Perfection or what is considered perfect is subjective. It's an absolute shame that this is happening and that the remaining members of Queen aren't trying to veto it. Perhaps they don't care.
@@rmoore1686 I don’t want perfect. It’s the imperfection that makes the voices and the songs great. Wait till they screw with Kurt Cobains voice. He sang off key on purpose in a few songs.
@@localbod I don’t know? Hope that is not the case. I thought they wanted to keep their legacy going. Maybe they think pitch corrected Freddie will appeal to a younger generation. I don’t understand for sure.
Old-school producer-engineer here - this video is SPOT-ON! The decision to pitch-correct Freddie was clearly made by someone with no soul and no sense. Someone who has no feel for real music should NOT be f***ing with it! I'm horrified - great job by Wings of Pegasus.
Hi, former producer-engineer here. The decision to pitch correct Freddie was made by people who want to sell old music to young people ear trained on pitch perfect vocals since birth. Kids simply have a much lower tolerance for out of tune vocals, exactly because they've been listening to autotuned vocals for as long as they live.
Are they insane?? Who could honestly think that putting Freddie's voice through auto tune or pitch correct would make it "better". We loved his voice right up to 91 ( and beyond ) when none of these corrective applications were available!! Sacrilege. Great video Fil, the disbelief in your voice is hard not to notice but justified.
I’m so glad you’re speaking out about this. I am sick of seeing (and hearing) this pitch correction epidemic spreading. It was astonishing how alien Freddy sounded with the pitch correction. It took away all of his inflection, as it does with every singer. 95% of a singer’s inflection lies in how they approach a note, what they do when they get there, and how they leave the note. Music is not just a sequence of notes, it’s emotion. A machine can never replicate that.
Fil, your "lowering" a bit the backing track to match Freddie's original vocal track is PRICELESS. I'm used to - and actually love - Freddie's "flat" vocals on this track, but now that you've made it right, I think it's another SPECTACULAR proof of how great Freddie was.
😢I am not Lord, but I am their old fan and do love Freddie's divine voice and really never forgive two "nice" guys! w0e be to them! They are involved! Two Betrayers of him & all of us!!! I h#$e them!!! The $hock must go on😢
Thanks for doing this Fil. I begged on Brian’s Instagram for the new release to not be pitch corrected (before the video was uploaded). Not that he would even see it or reply, but I just can’t believe how Brian and Roger would approve this. Its so upsetting
They sold their catalogue to Sony for 1 billion dollars. They're no longer in charge of what happens to it. It is upsetting, though, that they're talking about how great this release is. I wonder if a requirement for them to promote reissues was part of the deal with Sony?
Freddie stacked the harmonies on Bohemian Rhapsody almost 50 years ago, using talent alone. Changing anything he sang, it makes it someone else. If you fix Jimmy Page's sloppiness on the early albums, it makes it something else. It doesn't need fixing. It needs lovin.'
@@jessiem276 Yes, you do! You just don't know it, yet! It's SO exciting! Calm down, now! You ought to check out the VERY impressive A.I. things going on. Oh, boy...
You have become a powerful force against the greedy shenanigans (euphamism for criminal activity) of the music industry. There are lots of us that appreciate your knowledge and your efforts. Merci beaucoup.
"Displace one note and there would be diminishment", a quote from Amadeus. According to Reinhold Mack, Freddie saw that movie eight times. I can see why. Great job Fil. An experienced musician would've known what to do like you showed.
Wow, those philistines will ruin Freddie's legacy!! New listeners coming along now won't think he's anything special vocally, and that couldn't be further from the truth!! Keep doing what you're doing, Fil - not everyone can handle the truth, but it still needs to be told!
There is a new channel called Queen AI. It is mostly Freddie in AI videos, and the music is not Queens, but has been pitched corrected to sound like Freddie. Sad, as I think it makes a mockery of a talented band and it’s legacy.
Hold on to your CDs and vinyl. The library had them, too. Those are the only places I can hear the original Beatles recordings and the first CD mixes. .
I just recently put on The Beatles on Spotify, I first thought something was wrong with my ears or at least with my memory of how The Beatles sounded...
Uh, where are you getting this? The 2009 remasters of the original stereo mixes of the Beatles catalog are still readily available on most streaming services - right alongside the recent Giles Martin remixes of their later albums. And for those albums, the 2009 remasters are usually available under a "Other Versions" section beneath the newer remixes (except for Revolver and the White Album where it's reversed and features the remix in that section). I've checked each one on RUclips Music just to be sure and they're all there. Apple Records has been very good about preservation of that particular catalog and they've never had any intention of having Giles Martin's new remixes supplant his father's original mixes. The 2009 remasters of the UK catalog - which includes both boxsets of the original UK Stereo and Mono mixes - are also still readily available for purchase on Amazon. So, let's not panic. Capitol is even readying a new mono vinyl boxset for release in November of the US versions of their early albums complete with the original 1960's US mixes.
Yes. We have to buy anything you want to hear the original way - because anything on Spotify or anywhere you listen without buying will all be corrected to sound digitized & crappy but perfectly on the note.
I love that you jumped straight onto this within days of the song being released so we get your excellent analysis while we, as fans, are still fresh n our outrage as wht you rightly call sacrilige. Love your work Fil.
Get a grip. I'm a hardcore queen fan since 91 and couldn't care less. New material at last. If you dislike it, listen to the original or one of the remasters done when they were rereleased
Queen was “my band” growing up, the only one whose music I would purchase the day it came out. I missed their heyday by a decade but eagerly caught up. What I loved about their early stuff was its rawness and how much they did with so little studio gadgetry. Casual fans point to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but I encourage them to listen to Queen’s 1st and 2nd albums for examples of their true genius. I was excited when I heard a remaster was going to be available, but thanks to your video I have no intentions of purchasing it. I don’t even want to call it blasphemy, though it’s tempting. As dumb as it sounds, it makes me profoundly sad that they took something so pure from so long ago and turned into a slick, modern-day commodity. My hope is that it occurred without the endorsement of the band, but these are the same people who hired Adam Lambert to replace Freddie, which I will call blasphemy…so who knows. Thanks for exposing this.
I am curious...Do you know that all big and legendary singers that are still alive and record music use autotune/melodyne etc? I am sure you bought many albums with pitch correction without knowing. Great singers as David Coverdale, Ian Gillan etc use very much this because it is an industry standard! If Freddie would have been alive now he would have been using this technogy also.
@@codrutcroitoru Not disagreeing, but everything I’ve read and heard about classic bands indicates they did take after take of vocal tracks, then spliced them together into one pristine take. I was unaware that pitch correction existing in the ‘70s, the heyday of Queen. Not to mention, it’s the imperfection that made it raw. And I believe Queen themselves monkeyed with the pitch so Freddie could hit the notes on their last couple albums, but that’s to be forgiven with his medical issues. I hope and assume you agree that if / when Brian and Roger release an auto-tuned version of classic Queen albums, that’s when we know the apocalypse is nigh.
This is absolute madness !!!! It goes to show how important it is to have physical copies of the music we like instead of relying on the virtual libraries that the online services provide !!!!
Fil, I am so happy you got into this issue so quickly after the release of this song! I agree it is absolute sacrilege to touch Freddie Mercury's work in any way! I am furious, being a huge fan of Freddie! Excellent analysis video! You are a genius in how you brought this video together! This is just like Freddie Mercury dying all over again. Thanks for bringing this to us, Fil! 🎸💜
❤ Here, here. Education is the answer. I agree. ...I have to say, it's a lot worse than I thought, even when I was joking about it about 5 years ago. Liken to the film 'Idiocracy'. Throw in some thought police and Oh brother. 🎉
There has been a tsunami of dishonesty and fakeness in ALL walks of life over the last 15-20 years. It’s just grown more acceptable over the last 3-5 years. It’s in movies, acting, singing, dancing, politics, advertising, food, social media, etc. I think it’s impossible to fight it because it’s the new handicap, if you can’t hit it, then get a foot up. Now EVERYONE is using the equivalent of “steroids” in their given profession or pastime. Another great video, Fil. Thanks.
