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I recently had a song returned that was otherwise perfect (per the screener) but the singer's vocal was "pitchy". What exactly does that mean? (FYI the singer was a friend who is extremely well-known & well-liked locally, and got a great review in the newspaper)

Pitchy = Flat Notes/Sharp Notes/Scooping/Dropping (any one or combination of)
If you post the song, people here can listen and point out what the screener heard.

Bluenote wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 17, 2020 9:04 am

I recently had a song returned that was otherwise perfect (per the screener) but the singer's vocal was "pitchy". What exactly does that mean? (FYI the singer was a friend who is extremely well-known & well-liked locally, and got a great review in the newspaper)

It usually means the listener perceives the singer as deviating from the ideal pitch for the note(s) to a degree that is distracting.

This can mean different things to different people at different times. A live performance for example is not expected to be note perfect , and if the performer has good stage presence etc. we can still find the performance pleasing.

On a recorded vocal , in most styles now it's accepted that the vocal will be produced , polished and tuned so there are no perceived notes that go flat or sharp in a way that is detrimental to the listener. Some people have a much better sense of pitch and a trained ear can pick up on things an untrained one may not but it's likely the screener has listened to great many singers.

The singer being a friend or a locally known singer makes no difference to the screener, they are just judging on what they hear. If you post up the song then we can have a listen and see if we agree or not with the screener.

Mark

Bluenote wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 17, 2020 9:04 am

I recently had a song returned that was otherwise perfect (per the screener) but the singer's vocal was "pitchy". What exactly does that mean? (FYI the singer was a friend who is extremely well-known & well-liked locally, and got a great review in the newspaper)

The replies above already covered the meaning -- i.e. she's out of tune at points. Typically the solution is to tune the vocal using your favorite tuning software. I personally prefer Celemony's Melodyne these days, but Antares AutoTune and Waves Tune (various variations on a theme in terms of individual plugins) are a few other options that come to mind. Some DAWs may have built-in tuning capabilities, too -- e.g. Cubase Pro has their VarAudio, which works something like Melodyne, though I'm not really sure how it compares in terms of naturalness as I was already using Melodyne (in Cakewalk) before I started using Cubase.

Rick

cassmcentee wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 17, 2020 9:55 am

Pitchy = Flat Notes/Sharp Notes/Scooping/Dropping (any one or combination of)
If you post the song, people here can listen and point out what the screener heard.

Thanks. I never liked that version anyway. Originally recorded on cassette in 1980 with a fantastic singer. Unfortunately I had to settle for someone else when this updated recording was made.