How do you keep a rock singer in tune?

[Stoneroses6300]

For the life of me, it's always a battle to keep a rock singer who pushes notes out in tune...Quieter singers are so much easier...How do you keep rock singers from trailing off pitch when finishing notes? Irritating shit...

[quietdrive]

Originally Posted by Stoneroses6300

For the life of me, it's always a battle to keep a rock singer who pushes notes out in tune...Quieter singers are so much easier...How do you keep rock singers from trailing off pitch when finishing notes? Irritating shit...

Quiet singers? Rock singers?

This has nothing to do with how loud they're or what genre they're singing, either somebody has good pitch or they dont.

[ninjaneer]

Originally Posted by Stoneroses6300

For the life of me, it's always a battle to keep a rock singer who pushes notes out in tune...Quieter singers are so much easier...How do you keep rock singers from trailing off pitch when finishing notes? Irritating shit...

check the headphone mix.. might need less drums and more of the melodic / harmonious
instruments in the headphones for reference.

[chandlersonic]

getting him to take singing lessons is probably your safest bet.

[Stevil]

i was expecting a punch line.

[AlexLakis]

Originally Posted by Stoneroses6300

How do you keep a rock singer in tune?

Have them sing jazz instead.

As others have said, it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how loud or soft the vocalist is singing; It really has to do with whether or not they know how to sing or not!

If they're dropping pitch at the end of their phrases, tell them about it! Usually this is enough to help the problem. Telling them to smile at the end of their phrases might help them not drop so much, and telling them to cut off their phrases a tiny bit earlier might help, and tell them to concentrate on finishing the line as opposed to thinking about the next one.

Or, Melodyne.

[Bounce]

Have them put down the light bulb and just sing?


Sorry, I couldn't help it ;-)

[Brent Hahn]

Try tracking them in the control room with no headphones.

[chandlersonic]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

Try tracking them in the control room with no headphones.

I've done that and it works sometimes but that's really the last option for me. I'll often reach for the SM7 when doing this, it does the trick without too much bleed.

[Bounce]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

Try tracking them in the control room with no headphones.

When doing this, try inverting the phase on one monitor of the pair. There will be a sweet spot in between them with the mic where the audio from the monitors will start to cancel itself out :-)

Phun with Phase.

[FossilTooth]

Replace the singer with HIGHENDONLY. That guy can sing.

[Dan]

If you have the time, this is a little extreme, but sometimes if you track them, auto tune the track, and then have them sing with the auto tune track, they'll hear what they're doing, because there's that obvious rub.

and sometimes it helps just hearing the line in tune. Which they might never have!

[drBill]

Originally Posted by Stoneroses6300

For the life of me, it's always a battle to keep a rock singer who pushes notes out in tune...Quieter singers are so much easier...How do you keep rock singers from trailing off pitch when finishing notes? Irritating shit...

Well, the obvious one is choosing a real singer - which seems to becomming more and more rare these days. Talented singers who practice their craft can sing close enough in tune that you can finese the rest. Untalented singers....well, that's irritating isn't it?

Make them comfortable and make sure they can hear everything well. Don't take their word for it. Try letting them sing between two out of phase speakers with no phones. Experiment. Whatever helps their comfort level.

[FFTT]

Can you throw darts?

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by Bounce

When doing this, try inverting the phase on one monitor of the pair. There will be a sweet spot in between them with the mic where the audio from the monitors will start to cancel itself out.

First off, if you're going to do this, you have to be monitoring in mono (both speakers being fed exactly the same thing) or it won't work.

Second, have you ever actually tried this? Personally, I can't stand to be in the same room with a pair of out-of-phase speakers. It makes me physically ill. I can't imagine trying to sing with them.

Far better to put one mono speaker directly behind the mic, and filter out any really low-end stuff in the monitor mix.

[jhg]

no reverb in the cans despite any pleading. yeah, that's what you sound like...