And another great comment........skilfully succinct and all-encompassing, you have managed to include the myriad ills plaguing this broken world in a way that compliments what Fil had to say..
@@chrisfromnoosa1905 likewise. I feel that most people deny this because it’s too scary to contemplate, and horrifying to accept. I wish I was less aware in these matters.
Because most people don't pick up on autotune. I can spot autotune a mile away, and this song was subtle enough that I didn't hear it except in a few spots which I think was correcting errors with the masters.
I'll never understand why RUclips and musical entities are so asinine about giving copyright strikes or blocking videos that are being used for analysis or educational purposes. I like your channel and have learned many things from watching your videos. Keep up the good work.
@@markorendas1423 Yeah, I know. But what I meant was it doesn't seem fair to those who use short clips for education, to get strikes but other channels might be showing the same videos in full (without permission) and nothing happens to them.
I totally understand your frustration with this now, Fil. That processing sound is so heavy on the new release and it really loses his personality. I wonder if with producers now it's a case of "when your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." Maybe producers now are just so used to using pitch correction and not doing anything else, not looking at things more creatively like you are able to, that all they can think to do is pitch correct it. It's a shame. Really well done on this, Fil!
Maybe they are so used to pitch correcting the artists who actually need it that they don’t remember what a good singer’s voice sounds like and so they do for everyone now. 😮
@@donnamorgantiderossette3693that take has a bit of “back in my day” rose coloured glasses on it. There *are* good new singers, they just also get auto tuned even if they don’t need it. Let’s not discount people because they weren’t around during bell bottoms or hair bands.
QPL (Queen Productions Limited) are the ones who add pitch correction to Freddie's voice, as they have added pitch correction to several official releases such as Rock Montreal, Live At The Rainbow, Hammersmith '75, etc. Brian and Roger make those decisions
Freddie said "Just don't make my music boring" this is making the music more acceptable to a generation that is used to autotune/pitch corrected voices, and does fix original mastering errors and or just aging of the original masters.
I was having fish and chips with my wife yesterday, and my wife asked what was wrong. I said ‘Listen to the music.’ I realised that all the background music was sung perfectly - every note was absolutely perfect. And utterly inhuman. Then in the middle they played Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. And I rejoiced in all the off-pitch notes, specifically from Kiki Dee. It was human! It was real! And then they went back to the pitch-corrected rubbish… You’re right Fil (as if I thought otherwise!) - it’s ALL pitch-corrected these days. No wonder a lot of us (ie I) prefer the older stuff performed by people, rather than computers. Thank you Fil!!
As a massive Queen fan, this saddens me greatly. Seemingly wanting to rewrite history (all the inaccuracies in the film) and now pitch correcting vocals, all in the name of money. I know the back catalogue has been sold for a huge sum, so I’m unsure who is authorising all this stuff. If it is Brian May and Roger Taylor, shame on them. Great work as ever, Fil. Keep doing what you’re doing.
I listen to Frank Sinatra all day and I love how he was not perfect which is what I love about his voice. It makes him so unique to me in that way. They better never pitch correct my Frank!!!
Why is it not illegal to say it's the original recording without making it clear that it's 'enhanced'! I can't and won't listen to pitch-corrected tracks as it really offends my ear! It's like the Mona Lisa as a paint by numbers.
I am not Lord, but I am their old fan and do love Freddie's divine voice and really never forgive two "nice" guys! w0e be to them! They are involved! Two Betrayers of him & all of us!!! I h#$e them!!! The $hock must go on😢
They're likely not in charge here. They likely get asked things like "Can we do a remaster of this song?" And the team responsible has probably been doing things like that for decades, so Queen just go "Alright then", cause they are busy enough. The team doing the remasters just have new tools to use and sometimes it's just distasteful use for the sake of using the new tech and being able to boast about it.
I agree. But the end of the day it is there own product goin out. And they should be saying or thinking on the final demo wtf is goin on on here You have over cleaned the mix up of the track song etc etc . Noway can we re-release that. Too complacent relying on others to take over.
Imagine taking great works of art, paintings, and if we had some AI laser repainting technology and we could straighten out their lines and make the colors a little different and a little brighter and just oh so subtly change the original artist work. Wouldn't that be amazingly stupid and horrifying and evil?😢😢
I mean, I compared it to that time they "restored" the Last Supper by painting on top of it. Sure, the colors and shapes looked brighter, but that wasn't Leonardo's work and everyone f*cking hated it, rightfully so.
Thank God I still have the original LP to listen too. I have never listened to that and thought, that could do with some pitch correction. Thanks for the video.
Sadly, the level of incompetence we're hearing here has spread to all industries. Incompetent corpo management hire the cheapest workforce possible, people with no imagination, no knowledge, no experience. Those of us who care are left heartbroken. 😔
I do get your point, but it's not always about the cheapest. In the case of big money, believe me they are not hiring the cheapest. They're hiring the best ones to follow the industry standards, and that's why music goes down. Inflation because of competition. There are many to blame. Consumers, we, as a mass. We don't stand up.
As a Queen fan, this makes me sad. Was waiting for your analysis on this one Fil! Pitch correction so not needed. Don’t even get me started on the AI at end of video. Can’t believe Brian & Roger agreed to this. If so, do they think by pitch correcting Freddie, it will appeal to younger people? Hope they never pitch correct Queens Live Aid performance. Yes, Freddie had voice issues, but it didn’t take anything away from their performance. Just made it more real. I seen & heard this on Queens Official , and knew what was coming! Thanks Fil for this one.
One of the greatest vocalists and performers and they pitch corrected it 😮 Surely the other band members haven't been made aware ? At least you're always real Fil 👍🏻
Of course they're aware. They are PROUD of it. Brian has made several recent posts about how the entire first album is going to be remixed so it "sounds the way they wanted it to sound" back then. They are fully aware and on board with all of this.
Freddie at Live Aid. Dr told him not to perform because of throat infection. Freddie may not have been 100% but still blew everyone away with stunning performance. I hope nobody gets their grubby little "correcting" fingers on that anytime soon!!!
I think that consistant "flat"/sharp is what makes that particular voice unique. You can't tell what it is by ear, just that it's a cool sound. Who the hell thinks its a good idea to mess with imperfect perfection????
Good reaction. Queen were very meticulous when recording, right from the off and after listening to all their albums from 1973, I've never heard anything from the band that would be 'out of key'. In fact, when you have multiple harmonies, it's the blend of minute pitch discrepanices that create a 'chorus' effect, which is pleasing to the ear. Which kids have asked for this, rather than have the original? None. There is also the issue that Brian and Roger (along with I believe three others) have remixed the first album to their liking. Bri and Rog are only half of the band. The drums although sounding well, are mixed too loud and they've added delay to Freddie's voice in certain parts. (Delay was available at the time, so if he'd wanted it on, that would have been an easy option for Roy Thomas Baker in 73) Some good reverb/echo send bits have also been taken out. All the first album needed was an artistic clean of the canvas, rather than adding new colours. I'll put money on Queen II receiving the same treatment and now Queen have sold their copyrights, get ready for some serious cash-grabs/liberties taken, for new fans. (They also cut out part of the intro where the Bass slides in....can't kids cope with a couple more bars?)
This is a tragic travesty! Freddie knew how to sing and never should have been pitch corrected! Somebody has taken serious liberties with the voice of a man no longer able to argue his corner. What on earth did Brian May and Roger Taylor think they were doing allowing this to happen, or don't they know about it? It is the official Queen channel so I would hope that they would have been aware of this and if so, shame on them!!!
