Michael Jackson "Off the Wall" Background Vocals Deconstructed

Join Patreon for exclusive content and early access to KZbin videos ➡️ / mjjvault
👕 MJ Merch @ : vintagesupply.shop/
This video deconstructs MJ's famous harmonies in the song "Off the Wall".
Use headphones for the best experience 🎧 🎶
MJ Background Vocals Playslist: • Michael Jackson Harmon...
Subscribe for more!
Michael Jackson - "Off the Wall" Background Vocals/Harmonies Deconstructed
.
.
.
0:00 Intro
0:59 Chorus - deconstructed
2:11 Chorus
2:29 Chorus pt.2
2:47 Verse harmony deconstructed
3:25 Verse harmony
3:39 Last chorus/outro

[@persnickety369]

His voice was actually an instrument.

[@surfdigby]

His voice was almost an orchestra.

[@elove2.038]

You noticed too?

[@netzajack]

All these years I thought those notes were an instrument #Genius

[@clarisafarley8194]

That was his instructment

[@lukesoares7117]

everyones voice is an instrument

[@eliaswolff4880]

He’s voice was so insane.pure magic.

[@Amangiechsin]

his vibrato is INSANE, i got major operatic vibes from the harmonies and the fact that they are harmonies and not vocals themselves just shows how great he was

[@cmixer108]

The last chorus is literally giving me goosebumps. And these are PRE-AUTOTUNE. Legendary.....

[@crashdummytee]

michael used auto tune?

[@NYCKZ360]

@@crashdummytee nope

[@cmixer108]

@@crashdummytee Not at all.

[@Sttephy30]

Auto Tune sounds ugly anyways. Raw voice is better, even if the raw voice isn't all that good lol

[@trop7478]

@@NYCKZ360 he had used autotune within invincible session.

[@missmokkori5558]

He truly deserved his “King of Pop” title

[@andythespider]

And he still deserves it.

[@sergiobuontempi2297]

And this is exactly why I think that the Off The Wall album was better then Thriller in my opinion. Thriller is a close second for me. This is how a master singer does the craft of making a fantastic album that even by today’s standards is still far ahead of it’s time! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@Michaelraymondonkeys]

I agree

[@ericlessousa5164]

For me too!

[@TheRotorious13b]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y162hXxod7igp80

[@AR-ii3ly]

OTW is a far better album than Thriller.

[@Unknown-hy1ud]

Every MJ album is unique in its own way

[@Optimism211]

You can hear the huge influence he's had on Brandy and Beyonce and of course his sister Janet. Some of the best vocal stacks in the WORLD!

[@okeythegoat2332]

Ong

[@Wowitzkay]

Janet has some great harmonies also

[@Ilovechicago100]

Facts.

[@ericadial8801]

He was the king of vocal stacks....👑

[@factsoverfeelings421]

@@Wowitzkay Janet’s harmonies are far better.

[@bmentlow]

Those stacked harmonies are sick! MJ knew his intervals well...You can tell that he was really fast in the studio too...No appearance of any struggling.

[@stevenponte6655]

Bruce Swedien said in an interview MJ had perfect pitch.

[@alexandergedeon409]

Let’s not forget the greatest arranger of the 20th century was in the room with him.

[@CCI320]

@@alexandergedeon409 Bullshit.

[@rhoca_sings]

@@stevenponte6655 really? Cuz true perfect pitch is the ability to recognize the "pitch" or name of a note without aid of an instrument (Michael, I'm hearing an A-flat, but the note should be an A natural" ) Otherwise, MJ's vocal TONE is very pure and I've read that he could match any tone when he was a child and perfectly sing back a song he'd never heard before on the first try.

[@stevenponte6655]

@@rhoca_sings yes that’s what Swedien said. Maybe he was referring to insanely good relative pitch. Perfect pitch is a funny thing . My piano teacher had it, but always named the notes 1 semitone off. She thinks the piano she grew up playing was out of tune! She also said she lost it when she turned 40!!