[Benmrx]

+1 on messing with the headphone mix.

You could also try recording a version of the vocal melody with a piano or guitar, and have the singer sing to that.

[CKK]

Have heard about a little trick.

Let the singer be in the control room listening to the main speakers or what ever. Place two mics in front of the singer, one in front of his mouth and one just above his head they should be verticaly alligned and the same kind of mic. Flip the phase on the above mic and blend the two signals - This should get rid of a lot of the speaker bleed.

Havnt tried this yet - havnt needed it yet.

[H-Rezz]

Originally Posted by Stoneroses6300

For the life of me, it's always a battle to keep a rock singer who pushes notes out in tune...Quieter singers are so much easier...How do you keep rock singers from trailing off pitch when finishing notes? Irritating shit...

It's not your job to keep them in tune , quiet or soft they can either sing or they cann't ! You can play the notes on the keyboard so they can hear them , if they cann't hear the pitch there is nothing you can do outside of getting close enough and then tunning them later with a plug ...

[Kingtone]

simple.

[jseveriniii]

I have had this happen alot, and most of the time there is not one single solution I use that works for everyone. Each one ends up reacting to something different. All the solutions here are good. A lot of times for me, just drawing their attention to it helps alot. I think these guys acutally forget to think about pitch when they get toward the end of the note. They kind of get "lost in the moment" and get on to other things mentally. Try to get them to actually listen to what they are doing "in the moment"

[u b k]

Originally Posted by H-Rezz

It's not your job to keep them in tune , quiet or soft they can either sing or they cann't !

absolute, utter bullsh¡t.

it is 100% your job, your responsibility, and your privilege to help artists deliver the strongest, most engaging performance they are capable of delivering. there are a lot of variables which the engineer has total control over, all of which affect a singer's ability to stay on pitch. some of them are technical, many of them are psychological, and all of them are critical to the outcome.

first of all, the main problem is that most singers don't ever practice singing along to music in headphones while their own voice comes careening back into the cans; the studio is the only time they do this, and it's a very unfamiliar and unnatural situation for them to hear their mic'd voice louder than the voice we all hear all day in our heads when we speak. drowning out the natural sinus resonance is the first way a singer is cut off from their normal pitch cues. some of you guys drawing hard lines might try to keep some perspective on that and cut them some slack when they have trouble.

second, the cue mix is essential. keep tweaking things in realtime while they sing; when you hear them start to get better with their pitch, you know you're making the right tweaks. too much of their voice makes them hold back... pitch problems. too little voice makes them push too hard... pitch problems. too much distorted bass and drums and not enough piano... pitch problems. the list goes on.

third, if you haven't actually tried the out-of-phase mono speaker trick, maybe it's not such a great idea to dismiss it outright. it works, it works extremely well, and for many singers the pitch problems disappear the instant you set this up for them. why? because singing to music that's actually in the air, and hearing our own voice in the same air, is how we're all accustomed to doing it. it's practiced, it's familiar, it's natural.

last, the whole studio experience is daunting and nerve-wracking to some degree for most normal people who rarely set foot in one. as engineeers we're used to it, we practically live in it, but we're the freaks here, not them. having somebody listening to your musicianship with a microscope and a critical ear while everyone is waiting for you to deliver, and paying for the privilege of being subjected to that kind of scrutiny, is intimidating for all but the most seasoned, self-assured vets. yeah, it's all part of being a pro, yada yada, but try to extend a little understanding here. are we trying to be right, are we trying to pass judgment on who has talent and who doesn't, or are we trying to help artists realize the best performances they've ever done?

at least they've got the balls to step up to the mic and make their art, which is more than can be said of a lot of cats who hide behind the faders and look down from above while their own guitars and songs somehow never see the light of day. jealousy is an unflattering color to wear, be careful how you dress when you go to work.


gregoire
del
ubk
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[Sigma]

well the good cop provides drugs and sex partners

the bad cop tazers their privates