I was just reading an official Queen announcement last week, and in it Brian was going on at length about how he and Roger (I’ll assume John was at least in approval) were so thrilled to finally be able to present their debut album as they’d always wanted it to sound in 1973. And I was absolutely looking forward to getting this release myself. He went on to say that they knew Freddie would be proud of this restoration, that couldn’t have been achieved until the present day with new technology (I’m sensing similarities with how Paul and Ringo were able to complete and release “Now And Then” last year). I cannot believe for an instant, that Brian or Roger would knowingly allow to have Freddie’s voice subjected to pitch correction. There was nothing wrong with Freddie’s vocals, nor was there anything wrong with the band’s performance. The issues were in the recording itself. And THAT’S what I believe Brian and Roger sought to correct with this release. At this point, I’m only hoping that this massive box set and other formats hasn’t yet gone to pressing, and that there’s still time for them to stop this travesty from happening.
I would say there are three people in this world who truly know how Freddies voice sounded like and two of them are involved in this project. Who knows what artifacts were added to Freddies voice during recording. For example tape wow and flutter cause pitch variations. I have listened to this song for 48 years and yes this one is different... Better? Well that's subjective but if two of the original band members are telling me this is what it should have sounded like then that is good for me.
I've been anxiously waiting for this new video of yours to come out. I'm actually becoming interested in the music of Queen just recently, because of your videos, and as a reaction to learning about the pitch correcting and autotuning, and wanting to get to know their authentic music before it's gone. Thank you for working to raise awareness of this issue in contemporary music.
Hi Fil, This was a cool analysis today! There is nothing quite as perfect as Freddy’s pure and natural voice! Thank you for bringing that to light. I found the what Freddy was actually hearing in his headphones and to what they pitch corrected him to was very interesting. I never thought about it that way, but it makes perfect sense! Nice job, hashing out all the details. You Are The Best! Debbie☮️
The music industry is shooting itself in the foot. They could sell MORE music if they offered a choice of "original" AND "pitch corrected". I don't understand what they are thinking by eliminating consumer choice.
@@CalJennings 🎯🎯 The music industry has always tried to tell people what to think. They're still at it. It's not about profit, it's all about control over tastes and thoughts.
You’ve done the only right thing. It should have been done this way and no other. The track shines and Freddie’s voice breathes. Thank you for this video
Hi Fil, it's a shame that producers pitch correct great artists' voices. I don't know why they think it makes their voices sound better. It makes their voices sound robotic and emotionless! Thank you for pointing all of this out to us! Congrats on getting another 1000 subscribers to your channel! You're the best! Rock!
Yeah, it's a shame. You want to know what is more of a shame? That real music lovers don't seem to care enough about what is happening to real music to do ANYTHING about it. Another day, another 1000 new subscribers to Fil's channel. And, yet, his vocal tuning petition languishes at just over 10,000 signatures. What is up with that? And, signing that petition is the absolute easiest thing for us to do. What saddens me to no end is the defeatist attitude of thinking there is nothing that we can do about any of this. :(
@elizabethmiller7291 Hi! Maybe if we can get everyone to share it, it might reach more people. Maybe we can get Fil to mention it again and ask everyone who hasn't signed the petition to sign it.
@@tammydoolittle6054 All of that will help and I have certainly been doing my part in that regard since the petition was started. However, as great a communicator, teacher and messenger as Fil is, he is going to need a lot of heavyweight help from prominent people in the music industry to lead the effort to change the practice of using pitch correction and/or auto-tune on the beautiful natural voices of our favourite and pitch-accurate artists of decades past. I remain hopeful that the side project Fil (and, Seal?) is currently working on will provide the very kind of push that we need to make this change happen. Fingers crossed!
@@elizabethmiller7291What petition? I've been a subscriber for a year or two now. If he talked about a petition, I've forgotten. Where should I go to see the petition?
I understand everything you are saying. I’ve been dreading this day I knew they would do it. They have no soul. Annoying as hell EVEN IF they think Freddie’s voice is not perfect… nothing is perfect ! I liken it to that movie ‘ Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ after the people are replaced by the perfect being in the ‘ pod’ . I feel like screaming but why bother 😓😥😰 This is evil. ( will they paint over the Mona Lisa ? Her smile is slightly crooked )
Totally feel your frustration… these amateurs, it’s horrible. What would be interesting to hear, something I haven’t seen you doing on your channel, is to play sections of a song together (the corrected and original version synchronized), so people can actually hear what you are showing them. You can instantly recognize how much tuning’s been done… Keep up your crusade!
"Gee, kids are really into vocaloids these days, how about we make Freddy Mercury sound like that. That will sell." - Some psychopath producer, probably
Keep going, Fil. Please!!! This needs to be in front of as many eyes as possible, as soon as possible. The eyes of Brian and Roger need to be on this, asap. They could set a huge precedent for artists fighting back against this kind of ignorant corporate attack. And again, awareness to all artists going forward - you MUST get in writing that this cannot be done to your work without your permission, and it cannot be done after you've passed on.
they are already in on it - they're PROUD of this remix. The entire first album is going to be remixed and released as "Queen 1". Brian has made the announcement that this is the first album 'the way they wanted it to sound'.... they are fully aware.
@@cathyshaw-kalloo237 Well, that's disappointing. I wonder if the auto tuning was part of the equation when he signed off on it. There's a lot of shady stuff going on behind artist's backs *after mixing and mastering* now. FWIW, I'm not against an artist making the choice to use auto tune... now. I'm very much against using it on music that has already lived a full life, a legendary life, of its own au naturale, and doing so w/o the consent of the person who did the singing.
Hello Fil. I just wanted to thank you. You are one of the extremely few musicians and youtubers out there who are keeping the art of music honest and real. You might not think what you are doing is a huge service, but I think history will prove otherwise. Keep making these videos and being a beacon of integrity for the future of music, because you are exactly that. Thank you, from one musician and music lover to another.
Great analysis Fil, I really enjoy your videos and have learned a lot about why I am having so much trouble connecting to new music that plays randomly over Spotify and I seem to be stuck with mainly loving the songs of my youth, not a terrible thing I guess. I've been a Queen fan from the start, not sure why they are allowing this to happen.
I was sent over her by the Queen subreddit. I actually think the pitch correction might have come from a mastering error or the tape was played at the wrong speed, so his voice was off slightly. Even then it was barely off that a non-engineer and most people won't pick up on it. When I listened to it, I think there is some pitch correction only in a few areas, but they did pitch correct it in a way that it preserved the integrity of the original track as his vibrato is still there. Now the only other thing I can think of which can be issues with pitch correction is that the tapes had degraded over time that when they released the 2011 tracks, I don't think they used the original masters but perhaps a copy that they retained or the label retained. It's entirely possible that when they revisited this recently that if they are working with the original master tapes that it might have had stick shed syndrome which the binders that hold the oxide layer to the plastic layer degraded, so it was screeching. What can result of this is the tape will play at the wrong speed. I actually worked on a mastering project of a album that was recorded in 1956 and had never been digitized except with a copy on 8-track and a vinyl record and after baking the tape I had to pitch correct the entire album and certain tracks actually were recorded incorrectly in the original master, so I had to pitch correct the voices either up or the instruments down, for simplicity sake and to save the family money, I pitched the voice up, and then used an EQ to make the voices sound a little more clearer in the mix. I think this could be the same result for Queen. They are after all working with 50 year old tapes,. and obviously they didn't have quite the same fidelity headphones or speakers that we have today, and with 32bit audio recordings you can get a result of hearing inconsistencies you wouldn't hear when it was originally mastered.
The best way to describe what's happening with pitch correction is like cooking a steak and cutting off all the blackened parts because you want the meat to look and taste exactly the same all the way through. But those blackened end bits are what add to the flavor of the entire steak. You need little bits of these types of imperfections in order to create a meal that isn't "one note" as they say.... which ironically is the perfect metaphor for pitch correcting making a singer sound "one note"
To slightly modify the metaphor, it's like cooking the steak in a pan and throwing the pan into the dishwasher instead of making a delicious sauce from the fond in the pan.
@@RoverWaters I take the comment in proper context. They are basically "George Lucasing" these works. Re-writing history. It took hours of a room filled with stinky guys to get the recording on that tape. Years later they don't have respect for their younger selves and the alchemy that can never be repeated in those hours, days and weeks. Just leave it alone! Leave the tape hiss. Leave the false starts and rushed finishes. This is what made them. Leave it alone!
