FONOMÍMICA: HISTORY, TYPES AND MOST RELEVANT CHARACTERISTICS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The fonomímica (also known as lip - synching) is the technique that allows you to synchronize lip movements of a person with a previous recording, which can be both musical and spoken. It is used in various contexts, such as in concerts or live performances, dubbing of series and movies, or in video games.

In some contexts it is a well-regarded technique, while in others it is considered unacceptable. In the world of music, the phonomical technique is also known as lip-syncing. In this context, many artists reproduce their previously recorded songs, so that they do not sing live and avoid mistakes.

In the world of movies and series, lip syncing is part of the post-production phase. One of the contexts in which it is most used is in the dubbing of foreign films, in such a way that it appears that the actors are speaking in the language to which they are being translated.

History of phononymy

The history of lip syncing began in the 1940s, with soundies, little music videos created for movies and other feature films. At this time, phonomímica was practiced openly, in such a way that a singer could use it to perform a show with one of her latest hits.

However, in the following decades the phonomymic began to be used in a covert way, in such a way that some bands of the time stopped playing live. Instead, these bands used recordings made by studio musicians, to avoid glitches during concerts.

One of the most famous bands discovered using this technique was The Monkees. In 1967 it was revealed that these musicians in general never played their instruments live, and the critics jumped on them.

However, due to the unconditional support of their fans, the band went ahead and began to play live more and more regularly.

Also during this time, it was very common to use the phononymic in musical films to double the voice of the actors in some songs. Some very famous examples were Natalie Wood in West Side story and Audrey Hepburn in My fair lady.

Appearance of music videos

Later, in the 1980s, music videos began to gain importance with the appearance of channels like MTV. Due to the emergence of this medium, many artists chose to focus on choreography and staging, and began to use playback for their live performances.

Other singers began to adopt this technique with the advent of auto-tune, a technology that allows artists without great vocal technique to correct their musical errors. This way, even if the singer misses a note, the technology will correct it and the result will sound correct.

Fonomímica uncovered

Probably one of the best known events related to the technique of phonomics was the fall from grace of the Milli Vanilli group. This R&B duo won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1990.

However, it was later revealed that not only had they lip-synched all of their live performances, they hadn't recorded any of the songs on their album.

Singer Charles Shaw, who had actually recorded all the vocal parts on the album, made the reveal to the Academy. These, after discovering the truth, withdrew the Grammy from the group. The members of Milli Vanilli tried to resurface as artists later, but they lost all popularity and had to abandon their musical career.

One of the last events in which the use of phononymic was discovered was the performance of the United States National Anthem at the inauguration of President Obama. Famous singer Beyoncé was caught lip-syncing at this performance.

However, due to all the risks that a singer runs in these types of events, public criticism forgave the American singer, in such a way that her career has not suffered a lasting negative impact.

Main features

- The synchronization between the audio and the movement of the artist's lips is sought.

- Phonomics is used in the field of music, film and television.

- The motivation of many artists is to avoid mistakes when performing live.

- Both the sound and the movement of the lips must be as exact as possible for the phonymic to be effective.

Main types

Phononymy has developed mainly within the world of music. However, this is not the only area in which this technique can be found.

Films, video games and animation are the scene that have also used lip syncing to offer a better show to their audience.

Phononymy in music

More and more musicians are using lip syncing in their live shows. Some specialists believe that fans expect concerts to be perfect, so that songs sound exactly the same as in music videos.

At other times, lip syncing is used to achieve effects that are impossible to create in real life, such as using auto-tune or using registers that are very difficult for the human voice.

However, sometimes the phononymic is used openly. This can be seen in musical shows such as the Lip Sync Battle television show, or in musical theater.

Phononymic in movies, series and animation

In the world of film and series, phononymy is commonly used to correct some errors in post-production and to improve the quality of tapes.

One of the areas in which it is most used is to replace dialogues with errors that are later rewritten. It is also used for foreign language dubbing of movies.

In animated films and series, one of the greatest indicators of quality is the synchronization between the voices and images of the characters.

Phononymy in video games

Due to the increasing quality of video games, in many of these more and more scenes dubbed by real actors are added.

In these scenes, and due to the high resolution of the images, most video game companies use the lip sync technique to make them more realistic.

This technique is especially common in first-person games, such as shooter or shooters, and role-playing games. One of the main reasons to use it is to achieve a greater immersion in the gaming experience for users.

References

1. "Definition of Fonomímica" in: Definition ABC. Retrieved on: February 20, 2018 from ABC Definition: definicionabc.com.
2. "Playing it safe: a brief history of lip - syncing" in: The Conversation. Retrieved on: February 20, 2018 from The Conversation: theconversation.com.
3. "Lip Sync" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: February 20, 2018 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.
4. "In Sync we trust" in: The Muse. Retrieved on: February 20, 2018 from The Muse: themuse.jezebel.com.
5. "Lip sync" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: February 20, 2018 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org.