u/PinkGuavaFlower

Another day, another group getting flamed for sounding bad during an encore. A round of applause for Hearts2Hearts please.

I’ve seen various opinions on encores across the K-Pop subreddits—most of them saying that the singing in encores shouldn’t matter and that idols should just be allowed to have fun and celebrate their win—but I think these takes lack nuance because they don’t acknowledge why the quality of the singing in encores became such a heated discussion topic in K-Pop fandom in the first place.

The reason is because “live” performances on music shows (Music Bank, Inkigayo) and other platforms (Killing Voice, It’s Live) are not truly “live”. Curious fans who just want to know if a group can actually sing or not have to resort to watching encores because for some strange reason, encores are one of the only places left in K-Pop where we can hear what an idol’s raw, unfiltered vocals actually sound like.

To be specific, when you watch a music show performance, a survival show, an episode of Killing Voice, or go to an idol’s concert, etc. one or more of the following is happening to tune up an idol’s singing:

1. Lip syncing to the studio recording (this one used to be common but is more rarely used today because it is too easy to identify and it gets you flamed online, so it’s been largely replaced by #2)

2. Lip syncing to prerecorded vocals

3. Melodyne/pitch correction

4. MR so heavy it drowns out the idol’s voice

Even though die-hard fans may cite a Music Bank or a King of Masked Singer performance as evidence that their favs can sing, most people (who’s judgement hasn’t been clouded by fandom goggles) can implicitly hear that these performances have been doctored using one or more of the above techniques.

So this leaves us with encores. Ironically, the fact that encores were considered so unimportant that companies didn’t feel the need to shore up their artists’ vocals in them is what made them become so important that a group’s whole reputation can now be decided by one bad encore performance (looking at you LeSserafim).

In my years of being a K-Pop fan, I’ve personally seen “live” performances get less and less live to the point where the encore really is the only place where you get to hear an idol’s raw live vocals in a stage performance setting. I think it’s a shame because encores are actually not an ideal singing environment. Most of the time, the idols don’t have access to functioning in-ears, the volumes of the microphones are all over the place, a lot of them are emotional over getting a win, and these days there’s a lot of added pressure around sounding good during encores. It’s a perfect storm for disasterclass vocals, and it’s only going to get worse as more and more groups keep getting their encores scrutinized. But also, we have to acknowledge that all these other platforms for supposedly “live” performances aren’t close to being real demonstrations of live singing at all.

My solution is to give idols more opportunities to sing fully live. Especially on shows like It’s Live, there is no reason to pitch correct a performance that doesn’t even have choreography to that extent. The more idols practice singing live without the training wheels, the more comfortable and confident in their vocals they will be. And the more opportunities they have to show off their raw live vocals, the less “weight” there will be on the encore. And of course, fans need to give these idols grace for sounding imperfect!

I’ve been recording myself singing on voice notes, and needless to say, I hate the sound of my tone. On days where I sound particularly bad, I literally feel like an uglier version of myself.

This got me thinking: vocal tones are just like facial attractiveness. Or more specifically, the range of human vocal tones from pleasing to unlistenable is just as big as the range of facial attractiveness in humans.

First, we have the people who hit the genetic lottery and are blessed with gorgeous tones that are beloved by almost everyone who hears them sing (e.g. Whitney Houston). These vocalists are just like people who are born naturally beautiful and get scouted on the street to be models or actors.

Next, we have the people who have average vocal tones (this is most people) but they can put in work to make their tones more pleasant through vocal training. This is akin to working out, grooming, wearing makeup, etc. to make yourself more presentable.

Finally, we have the people who just have ugly vocal tones. These are similar to people who are just born with un-ideal facial proportions or conventionally unattractive features (or both). Technically everyone can improve their tone through training just like how everyone can improve their looks through self-care, but in both cases you won’t go from an ugly base to suddenly top-tier.

Further adding to this analogy: There are certain voices and faces that are very unique and may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but are beloved by other people. Also you know that phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”? That applies to vocal tones as well, since different people may have different preferences for which vocal tones they find attractive.

