Recording Vocals Pitch Issues

[hcaulfield]

I think most of my pitch issues came/come from inexperience/fear of singing into a mic, combined with not knowing the song well enough to sing it uber confidently. It's not like I can sing pitch perfect now or anything. Far from it.

I learned a lot about how to sing into a mic just recording myself singing along to a few of my favourite tunes. It made it really easy to hear where my volume/pitch/sibilance was going off having someone who knew what they were doing to compare myself to.

But you should post a sample, so we can hear if you even have anything to worry about.

Hi, thank you for your reply.

I will try and see if practicing the songs more will help with pitching. Also, I will try and post a sample soon.

 

[DM60]

Have you noticed the lifeless vocals improving by muting the vocals?

Yes, as a matter of fact, my first set of songs while OK, just didn't have any life in the vocals. While I am not pretending to be a good singer, I know I have some personality and feeling. So, the next batch I am working on, started experimenting, removed my courage reverb, removed vocal monitoring, just started singing. Takes a little work, but after a few tries, you will get the hang of it. Once you get used to that, then go back and look for pitch errors.

What I use is for pitch error detection is GSnap, an autotune VST that shows the areas where it is correcting (meaning I need to fix). I suggest not taking the easy way out and letting it fix it, but it can show you areas that you can focus on. Now, don't take it 100% cause it is looking for pitch perfect, but you will see it. Those areas that show extreme correction, you can look at and make adjustments. I like voices to be off here and there, but off and out of tune are two different things.

Hope this helps and you enjoy recording.

 

[Steenamaroo]

How has this affected your pitch? Have you noticed better accuracy? More comfortable?

It's just more comfortable for me to work this way.
I've never really had issues with pitch though. I mean, I'm not a great singer, but I've never had to deal with the specific problem you're describing.

 

[hcaulfield]

Yes, as a matter of fact, my first set of songs while OK, just didn't have any life in the vocals. While I am not pretending to be a good singer, I know I have some personality and feeling. So, the next batch I am working on, started experimenting, removed my courage reverb, removed vocal monitoring, just started singing. Takes a little work, but after a few tries, you will get the hang of it. Once you get used to that, then go back and look for pitch errors.

What I use is for pitch error detection is GSnap, an autotune VST that shows the areas where it is correcting (meaning I need to fix). I suggest not taking the easy way out and letting it fix it, but it can show you areas that you can focus on. Now, don't take it 100% cause it is looking for pitch perfect, but you will see it. Those areas that show extreme correction, you can look at and make adjustments. I like voices to be off here and there, but off and out of tune are two different things.

Hope this helps and you enjoy recording.

Thank you for the input. I will give that a try as well.

It's just more comfortable for me to work this way.
I've never really had issues with pitch though. I mean, I'm not a great singer, but I've never had to deal with the specific problem you're describing.

Oh I see. Well being comfortable is key, so I will definitely try muting my voice.

 

[polarity]

I could be way off here, but a thought. I play guitar and sing, when I am playing the guitar (sitting behind it) singing everything sounds WAY different than if I were listening to playback of my guitar. This usually leads to me sounding one way behind the guitar and another in front of it.

I would assume the same goes for piano, when you are sitting at your piano playing and singing you get one sound, during playback it seems different. Also if you are adding any effects to your recording before you sing (your instruments that is) that could be changing it?.

Just a dumb guess from a beginner.

 

[hcaulfield]

I could be way off here, but a thought. I play guitar and sing, when I am playing the guitar (sitting behind it) singing everything sounds WAY different than if I were listening to playback of my guitar. This usually leads to me sounding one way behind the guitar and another in front of it.

I would assume the same goes for piano, when you are sitting at your piano playing and singing you get one sound, during playback it seems different. Also if you are adding any effects to your recording before you sing (your instruments that is) that could be changing it?.

Just a dumb guess from a beginner.

Thanks for the reply.

I record everything dry. I've tried recording with a bit of reverb but it just distracts me to be perfectly honest. But I did try with no vocals in my phones and that seemed to help quite a bit.

 

[guitaristic]

I think most of my pitch issues came/come from inexperience/fear of singing into a mic, combined with not knowing the song well enough to sing it uber confidently. It's not like I can sing pitch perfect now or anything. Far from it.

Yeah same here. I think somewhere in the back of my mind I put pressure on myself like "Ok self it's time to nail this take" and then I fail miserably Too much pressure lol. I record my best takes when I'm not worried about it too much.

 

[c7sus]

Another technique to try is ditch the headphones and track while listening through your monitors. Place you mic so the null of the capsule pattern is pointed at your monitors. Be careful of feedback! Do your vocal take.

Do a second take, just standing in front of the mic in the same position as the first take and don't sing into it, just let the piano part play through. Be sure to keep the same volume on the monitors and the same volume on the mic as the first take.

Reverse the phase of the second take. Now play back the first take and the second take at the same time.

The phase reversal cancels out the sound of the monitors on playback.

If you're happy with the result, bounce those two takes--- with the phase of the second take still reversed---- down to one track and all you should hear is the vocal.