[@barneykwizznow9270]

pre-autotune......voice control is insane as well to sound like this without compression...he is an audio engineer's dream Can't help but to ponder what I could do with his voice if I had him in the studio. truly amazing

[@lundsweden]

I think in those days they would've compressed it a little AS they recorded. Analog tape itself also compresses slightly. I'm sure Micheal did'nt need a lot of compression, but I think they would've added a touch.

[@adam-hp6qt]

@@lundswedenMJs engineer, Bruce Swedien had a rule to not use compression, but I don't remember if it was about the vocals or instrumental parts

[@lundsweden]

@@adam-hp6qt That's really interesting! I did'nt know that. Maybe Micheal "compressed" the vocal part purely with mic technique, like skilled vocalists often do. Like in a loud part, you move away from the mic, softer parts you get right on top of it. Michael was a seasoned pro by 1979 after all!

[@adam-hp6qt]

@@lundsweden yup the different distances from the mic is definitely a technique Bruce swedien often used to create depth with choirs, so probably with MJs background vocals too

[@JRosevelt]

@METAINVERSO I don't think so. A glance at the actual wave forms above and you can notice too much discrepency in volume for it to be compressed. The sizes of the waveforms vary more than a decent compression would allow. Impressive still for a human voice to have such control, but not controlled enough as to pass for compression.

[@garfieldharrison510]

So what intrigued me about Michael Jackson was his vocals. Everyone is always talking about his Dancing. This was the reason why I got into Michael and wanted to pursue a career in the music industry. At least in Production. It was the Off The Wall Album that really did it for me back then in my early teens. Quincy Jones and his engineer Bruce Swedien did a fantastic job capturing the essence of Michael back in 1979. I would listen to the Off The Wall album intensely and read the credits. It said he did all his vocals. I was fascinated by that. I used to listen real intense particular to the song title of the album. Now you can hear it right on You tube years later. You can hear the process of how he laid them beautiful vocals. Off The Wall is a classic solo album debut for an Artist of his caliber at that time. It was a homerun.

[@jojodancer0072]

Ok, from what I can remember when this album dropped, I recalled reading the credits on the back of this album, I saw “Patti Austin” as part of the background shadow vocals. Where does “Patti Austin” comes in as a background vocal in this project? Humm?

[@garfieldharrison510]

@@jojodancer0072 the song. It's the Falling in Love. She sings actually a duett there with him.

[@jojodancer0072]

@@garfieldharrison510 also MJ does support some of her (Patti Austin) songs as her shadow vocals too such as on Quincy Jones “The Dude” (Bet’cha wouldn’t hurt me),so do your research 🔬 please.

[@BiohazardEXTREME]

I would pay good money for the full uncut stems of his vocal recording sessions. I love that kind of stuff, and when it's an artist as legendary as Michael, it holds that much more significance.

[@stevenponte6655]

i dont know how they get them. Someone has the stems for Human Nature too i heard on his youtube channel. amazing.

[@zxxczczczcz]

@@stevenponte6655 ye i wanna know too where they get them

[@diegopereze98]

I have the complete multitracks of this session and other hits from Michael.

[@nicolasgonzalez4643]

@@diegopereze98 seriously you have the complete multitrack of this song but when you say complete there are also the voices of siedah garrett

[@kxnnnnn]

ive got some young micheal

[@Finestdeity]

I didn't realize that much work went into recording a song when you do all the vocals yourself. Like, that's crazy difficult to hit those different notes. Amazingly impressive.

[@Michelle_Schu-blacka]

People don't realise just how laborious recording a song is. The recording isn't so bad although it can take a while to get a take you're happy with. But most of it is hours upon hours of listening to the same song over and over again until every sound is just right and you'd be surprised how many sounds there are. There's plenty that people don't even notice but they all help the track. For example, nobody notices the multiple layers of beatboxing Michael put into some of his songs.

[@nyx8312]

His vocal layering 🤯🤯🤯

[@nebstaism]

He had such amazing pitch .....what beautiful harmonies.... Michael was such a good singer

[@mscaine2291]

Damn! He did all the background singing! WOW!!! ALL VOCALS SOUNDS AMAZING

[@yolandaemery5355]

Yes

[@richardkovacs2006]

his precise timing is insane. the length of the notes in the harmonies are the exact same. i know, ha was a dancer, he must have had an inner metronome, but this is beyond perfect. thanks for posting this deconstructed harmonies, simply amazing!