Dystopian World, thanks for pushing back and keeping us informed...this is just terrifying... authenticity being stolen, its like plastc surgery for music...heart breaking. 💔
There must be a new generation of decision-makers that don't respect honesty and the genuine real thing. These same decision-makers may simply be more motivated by perceived $$$ and not the true beauty of music. Ripping the humanity out of music appears not to matter to them. Maybe they should go find another line of work. Thanks for posting.
Damn it's so crazy to hear the "corrected" version. If a good vocalist (like Freddie was) isn't hitting the exact pitch line at some points, most of the time he is doing this on pupose! It's what's making his singing unique, it's what makes it possible to _feel_ the song! I'm really sick of all the "corrected" voices all around, because they are not "corrected" they are destroyed and neutralized.
All you need to know about Freddie Mercury's pitch control is on 'You take my breath away' from A Day At The Races Those harmonies 0:35 to 0:50 *Chef's kiss*👌
In this case, based on interviews & posts they are making, Roger & Brian are aware of the changes made to this song. And aware of the AI video release as well. (I say "aware", but I don't know how much control they have over anything since they sold their catalog). For purists like me, it doesn't bode well for the rest of the album now entitled "QUEEN I". (so as to separate itself from the original "QUEEN").
Just nine months ago Brian May spoke to Rosie Bennet on this very platform and shared his concerns over AI and what it means for humanity. It's not even a year later and now Queen are putting out a video made by AI and thus denying the chance for an artist to create something beautiful. Not only that but they're using technology to manipulate one of the greatest voices in history. Make it make sense.
keep in mind sony owns the catalogue now. While Brian and Roger still have some say, I don't believe it's 100% them. I may be wrong. I'm really just going off what I've heard from others, but it seems Sony, or Queen productions has more to do with this than Brian or Roger. Again I may be wrong so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.
I'm not even a big Queen fan but any time I hear Freddy it is immediately self evident how absolutely fantastic he sounds in everything. 'Correcting' Freddy is just sacrilegious 😂
Thank You, Fil, for such a clear explanation of what could have been done to "correct" the song as a whole without disturbing any of Freddie's original performance. This is truly a travesty. To mess with the original performance of any band to "correct" things is to take away the qualities that made that band/artist/performance so compelling in the first place. Autotuning voices, quantizing meters, making sure everything fits in a perfect little formulaic box kills the essential things that make something beautiful to experience. It is the imperfections of the kind this plasticizing of art attempts to do away with are what move us so deeply in the first place to connect with the song/performance. Let's just hope that future generations will still able to easily access the "uncorrected" versions as well.
Ok so now they’re actually breaking the promise they gave Freddie. ‘When I’m gone, you can do anything with my music, but do NOT make me boring!’. I’d say this is well beyond that. No way I’ll ever even think of listening to an auto tuned Freddie Mercury, are they even serious?!
Understood completely. Brilliant observation about what he was likely hearing during recording. Then adjusting the music to fit his perfect voice...genius.
Poor Freddy would be spinning in his grave. We have listened to him sing this song for years WITHOUT faffing about with vocals. Now it sounds AWFUL Thanks for sharing this mess of pitch correction.
They’re destroying songs by trying for perfection. We don’t want perfection. We want the singer’s voice.
They are screwing up perfection, Freddie's voice IS perfection...
They are messing up songs. They became hits the way they already sounded. Good voices don't need pitch correction ever!
Perfection or what is considered perfect is subjective.
It's an absolute shame that this is happening and that the remaining members of Queen aren't trying to veto it. Perhaps they don't care.
@@rmoore1686 I don’t want perfect. It’s the imperfection that makes the voices and the songs great.
Wait till they screw with Kurt Cobains voice. He sang off key on purpose in a few songs.
@@localbod I don’t know? Hope that is not the case. I thought they wanted to keep their legacy going. Maybe they think pitch corrected Freddie will appeal to a younger generation. I don’t understand for sure.
Old-school producer-engineer here - this video is SPOT-ON! The decision to pitch-correct Freddie was clearly made by someone with no soul and no sense. Someone who has no feel for real music should NOT be f***ing with it! I'm horrified - great job by Wings of Pegasus.
Hi, former producer-engineer here. The decision to pitch correct Freddie was made by people who want to sell old music to young people ear trained on pitch perfect vocals since birth. Kids simply have a much lower tolerance for out of tune vocals, exactly because they've been listening to autotuned vocals for as long as they live.
@@JerehmiaBoaz You might not be happy to learn that that someone is usually Brian May.
@@JerehmiaBoazbut this is not out of tune as stated in the video 😊
@@erikthibaut7220 If it isn't out of tune, then what exactly is the autotune correcting? How is it even audible if there isn't anything to correct?
@@JerehmiaBoaz let's autotune Pavarotti then
Pitch correcting Freddie Mercury is a crime against humanity.
@@TheRobreed3 agree
They wanted to reach perfection but they removed his soul and ruined it.
Cruel and unusual punishment
This is a situation where technology does NOT help. Whoever had the idea to pitch correct Freddie needs to never touch a board again.
Record company. Yeah that was my guess.
Pitch correcting Freddie Mercury's voice is equivalent to painting a smile Emoji over the Mona Lisa.
absolutely spot on
❤❤❤
Are they insane?? Who could honestly think that putting Freddie's voice through auto tune or pitch correct would make it "better". We loved his voice right up to 91 ( and beyond ) when none of these corrective applications were available!! Sacrilege. Great video Fil, the disbelief in your voice is hard not to notice but justified.
@@anthonycullen8596 💯
💯 percent...
Bohemian Rhapsody, I believe had 150 harmonies, you have to be PRETTY accurate to do that!
No one did it to make it better. That's what you all and people don't understand. They have just done an alternate version. It sounds great!
@alexkx8599 what's the point
I’m so glad you’re speaking out about this. I am sick of seeing (and hearing) this pitch correction epidemic spreading. It was astonishing how alien Freddy sounded with the pitch correction. It took away all of his inflection, as it does with every singer. 95% of a singer’s inflection lies in how they approach a note, what they do when they get there, and how they leave the note. Music is not just a sequence of notes, it’s emotion. A machine can never replicate that.
"If it ain't broke, fix it." - Record Labels, apparently
Except the rule they employ is: "if it ain't broken, break it."
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Also, if it is broke, leave it alone.
It's not an industry know for intelligence or honesty, never was.
Beats me why they want to create more work though? Just to charge for more studio booking hours?
Fil, your "lowering" a bit the backing track to match Freddie's original vocal track is PRICELESS. I'm used to - and actually love - Freddie's "flat" vocals on this track, but now that you've made it right, I think it's another SPECTACULAR proof of how great Freddie was.
😢I am not Lord, but I am their old fan and do love Freddie's divine voice and really never forgive two "nice" guys! w0e be to them! They are
involved! Two Betrayers of him & all of us!!! I h#$e them!!!
The $hock must go on😢
I am so disappointed in Roger and Brian. They took John out of so much also.
Thanks for doing this Fil. I begged on Brian’s Instagram for the new release to not be pitch corrected (before the video was uploaded). Not that he would even see it or reply, but I just can’t believe how Brian and Roger would approve this. Its so upsetting
They sold their catalogue to Sony for 1 billion dollars. They're no longer in charge of what happens to it. It is upsetting, though, that they're talking about how great this release is. I wonder if a requirement for them to promote reissues was part of the deal with Sony?
@@noahbodhi3751 yes i know, but they have been pitch correcting Freddie even before selling to Sony. So it’s not a Sony thing, it’s something else.
@@FrankCastleThePunisher666just out of curiosity, when did they first pitch correct Freddie? Would love to know more history on this.
*Fil (one "L", not two)
@@MrGul Probably spell check...😉
Brian and Roger need to stop… NOW!!! Totally agree with you. ❤
I LOVE how you care about the artist and his expression. Thank you, Fil❤
Who, who, who would do this?
