What you're not meant to hear in songs...

[SckizoBoy]

Ehm... yeah, so on my way back from work, I was listening to my favourite singer, and I noticed something... her breathing.

Does it bother you in the songs you listen to if/when you can hear the singer taking a breath for the next line of the lyrics at all?

What about when you're listening to keyboard music and you can actually hear the player's fingers hitting the keys?

etc.

 

[DugMachine]

Oh goodness yes. I'll listen to a song I've heard a million times before and hear something new and then I can't get it out of my head. Usually that whistle people sometimes do when they say S-words. Most guitar songs are so distorted you can't really hear the picking but in acoustic songs I can hear it but I enjoy it. Tiny layer of percussion if you want to see it that way.

The S whistle thing really drives me insane when I hear it though.

 

[TheFunPolice]

As Dug just mentioned, I love the percussive sound of acoustic guitars in the background of recordings

I can't think of much else that I tend to pick up on...I love it when songs have several other really quiet little things going on in the background, which you'd never hear when you first listen to it. Such as a little solo guitar riff, that just plays unbelievably quietly in the background

I love those little things

 

[MintberryCrunch]

There's a song by Between the Buried and Me which I forget on the album Alaska where the singer is really obviously taking breaths inbetween the lines, but it makes it sound so much more raw, I kind of like it. It'd be annoying in less distorted, crazy songs though I imagine.

 

[Fractral]

Sometimes when I listen to the rammstein song 'mann gegen mann' I swear I can hear a high pitched breathing sound at around a minute in. I've no idea whose it is, cause the lead singer has a really deep voice. I dunno if it is his voice or something else, or just a glitch with my copy. Never really bothered to check, and I'm not watching that music video again. Its... pretty disgusting.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

It would depend on how pronounced it is. Like if it was really really pronounced like they had their mouth too close to the mic while recording then yeah that'd be irritating, but otherwise no.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

I was listening to the Beetles and I was quite put off when I heard one of them laugh in the background...

 

[JochemHippie]

Listen to Muse.

After. Every. Fuckin' Line.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

It can seem a little odd if I think about it too much; in a lot of sections during Opeth's Damnation album you can hear the sound of his fingers sweeping up and down the fret board in between notes, a prominent example being @4:45-5:50 on the track below:


It seemed a tad incongruous at first, but it's nothing so conspicuous as to abate my enjoyment of that lovely bluesy solo. Not too much of a big deal in this instance, but I suppose it varies depending on how frequent/conspicuous/obnoxious of a distraction it is.

 

[Jazoni89]

I quite like it, as it's a strip back to a basic style of production which makes the song seem more natural.

I find that a lot of 60's album are like that, I guess they didn't have the technical means to brush up the production on things like breathing, and chord moving.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I find certain background instramentals can get really distracting once I notice them. For better or for worse.

For better:


In the first verse around 30 seconds in there's an awesome guitar accompaniment that I honestly didn't notice the first 40 times I listened to it.

For worse:


I only just noticed this today, but once the main part of the song comes in around 35/40 seconds there's this obnoxious two note repeat of a brass instrament I think going on in the background.

Song ruined. GG

 

[Bobic]

Listen to Muse.

After. Every. Fuckin' Line.

This guy speaks the truth.

I never noticed it myself, and then one of my friends pointed it out to me. And then, for ages, all I could focus on was Matt's breathing. It was maddening.

 

[vun]

Well the first thing that comes to mind I don't think was a mistake, but after listening to a lot of the older Rise Against songs the sharp drumming competes far too much with the vocals that it just gets annoying.

As for something that I hope wasn't really meant to be noticed all that much; on Gives You Hell, most of you have probably heard it at least once, once you start noticing him breathing just at the end of every line it just gets incredibly annoying. And I say I hope it wasn't intentional because it could sound like it is and that's a terrible choice.

 

[Pinkamena]

In recordings of music performed by symphony orchestras, its sometimes recorded with an audience present. Every now and then you'll hear a muffled cough, whispers, footsteps, etc. It's a little annoying, but pretty cool at the same time, because you're reminded that this amazing piece of music you're listening to is actually performed by a bunch of people, not made on a computer.

 

[repeating integers]

Listen to Muse.

After. Every. Fuckin' Line.

It works though. Most of the songs from their first 3 albums sound vaguely psychotic in one way or another, the sharp, ragged breath intake just enhances the impression.

 

[AngloDoom]

Oh gods yes, it took me forever to get back into Muse after I heard Matt Bellamy breathing.

Also, I have a terrible habit of mishearing lyrics the first time around. When you hear the words "no marmosets" instead of "no promises" in a song, it's hard not to be completely knocked out of any mood you were getting into listen to it.

Song in question was by Incubus - Promises, Promises. Seriously, listen to the chorus and just think "marmosets" and it'll happen.

 

[MysticToast]

Listen to Muse.

After. Every. Fuckin' Line.

To be fair though, this was only prevalent in their first couple albums. But yeah, it is pretty annoying occasionally but I can deal with it because his voice makes up for it.

 

[bluepotatosack]

Doesn't bother me. I take it as a natural part of the performance.