[@stevenponte6655]

apparently he danced when he sung, and even recorded. Maybe he used his body for the length of notes. Cos as you said, its amazingly accurate. My drum teacher once told me to watch MJ when he dances, every part of the body is doing a rhythm like a latin salsa band!

[@ab_blitz99]

The fact that this was “just another day at work” for Mike is fucking insane🤦🏾‍♂️🐐

[@RetroPlus]

I always had a suspicion that MJ used his voice like that in the intro of this song, it's partly what makes it sound so beautiful

[@jorgevillarreal4210]

he resembles Mozart, this one was able to compose an entire work in his mind before committing the piece to the paper... both geniuses in their own field!!!

[@richardkovacs2006]

The great composers all did/do that. Bach, Beethoven... Quincy, Mj. Beethoven wrote his most known work (the 9th) when he was already deaf... he never heard his simphony in reality.

[@Jamesharveycomics]

Hmm

[@alby2643]

MJ could picture it in his mine without even hearing it.

[@Jamesharveycomics]

Song was written by Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones.

[@itdobelikedattho8112]

You understand that he didn't do this alone

[@DJaySplitSecond]

MJ was a pure genius! His work ethic was untouchable, he never cheated us with music!!

[@gmoney8585]

The most rythmic human being that ever lived

[@agapereign]

I don’t know why this made me emotional. I grew up in Gary, IN in the 70s and 80s, attending a school 4 blocks from their house. MJJ was a lifeline for me. I had a very hard childhood and I would escape through music, especially his. He became my best friend and confidant, even if only in my head. His heart was beautiful and his soul was innocent. He was talented and a genius musically. I miss him so much.

[@SeverancePay500]

Been to that neighborhood took some pics , Rochester, NY here

[@4TheExec]

This man was gifted beyond comprehension!

[@yolandaemery5355]

I swear. Scary talented.

[@sadistyk_1671]

Being your own barbershop quartet is incredibly difficult . Mike was otherworldly with this!

[@JasonScoopComedy]

The word genius is thrown around WAY too much these days this is a genius

[@jessicarobles312]

I would hear MJ vocalize instrumentals in other songs but seeing it like this is crazy! I thought that the intro was a keyboard 🎹😂 this comes to show how extremely talented he was and how much dedication, hard work and passion he put into his music 🎶🔥

[@alexwwe2009]

3:47 this is where the magic happens. With michael, you dont need instruments, his voice makes up for it.

[@maha77]

To this day this is still my favorite Michael Jackson song. When I first heard it as a kid I just couldn't get enough, it made me so excited for life. The freedom, the energy, the excitement, I wanted to grow up so I could live life off the wall! And amazingly, this was the first full album I ever bought, and as I was walking home from the mall, I was so excited by the purchase that I ran across the street without looking and was hit by a car. Everything went in slow motion as I tumbled over the roof of the car and saw the album flying out of my hand like a Frisbee. I wasn't worried about myself, all I could think of was _'Oh No! My album!'_ - fortunately the album was fine, I was bruised up and in pain but recovered.

[@tracyb64]

That fact that you can enjoy just his voice without a single drum, guitar, etc, just proves how incredible his vocals and harmonies really were! Outstanding!👍🏽

[@AntwhaleNearfar]

The only other stacking of vocal harmonies video I’ve seen and heard that’s on par with the mastery in this one was Marvin Gaye’s harmonies for the song “I Want You”.

[@SharonMonique]

I’m sure that was insane. I saw Marvin sing that lying down. This is my favorite Michael song ever, and I already knew this would be amazing… it did not disappoint 🥰

[@petertrotman7708]

Marvin was the most underrated background vocal arranger. I'd love to hear those backing tracks.

[@AntwhaleNearfar]

@@petertrotman7708 Ask and you shall receive. Starts at 0:50 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3aso3qNnLlgb8k

[@moondoggy02116]

I Want You is one of the best songs ever to me because I can’t listen to it and miss the fact that the vocals are insane. Layers upon layers of genius. If I had been a DJ back then, they would have had to MAKE me play other songs.