 

[hcaulfield]

Yeah same here. I think somewhere in the back of my mind I put pressure on myself like "Ok self it's time to nail this take" and then I fail miserably Too much pressure lol. I record my best takes when I'm not worried about it too much.

I agree with you 100% on this. Is there anything you do before a take that relaxes you and rids you have that "Ok self it's time to nail this take" mind set?

 

[DM60]

I agree with you 100% on this. Is there anything you do before a take that relaxes you and rids you have that "Ok self it's time to nail this take" mind set?

Yea, knowing it is digital and not tape and your hard drive has plenty of storage space

 

[Steenamaroo]

I agree with you 100% on this. Is there anything you do before a take that relaxes you and rids you have that "Ok self it's time to nail this take" mind set?

It's a long shot but maybe set yourself the target or recording five takes then comping a good take out of them.
Maybe in time the knowledge that no single take is crucial will put you at ease.

Either that or have a few beers.

 

[hcaulfield]

Yea, knowing it is digital and not tape and your hard drive has plenty of storage space

Haha good point.

It's a long shot but maybe set yourself the target or recording five takes then comping a good take out of them.
Maybe in time the knowledge that no single take is crucial will put you at ease.

Either that or have a few beers.

I've never comped tracks before, never thought of doing it to be quite honest.

That could probably help quite a bit. Does any body have luck with comping? Any easy ways of fixing the trouble areas the next time around?

 

[guitaristic]

I agree with you 100% on this. Is there anything you do before a take that relaxes you and rids you have that "Ok self it's time to nail this take" mind set?

It's a few different things, not all of which are positive I guess. Sometimes I'm like "Well not many people are gonna hear this one anyways" and that relaxes me lol. Other times it's just me having a bad day and de-stressing by doing some takes. But usually the best thing for me is just watching/listening to some recordings of my favorite artists rocking out live or in the studio. If they can do it, so can I.

 

[hcaulfield]

It's a few different things, not all of which are positive I guess. Sometimes I'm like "Well not many people are gonna hear this one anyways" and that relaxes me lol. Other times it's just me having a bad day and de-stressing by doing some takes. But usually the best thing for me is just watching/listening to some recordings of my favorite artists rocking out live or in the studio. If they can do it, so can I.

I like the last line a lot "If they can do it, so can I." That's good motivation right there.

 

[guitaristic]

I like the last line a lot "If they can do it, so can I." That's good motivation right there.

It's pretty true. Honestly the thing that will help you the most is just repetition and consistency. The big names that go into studios and lay a killer take on their first try can only do that because they've spent so much time doing it before!

 

[hcaulfield]

It's pretty true. Honestly the thing that will help you the most is just repetition and consistency. The big names that go into studios and lay a killer take on their first try can only do that because they've spent so much time doing it before!

Great advice. Thank you!

Is anybody familiar with comping? If so what works best for you?

 

[Bane01]

I comp all the time. The biggest thing to watch out for is letting high volume instrumentation disguise editing errors or poorly executed crossfades. Cubase is especially intuitive at comping--I use it all the time.

That said, if you sing takes with very different formants (say one from your diaghragm and one from your throat) it sounds really weird. Try to sing with the same formants, haha.

 

[hcaulfield]

I comp all the time. The biggest thing to watch out for is letting high volume instrumentation disguise editing errors or poorly executed crossfades. Cubase is especially intuitive at comping--I use it all the time.

That said, if you sing takes with very different formants (say one from your diaghragm and one from your throat) it sounds really weird. Try to sing with the same formants, haha.

Great advice! Thank you Bane.

 

[BroKen_H]

I went through this in the 80's. Any recording of our band live sounded great, but in the studio, I had a chronic "flat" problem. Leads and harmonies both the same. I had to get some good headphones and go home and practice with them on for a couple of weeks, recording myself (at the time with a little cassette recorder) and listening until I figured out how to adjust. Then it still took almost a year to work through. Sometimes it's not the equipment, it's how we've trained ourselves to use the equipment. Changing the gear changes our sound. If you're lucky enough to have the equipment at home to practice singing like you do at the studio, you'll be better prepared when you get there. If you're doing your own, try practicing your tune like you'll record it from the git. Some people just transition effortlessly, others (like us) need some extra work.

 

[hcaulfield]

I went through this in the 80's. Any recording of our band live sounded great, but in the studio, I had a chronic "flat" problem. Leads and harmonies both the same. I had to get some good headphones and go home and practice with them on for a couple of weeks, recording myself (at the time with a little cassette recorder) and listening until I figured out how to adjust. Then it still took almost a year to work through. Sometimes it's not the equipment, it's how we've trained ourselves to use the equipment. Changing the gear changes our sound. If you're lucky enough to have the equipment at home to practice singing like you do at the studio, you'll be better prepared when you get there. If you're doing your own, try practicing your tune like you'll record it from the git. Some people just transition effortlessly, others (like us) need some extra work.

It's really a pain isn't it? Having to work so much harder haha