What bass was the bassist playing in the halftime show?

[Toptube]

So what, you guys think they filled the stadium with 50,000 people a few days ago for the TV broadcast pre-record, and the internet isn't exploding about it?

[2meterbassman]

I only saw Beyonce's butt, sorry.

And: I never saw/heard such an irrelevant music in a Super Bowl halftime show.

Greetz

[two fingers]

Originally Posted by Toptube

So what, you guys think they filled the stadium with 50,000 people a few days ago for the TV broadcast pre-record, and the internet isn't exploding about it?

Ha! Nope. That's not even CLOSE to what the guy said.

Follow along closely now. This may get complicated (for some anyway).

1) They prerecorded the AUDIO earlier.
2) Superbowl day, at halftime, ALL of the people we saw on TV were ACTUALLY STANDING ON STAGE in front of the live fans at the football game.
3) They danced, pretended to play, and lip synced to the PRERECORDED AUDIO mentioned in #1.
4) I would bet that after the Obama show lip sync mess, she was singing lead. But most of everything else was prerecorded.

Come on guys! You can't be that blind! I have done the same thing even on a regional level. I have played "live" spots on TV dozens of times. We stood there looking like we were playing. The lead vocals and maybe a guitar solo were live. Everything else was tracks. It's done every day. If you see someone play on the Morning Show, Fox and Friends, Good Morning America, etc. out in the parking lot of the studio or in Time Square it's done that way as well. David Letterman? Tonight Show? Same thing. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Get it now? PLEASE tell me you guys get what we are saying. I'm starting to get a headache thinking that some of you probably are allowed by law to DRIVE!

[2meterbassman]

Originally Posted by two fingers

Ha! Nope. That's not even CLOSE to what the guy said.

Follow along closely now. This may get complicated (for some anyway).

1) They prerecorded the AUDIO earlier.
2) Superbowl day, at halftime, ALL of the people we saw on TV were ACTUALLY STANDING ON STAGE in front of the live fans at the football game.
3) They danced, pretended to play, and lip synced to the PRERECORDED AUDIO mentioned in #1.
4) I would bet that after the Obama show lip sync mess, she was singing lead. But most of everything else was prerecorded.

Come on guys! You can't be that blind! I have done the same thing even on a regional level. I have played "live" spots on TV dozens of times. We stood there looking like we were playing. The lead vocals and maybe a guitar solo were live. Everything else was tracks. It's done every day. If you see someone play on the Morning Show, Fox and Friends, Good Morning America, etc. out in the parking lot of the studio or in Time Square it's done that way as well. David Letterman? Tonight Show? Same thing. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Get it now? PLEASE tell me you guys get what we are saying. I'm starting to get a headache thinking that some of you probably are allowed by law to DRIVE!

Hi there,

i think, you're right.
It seemed to be even more than half-playback - also the vocals were playback, and Beyonce sang to it.
The sound of the sung phrases and her "come on guys"-shouting was very different- because the first came from hard disk, and the second via microphone.

To me (watching Super Bowl since about 20 years - in Germany!), that was one of the worst half time shows ever.
I can't even understand the hype about Beyonce at all.
It's a kind of "plastic-soul-without-real-groove-but-money-talks"-music.

And I think, the power failure after the halftime show was caused by a guy with good taste - but he reached the switch too late...;-)

Greetz

[aasti3000]

Originally Posted by 2meterbassman

I only saw Beyonce's butt, sorry.

And: I never saw/heard such an irrelevant music in a Super Bowl halftime show.

Greetz

PREACH!!!

[nutdog]

Originally Posted by cybersnyder

Pretty sure I've seen TV shows from the 60's and 70's where the band wasn't even plugged in.

Our horn player was in a 70's funk group and I asked him about his Soul Train appearance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbo4jE_jdXM He's the trumpet player with the huge fro.

He said the tv studios didn't have the equipment to do live shows. When we had this discussion I was doing a little theater thing where we did a few beatles tunes and I was watching old clips to try to cop some of Paul's stage mannerisms. It looked like they were live on Ed Sullivan. Carle said the Sullivan show had big bucks and they were one of the few studios that could handle a live band. He said just about everything on that show was live.

The Beatles clips really show how good they were. Paul singing lead and harmony while playing those bass lines.

I asked Carle if they did all the choreography in their live shows because it seemed like it would have been hard to play the horns and dance like that. He said they did. They had a choreographer but also hired a trainer that worked with the Pittsburgh Steelers for conditioning. He said he busted their a$$es leading up to concert tours.