[@gingteng9803]

I’ve heard Mariah’s “close my eyes” and “outside” and the background vocals are exeptional too

[@TelishaYah]

I enjoyed this. There is childhood, teenhood, and adulthood memories attached to that man's voice. 😥

[@cdiyce9979]

He himself was pure music; the voice, the instruments, in every aspect. Can’t be denied at all. 🙏🏾🔥❤️

[@freshprinceshaun]

Always thought OTW was easily his top 3 albums . This was a young MJ just having fun experimenting with his voice. And thats why imo deserved more recognition back in those days.

[@abbyestrella2592]

that was my guy! mj rip MJJ

[@dynamicvoltage9765]

I've been composing/performing/singing most of my life and MJ is a true rare natural talent. He didn't play in instrument. I doubt he knew anything about chords or music theory. He just knew "if I sing this note it's going to fit." This song has an interesting chord progression. A lot of 7ths, bass root changes, and one key change. It's not an easy song to harmonize with. I'd probably have to write out the harmonies on piano first. MJ didn't need to do that. I could sit down at a piano and score something out for an orchestra, which MJ could never do, but I'd never be able to come up with something half as good as what he can do just by singing the parts without any real knowledge of what he's actually singing. It's almost depressing that someone can be THAT freaking talented.

[@EnchantedJewelzEmpire]

This was so beautiful I never realized what sounded like background singers were all layers of just him.

[@EnchantedJewelzEmpire]

1:00 2:10

[@thetruthandnothingbutthetr6484]

You sound kind of slow

[@TremaynePrice]

This has ALWAYS been my favorite song for the richest harmonies I've ever heard, let alone from ONE PERSON. I wasn't even 5 years old when this came out, and I remember being blown away when I first heard it, and even more and more as my ear developed. Thank you for this breakdown.

[@videowatcher4006]

3:49 Just blew mind. The man was a genius and the greatest musician I’ve known during my lifetime.

[@mr._magicman]

I've already watched the thriller one a million times, and i've actually really hoped to see something like this for off the wall!!! i love these videos :)) his backing vocals were always extremely well done

[@angelomorales1932]

Sameeeeeeee lol

[@pmixx2000]

understatement if ever i heard one

[@obeytoe1837]

Please make more harmonies that haven’t been heard like this one ❤️

[@OfficialG5Tv]

The stacking of these vocals and the harmonies 🔥even the adlibs were in perfect tune🙏🐐 words can’t describe the level of talent Mj had. Mj, R. Kelly, and Marvin Gaye had the best ears for Melodies ever created in music.

[@Danilo8208SS]

Michael Jackson had perfect pitch so it was nothing to him.

[@shonmosley4215]

@@Danilo8208SS He was great but not perfect pitch lol there been times he has hit off notes during live performances due to dancing yet still that doesn’t qualify him to have perfect pitch.

[@chickfilamami]

that’s not what perfect pitch means

[@OfficialG5Tv]

@Nymphia it doesn’t matter we just here to Promote real talent!

[@Danilo8208SS]

@@shonmosley4215 perfect pitch means he had a special ability that about 1 in 10,000 people have where they can just recognize pitches the same way you can recognize colors. So they’ve got a really good internal reference of what is in tune. Of course there are times when people with perfect pitch miss notes but they definitely know it.

[@iamsofia-eu5oi]

Michael Joseph Jackson. Greatest Of All Time. Legendary. ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@themirrorsofmymind]

Micheal Jackson was a showman and wanted to create a total experience with his dancing and singing so his vocal abilities usually weren't the focus of his adult solo career when it came to critics, but if you listen to songs like "Got to Be There" you can hear how stunningly powerful his voice was! Later, he would be focused on bringing a complete vision to his audience via short-form films (dubbed music videos), but he still made sure his finished vocal recordings were polished to perfection. I'm so amazed and blissed out by the acapella and backing vocal videos that I've found on _KZbin_ of his songs. *It's almost like I never really heard them before!*

[@thehoneyeffect]

Just beautiful, even just his phrasing... the way that he says 'tonight' gives me shivers

[@samfine5286]

Even though I know and love this song a lot. It being one of my fav MJ songs, 0:56 gave me a jump scare 💀💀💀

[@danieladpd11]

Me too !

