Ears Please

[SteveBaruah]

Hi All,

I'm just finishing this one for a client. I would really appreciate it if you could have a listen to the mix:
https://soundcloud.com/audioshine/the-m ... nd/s-tjGSX

I'm would particularly be interested in whether you think the vocal is off key at any point. They were just spoken samples given to me from the client to mix into the track.


Thanks!
Steve

[erynmichel]

Wowzer! I really enjoyed that mix. Nothing sounded off key to me, but I'm not well versed in the art of mixing yet. My ears liked it.

[SteveBaruah]

Thanks! I appreciate the listen!
The worry I had is I'm just using spoken samples - without checking what key they are in. Which got me to thinking, do we speak in key....?

[VeryFewPeople]

Hi Steve,
Sounded great to my ears. I like to noodle though... so I would probably spend way too much time tweaking up and down just to see what happens. The vocals sound in tune. I also like the rhythm / syncopation.

[LOCK88]

Hey Steve, mix sounds solid man. I didn't notice anything out of tune with those vox. Actually, I would have guessed that you had pitched them to the tune of the track. Nice work.

[SteveBaruah]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the feedback. No I didn't pitch shift the vocals, which is why I was suspicious. Did they just happen to be in key? Do we speak in key? Or do our brains ignore key when we hear spoken text?

Cheers,
Steve

[Len911]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the feedback. No I didn't pitch shift the vocals, which is why I was suspicious. Did they just happen to be in key? Do we speak in key? Or do our brains ignore key when we hear spoken text?

Cheers,
Steve

Steve, from the minimal reading I have done on the subject,lol, yes for vowels but not consonants. There is actually a free software called Praat that is used by linguists to analyze voice and measure things like pitch, etc. If you pitch shifted them you might end up with questions instead of statements for example,lol, and change the whole meaning. Consonants are more like drums in that they are mainly transients, and spikey, eg. popping p's, sizzeling s's, don't know what they call the k's. Of course if you speak the consonant alone you end up with a vowel either before or after them, el, kay, cee, ess, zee...

I haven't really experimented yet, but instead of the de-essers that work on frequency for s's and p's and k's... It might be better to use something that only works on transients like Sonnox Oxford trans mod., or draw a volume envelope that decreased the volume of the transient consonant??

[SteveBaruah]

Hi Len,

Sure, that makes sense. Pitch shifting the end of a sentence up would give it a rising inflection, and may therefore turn a statement into a question, or make it sound like an American teenage girl
Interesting stuff.
This could get dangerous, particularly as I don't speak Russian

Cheers,
Steve