Vocal Tuning !

[ShadowAMD]

I tune my instruments, I tune you, you tune me let's all tune together

[baslotto]

Originally Posted by Luis Diaz IMG

just wondering if these sound like melodyne to you all

Britney Spears -- Radar (VHQ Dry Acapella) - YouTube

Katy Perry - Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F) - Studio Acapella + Download (HD) - YouTube

(glitter all over the room) especially

Britney Spears - Trip To Your Heart (Acapella) - YouTube
melodyne mixed with a voice underneath. cool effect

Britney Spears - I Wanna Go (Lead Vocal Stem) [Acapella] - YouTube
now this one I think it's melodyne but some parts have an auto tune feel.

(p.s no need for "that's not real music comments" ) thanks!

what do you all think ?

Melodyne the first one and Autotune all the others.

BTW to answer some one else who asked, I personally use a combination of all the major tuning softwares depending on the performance and the vocal characteristics. I generally start with Melodyne but change it to AT or Waves Tune in case I hear artifacts or an unnatural EQ that won't sit well in the mix. Or just to adapt the vocals to the music production.
Vocal tuning IS a professional skill like all other tools in this job. There are many people who suck at it and others who are better. Just like anything else.

[kasperjensen]

It's easy to say that one should just be better...

But I think people forget that there is a difference between performing music, and recording it.

I have met great musicians who found it extremely difficult to sit in an air-tight room with headphones on and perform their music. And rightly so.

So helping it along with a few tricks here and there is all good, in my opinion.

When you use it to create something that was never inside the artist to begin with however...

[Luis Diaz IMG]

just curious balsotto what makes you think it auto tune?

[baslotto]

Originally Posted by Luis Diaz IMG

just curious balsotto what makes you think it auto tune?

It sounds like it. I could be wrong but I can hear the typical footprint from AT.

[Night Stalker]

There are some posts here suggesting that tuning a vocal is easy and all you need is melodyne and voila! Bollocks I say.
To know what is in tune is to know about melody and it's relationship to harmony. I don't think every engineer knows about musical theory especially to the degree of some highly skilled musicians/composers. Hence the op original question of outsourcing vocal editing. We should not assume that all engineers know enough about (advanced) musical theory to know how to tune a vocal when pitch editing is required.

[The Famous Yard]

I think we all are basically on the same page (despite apparent disagreement). We want the recording to come out as good as possible. The dishonesty argument is a very grey area.

We like to tune only to the extent that it is an improvement, in the same way that we like to another take (of any instrument) if it is an improvement. The best would be an extraordinary band who have great chemistry and deliver "the take" one day where it is beautifully captured with just the right vibe on the best gear for recording that vibe with. Apart from this everything is a compromise. Good band chemistry but crappy drummer? Get a session guy, gain some timing and groove but lose some chemistry. Singer doing well but out of tune? Tune them up and keep the vibe but lose a little natural error, or else do some patching and gain the tuning (perhaps) but lose some spontaneity of the take. These are decisions people have to make all the time to get a good result. There is always compromise.

Usually time and budget is a factor, e.g. I did a session where we had 45 minutes to do 6 tracks of BVs. Just had to stick them down as best we could.

@Dean - I understand the frustration and disappointment you express at the lifeless and shoddy vocals that you hear regularly. And I totally agree about Nashville records. I've heard very over the top pitch correction on singers who undoubtedly can pitch well (eg Shania Twain) and it smacks of laziness and lack of care to me which is always depressing when music is something you value. I think the key (as in all aspects of music production and creation) is the care, attention to detail and love you put in. I think tuning a vocal can definitely improve a vocal if done with care and feeling. Unfortunately it sometimes isn't and on the pop end it usually isn't.

My 2 pence.