Human After All (Hide and Seek)
Published April 25th, 2006 in Music, RandomnessUpdate - I’ve updated this post (again) since learning about all the other gadgets that can be used to create crazy vocal effects. The harmonies in both “Hide And Seek” and “Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl” are actually created with a harmonizer, not a vocoder and I’ve been told that Daft Punk also uses a talk box for some of their effects (in addition to vocoders and quantized pitch-correction). Here’s an article on technology often confused with vocoders.
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Tonight at the Bowery Ballroom, electronica experimentalist turned soul singer Jamie Lidell will demonstrate what Stevie Wonder and Otis Redding might have sounded like had the laptop-music revolution taken place 40 some-odd years ago. Some of of his tracks sound like Kieran Hebden remixing Prince while others sound like Sam Cooke tunes suspended over a bundle of Beck-esque samples. Apparently, Mr. Lidell is quite the performer, looping vocals and electronics while engaging the crowd like a blue-eyed James Brown. (tickets still available) If you’re undecided about the show, you can see Jamie perform for free at Other Music at 8pm.
As a student of both music and engineering I find myself drawn to artists who are skilled at combining electronic and acoustic sounds to form music whose slick production - while intriguing - does not take away from the strength of the song-writing. I especially love when songs are stripped of their glossy finish and realized without the use of any electronic gadgetry, such as The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” covered acoustically by Iron and Wine or more recently Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” covered by Ray LaMontagne (hear it at Village Indian).
Perhaps that’s also why I’m so drawn to songs which make use of the vocoder, an instrument which blurs the line between the human voice and synthesized sound. On one hand, there are some bands that couldn’t exist without it. Daft Punk has used it (along with many other electronic gizmos) to achieve their unique sound and the vocoder can also claim responsibility for putting the E into the tongue-in-cheek music of U.S.E. (United State of Electronica). Recently I’ve noticed more and more bands using the vocoder in thoughtful ways, not just for effect or an overall sound, but as a legitimate compositional instrument. One of my favorite examples is Broken Social Scene’s “Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl” in which Emily Haines’ beautiful voice is able to freely and freakishly harmonize with itself (but not with a vocoder!). The result is great on the album and hearing it pulled off live is incredible.
Broken Social Scene - Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl (live at Webster Hall).mp3
Last year, Imogen Heap pushed the vocoder to its limits with her song “Hide and Seek” (listen). Expertly produced on her album Speak For Yourself, the song has proven to be tricky in live performance. When she played at Avalon in New York City she had to start the song over four times before she was happy with the effect on her voice. Naturally, I had my doubts when - after hearing the track last summer - my close friend Brett Philpotts decided to arrange “Hide and Seek” for a sixteen member a cappella group. After months of practice, it was performed this past sunday by the Lehigh University Melismatics. I know that a cappella arrangements aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re one of those people that can’t get enough of this song you should appreciate this rendition. I suggest listening to it with headphones. Oh, and close your eyes too. This performance took place in complete darkness.
Lehigh University Melismatics - Hide and Seek (Imogen Heap).mp3
For information on the arrangement, please see the comment from “brett” below.
41 Responses to “Human After All (Hide and Seek)”
- 1 Trackback on May 2nd, 2006 at 1:26 am
Is there any way i could get a copy of the music for that arrangement? I am thinking about arranging the piece for orchestra. It would be pretty different from the original, but any rendition of it on paper would be really helpful.
hotness haha. i love the original too. everytime i come to this blog i hate you for having tickets to the acoustic nada surf show at mercury when I do not. well, not like HATE you, but i am jealous haha
hey Rick. if you see this… i tried emailing you and had it returned. drop me a line at the email address above (top right) and i’ll give you the arranger’s contact info.
Hey Ryan! Thanx a ton for putting up the Melismatics mp3! I love it! I’ve had the song stuck in my head for the past four days. Hope all is well.
do you remember which BSS show at Webster Hall the Anthems track is taken from?
That was from the Friday night show. January 27th.
thanks. i was there sat. night, and it was fabulous.
Hey Rick, could I also get the email of the arranger’s contact information?
Could I get a copy of that beautiful arrangement?
A good effort at arranging “hide and seek”, but it does not do the harmonies justice as the notes have not been transcribed quite correctly and the singers are obviously not capable of singing it. I am mid-way through arranging the peice for 5 parts. We shall hopefully be performing it next Wednesday at a Cambridge ball, hopefully with lighting.
That acappella version of Hide and Seek is just horrid. Ick. The arrangement is bad and the singers sound awful. This beautiful of a song was surely not for them.
In fairness to the group, this is a crude bootleg recording of the first performance of this song. I debated posting it at all because it doesn’t do the performance justice and isn’t well produced (or produced at all). I’d love to get them in a studio and have multiple takes with good microphones. Take it for what it’s worth and if you hate it, let it inspire you to make a better version and point me towards it; I’d enjoy hearing another take on it.
-Ry
personally I don’t think there should be any viberato because they should sound metallic “instrumental” which give the coldness to the sound/song. I’d like to have a copy of the music score of this song too. May I have contact of the arranger as well?
Try this…
http://www.kcrw.com/podcast/enc/audio/tu/tu060913UCLAs_Awaken_Acapell.mp3
from UCLA’s Awaken A Capella.