[@NYCKZ360]

This is gold to me. I love figuring out harmonies to help me construct my own.

[@ishawoolery7570]

same

[@BiancaMosala]

Same.

[@CCTH2221-lp2zj]

“Off The Wall” was a music industry game changer. At the time because of the rebellion against Disco/ Dance music many record executives didn’t know what direction to go in. This album helped change that. MJ and Quincy had a clear vision and accomplished it. “Thriller” benefited from the emergence of MTV and MJ’s performance on the Motown 25 special. As well as obviously more of a “Pop” or even commercial feel. Both incredible albums!

[@freezhollywood]

Shows how important stacking is. Hear how full everything sound. This is amazing

[@yadyad1966]

That’s why he is the greatest freaking amazing

[@MrCamwilliams7]

Ho…ly….crap!!! 🤯🤯 man I love these videos!!! 🙌🏾🔥his voice is magic! @ 2:10

[@daprincebeats2128]

Chills

[@limerobloxgaming8567]

2:48 i screamed tf

[@chriswilson97]

My favorite Michael Jackson song

[@kristofferwash1]

Man's voice was insane..

[@destiny9967]

I’m begging you to do Liberian girl

[@Sturn-hf7vw]

Thanks it's so good to have that point of view of Michael's work with his team👌

[@chelle315]

Now that's how you stack some vocals!!! What an amazing musical treasure to learn from!! I love me some Michael Jackson!!

[@yolandaemery5355]

Treasure indeed

[@d.l.t7421]

Background vocals are my favorite parts of songs lol this is PERFECT!!!

[@LGKids]

This man was made of out of music! Peace!

[@TheTapMusic]

You know a vocal arrangement is dope when it works by itself

[@TR-hp7md]

That’s crazy he sounds like a violin smh amazing

[@fiddlestix3025]

Insane, to see the process and the amount of work and skill invested there…. 🙏 MJ

[@elove2.038]

AINT NOBODY F@$king with MICHAEL JACKSON!🗣️🎶🎶🎶

[@Williamsmel]

Unbelievable Magic at it's BEST.... Love and miss you MJ

[@ayomideogundeji3622]

Please how can I get this 😭

[@mjfantj61]

Oh My God he is Amazing with the Harmonies 💯❤

[@mrkitty777]

Nowadays kids consider Justin Bieber his computer voice better🥺

[@onlyangcl]

@@mrkitty777 don’t disrespect JB like that 💀 he can actually sing, bully someone else

[@mrkitty777]

@@onlyangcl JB is a great artist, and i hope he recovers and regarding his voice i hope he learns to not rely at autotune, or vocoder, it would require Justin Bieber to so the same lyric in a song in different tone scale like Michael Jackson but I am sure Justin Bieber can do that. For now let's praying 🙏 for his condition to recover from. Ed Sheeran did a autotune song too but like Justin and Ed Sheeran there real voice is better to the human ear, with to much technology it's becoming unbearable to me. All autotune songs sounds the same, why using it.

[@charleswilliams8248]

A musical Genius knowing his craft! We miss you Michael Jackson one of a kind!

[@xoticcody620]

“ GROOVE LET THE MADNESS IN THE MUSIC GET TO YOU” 🔥 REST IN PEACE MICHAEL!

[@jwilliams1898]

Speechless.. and this is my favorite sone from him... He was one of one... mastered the studio and then mastered the performance.. He really was meticulous in all aspects of his craft

[@DuhAverageJoe]

The arranging and production value of this album is TOP TIER!

[@panosgouzou4610]

We want more mj harmonies! Thanks for uploading! 🙌

[@DanielTRBeats]

Michael Jackson era e sempre será o artista perfeito

[@petertrotman7708]

The 'Boss' Rod Temperton doing his best Heatwave harmonies for Michael. Top Draw.

