David at Jollyblogger writes about Ashlee Simpson’s Saturday Night Live snafu. I agree with David about the whole Dad expoiting his daughter thing. How sad and sick.
The broader question about lip-synching, however, is a bit more interesting, from my perspective as a musician who plays live every week (I play guitar and sing in our “contemporary” worship band for a congregation of about 600 every Sunday).
I never lip synch, but I do use technical aids when I play live — every rock musician does. For example, I play an electric guitar (Gibson Les Paul Studio double cutaway — sweet!) through an amplifier that includes digital signal processors. These signal processors let me tweak my guitar tone, so I can sound like Pete Townshend cranking through two 100 watt Marshall stacks at one moment and The Edge delivering crystal ringing layers with his Gibson Explorer the next. Yes, the notes and much of the tone come from my fingers on the fretboard, but the distortion, delay and other effects I add electronically support what I’m doing.
So how much of a leap is it from tone shaping electric instruments to supporting a vocal with a guide track? When does electronic support cross the line from enhancing musicianship to deceipt? Very interesting question. I need to crank up my amp and blast a few power chords so I can clear my head enought to think about it.