are the sequences directly ripped from those they had set up for the Dangerous tour. Other than that, the band plays everything right there and then. This Is It on the other hand...

I've noticed that when it comes to songs like Scream, TCDAU, Stranger in Moscow, Dangerous, Black or White, and even TWYMMF, it really does seem like only Sugarfoot and Jennifer Batten are the ones playing live and all the bass and keyboard parts appear to be ripped right from the album version, unlike the Bad and Dangerous tours where it was almost entirely live instrumentation with a few sampled bits here and there.

 

[ZeconMusic]

I've noticed that when it comes to songs like Scream, TCDAU, Stranger in Moscow, Dangerous, Black or White, and even TWYMMF, it really does seem like only Sugarfoot and Jennifer Batten are the ones playing live and all the bass and keyboard parts appear to be ripped right from the album version, unlike the Bad and Dangerous tours where it was almost entirely live instrumentation with a few sampled bits here and there.

The HIStory tour techs and Brad and Isaiah were evidently much better at sound selection than the other bands then There is a hell of a lot still played live in most of the stuff you have listed, but I'll break it down song by song. If you just want a tl;dr though: they do play live.

A lot of Scream's wild percussion and sample effects is on playback, of course. Jennifer does the guitar part that is plastered in effects that is usually quite loud, but David does play too. If you listen here in Auckland, the loud guitar in this clip is David.

Spoiler: David's Guitar in Scream

The main distorted Korg WS keys sound from the album is indeed on playback, however this is also doubled live, just usually very quietly. If you listen to Brunei's instrumental of Scream, they have the multitrack one turned way down and Isaiah's turned up high so you can hear the sound properly. I actually find the sound they use on the HIStory tour much more pleasing than the one on the album. The synth bass is live.

Spoiler: Isaiah's Keys Scream

TDCAU naturally has most of the percussion on playback, but the keys sounds throughout are mostly live. You must remember that Brad did most of the main keys on the original song, and he uses a lot of those same sounds live. They even double the fast sequenced lick from the album live.

Stranger in Moscow is a similar example of playing things live but using the same sounds.

Dangerous in all of its forms an all tours is pretty much entirely playback (and why I don't like it live!!!), but Brad does play piano in the choruses and Isaiah has a synth pad in the same section and doubles the orch hits throughout.

Black or White has the signature guitars on playback, but Jenn doubles these and David adds extra licks throughout too. The keys and synth bass in this are entirely live other than the sequenced part in the middle section when Michael runs over to the fan.

It's a similar case with TWYMMF, pretty much all live keys. Horns, strings, stabs, solo, etc all played live. The bass is half-live, half-playback. The album bass of TWYMMF is made up of two sounds, a driving single-note bass and a percussive pattern. The percussive part is on playback, but the main synth part is played live. You can hear this well in Brunei too. The BAD tour actually has the most on playback for TWYMMF.

Spoiler: TWYMMF Bass