@%$*&# vocals are driving me nuts.....

[arkjack]

I just received a couple reject critiques that all pointed to the same problem.... "vocals have some pitch issues" "vocals go out of tune"..... I've tried a few different ideas to try and get better takes..... making a composite from a number of straight takes.... making a composite from line by line takes.... guide track of melodies on piano with the singer... multiple guide tracks.... punch ins... and finally auto tune... All these methods seem to lose something in the process in terms of feel and continuity, and pitch correction on my voice sounds like s**t.... The best take to me always seems to be the straight take with a couple of obvious punch spots. The rest has "anomalies" ... I think I have a decent voice, though some have said..."not".....The part that bothers me most is having to dwell on a very nebulous question of what constitutes acceptable.... vs. outstanding performance... I am always anxious to be done and move on to the next..... Anyone have any comments or info as to whether they agonize to the same extent on the vocal traacks??ArkJack

[horacejesse]

Jack,That sure sounds familiar to me. I splice other takes in and cut into the old take with new takes. Sometimes I use the hand held remote to do this. The microphone picks it up. After all this if I listen to the vocal track in isolation there are so many cut ins that it sounds like a fireworks show. Of course I go back in and clean all that up.But like you, I have a thinking that it seems to sound best when I do a complete take with a few obvious spots needing punch-ins.Acceptable is when I listen back and do not have to ask anyone else if they think it is OK. Anymore I do not try to ratinalize those trouble spots away for a month or two before I fix them. That is what I used to do. Now I listen to the vocal in isolation, and if any spot at all leaves me with a question mark, I change it straightaway.

[ernstinen]

Hey ArkJack,Vocals are a tough thing to deal with. People have told me I sing pretty well, but when I was doing my artist/band thang I punched my vocals all over the place to get them how I wanted them to sound. It takes a pretty amazing singer to do a track without a lot of punching.That said, I used to also write commercial songs, and learned pretty quickly by going to songwriting workshops that ya gotta drop the ego and hire singers who specialize in the style of the song. Sure, I can fake singing like a country singer, but the ears in the industry know that it's, er, FAKE! I co-wrote with a lady who was a good singer, and even she admitted that a R&B vocalist I knew made our song demo SO much better.As far as singing out-of-tune, I can't comment on that except for maybe finding a singing teacher. I improved my control immensely by studying the Seth Riggs Method. Google "Seth Riggs" and check out his CD.BTW, Ol' Seth can't sing very well himself, but man can he teach! (I apologize, Matto --- ).Hope this helps,Ern

[og]

I don't sing very well, either, but instead of voice lessons, I switched to Folk.

[horacejesse]

Until That Day sure is a nice song, Ern. I thought your voice was appropriate for the song. I think I will listen to Seven Bone Roast to see what is up. A few more meat songs and you will be ready for a concept album

[ernstinen]

Quote:Until That Day sure is a nice song, Ern. I thought your voice was appropriate for the song. I think I will listen to Seven Bone Roast to see what is up. A few more meat songs and you will be ready for a concept albumHa! Thanks, HJ. You'll see I'm no blues singer."Until That Day" was nearly impossible for me to sing live because it's sung so softly. A real good example of a studio song that just didn't translate to the stage. The message was totally ruined during rehearsal by me stopping the band and swearing like a sailor! "I can't sing this #@&*% song!" Ern

[prez]

I've been told I can sing by many people. However, that doesn't necessarily mean I should be singing the songs I write. Whenever I write, there's a certain sound I'm looking for vocally. If I don't have it, then I have someone else sing it. When I record vocals, I record them two different ways. One is all the way through the song (if the vocalist doesn't forget the words while looking DEAD at them...but I digress). The other is by stanza. That is, I record verse one separately a couple times. Then the hook. Then verse two. Bridge, etc. Depends on the singer. I hardly ever do punch ins and I don't use Antares or the like.If you keep getting the same critique coming back, it might be time to look for someone else to sing the cut. You may be mildly surprised how the song turns out.God bless.

[liamkelly]

Quote:I just received a couple reject critiques that all pointed to the same problem.... "vocals have some pitch issues" "vocals go out of tune"..... I've tried a few different ideas to try and get better takes..... making a composite from a number of straight takes.... making a composite from line by line takes.... guide track of melodies on piano with the singer... multiple guide tracks.... punch ins... and finally auto tune... All these methods seem to lose something in the process in terms of feel and continuity, and pitch correction on my voice sounds like s**t.... The best take to me always seems to be the straight take with a couple of obvious punch spots. The rest has "anomalies" ... I think I have a decent voice, though some have said..."not".....The part that bothers me most is having to dwell on a very nebulous question of what constitutes acceptable.... vs. outstanding performance... I am always anxious to be done and move on to the next..... Anyone have any comments or info as to whether they agonize to the same extent on the vocal traacks??ArkJackIf your critiques are saying that the vocal is pitchy, then, quite simply, you're going out of tune. Like it or not. Sorry.Only thing that fixes this (besides AutoTune) is practise. Like Einstein said - genius is 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration. Get practising. Don't listen to any advice. Just get practicing.

[horacejesse]

It was Edison, I believe.

[prez]

Quote:Only thing that fixes this (besides AutoTune) is practise. Like Einstein said - genius is 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration. Get practising. Don't listen to any advice. Just get practicing.Hmm. So, is it my understanding you don't want him to listen to your advice either? Kind of defeats the purpose of posting, don't ya think? Just playin. Had to do that.