It is criminal to pitch correct a vocal genius. It makes me weep! 🥲 🥰🇨🇦
Freddie stacked the harmonies on Bohemian Rhapsody almost 50 years ago, using talent alone. Changing anything he sang, it makes it someone else. If you fix Jimmy Page's sloppiness on the early albums, it makes it something else. It doesn't need fixing. It needs lovin.'
People don't understand that these are remixes! They are supposed to be tinkered with and messed around with to come up a different version!
@@alexkx8599We don't want a "different version!"
@@jessiem276 Yes, you do! You just don't know it, yet! It's SO exciting! Calm down, now! You ought to check out the VERY impressive A.I. things going on. Oh, boy...
@@jessiem276 So, far the public for the 2024 version is going quite well! People are going on and on about it! Yee-haw!
A whole lotta lovin
Fil, you are brilliant!! Great job on showing us what you believe has happened with Freddie's voice.
You have become a powerful force against the greedy shenanigans (euphamism for criminal activity) of the music industry.
There are lots of us that appreciate your knowledge and your efforts.
Merci beaucoup.
I'll second that.
Do you mean that pitch-correction is _literally_ a crime, or figuratively?
"Displace one note and there would be diminishment", a quote from Amadeus. According to Reinhold Mack, Freddie saw that movie eight times. I can see why.
Great job Fil. An experienced musician would've known what to do like you showed.
❤️ I did not know this piece of trivia, that is brilliant, and yes, so Freddie.
Perfect!
Was Mercury Mozart... or Salieri?
Wow, those philistines will ruin Freddie's legacy!! New listeners coming along now won't think he's anything special vocally, and that couldn't be further from the truth!! Keep doing what you're doing, Fil - not everyone can handle the truth, but it still needs to be told!
There is a new channel called Queen AI. It is mostly Freddie in AI videos, and the music is not Queens, but has been pitched corrected to sound like Freddie. Sad, as I think it makes a mockery of a talented band and it’s legacy.
@@Lilah1754it should be shut down.
@@Lilah1754 well that's just horrifying
Destroying history. We wont know up from down because things like this. G forbid we have dementia.
Tik tok generation dont care about anything older then a few days
Young generation dont know who is Queen and Bulsara
As a lifelong admirer of Freddie/Queen, this opens a hole of sadness in my soul.
They have done the one thing Freddy said not to do, make his music borring. So sad😢
Damn, I remember these exact words from an interview. He was even smiling (and I think smoking a cigarette) while he said it.
No he'd be more than bored, FURIOUS
@@dylanrinker6831 AGREED.
Every time I hear Queen in a tv commercial, I think about how they've failed to honor his last request.
@@dborneMe too!
Crazy to do this. Thanks for making these videos, really fascinating insights
Hold on to your CDs and vinyl. The library had them, too. Those are the only places I can hear the original Beatles recordings and the first CD mixes. .
I just recently put on The Beatles on Spotify, I first thought something was wrong with my ears or at least with my memory of how The Beatles sounded...
Uh, where are you getting this? The 2009 remasters of the original stereo mixes of the Beatles catalog are still readily available on most streaming services - right alongside the recent Giles Martin remixes of their later albums. And for those albums, the 2009 remasters are usually available under a "Other Versions" section beneath the newer remixes (except for Revolver and the White Album where it's reversed and features the remix in that section). I've checked each one on RUclips Music just to be sure and they're all there. Apple Records has been very good about preservation of that particular catalog and they've never had any intention of having Giles Martin's new remixes supplant his father's original mixes. The 2009 remasters of the UK catalog - which includes both boxsets of the original UK Stereo and Mono mixes - are also still readily available for purchase on Amazon. So, let's not panic. Capitol is even readying a new mono vinyl boxset for release in November of the US versions of their early albums complete with the original 1960's US mixes.
Stop using Spotify!!
No it isn't.
Yes. We have to buy anything you want to hear the original way - because anything on Spotify or anywhere you listen without buying will all be corrected to sound digitized & crappy but perfectly on the note.
Thanks for posthumously taking his headphones off Fil , your adjustment is spot on ✌😅 Rock !
I love that you jumped straight onto this within days of the song being released so we get your excellent analysis while we, as fans, are still fresh n our outrage as wht you rightly call sacrilige. Love your work Fil.
Get a grip. I'm a hardcore queen fan since 91 and couldn't care less. New material at last. If you dislike it, listen to the original or one of the remasters done when they were rereleased
Me too.
Queen was “my band” growing up, the only one whose music I would purchase the day it came out. I missed their heyday by a decade but eagerly caught up.
What I loved about their early stuff was its rawness and how much they did with so little studio gadgetry. Casual fans point to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but I encourage them to listen to Queen’s 1st and 2nd albums for examples of their true genius.
I was excited when I heard a remaster was going to be available, but thanks to your video I have no intentions of purchasing it. I don’t even want to call it blasphemy, though it’s tempting. As dumb as it sounds, it makes me profoundly sad that they took something so pure from so long ago and turned into a slick, modern-day commodity. My hope is that it occurred without the endorsement of the band, but these are the same people who hired Adam Lambert to replace Freddie, which I will call blasphemy…so who knows.
Thanks for exposing this.
I am curious...Do you know that all big and legendary singers that are still alive and record music use autotune/melodyne etc? I am sure you bought many albums with pitch correction without knowing. Great singers as David Coverdale, Ian Gillan etc use very much this because it is an industry standard! If Freddie would have been alive now he would have been using this technogy also.
@@codrutcroitoru Not disagreeing, but everything I’ve read and heard about classic bands indicates they did take after take of vocal tracks, then spliced them together into one pristine take. I was unaware that pitch correction existing in the ‘70s, the heyday of Queen. Not to mention, it’s the imperfection that made it raw. And I believe Queen themselves monkeyed with the pitch so Freddie could hit the notes on their last couple albums, but that’s to be forgiven with his medical issues. I hope and assume you agree that if / when Brian and Roger release an auto-tuned version of classic Queen albums, that’s when we know the apocalypse is nigh.
*It is a sacrilege to pitch correct Freddie's voice !*
It's de-humanising and horrible.
says nobody
This is absolute madness !!!! It goes to show how important it is to have physical copies of the music we like instead of relying on the virtual libraries that the online services provide !!!!
Very good point.
Fil, I am so happy you got into this issue so quickly after the release of this song! I agree it is absolute sacrilege to touch Freddie Mercury's work in any way! I am furious, being a huge fan of Freddie! Excellent analysis video! You are a genius in how you brought this video together! This is just like Freddie Mercury dying all over again. Thanks for bringing this to us, Fil! 🎸💜
Education is the most effective antidote to ignorance. Keep shining your light, Fil!
❤ Here, here. Education is the answer. I agree. ...I have to say, it's a lot worse than I thought, even when I was joking about it about 5 years ago. Liken to the film 'Idiocracy'. Throw in some thought police and Oh brother. 🎉
There has been a tsunami of dishonesty and fakeness in ALL walks of life over the last 15-20 years. It’s just grown more acceptable over the last 3-5 years.
It’s in movies, acting, singing, dancing, politics, advertising, food, social media, etc.
I think it’s impossible to fight it because it’s the new handicap, if you can’t hit it, then get a foot up.
Now EVERYONE is using the equivalent of “steroids” in their given profession or pastime.
Another great video, Fil. Thanks.
And another great comment........skilfully succinct and all-encompassing, you have managed to include the myriad ills plaguing this broken world in a way that compliments what Fil had to say..
@@chrisfromnoosa1905 likewise.
I feel that most people deny this because it’s too scary to contemplate, and horrifying to accept.
I wish I was less aware in these matters.
It’s even in comic book art . Digital art is awful compared to pencil and ink of early stuff ..
@@thomasgray9824 indeed.
We’d have an easier time finding an industry where it was NOT to be found. This is the age of deceit.
Literally due to the spread of the internet
Thank you for making this! They're taking the humanity out of one of the greatest voices in history.
