Tuning in the studio

[troutstudio]

My wife sings fine live but sometimes struggles in the studio with pitch. I have tried the usual with headphone experimentation and even one attempt at no cans at all. When she sings and plays the piano - no problem. However, she can't really sing and play all these songs at the moment. Any tips much appreciated.

 

[ido1957]

Practice? Live and studio are different in may ways.

 

[Chili]

Make sure the volume in her headphones are at comfortable level. Put her channel foldback (is that the right term?) slightly higher than everything else.

 

[anoopbal]

The problem is I think she cannot hear herself very well. If she can hear too well, she won't be able to hear the beats and other stuff which guides her tempo and pitch. So there is a good balance. i am guessing you can pretty much adjust the vocals and instruments separately, right?

I just started using headphones and still not getting the balance right. And practice at home with headphones that would make her comfortable in a studio.

 

[witzendoz]

Not picking on women here, but over the years I find women cannot hear themselves even when the volume of their vocals is through the roof, I also find this working live with monitors and female singers. I don't know why this is but they just hear different, I think they don't realise that they can in fact hear themselves.

Try getting her to take one side of the phones off so she can hear the natural vocal as if she was singing with no monitoring. She can still hear the music through the one headphone to keep time and pitch. This also works well when recording string players.

Alan.

 

[muttley600]

Some times I read posts on this site that are just so dumb it beggars belief.

The interwebz are a wondrous thing...

 

[miroslav]

Not picking on women here, but over the years I find women cannot hear themselves even when the volume of their vocals is through the roof...

Yeah...I've had similar experiences. I'll have their headphone volume cranked, and they keep asking for more volume. I go try their headhones to see if they are working...and it's so damn loud, that I'm thinking their voice in the headphones is so loud, that it is keeping them from hearing their own nattural voice...which they don't understand, will sound different with cans on.

I think they don't realise that they can in fact hear themselves.

That could explain a lot of things, including why many divorces happen.

 

[muttley600]

 

[witzendoz]

Some times I read posts on this site that are just so dumb it beggars belief.

The interwebz are a wondrous thing...

If you are referring to my post about female singers not hearing headphones and monitors, I can tell you that after working on several tours and festivals as monitor engineer this is a fact. I am not saying that every female singer is the same, they are not, but some just don't hear themselves. By the way, some male vocalists are just as bad.

On one tour we had 4 x 15"/horn wedges for the centre stage for the female singer, she had only her vocal in the send, we were running 2000 watts on this send, and she said throughout the show "I can't hear myself" I could hear her at the side monitor position louder than the whole band and at one stage the drummer (who was directly behind her) begged that her vocals be turned down as his ears were bleeding LOL,

Alan.

 

[miroslav]

Pay no attention to Muttley....that's his best response when he doesn't know what he's talking about and/or has nothning meaningful to contribute.

You've probably done more recording and audio work in a week than he's done all his life.


Wait for for it....he'll probably come back with another "witty" response.

 

[Lt. Bob]

I've seen vocalists of both sexes that just can NOT hear themselves no matter how loud you get their monitor.
One singer for a very good blues band I was in back in B.R. would have her monitors so loud that certain notes would make me nauseous. She'd still complain.

I don't really know if I've seen this more with women or not .... lord knows I've known a lot of guys that couldn't hear themselves.

I think it's part of how you approach 'listening' for the monitors ..... it's a psychological thing.
I don't even need monitors at all so it's definitely something other than simple volume.