Anyway, I get that a lot of TV is lipped but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a little more from the Super Bowl halftime show. They do kind of hype it a little.

But with Beyonce I wouldn't expect a live band in the first place. She's a singer/dancer and it's about the big show. Flashing lights, fireworks, fancy computer video effects, hot chicks in skimpy outfits. Same kind of stuff my kids get at Disney.

Originally Posted by cybersnyder

Everyone on the stage are capable musicians. The issue is that the halftime is a fixed time and you cannot go over. Period. With all the production that goes into the halftime show you basically have two choices:

1) Play instruments and vocals live and listen to everyone bitch about how terrible the vocalists / bands / etc sound or...

2) Lip sync / air guitar a lot of the show and have a few musicians bitch about how they could play better.

Or option 3, earn your money and put on a kick a$$ live show.

[rapturebass]

Singing's live for sure

also for the record about the "lip sync debacle" at the inauguration: it's customary that they do that. Apparently Aretha Franklin lip synced at the last inauguration etc.

[Wally Malone]

I did the Donny & Marie show in the 70's with Bo Diddley. We recorded Mona the night before in the studio and they actually used the original cut of Bo Diddley as the other song.

A few years back I did a New Year's Eve show in North Shore Tahoe and the band I was with did a set and then we backed up to tribute singers, one doing Neil Sedaka and the other doing Bette Midler. Both came in with the tracks prerecorded and we faked playing. Since the had the charts I actually read the charts and almost fooled myself a couple of times. Do I like doing this? No. But did I get paid well to do this? Yes.

Wally

[2meterbassman]

Well, not talking about me not liking Beyonce's music:

The Super Bowl is a very special event (I am german and have to tell it to Americans?) - and I think, to present a half time show that suits the event, it has to be played LIVE!

This is no regular TV-show, this is special.
By the way: the sportsmen on the field played live, too...;-)

Greetz

[Stick_Player]

Originally Posted by Toptube

So what, you guys think they filled the stadium with 50,000 people a few days ago for the TV broadcast pre-record, and the internet isn't exploding about it?

I don't remember seeing much, if any "audience". Lots of blinking lights (i.e., flashes from cameras) - at least that's what it "looked" like. And, the illusion of an audience was the effect.

If there were crowd shots, those were dropped in from the real/live arena performance.

And what is supposed to "explode" on the internet? There was an actual Super Bowl Halftime Show.

I know there is a lot of "negative" reviews here, but I thought, for what Beyonce does (95% eye-candy), it was a very good TV show. Will she leave a large musical legacy? I don't know, but probably not.

[BFunk]

Man, there are a lot of haters here!!

Yes, many of these shows are pre-recorded. However, I strongly believe that this one was not. The biggest clue to me was the handling noise coming though Beyonce's mic. I could clearly hear the claps, foot falls, etc. There was so much of that I thought she was going out of her way to tell the audience that this was live to make up for the inauguration thing. (That was so blown out of proportion.) I believe all singers were live, and very likely the other musicians. I was actually shocked they did this. Live TV, especially at this level, is very risk averse. Look at all the crazy talk about the Janet Jackson wardrobe incident. It was like the country was under attack!!

As for the live feed, yeah, it totally sucked. If the monitors were as bad as the live feed, the show would have been a complete disaster.

The one thing I didn't like was the flames coming out of the guitar. It as just cheesy IMO. I didn't care for the guitar player.

[2meterbassman]

Originally Posted by BFunk

Man, there are a lot of haters here!!

Yes, many of these shows are pre-recorded. However, I strongly believe that this one was not. The biggest clue to me was the handling noise coming though Beyonce's mic. I could clearly hear the claps, foot falls, etc. There was so much of that I thought she was going out of her way to tell the audience that this was live to make up for the inauguration thing. (That was so blown out of proportion.) I believe all singers were live, and very likely the other musicians. I was actually shocked they did this. Live TV, especially at this level, is very risk averse. Look at all the crazy talk about the Janet Jackson wardrobe incident. It was like the country was under attack!!

As for the live feed, yeah, it totally sucked. If the monitors were as bad as the live feed, the show would have been a complete disaster.

The one thing I didn't like was the flames coming out of the guitar. It as just cheesy IMO. I didn't care for the guitar player.

Well, that's the old trick with half playback:
they sing along their voice on the tape (or harddisk or whatever).
So they can fill in shouts and answers to the audience's reactions.
And that is exactly what made me curious: the sound of her voice was different to her singing voice: less reverb, sounded a bit different.