For someone who has listened to much of this music my entire life - why is anyone so stupid as to believe people aren't going to notice ?
And if they're not going to notice., why do it?
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee nobody'll remember autotune once AI takes over anyway, it'll be a nostalgic relic
Because most people don't pick up on autotune. I can spot autotune a mile away, and this song was subtle enough that I didn't hear it except in a few spots which I think was correcting errors with the masters.
Exactly. It's embarassing.
I can't believe someone would pitch correct Freddy. His uncorrected voice is what made him!!!
"Pitch correction is killing music"
Pitch correction is killing magic.
Correction: It already has.
I'll never understand why RUclips and musical entities are so asinine about giving copyright strikes or blocking videos that are being used for analysis or educational purposes. I like your channel and have learned many things from watching your videos. Keep up the good work.
They are beheld by the copyright laws. If a holder calls out a vid and wants payments or it removed they have the legal rights
@@markorendas1423 Yeah, I know. But what I meant was it doesn't seem fair to those who use short clips for education, to get strikes but other channels might be showing the same videos in full (without permission) and nothing happens to them.
I totally understand your frustration with this now, Fil. That processing sound is so heavy on the new release and it really loses his personality. I wonder if with producers now it's a case of "when your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." Maybe producers now are just so used to using pitch correction and not doing anything else, not looking at things more creatively like you are able to, that all they can think to do is pitch correct it. It's a shame. Really well done on this, Fil!
Maybe they are so used to pitch correcting the artists who actually need it that they don’t remember what a good singer’s voice sounds like and so they do for everyone now. 😮
@@donnamorgantiderossette3693that take has a bit of “back in my day” rose coloured glasses on it.
There *are* good new singers, they just also get auto tuned even if they don’t need it. Let’s not discount people because they weren’t around during bell bottoms or hair bands.
QPL (Queen Productions Limited) are the ones who add pitch correction to Freddie's voice, as they have added pitch correction to several official releases such as Rock Montreal, Live At The Rainbow, Hammersmith '75, etc. Brian and Roger make those decisions
He is near 33 years gone. Let him RIP. Please.
Yes. Leave things alone. Queens legacy is just fine.
Freddie said "Just don't make my music boring" this is making the music more acceptable to a generation that is used to autotune/pitch corrected voices, and does fix original mastering errors and or just aging of the original masters.
I was having fish and chips with my wife yesterday, and my wife asked what was wrong. I said ‘Listen to the music.’ I realised that all the background music was sung perfectly - every note was absolutely perfect. And utterly inhuman.
Then in the middle they played Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. And I rejoiced in all the off-pitch notes, specifically from Kiki Dee. It was human! It was real! And then they went back to the pitch-corrected rubbish… You’re right Fil (as if I thought otherwise!) - it’s ALL pitch-corrected these days. No wonder a lot of us (ie I) prefer the older stuff performed by people, rather than computers. Thank you Fil!!
As a massive Queen fan, this saddens me greatly. Seemingly wanting to rewrite history (all the inaccuracies in the film) and now pitch correcting vocals, all in the name of money. I know the back catalogue has been sold for a huge sum, so I’m unsure who is authorising all this stuff. If it is Brian May and Roger Taylor, shame on them.
Great work as ever, Fil. Keep doing what you’re doing.
They sold their ownership of their songs ?!?
I listen to Frank Sinatra all day and I love how he was not perfect which is what I love about his voice. It makes him so unique to me in that way. They better never pitch correct my Frank!!!
@@SpringNotes To Sony for $1.2 billion.
You brought up a good point: Since the Queen catalogue was sold to Sony… what does that mean re who has rights now to make alterations?
Why is it not illegal to say it's the original recording without making it clear that it's 'enhanced'! I can't and won't listen to pitch-corrected tracks as it really offends my ear! It's like the Mona Lisa as a paint by numbers.
Brian and Roger owe us an apology BIG TIME.
I am not Lord, but I am their old fan and do love Freddie's divine voice and really never forgive two "nice" guys! w0e be to them! They are
involved! Two Betrayers of him & all of us!!! I h#$e them!!!
The $hock must go on😢
They're likely not in charge here. They likely get asked things like "Can we do a remaster of this song?"
And the team responsible has probably been doing things like that for decades, so Queen just go "Alright then", cause they are busy enough. The team doing the remasters just have new tools to use and sometimes it's just distasteful use for the sake of using the new tech and being able to boast about it.
I don't know why I am so angry with them other than they need to change their name back to Smile because Queen is not Queen without Freddie and Deacy.
They sold the catalog for Sony to ruin
I agree. But the end of the day it is there own product goin out. And they should be saying or thinking on the final demo wtf is goin on on here
You have over cleaned the mix up of the track song etc etc . Noway can we re-release that. Too complacent relying on others to take over.
Another great job, FIL!
If they don't know what
you know, they shouldn't
be doing this injustice.
Mad. I had pre ordered this reissue and then cancelled as soon as I heard what they'd done. I can't believe Brian and Roger agreed with this
Imagine taking great works of art, paintings, and if we had some AI laser repainting technology and we could straighten out their lines and make the colors a little different and a little brighter and just oh so subtly change the original artist work. Wouldn't that be amazingly stupid and horrifying and evil?😢😢
Are you nuts?? Don't give them any ideas. Next thing you know, van Gogh will be ruined forever., It's bad enough that some wack job threw soup on one.
@@216trixie, I was thinking the same. Even those hating Picasso might object to "fixing" his faces.
I mean, I compared it to that time they "restored" the Last Supper by painting on top of it. Sure, the colors and shapes looked brighter, but that wasn't Leonardo's work and everyone f*cking hated it, rightfully so.
@@eileencrys Amen
@@kenwoodbury1888 Right??
Thank God I still have the original LP to listen too. I have never listened to that and thought, that could do with some pitch correction. Thanks for the video.
I get goosebumps when hearing the original version, because he was soo great!!!
Here here 👏👏👏 Keep going mate, you are only doing what we are all thinking .. ❤️🏴🎶
Sadly, the level of incompetence we're hearing here has spread to all industries. Incompetent corpo management hire the cheapest workforce possible, people with no imagination, no knowledge, no experience. Those of us who care are left heartbroken. 😔
and replace people with AI bots. It's dystopian.
No soul
I do get your point, but it's not always about the cheapest. In the case of big money, believe me they are not hiring the cheapest. They're hiring the best ones to follow the industry standards, and that's why music goes down. Inflation because of competition.
There are many to blame. Consumers, we, as a mass. We don't stand up.
As a Queen fan, this makes me sad. Was waiting for your analysis on this one Fil! Pitch correction so not needed. Don’t even get me started on the AI at end of video. Can’t believe Brian & Roger agreed to this. If so, do they think by pitch correcting Freddie, it will appeal to younger people? Hope they never pitch correct Queens Live Aid performance. Yes, Freddie had voice issues, but it didn’t take anything away from their performance. Just made it more real. I seen & heard this on Queens Official , and knew what was coming! Thanks Fil for this one.
One of the greatest vocalists and performers and they pitch corrected it 😮 Surely the other band members haven't been made aware ? At least you're always real Fil 👍🏻
The other members of queen. don't own the song's. So would have no say in it.
Of course they're aware. They are PROUD of it. Brian has made several recent posts about how the entire first album is going to be remixed so it "sounds the way they wanted it to sound" back then. They are fully aware and on board with all of this.
@@cathyshaw-kalloo237 What delusional dipshits
According to Rogers interview
It was done at his home
Oh - you didn't know that Fil is an AI?
Freddie at Live Aid. Dr told him not to perform because of throat infection. Freddie may not have been 100% but still blew everyone away with stunning performance. I hope nobody gets their grubby little "correcting" fingers on that anytime soon!!!
I hope they don’t! At least leave that one alone.
Give em time....
I think that consistant "flat"/sharp is what makes that particular voice unique.
You can't tell what it is by ear, just that it's a cool sound.
Who the hell thinks its a good idea to mess with imperfect perfection????
