lisp???

[RickVee]

I love the CFMT dvd. Wached it so many times I've lost count. One thing I noticed from the first time I watched it was a slight, but noticeable, lisp from Paul (see Paul's performance of "Skyway" as an example). I've been a Paul fan for many years now but I had never noticed that before this dvd was released. Is this something he's always had or is this possibly a result of the dental problems Paul has allegedly incurred in the last 10 years or so? Just a wonderin'.

[kgp]

I sort of thought the same the around the time of Suicane. It's a little more obvious watching him talk on the dvd than hearing him sing. Maybe he always had it and the "professionals" cleaned it up when he was still on the major labels. Or maybe it is just his "rock 'n roll" teeth.

[torethatbridgeout]

It does seem like the teeth aren't helping, but have you noticed that a lot of singers, if you really look and listen or the camera is up close, lisp whilst singing? It's almost like manic depression and creativity in how it's tied to performance ability.

[Rthornhill]

he sort of reminds me of Hugh Hefner when he talks in interviews...right around the mouth

[Numskll]

Rthornhill said:

he sort of reminds me of Hugh Hefner when he talks in interviews...right around the mouth

you're thinking of Eddie Money [shudders]

[A Regular]

Or Billie Paul singing Me and mithes Jones.

[BigWheel]

That is called "Sibilance" and basically is a flaw caused in a performance or recording by a microphone. It is most prevalent with "S" words because of the amount of air coming out of the singer's mouth.

if you ever see a singer with a small round mesh screen attached to the microphone between his mouth and the microphone, that is a wind screen and helps reduce Sibilance.

Home studio users make them (myself included) out of old pantyhose and a wire coat hanger.

Some compressors and EQ's also help eliminate sibilance.

Higher priced diaghpram microphones also reduce sibilance, but run into a bigger problem with the consonant "P" and the way it moves air too rapidly across the diaghpram (someone spell this for me please) and causes the recording or performance to "pop".

Good compression can kill those pops with the proper use of a gate.

That is why you hear that lisp.

Good Lord there is way too much useless knowledge roaming around in my brain.

And yes, sm-58 microphones do make people sound nasal.
sm-57's are better, but should be used mostly for guitars and snare drums though Bono uses sm-57's for all his vocal parts.

[UnderneathABigHorse]

diaphragm

and yeah, I think Paul has a little lisp. Not much, but a little. I actually think it's kind of cute. I wonder if he has a thing about it. My friend has a teeny lisp because her tongue used to be connected at the front of the bottom of her mouth, and you can't notice it at all, but she thinks it's huge and freaks about it. Hmm...

[kgp]

BigWheel said:

if you ever see a singer with a small round mesh screen attached to the microphone between his mouth and the microphone, that is a wind screen and helps reduce Sibilance.

In the home recording sessions on the DVD, if I remember correctly, he's not using one. That explains the lack of "lisp" on the earlier recordings.

[Cathy]

When Paul was interviewed back in 1993 on MTV, I thought I heard a bit of a lisp. It doesn't bother me though; I love both his speaking voice & his singing voice.

[mattweiser]

Watch the video for "It's A Wonderful Lie" on the website and on the line "You can dress to the eights..." you can detect a slight lisp. It's nothing distracting or anything, but it's there. One major problem I've always has is the "s" in the word lisp... and the "st" at the beginning of the word stutter... now that's just some cruel shit. Diagnose a guy with something that he can't even say without it being brought to the attention of others. That's just wrong!

-Matt

[torethatbridgeout]

Suzanne Westenhoefer is the name on the marquee at Ted Mann Concert Hall, but you probably know her better as Cindy Brady. The little girl from the "Brady Bunch" is all grown up now and the lesbian comic is telling jokes and stories in "I'm Not Cindy Brady -- The Reunion Show." Catch her act at 8 p.m. Saturday on the University of Minnesota's West Bank campus in Minneapolis. Call 612-624-2345