hey chris liepe here with what might be my favorite michael jackson song beat it
isolated vocal analysis this is probably my favorite because it's in one of my favorite movies
of all time back to the future which is where i first heard it love the chorus especially the hook
is just incredible and i still have images of michael j fox running away from biff and that
whole amazing thing but there's some really neat production aspects in this song that you really
i mean you can hear in the mix because the mix the the original mix is so awesome but it's fun
to hear them in this isolated way because you really get a sense of the placement and
attention to detail so in this video we're going to go over some of the singing approach we're also
going to go over some of the production and how we can do a little bit of this kind of production
uh with our meager home setups uh if we so desire if you'd like more help with your singing
your production the best place to start with me is by clicking the link below and joining my free
voice course where i take another student through the fundamentals of things like breath support and
placement and singing without tension once you get that under your belt you're welcome to participate
in any of my other courses as well looking forward to working with you more okay let's get into this
they told them don't you ever come around here don't want to see your face you better disappear
the fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear so beat it just beat it
so notice the way the the doubles are done here first also there's some awesome reverb which we'll
get into that in a minute fires in the eyes and their words are really clear so beat it so you
can hear that those are panned out just a little bit keep note of that also listen to the way he
scoops artistically up to the pitch here i love this don't wanna see your face don't wanna see
it's this like don't wanna see that's really fun to experiment with in your
own voice because you're you're kind of i get the picture of this rubber band you you get the pitch
down in the in the posture that you want to get it in the type of blend now i have a much heavier
lower voice than michael jackson as do most people if i'm gonna sing these notes and have them
sound good and not too thick and strained i need to be using mixed voice he's in his upper chest
i can't do that be very conscious of what your limitations are what your natural range is
and it doesn't mean that you can't sing this song in the original key but it may
mean it may mean that you need to change how you approach the notes and this line here
is a good test like how can you dial in the type of timbre in your voice that's gonna help you
exist in this range don't wanna see be thin with it don't wanna see it i wanna see it i wanna see
and then add in some false chord engagement a little bit of distortion i've covered this on
a lot of different uh lots of different videos on youtube but just keep that in mind going through
this that i'm gonna sound different you're gonna sound different nobody's gonna sound like michael
jackson one of the greatest vocalists of all time and he's got a really high voice but it doesn't
mean we can't learn from both a singing phrasing and production standpoint the fire's in their eyes
and their words are really clear so beat it just beat it you better run you better do what you
can don't want to see no blood don't be a macho man you want to be tough better do what you can
so beat it i love that oh in the background and i also like you better run you better do what you
can that one's another great line you're better on you better do what you can that idea of lightening
up on do and slowing it down and really feeling that transition that wasn't head voice that was a
much thinner mix but i was really able to lean in you better run i was really able to lean into that
so that the dow was okay if i was if i wasn't really leaning into the you better run
then that note wouldn't have meant that higher note wouldn't have meant or or it wouldn't have
meant as much and it wouldn't have been able to be placed that way because the whole line would
have sounded weak michael jackson does this too he lightens up sometimes as he goes higher
you wanna be tough better do what you can so beat it but you wanna be bad just be there
what i especially like about it is the the just super simple call and answer approach
and then this classic you know for years and years and years
until i finally looked up the lyrics i didn't know what this was this these words
fight fighter it's just such vintage michael jackson
but when you're just listening to it over and over again and don't really think about
you know looking up the words you don't you don't equate that he's always doing that
and that he'd actually put that on the end of the word fight but it works so well
it doesn't matter who's sprung up right just beat it beater just beat it just beat it beat it
get you back notice on that last section where the doubling was happening
at the beginning we had this wide doubling happening where they had the main
single lead vocal and then you had other vocals placed out here but then once we
got in here into the chorus we still had doubling but you want to be bad just speeding
but you can hear in the panning that they've put the doubling
right in the center and then we have the the double just behind it as opposed to panned out
really subtle but necessary observation to make as you start layering different
vocal parts over different sections with different levels of intensity
you better leave while you can don't wanna be a boy you wanna be a man
