How many of you use pitch correction for your own vocals?

Do you use pitch correction on your own vocals?

  • I wouldn't touch that shit with a 10-foot pole.

    Votes: 27 33.3%
  • I only use it when absolutely necessary (time constraints, etc.).

    Votes: 7 8.6%
  • I use it when needed. It's just a tool like EQ, compression, etc.

    Votes: 38 46.9%
  • Yes Please! I'll take all I can!

    Votes: 9 11.1%

  • Total voters
    81

famous beagle

Well-known member
I'm curious to hear what everyone's take is on this. It could be Autotune, Melodyne, whatever. Again, I'm talking about productions where it's your vocals or your band's vocals. I'm not talking about using it for 3rd parties.

Poll to follow
 
To be honest..........I've used it on only one production........in two places where I could not slide into the vocal pitch smoothly. I did about 20 takes before I gave in. My lack of experience with the plug was just as frustrating but I eventually got it.

Other than that..........it's by no means a go-to on any of my other work. I think you may find that some people use it religiously and some sparingly.
 
I have used it to make some slight adjustments. What is sadder, I learned I can't really sing. :( That just sucks.
 
I might consider it as an effect, but it's so overdone.

Otherwise, I'd prefer to just redo the part until it's right.
 
I've used VVocal and it's definitely an art to not sound like TPAIN. Some stuff is just not tune-able. Small fixes are fine for me.
 
I almost never use it. I should actually say that I never use it, but I say "almost" because I used to use it occasionally until at least 5 years ago. Even then, I never used much of it because the only way to make it transparent is to almost have to go part by part, and I'm not that patient. Plus, I might have a shit voice, but I actually have pretty good pitch and good range, so I rarely need it.

I tried using it recently on a slide guitar part, but it changed the whole complexion of it completely, and not in a good way. MY guitar sounded drunk.

So, basically, no I don't use it.
 
I've been working with Waves Tune on the last 2-3 songs I've done...trying to see how transparent it can be.
While they recommend strapping it across the whole track. When I tried that to see what it could do, I found that using it like that can do more harm than good....and then often when mixing down, you can get more artifacts in spots.

So I came up with my own approach, where I use it only in key spots where some help is needed on a note or two, and where the Waves Tune version is clearly the better choice than the untouched version, and where WT doesn't make it sound unnatural.
I also keep the correction on the soft-n-gentle side, because I don't like the sound of hard correction, never mind that extreme shit you hear in R&B music.
Then I blend those corrected spots with the rest of the untouched track.

IMO...it depends on the song really. I mean, if it's a more classic rocker, where the vocals are just belted out without any concern for purity of the melody...then the pitch correction is not needed, but with a flowing melody that might cover a couple of octaves...well shit, I'm a baritone and my range isn't super wide, yet I may have a song with a vocal melody that hits some high notes that are at my outer limit, and then I could use a little help. :D

My approach to pitch correction is similar to using EQ...do as little as needed...and like minimal EQ on well recorded audio tracks, pitch correction always works best on well sung vocal tracks...and not when trying to pitch-correct a total pile of doo doo.
Anyway...in sparse, soft-n-gentle use....I like Waves Tune overall as a tool.
 
I use the Reaper version, which is only average, manually on background vocals a fair bit, because I tend to have a lot of them. On lead vocal I use it in certain parts of my register which are more wavery than others if I have to, but generally if I'm aware that I've hit a note badly whilst singing, I'll just stop and retake.

It's pretty obvious on lead vocals...
 
I'm a fan of the blobs; Melodyne, that is. I used to use it a lot when I first started recording my tunes. I felt I couldn't sing for shit, so correcting pitch was faster than take after take. I believe tuning my own vocals helped me to improve my singing. I hear how I'm suppose to sound and I can make adjustments.

Now I use it to adjust the oddball note or two and that's okay.
 
I'm curious to hear what everyone's take is on this. It could be Autotune, Melodyne, whatever. Again, I'm talking about productions where it's your vocals or your band's vocals. I'm not talking about using it for 3rd parties.

Poll to follow

You insult me thinking that my perfect voice needs pitch correction!

I never use it on myself or anyone else, and I tell clients this before they book the studio.

Alan
 
They haven't yet invented pitch correction that could take my voice off the Geneva Convention torture list.
 
Never used pitch correction on anything. I'm pretty happy with my shitty voice. It'll do. Only has to please me.

I have time stretched a few vocals here and there though (not the same thing I know) but mainly for effect rather than vocal correction.

:thumbs up:
 
I've got the latest version of Melodyne (incredible software), but I've never used it on my voice, or the voices of the guys I usually play with and record. I have used it on some clients' voices though. The funny thing is, they can't hear that they are flat or sharp. I correct the really bad stuff, and will often let some iffy things go . . . .
 
The funny thing is, they can't hear that they are flat or sharp.

I'm constantly amazed that people can't hear that they're sharp or flat.

I have Melodyne on a lot of vocals, for my own stuff and clients - have rescued the odd acoustic guitar track too, and nobody (even people who say they can 'tell' if it's been done and threaten to leave if I use it) has picked up on it yet.
 
Never for my own or anyone else I'm recording! Pitch correction is the bane of the recording scene in our time. I can ALWAYS hear it no matter how subtle people try to use it. There is no natural sounding pitch correction. It's not comparable to other effects. It takes the human out of the human voice. If people want to use it as an obvious effect to make vocals sound robotic I suppose it works, but if you're trying to correct a vocal and keep it real it can't be done.
 
I can ALWAYS hear it no matter how subtle people try to use it. There is no natural sounding pitch correction. It's not comparable to other effects. It takes the human out of the human voice.

You can. I can. We can.

They can't. :thumbs up:
 
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