Hide and Seek was made with a harmonizer, not a vocoder (see : http://aurgasm.us/2005/10/aurgasm-interview-imogen-heap.html)
A vocoder is quite crude an will allow you to apply the spectrum of one signal, in a limited number of frequency bands, to another signal.
A harmonizer will transpose a signal according to midi information, allowing the singer to, for instance, sing chords or apply vibrato.
Thanks for the link Ivo. I believe that Broken Social Scene uses a harmonizer (the guitar pedal type) for their song as well.
I found this through a search — the a cappella group that I am in really want to do this song and have had a difficult time finding an arrangement on paper. If it’s not any trouble, could you possibly send the arrangement?
habbydashes@gmail.com
thanks!
I am also looking for the score for this… I loved the recording. I’ve been trying to transpose this by ear and its slow going work… *laughs* Any help you could give would be great
Does anyone have a new link for the UCLA a capella version of “Hide and Seek?” I’m searching everywhere for their rendition, and I’m having no luck. Please!
THsnks.
Hi. I would also like to find the score for Hide & Seek, wether it be a MIDI file or actual sheet music. Anyone have ideas where to look or whom to contact? Thanks!
The a capella version of ‘Hide and Seek’ is good… and for those of you whom have been slamming it obviously don’t have a true appreciation for music. To hear something like this live is completely different than this ‘bootlegged’ rendition that has not been professionally produced.
Have any of you actually seen Imogen Heap live? Well, I have, and she makes mistakes… ironically, she is human. To me, that gives much more meaning to the actual piece of music making it that much more real and not overly polished in a professional studio setting.
Congrats to Lehigh University Melismatics for their performance of Hide and Seek. Amazing work.
here’s a better a-cappella performance of the song: www.transit-music.com.
there’s a score available at www.josephbates.com
Daft Punk uses a talkbox, not a vocoder.
Hi,
I found your blog via google by accident and have to admit that youve a really interesting blog
Just saved your feed in my reader, have a nice day
any chance to get a score or a midi file?
thanks.
ditto merodeador?
Hey all,
To those looking specifically for the Melismatics version of Imogen’s “Hide and Seek”, Ryan is half-correct. I have it in its original manuscript form (i had intended to put it into noteworthy eventually, but never had the time)…
If you’d like a .pdf of the manuscript, send me an email at brett (dot) philpotts (at) gmail (dot) com; feel free to ask questions, too.
Thanks for the comments, folks (both positive and negative). We strived to make the performance as poignant as possible, and there’s always room for improvement.
(and imogen, if you ever read this, i hope you aren’t disappointed!)
Cheers,
brett philpotts
You can buy the newest UCLA Awaken A Cappella CD (with “Hide and Seek”) at:
http://www.a-cappella.com/product/Awaken_A_Cappella_Lifes_a_Beach_CD/48
I thought I’d mention that currently on Imogen Heap’s myspace page you’ll find the Melismatics a cappella version of Hide and Seek listen as one of three of “Imogen’s Favorite” covers. Well done friends! And hooray for live, unadulterated recordings.
www.myspace.com/imogenheap
Hey Guys,
This is by far my favorite a cappella version of the song…
http://www.groovygrooves.com/video/hide-and-seek-a-capella
Just disregard the no pants part.
Hey, I want to arrange a version of this for my friends to sing at our V show. Could I get this arrangement so I have an idea to work with?
-thanks :]
Hi,
I am in a marching band and was wondering if anywhere out there there is a midi file of hide and seek! i’ve searched everywhere and i would really like it so i could turn it into a sweet warm-up.
please help!
I Would be eternally grateful to anyone who could get me a copy of the sheet music to that arrangement! I would love to preform this with my a cappella group
Hi, i want a group of my friends to sing this song for a talent show…could you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me some sort of arrangement or sheet music for it?
hi,
i was just wondering if you could send me the arrangment also as i am going to be performing a harmony group and was just wondering if you had the music readily availible for me to have as we are currently trying to work out each of our parts purely by ear.
obviously it would be much easier for us if there was an arrangment availible instead of a tedious and long drawn out method that we are currently using.
thank you for your time
elliot
How does one get the arrangement for this music? Im part of a music fraternity that would like to perform it. I volunteered to do an arrangement, but im finding it a bit more difficult than i expected. Thanks a million.
Hi..
I have started a choir at my school and have been wanting to teach them this song but I couldn’t find the music for it. Would it be possible to send me the score??? If not don’t worry.
My e-mail address is jags1991@hotmail.com
Thanks,
Jess
Orchestra teacher trying to find any score to arrange for kids - they’d freak out for this…and practice. anyone want to send me any score they have? for the kids….
chpeele@gmail.com
Hi!
I’m a music major at the University of Missouri! There is a talent show comming up and I would like to ask if you could send me the arrangements/sheet music for “Hide and Seek”, so that I could put together A capella group. Shooting for a 4 part harmony. I’m in the chamber,concert and show choir so I will probably just gather a few up for this event.
I would love it if you could get it to
My email address is hellscounsoler@hotmail.com
Thanks
hello,
im looking for the sheet music so that me adn a few friends can learn it faster then by ear.
we have a banquet comming up in a few weeks and i was wondering if anyone had the sheet music so that i dont need to write it out.
it would be greatly appritiated.
Martini