But I think: even if they played it live - it is crappy music to me, anyways...;-)
Or as a forum-member said: eye-candy.

Greetz

[77PBass]

Was it plugged in? She did a 1 measure solo and you couldn't hear it.

[ggvicviper]

Originally Posted by 2meterbassman

I only saw Beyonce's butt, sorry.

And: I never saw/heard such an irrelevant music in a Super Bowl halftime show.

Greetz

What? Independent Women and Single Ladies is irrelevant to the Super Bowl?

Preposterous.

[BFunk]

It was audible, but very low.

Originally Posted by 77PBass

Was it plugged in? She did a 1 measure solo and you couldn't hear it.

[Toptube]

Originally Posted by Stick_Player

I don't remember seeing much, if any "audience". Lots of blinking lights (i.e., flashes from cameras) - at least that's what it "looked" like. And, the illusion of an audience was the effect.

If there were crowd shots, those were dropped in from the real/live arena performance.

And what is supposed to "explode" on the internet? There was an actual Super Bowl Halftime Show.

I know there is a lot of "negative" reviews here, but I thought, for what Beyonce does (95% eye-candy), it was a very good TV show. Will she leave a large musical legacy? I don't know, but probably not.

I didn't even watch the Superbowl. But I did watch the halftime show last night, after getting into this thread. Even in the crappy quality upload on youtube, The crowd in the stands is visible at least half the time. OK SURE YES, computer technology is really good nowadays and they could, possibly stitch the crowd into a pre-recorded take, given enough of a delay from "live". But Its not practical and thinking about it too much is just hate mongering. Beyonce and everyone else on that stage are professionals who live and breath the stage. They train hard, keep time, hit their queues, and the execution is often nearly flawless. At the least, good enough.

and yes, they can totally do fast, fairly organized camera cuts live. Especially in a football stadium, which is rigged for that sort of thing and can easily be added to for special events. Such as concerts!

Originally Posted by 2meterbassman

Well, that's the old trick with half playback:
they sing along their voice on the tape (or harddisk or whatever).
So they can fill in shouts and answers to the audience's reactions.
And that is exactly what made me curious: the sound of her voice was different to her singing voice: less reverb, sounded a bit different.

People always sound different singing, than when they talk in their "normal" voice. Its even common for people who speak english with an accent, to lose most of that accent when singing.

As far as reverb effects, I'm sure they have a reactive effect that increases or decreases dynamically, based on how loud she is in the mic.

[SherwoodGreen]

BEST THREAD EVER!!

...Dang close, anyway.
OP asks for ID of a bass guitar seen in a quick cut during half-time; thread morphs all over the place about this n' that!
Luv it; here's my .02, now that we know it was an EBMM stealth w/ cool white neon strings.

Divinity Roxx has been pursuing her own music; endorsing Warwick, etc for some time now.
This new Bassist, in her apparently new all-girl band, can sure play, as can they all- You don't think they would work with an act the stature of Beyonce if they couldn't lay it down, do you?
This, whether they were actually playing live at Super Bowl or not!

Now Beyonce is not my thing musically, but Destiny's Child had some banging tracks, and Beyonce herself is an excellent vocalist IMO.

Her over-the-top, show-some-skin, highly choreographed show is just about PERFECT for a Football Halftime; what do you think they're going to have? Michael Manring? Marcus Miller?
Reginald Veal?? Buster Williams?

I could dig it, but Middle-America? I think not.
I enjoyed the lights, the hot bods, and most of all-

It was a REAL good game!

[Melonthief]

Here's a tip- if an artist has dancers onstage you can bet its probably canned.
If you hired Iron Maiden I guarantee it would be live and flawless.

[2meterbassman]

It's not the question, if Beyonce is a good singer. She is!
And it's not important, if someone like me dislikes her music - it's only a matter of taste.

But I have seen a lot of professional acts on stage, on TV stages, live stages, and I know all those tricks.
And I think, it was a halfplayback, also for the voice - she was singing live - but she sang to her own voice. It's ok - but this is not live.

And if you ask, which shows were better: look at the list of the halftime shows of the last 20 years. Only those "black eyed pee pees" were worse.
No groove, no idea, no music - just image, marketing and production.
Same as "Lady Gaga"
Boring.
No music.
No balls.

Greetz

[Stick_Player]

Originally Posted by Toptube

I didn't even watch the Superbowl. ...

Hey, I thought she did a good job. I never insinuated anything less.

That doesn't change whether it was live, prerecorded, a combination, etc.