Jack Russell
I smell home cookin!
I've been struggling for the last week on the tune (see short sound bite at top of thread). I have done 5 different sessions (each with lots of punch-ins), and after each one I felt it was good. Then playback later showed it to be lousy.
I think I finally nailed it last night though. Here's a few things I've learned:
1) If you are doing original material, there is a tendency to "learn" the melody sharp or flat in your head, and then that habit is hard to break. That's one problem I had on this tune.
2) Use a piano to play the melody correctly on an open track, then sing to the piano a few times, with the piano up in your mix.
3) Once you've patched together a solid vocal track with the "real" melody using the piano, then re-sing the entire track at one time, by singing in unison with your first pitch-corrected vocal track. Then you can erase the piano and first vocal track.
4) Listen to the track a day later. Your ears will get fatigued after awhile in the process of recording. If there are flaws, do no. 3 over.
5) Having someone help you with pitch is a good idea, as long as they don't tell you that you are a hopeless case, and you should give it up. Two ears can be better than one.
6) This is just a theory I have: pitch is the main overridding thing that makes singers sound bad. If you can get a really bad singer on pitch, then you'll start to see that even "bad" voices have interesting positive qualities. (Well, there are other elements too: vibrato control, singing through the nose etc....)
Sorry. I am rambling.
Addendum: I should also add:
7) Resist the urge to get overly emotional about your vocal takes. Be neither too down on yourself nor too excited about your sound. Try to step back from it and listen to it as though you've never heard it before. (This is hard to do.)
I think I finally nailed it last night though. Here's a few things I've learned:
1) If you are doing original material, there is a tendency to "learn" the melody sharp or flat in your head, and then that habit is hard to break. That's one problem I had on this tune.
2) Use a piano to play the melody correctly on an open track, then sing to the piano a few times, with the piano up in your mix.
3) Once you've patched together a solid vocal track with the "real" melody using the piano, then re-sing the entire track at one time, by singing in unison with your first pitch-corrected vocal track. Then you can erase the piano and first vocal track.
4) Listen to the track a day later. Your ears will get fatigued after awhile in the process of recording. If there are flaws, do no. 3 over.
5) Having someone help you with pitch is a good idea, as long as they don't tell you that you are a hopeless case, and you should give it up. Two ears can be better than one.
6) This is just a theory I have: pitch is the main overridding thing that makes singers sound bad. If you can get a really bad singer on pitch, then you'll start to see that even "bad" voices have interesting positive qualities. (Well, there are other elements too: vibrato control, singing through the nose etc....)
Sorry. I am rambling.
Addendum: I should also add:
7) Resist the urge to get overly emotional about your vocal takes. Be neither too down on yourself nor too excited about your sound. Try to step back from it and listen to it as though you've never heard it before. (This is hard to do.)