you wanna stay alive better do what you can so beat it just beat it you have to show them that
you're really not scared okay notice here you have to show them that you're really not scared
doubled and here they're actually get you better leave are you kim i'm not hearing a double it's
brought right behind his lead so they added a double right behind him to beef up for this
next section which is really really cool really subtle you'd never really hear that uh if you
weren't listening to the isolated vocals you have to show them that you're really not scared you're
playing with your life you say no truth or dare they'll kick you then they beat you then they'll
tell you it's fair so beat it let's talk about his nice lower grit for a minute so start clean with
the line just get the pitches tell you it's fair tell you it's fair i realize that's not mj at all
and then we want to start acting like we're going to jam our fist into a wall
but we want to make sure that when we're doing that that we're not grunting like an oaf
no tell you no instead we want it to be
we're going to punch the wall and push a little bit
that's a very different sound yeah then
hear the difference now it just so happens that the is much healthier for your voice
because it's placed higher in your throat so if we have this line and we put a little bit of that
frustration instead of we can actually get closer to what he's doing he's engaging his false chords
at a lower area in his voice which is more difficult than your higher chest because naturally
uh based on survival instinct when we go higher in our voice sometimes our false chords automatically
start to engage a little bit even if we haven't trained them so listening to this again they'll
tell you it's fair so beat tell you it's fair so i'll tell you it's fair no tell you
it's fair tell you it's fair yeah that's closer to what he's doing tell you it's fair it's harder
to put out the other part of it is that he's very staccato tell you it's fair that helps a ton but
realize that when you first start working on this it's hard to maintain pitch so it's really good to
take these words and tell you it's fair tell you it's fair instead of tell you it's fair and just
really feel out that difference that's going to be key all right moving on but you want to be bad
it doesn't matter who sprung up right
now notice the incredible rhythmic demonstrated in almost every michael jackson song but listen
to this if if those weren't there you just wouldn't have the same hook
so awesome easily missed when you try to do it yourself beat it beat it
no one wants to be defeated
no one wants to beat a fear
no one wants to be
so i grabbed one of those from the double and put it up on the main track because i groove so much
better on that one in that section vocal comping right there's a lot of things that i'm not doing
like michael jackson and that's okay what's fun though is to take little things like that
practice grooving with those things and notice them and see how it feels
in your own voice clearly this isn't feeling as natural as it could if i worked on it more also
super fun to double this line and then practice putting those harmonies in my own voice as well
can i get the groove can i get the vibe one thing i also notice is i'm listening back to mine versus
his he's a he's more staccato in his singing which he is and i tend not to be so that's something
that i can work on as well and continue to pick up uh from him as i'm studying him let's move on
and i love this delay beat it beat it this is a single delay that sounds like it's been moved
around with automation so you get that spectrum as you're getting the repeats beat it beat it
beat
and then you can hear on the next section where he does the beat it the
the pan automation happens a slightly different way super cool
kind of going everywhere the delay repeats but they don't repeat the exact
panning motion and they were doing this on an analog board you know moving
pan knobs around so i kind of simulated that with my line drawing
just love the improvisation you know you got the hook going
and then the slow down you know who's wrong over that so awesome
the mixes are slight different slightly different on those harmonies you can tell
they're automating them up and down to accentuate certain parts and bring different holes in
for that improvisation that he's doing masterful mixing
so so groovy it's you can't get yourself into this contrived mindset you almost have to be
no one you have to get in that mindset where you're letting your body
get into it as opposed to just try to you know blurt out
it's a fine line but one of the ways you're grooving and you can see this in his body language
when he performs live it's his whole it's a whole body performance for him and that shows right just
beat it feet and feet and feet and feet and feet feeding feet and feet and feet and feet and feet
and feet and feet and feet and feet and feet beating feet and feet and feet and feet and
feet and feet and again that feedback drawn out on that delay and panned around slightly differently
every time really fun to unpack these and notice things and try things based on what i hear if
you'd like more help with your voice again click that link below my free course and i hope you
enjoy me going through not only the singing but some of the production aspects and nerding out
on some of my favorite songs if you have other songs that you'd like me to do like this let me
know this song got done because you guys have been interacting so much with the other michael jackson
videos i've done and have kept making requests so i keep doing them we'll see you for more