Autotuning a lot of vocals, what do you think about it?

[arcadeko]

Now its at a point where artists are produced cause they look good over the fact that they are a good . . . artist, thats when I get pissed!!

I don't think many of us here are in any danger of this happening.


I tried melodyne yesterday, installed the trial via VST plugin.
First it froze Cubase (first time cubase ever froze) and then when
i did finally get it loaded, I was trying to nudge some of my flat vocal notes
but I don't know - it just seemed like too much work.

i think the multiple vocal takes and then splicing them all together into
one perfect track is the way I will go

i don't think it would matter if I did it 500 times in a row I don't think I would ever get
one single perfect take. The people that come to my shows will just have to suffer through my sub-standard vocals

I will have the guitars up so loud you wont be able to hear it anyway

 

[NYMorningstar]

Pitch correction is the work of the Devil.-Richie

As is amplification.

 

[miroslav]

As is amplification.

Right!!!

 

[famous beagle]

As is amplification.

But do you really feel this is the same thing, or are you just A) playing devil's advocate or B) trying to justify the use of autotune?

 

[famous beagle]

For vocals...doing 35 takes is simply not good for the voice. If I have 3-5 really good takes, but I need to comp a word or phrase from one take to another...well, that's really not the *computer* fixing it.
If there is a note or two note slightly off pitch...that's not about getting something *wrong* and that you need to keep practicing it.
However, if the vocals are off key throughout the whole song, and you are using autotune to correct...that's a different thing altogether, and probably does require practice and vocal training.

When it comes to instrument parts...it's not much different. If I lay down 3-5 really good guitar leads...but happened to like one or two licks from one take and a couple from another take...comping them into one track isn't about the computer doing it for me...they are still MY guitar parts and my playing. Also...if I hit a string a bit too aggressively on a couple of notes, and it goes a tad sharp in a couple of spots...that also has nothing to do with needing to practice and do another 30 takes. The simple/smart solution is to just pitch-correct those one or two notes...and move on, since overall the guitar takes are all good.

This is is not about fabricating something that is not "real"...it's about polishing off some of the small quirks...which is done ALL THE TIME in studios. I agree that sometimes a great but not perfect performance can sound more interesting with the quirks...but it really depends on the performance and the song. One sour note in an otherwise great performance doesn't always sound "real"...it just sounds sour, and why torture yourself or the talent over one note if you can easily tweak it...and move on.



Does that bother you?
Do you feel like "home recording" should only go to the level of a couple of mics in some makeshift basement "studio" next to the washer & dryer and furnace.

Hey...you only live once....unless you're James Bond!
Some people will spend thousands on a 2-week vacation in some beach resort....me, I prefer to buy a some audio gear and spend those same two weeks in my home recording studio. Also...some of us have been at it for many years...and gear just accumulates and studio space grows.

I've never done 35 vocal takes in a row ... or ... if I have, maybe it was a long time ago. My strategy now is that I practice the song a few times (with the cans, as if I'm recording) so I get used to the mix and "studio vocal mode" in general, and then, when I feel ready, I do 4 takes in a row---then I shut down for the evening. I come back the next day (or a few days later) to listen because I can get a more objective opinion. I comp the final vocal from those four takes.

I know this isn't a purist approach; I never claimed to be one though. I'm limiting myself to four takes in hopes of bettering myself as a vocalist. I hope to soon bring that number down to 3, and then to 2, so on. I think it's working too. I used to do 8 takes! But I eventually found that I was only comping from pretty much the last four, so I just recently cut it down to four. Then again, I didn't use to rehearse first, which is why those first few takes were normally not that great.

I really don't have a problem with someone nudging a note or two here and there. I don't feel that it's "cheating" or anything. But when autotune is fixing notes for someone who sings consistently out of tune without it, that's crossing the line to me. It's hard to say exactly where the line is, but I can say when someone's crossed it in my opinion. I just don't like to use autotune on my voice, because I feel that I'll become a better singer if I don't have that option. That's just my opinion.

I know that amazing singers even do several takes in the studio because they're looking for those "magic moments." Anyway ...

And no it doesn't bother me that some people run full-blown pro studios, but I think sometimes it does create some different dynamics here. Some people are listening and/or commenting with the mindset of the expectations of a pro studio, whereas others are coming from a more modest home setup. I'm probably in the middle. I have nowhere near a pro studio, but I have some decent gear, I've done a decent amount of acoustic treatment, and I've read up a whole bunch on a lot of stuff. Having said that, I do make money with my studio. But it's usually only from doing work on music instructional books that I write or edit. I'll record songs for the CDs that accompany those books and things like that. But I don't have clients come in to record their album at my studio or anything. But I digress...

 

[JimmyS1969]

Nothing is more pure and satisfying than a quality live performance. The goal of recording for me is to capture this energy and re-create the feel and quality of the performance. The problem seems to lie in capturing this in the studio. The audience is not there and the environment is not conducive to a natural performance. This tends to lead to, less than inspired performances. Trying to pull this off by repeating over and over a take, further makes it more unnatural. Getting the first few takes with the emotion of the song to me is way better than the subsequent perfecting by punching in to fix. If a few notes are the only thing in the way of making a take feel right, the I'm inserting the Melodyne.

I would guess that I am not alone when I say that the first take of a guitar solo is usually the most inspired. The second is usually more accurate. The third is making up for the wrong notes. From there, all the beauty and originality of the first take is lost and playing becomes structured and has no emotion. I almost always return to the first and do what I need to do to make it work. I suppose after 100 takes, there might be something that is worth keeping in there somewhere. Though I would have already hung myself regretting ever admitting that I had the ability to do another track. Seriously, 100 takes? The point of no return happened way before 20. Oh, that is just my opinion. If I'm wrong then I will try to find a way to live with myself.

 

[miroslav]

Funny...I tend to go the opposite with solos.
The first take is a warm up pass...and then maybe by the 4th-5th I'm in my groove. But here's the thing, I don't really practice and practice and practice....before doing any takes. Yeah, I'll run through the song a couple of times as I'm working out some lines, but it's during the actual takes that I go for the solos.
I'm usually improvising things during takes all the time....unless I'm going to go for a very specific melody line, though if I'm just riffing, I'll just keep improvising through each take. So that's why I don't really hit a groove until several takes in.

Everyone has a different SOP...so it's all cool, and that's really all I'm saying about pitch correcting spots or doing small edits to simply fine-tune things...and NOT fabricate fake singing or playing.

 

[JimmyS1969]

I will have to find a way to live with myself now. lol!

Agreed, faking a performance is, in my opinion, blasphemy. I can sleep at night knowing that I enhanced a performance tho.