In, then out of tune vocal...how odd.

[jbr]

So I recorded drums and bass and then gave my buddy guitarist a cd of those parts for him to play with. In the meantime I recorded the Vocal track and it sounded fine.

 

But when the guitars were recorded and played with the bass & drums, the vocal sounded out of tune...mostly sharp. In fact I re-recorded the vocal, but could never get it right. So I doubled it, detuned the second, cut a little around 3k and now it's not as bad.

 

It's during the high sustained notes where this was noticeable. To note: the lead vocal melody is near the top of my range. And yet when I record harmonies at this range, they sound excellent.

 

The guitar was in tune with the bass when played without the vocal.

 

Any ideas why a vocal can sound in tune then out of tune by just adding an e.guitar?

 

Jim

[Matt Hepworth]

Well, either the vocal is out of tune, or the guitar. With low frequency content, it's not quite as easy to recognize a slightly off pitch, so, you may not have been able to judge that the vocals were a bit off as you were recording originally.

 

Otherwise, the guitar intonation may be making SOME chords/notes play in tune and others not.

[where02190]

My guess would be guitars not properly intonated. I've seen this many times.

[jbr]

Thanks guys,

 

I'll ask guitarman when he had his intonation last looked at.

[MrKnobs]

 

Originally posted by jbr Any ideas why a vocal can sound in tune then out of tune by just adding an e.guitar? Jim

 

 

Seems from your description the vocals must have been recorded out of tune. Did you have a guitar track or another treble clef instrument as a guide when you put the vocals down, or did you just sing to bass and drums? If just the bass and drums, as Matt said that can be hard to hear.

 

Intonation of the guitar can be quickly and easily checked with a simple tuner.

 

Terry D.

[jbr]

 

Originally posted by MrKnobs Did you have a guitar track or another treble clef instrument as a guide when you put the vocals down, or did you just sing to bass and drums? Terry D.

 

 

Yep, just with the bass & drums. I wonder if I had played some scratch piano chords with the song, this would've helped with the tuning.

 

Treble clef instrument helps with tuning eh? I did not know that!

[Phil O'Keefe]

Yup, having some sort of midrange / chordal instrument (piano or guitar) can definitely help insofar as vocal pitch / intonation. I know of one famous singer who always had me completely kill the bass whenever he was cutting lead vocals, because his intonation suffered when he heard it in the cans. I would strongly recommend aganst tracking lead vocals over just bass and drums for most singers.

 

Of course, the guitars might be out too and without hearing the tracks, none of us can tell you with certainty whichis the culprit... or maybe it is a bit of both.

[Kiwiburger]

I typically start a song off with a backing track thrown together with VST instruments that I know are perfectly in tune. Kit, bass & electric piano are frequently what I use. Although I have several tuners in various devices, I have a VST tuner plugin that I use as the master studio reference. I use that to check whether the VST instruments used are perfectly in tune (especially important if they use samples).

 

An important thing to remember about bass/guitars is that the initial attack is higher frequency than the tail. So if you tune them so the tail is nicely in tune, and then play fast punk or something - the guitars will be sharp. Tune them the way you will be playing them.

 

There are many reasons why a singer's intonation can change while recording. Changes in volume can put people off. Even changes in temperature or lighting can put people off.

 

Some people like a little reverb to help them pitch. Others don't, so don't force it on people - just make it available, and try it if tuning is a problem.

 

Maybe try a soft synth lead playing the melody to assist in pitching.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Pulling one can off and placing it aganst the side of your head (behind your ear - that helps reduce "bleed") can also be beneficial for some singers. A little trick I recently learned from JJ over on the Musicplayer boards is when you have a singer who tends to sing flat, have them stick one (or both) hands on top of their head when singing. For some crazy reason, it actually DOES seem to help!

[jbr]

And yet again, I have learned some valuable info here.

Thanks!!!