That Beach Boys Vocal Sound

April 8, 2011 5:58 AM

What makes the Beach Boys Harmonies & Voicings sound so "Beach Boys"? Is it particular arrangement of the different voices?

I have a rather limited understanding of Harmony / Music theory and that but was just wondering if there is some common stylistic 'feature' to the Beach Boys vocal voicings?

Ie they sound so different to say the harmonies that the Beatles employ. I'd like to understand why that is.
posted by mary8nne (9 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

The main difference is that the BBs use fairly close, 3 or 4 part harmonies with lots of six and seventh chords and suspensions and so on, wheras the Beatles use very simple two or three part harmonies, usually just thirds/sixths and fifths.

So in a BB harmony you might have the lead vocal tracked with another voice a third above, another an octave above, and a bass part singing the root of the chord or something else, or else not tracking the vocal at all but providing a sort of choral pad, a major or minor seventh chords, say, or a suspended fourth, or a ninth... all sorts of things.

Whereas the Beatles tend to stick to fairly simple things like a couple of voices both singing a third above.
posted by unSane at 10:51 AM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]


it's also very similar to the old time barbershop quartet sound, for which there is a whole method of arrangement - and the beach boys were heavily influenced by that

the beatles' harmonies were more influenced by the everly brothers sound and some r&b
posted by pyramid termite at 9:26 AM on April 9, 2011


The Beach Boys had four (or more) voices, which is a lot for a pop group, so right away you're going to be able to create a fuller sound with that many people singing at once. Even more importantly, the Beach Boys had a great blend. When every singer tries to sound like the others around him, the tone of the group becomes more pure and distinguished. This is what gives a group its sound, and it's employed in all kinds of group singing, from medieval choir to modern day barbershop (per pyramid termite's example). Since the individual voices of the singers motivates the final blend, the individual voices of the Beach Boys is really the greatest contributor to their sound.

You could argue that it has to do with the particular arrangements, harmonies, or changes that were written for the group, but that argument tends to break down when you listen to some of the more straight forward material and realize it still sounds like the Beach Boys. With more voices you can create certain extended chords (per unSane's example), but I'd argue that there are fewer of these fancy chords than you might think. If you're going to talk about the theoretical notes behind the music, what's more important to my ear is the fact that the Beach Boys had actual bass parts in their vocal arrangements, which creates a certain depth to the sound that you won't hear in, for example, a record by The Beatles. And the bass parts are there because there was someone who could sing them, which supports the idea that the sound comes from the individual singers over any other technical concern.
posted by grog at 11:37 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]


There's also that there were voices in the Beach Boys arrangements singing high falsetto - compare with Jan and Dean, who had a similar tone in that way but with ostensibly two voices. I think it's that shrill tone that makes the "Surf Sound".

Also the Beach Boys tend to be more uncertain in their intonation (not as in tune).

(I don't consider either of these things to be bad, just different qualities).

Also, I think there's a difference in the kind and amount of echo/reverb that's used.

If you listen to the Because acapella, you hear the Beatles singing a very Beach Boys-y arrangement.
posted by Grangousier at 3:13 AM on April 14, 2011


(Yes, probably falsetto in the Beatles singing, but there's a tonal difference between the way they do it and the way Brian Wilson does it. That's what I mean.)
posted by Grangousier at 3:14 AM on April 14, 2011


Yeah, that's true. If you want to do instant fake Beach Boys you do a falsetto which does that wonderful oo-weee-oooo-weeee-oooo arpeggio thing. That's incredibly distinctive.
posted by unSane at 4:01 AM on April 14, 2011


The Beatles arrangement linked above was actually a 9-part harmony, with John, Paul and George each contributing 3 vocal parts from what I remember from the Anthology series.
posted by TwoWordReview at 5:19 PM on April 25, 2011


9 part harmony is pretty much impossible to do with 3 voices with a limited male range. I think what you mean is that they each triple-tracked their vocal, which was standard practice for George Martin. Which means it was three-part harmony, with each part recorded three times.

(sorry haven't listened to original link but this is the way the beatles recorded backing tracks as far as I know)
posted by unSane at 9:45 PM on April 25, 2011


Hmm, yes that sounds more accurate. I think I meant 9 tracks in 3 parts.
posted by TwoWordReview at 11:19 PM on April 26, 2011


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