Now I’m wondering, is there an equivalent to plastic surgery for vocal tone?

Do y’all agree? (Please take this post as a 50% serious, 50% joke. I’m just crashing out about the state of my voice.)

Are there any good options for acne scar treatment in South Korea?

To be clear, I’m talking about real acne scars (i.e. boxcar, ice pick, rolling) where the skin texture has been permanently altered. I’m NOT talking about post-acne hyperpigmentation or redness.

I’m really curious about perspectives on this from those of you who are very familiar with how raw vocals are supposed to sound. Also if anyone here has input from a sound engineering perspective that would also be really appreciated!

I’m told that basically every mainstream singer uses pitch correction these days and that most of the time you can’t even tell it’s being used. While I agree that almost everyone uses pitch corrected microphones nowadays, I feel like I can usually tell when they are. A pitch corrected voice usually sounds a bit robotic, unnaturally clean, smooth and lacking in texture.

Examples of obvious pitch correction to me include Bieber at Coachella, Taylor Swift during the Eras Tour, every Charlie Puth performance, Sza (though this can be argued to be a stylistic choice), and Zara Larsson. I’ve also noticed more natural pitch correction with people like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. Finally there are people who I suspect use very subtle pitch correction but I’m not 100% sure like current Beyoncé, Olivia Rodrigo, and Billie Eilish.

I guess my way of distinguishing raw vocals from pitch corrected ones is that raw vocals tend to sound drier and huskier than pitch corrected ones. There is more heft and texture to the voice.

My question is, is it possible to always tell if a singer is using pitch correction even if it’s very subtle? Or are the sound people right in that it can be so subtle that you’ll never notice?

Can anyone recommend me any 3-point facial contouring surgeons with very natural and conservative results?

I’m concerned about sagging and I don’t want a pointy Dorito chin or a jaw bone that looks “missing” (like Wendy from Red Velvet).

I don’t have a super wide face to begin with, but I am bothered by how my asymmetrical cheekbones cast harsh shadows on my face and how my low jaw angle gives me a square lower face. I’m just looking to make my jaw angle more ideal, fix my chin recession with genioplasty, and smooth my cheekbones. Basically I just want smoother facial contours without removing too much bone support.

My cat (9yo male DSH) has been experiencing lethargy, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and has been eating less and less in the last month, with symptoms intensifying over the last two weeks. He has a past medical history of wet FIP in 2022 which was successfully treated with GS antivirals.

Abdominal ultrasound at the vet showed enlarged spleen and slight hepatomegaly with liver lesions suggestive of some kind of infiltration, and a few enlarged lymph nodes (can’t remember which ones I just know the only enlarged lymph nodes were in the abdomen). No changes to intestines and no masses were found on abdominal ultrasound. FNA of the spleen and liver with cytology was negative for neoplastic cells. His blood work was within normal limits for literally everything on a CBC and CMP. No fever. He also had a chest X-ray that was normal.

As you can see, every test so far has been inconclusive. Vet thinks it’s either small cell lymphoma that’s does not originate from the GI tract, large cell lymphoma that we can’t see on the imaging, or FIP.

We have an appointment with an internal medicine specialist to do a liver and spleen biopsy/exploratory abdominal surgery to try to get a definitive diagnosis. The problem is the earliest we could get in is in two weeks.

Meanwhile my baby is getting sicker and sicker. The stress of the vet visits gave him a nasty URI on top of everything else so now he’s having difficulty breathing too. He’s so miserable. I’m afraid he’ll be too weak to handle any more invasive diagnostics by the time of our appointment.

I’m posting this with the hopes of maybe someone having any ideas on what my cat could possibly be dealing with. Does it sound like lymphoma, FIP, or something else entirely? Is there something we are missing? Some test, differential Dx, anything? We will be starting him on FIP meds without a diagnosis as a shot in the dark (bc steroids would interfere with diagnosis of cancer).