Good reaction. Queen were very meticulous when recording, right from the off and after listening to all their albums from 1973, I've never heard anything from the band that would be 'out of key'. In fact, when you have multiple harmonies, it's the blend of minute pitch discrepanices that create a 'chorus' effect, which is pleasing to the ear. Which kids have asked for this, rather than have the original? None. There is also the issue that Brian and Roger (along with I believe three others) have remixed the first album to their liking. Bri and Rog are only half of the band. The drums although sounding well, are mixed too loud and they've added delay to Freddie's voice in certain parts. (Delay was available at the time, so if he'd wanted it on, that would have been an easy option for Roy Thomas Baker in 73) Some good reverb/echo send bits have also been taken out. All the first album needed was an artistic clean of the canvas, rather than adding new colours. I'll put money on Queen II receiving the same treatment and now Queen have sold their copyrights, get ready for some serious cash-grabs/liberties taken, for new fans. (They also cut out part of the intro where the Bass slides in....can't kids cope with a couple more bars?)
You’re a genius and such a good person!
Fil, your analyses are so incisive. I can only hope that people in the music industry are watching your videos and taking them to heart.
This is a tragic travesty! Freddie knew how to sing and never should have been pitch corrected! Somebody has taken serious liberties with the voice of a man no longer able to argue his corner. What on earth did Brian May and Roger Taylor think they were doing allowing this to happen, or don't they know about it? It is the official Queen channel so I would hope that they would have been aware of this and if so, shame on them!!!
I listened to Brian May talking about it. Then I watched and listened then I rolled my eyes.
Keep up the good work Fil !
I was just reading an official Queen announcement last week, and in it Brian was going on at length about how he and Roger (I’ll assume John was at least in approval) were so thrilled to finally be able to present their debut album as they’d always wanted it to sound in 1973. And I was absolutely looking forward to getting this release myself.
He went on to say that they knew Freddie would be proud of this restoration, that couldn’t have been achieved until the present day with new technology (I’m sensing similarities with how Paul and Ringo were able to complete and release “Now And Then” last year).
I cannot believe for an instant, that Brian or Roger would knowingly allow to have Freddie’s voice subjected to pitch correction.
There was nothing wrong with Freddie’s vocals, nor was there anything wrong with the band’s performance. The issues were in the recording itself.
And THAT’S what I believe Brian and Roger sought to correct with this release.
At this point, I’m only hoping that this massive box set and other formats hasn’t yet gone to pressing, and that there’s still time for them to stop this travesty from happening.
I can believe that have allowed it. They have spent 30 years p*ssing all over Queen's legacy for £££££.
I would say there are three people in this world who truly know how Freddies voice sounded like and two of them are involved in this project. Who knows what artifacts were added to Freddies voice during recording. For example tape wow and flutter cause pitch variations. I have listened to this song for 48 years and yes this one is different... Better? Well that's subjective but if two of the original band members are telling me this is what it should have sounded like then that is good for me.
I find it hard to believe Roger and Brian would even allow this.
Pretty sure they would not approve. But they might not have a say in it.
@@bjornlangoren3002 I wonder why they wouldn't have a say in it, a bit baffling.
@@MSCJC97
Maybe because they don't own the master's. So it's not up to them.
It would be the label or publisher.
Brian put out an instragram the day before telling everyone it was coming. He knew all about it.
@@bobbycollins6783 If that's the case, then that's a shame.
I've been anxiously waiting for this new video of yours to come out.
I'm actually becoming interested in the music of Queen just recently, because of your videos, and as a reaction to learning about the pitch correcting and autotuning, and wanting to get to know their authentic music before it's gone.
Thank you for working to raise awareness of this issue in contemporary music.
It’s getting crazy Fil totally agree I mean none of them need this even more so Freddie. Great update as always Fil
Hi Fil,
This was a cool analysis today! There is nothing quite as perfect as Freddy’s pure and natural voice! Thank you for bringing that to light. I found the what Freddy was actually hearing in his headphones and to what they pitch corrected him to was very interesting. I never thought about it that way, but it makes perfect sense! Nice job, hashing out all the details. You Are The Best! Debbie☮️
HEY Fil!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for doing this!!!
(I had left a comment asking you to analyze it, and I bet a lot of other folks did, as well.)
🥺 No no no this shouldn't be done to Freddie's beautiful voice
He was a fine singer, if limited (compare him to his partner Montserrat Caballé on _Barcelona_ in 1988).
The music industry is shooting itself in the foot. They could sell MORE music if they offered a choice of "original" AND "pitch corrected". I don't understand what they are thinking by eliminating consumer choice.
They’re trying to tell you what to think and what to like. Do not comply!
@@CalJennings 🎯🎯 The music industry has always tried to tell people what to think. They're still at it. It's not about profit, it's all about control over tastes and thoughts.
@@LuisNunes-ps4slIf you control tastes and thoughts, you control supply and demand. It's all in the money.
You’ve done the only right thing. It should have been done this way and no other. The track shines and Freddie’s voice breathes. Thank you for this video
Hi Fil, it's a shame that producers pitch correct great artists' voices. I don't know why they think it makes their voices sound better. It makes their voices sound robotic and emotionless! Thank you for pointing all of this out to us! Congrats on getting another 1000 subscribers to your channel! You're the best! Rock!
Producers not care about artists.
Yeah, it's a shame. You want to know what is more of a shame? That real music lovers don't seem to care enough about what is happening to real music to do ANYTHING about it. Another day, another 1000 new subscribers to Fil's channel. And, yet, his vocal tuning petition languishes at just over 10,000 signatures. What is up with that? And, signing that petition is the absolute easiest thing for us to do. What saddens me to no end is the defeatist attitude of thinking there is nothing that we can do about any of this. :(
@elizabethmiller7291 Hi! Maybe if we can get everyone to share it, it might reach more people. Maybe we can get Fil to mention it again and ask everyone who hasn't signed the petition to sign it.
@@tammydoolittle6054 All of that will help and I have certainly been doing my part in that regard since the petition was started.
However, as great a communicator, teacher and messenger as Fil is, he is going to need a lot of heavyweight help from prominent people in the music industry to lead the effort to change the practice of using pitch correction and/or auto-tune on the beautiful natural voices of our favourite and pitch-accurate artists of decades past.
I remain hopeful that the side project Fil (and, Seal?) is currently working on will provide the very kind of push that we need to make this change happen. Fingers crossed!
@@elizabethmiller7291What petition? I've been a subscriber for a year or two now. If he talked about a petition, I've forgotten. Where should I go to see the petition?
I understand everything you are saying. I’ve been dreading this day I knew they would do it. They have no soul. Annoying as hell EVEN IF they think Freddie’s voice is not perfect… nothing is perfect ! I liken it to that movie ‘ Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ after the people are replaced by the perfect being in the ‘ pod’ . I feel like screaming but why bother 😓😥😰 This is evil.
( will they paint over the Mona Lisa ? Her smile is slightly crooked )
Thank you so much for this video !!
Totally feel your frustration… these amateurs, it’s horrible. What would be interesting to hear, something I haven’t seen you doing on your channel, is to play sections of a song together (the corrected and original version synchronized), so people can actually hear what you are showing them. You can instantly recognize how much tuning’s been done… Keep up your crusade!
"Gee, kids are really into vocaloids these days, how about we make Freddy Mercury sound like that. That will sell." - Some psychopath producer, probably
Omg, leave Freddie alone!!😭😭💔💔 He was brilliant and I love his voice, and it's crazy how people in the industry think this is ok! Ugh!😤❤❤
Keep going, Fil. Please!!! This needs to be in front of as many eyes as possible, as soon as possible. The eyes of Brian and Roger need to be on this, asap. They could set a huge precedent for artists fighting back against this kind of ignorant corporate attack. And again, awareness to all artists going forward - you MUST get in writing that this cannot be done to your work without your permission, and it cannot be done after you've passed on.
they are already in on it - they're PROUD of this remix. The entire first album is going to be remixed and released as "Queen 1". Brian has made the announcement that this is the first album 'the way they wanted it to sound'.... they are fully aware.
