New Year's Day by Electro Lounge All Stars

Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5wM1c5IdiA0BejsCEV6i9n?si=2228f16dfb1040f6

And I think that it should be filed under "instrumental"

Last updated by Sjef Smeets on 2021-12-17 17:34:34 UTC - Show original message

Circa 2018 the "what is an instrumental question" was all over the place. Resampled and may have detected some faint and sporadic lyrics, but I would consider an insty today. Revised submission accordingly....

Edit submission: audit log

Thank you.

And I know it can be confusing for a lot of people. But for me as a musician it usually is quite simple: the voice also can be an instrument (or being used as an instrument, if you prefer). So when a voice is used instrumentally (like in a vocalising part): it's instrumental. When a sample of a voice is used, it is used as an instrument: it's instrumental.

But it's not my intention to get a new discussion, after all maybe my 'rule' is just because of my classical training.

When I first started reporting insty vs. vocal, I was advised by an editor that any lyrics = vocal. Since first rule provided tends to be the one that sticks, I ran with that until getting more and more pushback from other editors, which pushed the question back into a grey zone.

My current policy is to pick a poison based on my own gut, but suggest comments to account for minimal lyrics, etc.

Non-lyric vocalization is something that SHS has discussed many times and even has applicable tags, so that's not really an issue. What can be an issue is determining if some vocalization is some undetermined language or not. For instance, is a chant Latin or just vocal effects?

Non-lyric vocalization is something that SHS has discussed many times and even has applicable tags, so that's not really an issue.

Sjef Smeets - VirileVagabond is right that when the voice is used as an instrument rather than to song lyrics, we would list the performance as an instrumental and tag it as such. What made you think that we did the opposite? Do you have a particular example in mind?

Do you have a particular example in mind?

Not really, I was working on versions/adaptions of "New Year's Day", and I had to decide whether some were instrumental or not.

Although I do remember that I reported a song that I thought should be instrumental, if I remember correctly a guitar on top of an accompanying tape, which had a small choir in the second refrain or something like that. For me that was instrumental, but that wasn't agreed. Which by the way is fine by me, I don't think we need to agree on everything.

In case of an undefined chant, it could be an unknown language, or even a made-up language (like a Klingon version?), then it would be based on the intention of the singer whether it should be vocalising (like scatting) or lyrics, I think.

To clarify if necessary, besides the unknown chant vs. vocal effects question, the only real issue that remains for me is the close call. My position is that a coded instrumental that has some lyrics can be handled with a comment noting the minimal lyrics. Similarly, the same performance can be coded as vocal but with a comment such as "mostly instrumental".

Unfortunately, after a series of hostile responses to my suggesting comments, I no longer suggest adding such informative clarifications of any type. It would appear that Management prefers taste great vs. less filling error reports over comments that would resolve the dispute.

Perhaps a good example of site inconsistency: Human Nature

Not only are the "lyrics" limited to the horn section faintly chanting out something once or twice, Just the Two of Us is just an element at best but currently coded as a vocal medley.

Assignee: sebcat

Status: open processed

Added, thanks!