[@darrellmfume3513]

Back in the LATE 70's. Heatwave and Karen Carpenter. Turned down, ROCK WITH YOU.

[@crnkmnky]

*Rod the Man.* 🌹

[@jannemandruivensuiker2391]

THE MASTER !

[@neverland48]

Now imagine doing that with reels of tape on a machine

[@kensmechanicalaffair]

Yikes, it's on my bucket list to actually be involved in the cut and splice process. Can't be that hard..right?

[@eliaswolff4880]

Love your Videos they show how talented Michael was.

[@JWFIT17]

That was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!!

[@itseveary5756]

never stop uploading these

[@eemaaknee]

amazing!! please make more of these

[@andrewcrawford4635]

Amazing. I always liked his background vocals in the chorus. This post was really enjoyable. Nice to hear each harmony separately then all together.

[@v7art301]

This is more than amazing! No words to describe this perfection

[@dickbeater8954]

Possibly one of the best uploads to YT... superb! MJ is a different gravy.. 10/10

[@kamben7969]

Amazing voice work! Above, it's the sun! Thank's for this wonderful sharing.👍💪

[@lizmenzel8063]

Exquisite! 💗

[@KeizeShow]

How did you get Michael Jackson tracked out vocals?! 🤯

[@blackwolfdavinci575]

Right?!

[@crnkmnky]

Make friends with the right Los Angeles audio engineers… 🤫

[@kensmechanicalaffair]

@@crnkmnky Yea, the weeby lookin ones.

[@captcorajus]

Getting Acapellas for dj tracks is quite common, and available for just about every popular song. There are quite a few deejay services that you pay a monthly fee to and can download them for use in your own mixes.

[@KeizeShow]

@@captcorajus - Accapellas, yes are common. Tracked out Michael Jackson session vocals, not common.

[@pg07rj]

I love this song so much. It is one of my favorite Michael's songs, and when you listen to something like that it's impossible to not see how wonderful artist this man was. Seriously.

[@beasaroseco5840]

That time Mike became the choir.

[@mholm4962]

Amazing, like 8 diffrent voices and of course the best main lead vocal voice. And thats not all of it, the performance, dancing, the crew, the teaching, the setup, movie making and ALOT more... rest in peace MJ

[@amiraain1297]

Amazing 😍

[@Machelle3200]

Wow...Sounds like an Angel..😇😇😇

[@tyronedavison5286]

OMG I am listening to the actual raw tracks from the greatest entertainer to ever live.Thank you very much.You have no idea the value of this to me being a fellow musician.

[@aliciar.m.912]

Thanks very much. Para los que no sabemos de música este tipo de videos son muy instructivos. Mil gracias. Un saludo cordial from Madrid, Spain.

[@yaracarvalho6066]

Melhor artista que tivemos!! Orgulho de ser fã desse ser humano incrível e artista incomparável.

[@thebraveone5095]

👋👋👋👋👋 TWELVE PART HARMONY! I was in chorus for 8 years straight in school. This is beautiful.

[@kensmechanicalaffair]

That's not 12 part, those are doubles.

[@thebraveone5095]

@@kensmechanicalaffair I got 13 likes.

[@kensmechanicalaffair]

@@thebraveone5095 Does that validate your comment.

[@thebraveone5095]

@@kensmechanicalaffair Yes.

[@prinnywinny9013]

@@thebraveone5095 that means nothing. it’s not 12 part harmonies.

[@VitorRenan]

(Portuguese BR) Eu estou, simplesmente, chorando! Que genialidade, quanto carinho em cada nota... Off the Wall é meu disco favorito do Rei, e esse vídeo me fez chorar... Obrigado.

[@marcelodangelo915]

I saw Michael live in the Dangerour tour! He sounded amazing as the albums!

[@DynestiGTI]

Such a beautiful voice

[@IanLeoTV]

Genius. Simply genius

[@zanohoriamazo1]

This is amazing! Music students need to hear this…😓

[@MoonwalkerLewisMJ]

Pure genius! A great legend. 😁🥰

[@cwfsistemasdesenvolvimento8890]

Simplesmente perfeito. Mestre.....