@@cathyshaw-kalloo237 Well, that's disappointing. I wonder if the auto tuning was part of the equation when he signed off on it. There's a lot of shady stuff going on behind artist's backs *after mixing and mastering* now. FWIW, I'm not against an artist making the choice to use auto tune... now. I'm very much against using it on music that has already lived a full life, a legendary life, of its own au naturale, and doing so w/o the consent of the person who did the singing.
@@audibletapehiss3764 100 % agree.
Hello Fil. I just wanted to thank you. You are one of the extremely few musicians and youtubers out there who are keeping the art of music honest and real. You might not think what you are doing is a huge service, but I think history will prove otherwise. Keep making these videos and being a beacon of integrity for the future of music, because you are exactly that. Thank you, from one musician and music lover to another.
Great analysis Fil, I really enjoy your videos and have learned a lot about why I am having so much trouble connecting to new music that plays randomly over Spotify and I seem to be stuck with mainly loving the songs of my youth, not a terrible thing I guess. I've been a Queen fan from the start, not sure why they are allowing this to happen.
Brilliant analysis
I was sent over her by the Queen subreddit. I actually think the pitch correction might have come from a mastering error or the tape was played at the wrong speed, so his voice was off slightly. Even then it was barely off that a non-engineer and most people won't pick up on it. When I listened to it, I think there is some pitch correction only in a few areas, but they did pitch correct it in a way that it preserved the integrity of the original track as his vibrato is still there. Now the only other thing I can think of which can be issues with pitch correction is that the tapes had degraded over time that when they released the 2011 tracks, I don't think they used the original masters but perhaps a copy that they retained or the label retained. It's entirely possible that when they revisited this recently that if they are working with the original master tapes that it might have had stick shed syndrome which the binders that hold the oxide layer to the plastic layer degraded, so it was screeching. What can result of this is the tape will play at the wrong speed.
I actually worked on a mastering project of a album that was recorded in 1956 and had never been digitized except with a copy on 8-track and a vinyl record and after baking the tape I had to pitch correct the entire album and certain tracks actually were recorded incorrectly in the original master, so I had to pitch correct the voices either up or the instruments down, for simplicity sake and to save the family money, I pitched the voice up, and then used an EQ to make the voices sound a little more clearer in the mix.
I think this could be the same result for Queen. They are after all working with 50 year old tapes,. and obviously they didn't have quite the same fidelity headphones or speakers that we have today, and with 32bit audio recordings you can get a result of hearing inconsistencies you wouldn't hear when it was originally mastered.
The best way to describe what's happening with pitch correction is like cooking a steak and cutting off all the blackened parts because you want the meat to look and taste exactly the same all the way through. But those blackened end bits are what add to the flavor of the entire steak. You need little bits of these types of imperfections in order to create a meal that isn't "one note" as they say.... which ironically is the perfect metaphor for pitch correcting making a singer sound "one note"
Not bad, actually.
To slightly modify the metaphor, it's like cooking the steak in a pan and throwing the pan into the dishwasher instead of making a delicious sauce from the fond in the pan.
The char is carcinogenic, causes an increased risk of cancer. Yes, it taste great... 😂 Carmelized oils and fats are delicious. 🎉
@@chillnophone2024 yeah. So it's an imperfection that adds to the taste as opposed to cooking it without any char and tasting one note.
It's like eating sous vide steak without searing it.
There’s something so beautiful about raw, barely-touched vocals with natural pitch variations and such. Who on earth decided this was “better”?
*WHY????*
Never buy another bit of Queen Merch again.
Queen went from *“No Synthesizers”* To *AI Pitch Corrected Horror*
calm down Karen
@@RoverWaters I take the comment in proper context. They are basically "George Lucasing" these works. Re-writing history. It took hours of a room filled with stinky guys to get the recording on that tape. Years later they don't have respect for their younger selves and the alchemy that can never be repeated in those hours, days and weeks. Just leave it alone! Leave the tape hiss. Leave the false starts and rushed finishes. This is what made them. Leave it alone!
@@guyangelo9875 no
@@RoverWaters yes, troll. Yes.
@@guyangelo9875 get a life, vote Trump
Dystopian World, thanks for pushing back and keeping us informed...this is just terrifying... authenticity being stolen, its like plastc surgery for music...heart breaking. 💔
This makes NO sense. Freddy's voice was as close to perfect as a voice could get.
Thank you. You make me more forgiving of myself and the imperfections in my singing. Interpretation before perfect pitch 😍
It doesn't sound like him anymore. Sacrilege indeed, and somewhat heartbreaking. 😥😠
Spot on Fil, very detailed review, and brilliantly done.
Someone needs to have a word with Brian and Roger
There must be a new generation of decision-makers that don't respect honesty and the genuine real thing. These same decision-makers may simply be more motivated by perceived $$$ and not the true beauty of music. Ripping the humanity out of music appears not to matter to them. Maybe they should go find another line of work. Thanks for posting.
Damn it's so crazy to hear the "corrected" version. If a good vocalist (like Freddie was) isn't hitting the exact pitch line at some points, most of the time he is doing this on pupose! It's what's making his singing unique, it's what makes it possible to _feel_ the song! I'm really sick of all the "corrected" voices all around, because they are not "corrected" they are destroyed and neutralized.
All you need to know about Freddie Mercury's pitch control is on 'You take my breath away' from A Day At The Races
Those harmonies 0:35 to 0:50 *Chef's kiss*👌
This is truly sickening. I hope fans put pressure on the record label about it.
In this case, based on interviews & posts they are making, Roger & Brian are aware of the changes made to this song. And aware of the AI video release as well. (I say "aware", but I don't know how much control they have over anything since they sold their catalog). For purists like me, it doesn't bode well for the rest of the album now entitled "QUEEN I". (so as to separate itself from the original "QUEEN").
You need to get in touch with them Fil (even if it's just for Freddie's sake). Maybe we should start a petition?
Thank you
Just nine months ago Brian May spoke to Rosie Bennet on this very platform and shared his concerns over AI and what it means for humanity. It's not even a year later and now Queen are putting out a video made by AI and thus denying the chance for an artist to create something beautiful. Not only that but they're using technology to manipulate one of the greatest voices in history. Make it make sense.
keep in mind sony owns the catalogue now. While Brian and Roger still have some say, I don't believe it's 100% them. I may be wrong. I'm really just going off what I've heard from others, but it seems Sony, or Queen productions has more to do with this than Brian or Roger. Again I may be wrong so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.
I'm not even a big Queen fan but any time I hear Freddy it is immediately self evident how absolutely fantastic he sounds in everything. 'Correcting' Freddy is just sacrilegious 😂
Thank You, Fil, for such a clear explanation of what could have been done to "correct" the song as a whole without disturbing any of Freddie's original performance. This is truly a travesty. To mess with the original performance of any band to "correct" things is to take away the qualities that made that band/artist/performance so compelling in the first place.
Autotuning voices, quantizing meters, making sure everything fits in a perfect little formulaic box kills the essential things that make something beautiful to experience. It is the imperfections of the kind this plasticizing of art attempts to do away with are what move us so deeply in the first place to connect with the song/performance.
Let's just hope that future generations will still able to easily access the "uncorrected" versions as well.
Ok so now they’re actually breaking the promise they gave Freddie. ‘When I’m gone, you can do anything with my music, but do NOT make me boring!’. I’d say this is well beyond that. No way I’ll ever even think of listening to an auto tuned Freddie Mercury, are they even serious?!
Understood completely. Brilliant observation about what he was likely hearing during recording. Then adjusting the music to fit his perfect voice...genius.
Poor Freddy would be spinning in his grave. We have listened to him sing this song for years WITHOUT faffing about with vocals. Now it sounds AWFUL Thanks for sharing this mess of pitch correction.
Great video, as always.
And i absolutely love your T shirt. Long live the Irish Wizard.
Totally agree, this is sacrilege! It's a disgrace how they have tampered with his brilliant voice.