May I know your thoughts on the sibilance?

How else should "all Queen songs" be interpreted?

 

She sells seashells by the seashore....is a classic!

 

I looked up "sibilance" online and I still don't know what the hell this thread is all about.

 

It's that raspy sound you hear on pronounced s's, t's, and sounds like hi-hats and cymbals. It's when those elements aren't clean-sounding. Mistracking on your phono cartridge, or even the tweeters on your speakers can cause it.

 

Ah, first thing I thought of. If your stylus dangles at an angle, it gives your grooves a mangle. Getchez a nice magnifying glass, and check and see if your needle's hitting the LP at a 90-dregree angle.

 

There's a lot of distortion like this in older recordings when they let the levels go into the red. Especially in 70s punk recordings.
On the plus side, you can buy some worn punk LPs at a discount if you look and you often don't notice the scratches as much.

 

I said in my first comment "The only examples that come to mind are all Queen songs".

There are a few examples that I can think of.

All of them are songs by Queen.

 

Sibilance. Sounds like something off of Pink Floyd's More album.

 

That's a lisp. Itssssss not ssssibilance...

Anyhow, I must say that it is a particular annoyance of mine, from Paul Simon's debut to Sweet Baby James and onward. Some of my favourite songs are marred by bad mics and mixing and whatever else is responsible.

 

Sorry, I misread / misinterpreted your post. I apologise.

Out of curiosity, which other Queen songs do you have in mind?

 

No apology necessary. I'm not much of a Queen fan--I basically gave up in the late '70s--but I just thought of the first three Queen songs that popped into my head and then went to listen on Youtube and all three seemed to exhibit this --Brighton Rock, Tie Your Mother Down and Somebody to Love. I think it's mainly the way Mercury pronounces his 's' sounds and not an issue with the recordings themselves.

 

I hear sibilance on the Graceland cd that drives me crazy. Same for Simon and Garfunkel cds.

 

It could be in alignment, but tracking too lightly.

There could be many reasons. The cart/tone arm could be just fine, but it could be the record itself. Maybe it was cut bad, or maybe it's damaged.

 

Sibilance doesn't bother me at all. If it's inherent in the original recording, I don't need it to be removed or touched up to mask it. Many artists I like have sibilance present in their recorded vocals. Yes, Freddie Mercury from Queen had this on some of his vocals. He also had an overbite which can contribute to this as well plus he had a slight lisp. Would I like to have the sibilance removed from Freddie's vocals? Hell no! That's what gave character to his vocals. Other artists such as Nico and Tom Rapp from Pearls Before Swine have some sibilance present but it does not bother me. It's part of the recording and part of the art of it all. Paul Stanley of KISS has sibilance on some of his vocals as well. Does it ruin the music for me? No. It gives the music it's unique characteristic stamp from the given artist.

 

Don’t believe it bothers me much, but I was thinking an example would be George Michael on the blu ray of Symphonica that I have.

 

I thought that too when you first posted. You do hear every 's' prominently on those records. I noticed that on Tie Your Mother Down on a cheap record player when I was eleven! I like the sound of it though. I think some early Floyd (Meddle, Obscured By Clouds) is recorded that way too, with very prominent 's' sounds.

 

Ahhh...You are funny

 

I have a CD - Dan Bern's Fifty Eggs - which is great, but man you need to watch the sibilance. Ani DiFranco produced. Such a fun record though.