Pitch Correction help, please.

[hamerhead]

I know. I hate those things, too.

But...

The band is recording. The kid with the computer is trying to make everything pitch-perfect and it sounds....well.....like a computer trying to make everything pitch-perfect. It is genuinely painful to listen to and I can't fucking stand it.

I'm looking for a processor (rack or pedal) that will do at least somewhat natural-sounding pitch correction (and maybe compression/limiting) that I can use *sparingly* to sweeten up vocals. No plugins/no computers - just a plain old processor of some kind to do the job.

The TC Helicon stuff looks promising. Anything else I should check out?

[veatch]

Do you know what software the kid is using?  I've found AutoTune to be quick and easy to use, but it doesn't sound natural when you're done. Melodynes is a lot more tweakable and can give results that still sound real and musical.

A lot of it is in the hands of the user though. If you try to make it prefect, it won't sound real anymore, at least not to us boomers...

[hamerhead]

2 hours ago, veatch said:

....it won't sound real anymore, at least not to us boomers...

Yeah, I'm finding that out. He grew up on EVERYTHING sounding like a robot.  Not sure what he uses, but no thanks.

[fractal]

AutoTune and Melodyne both can sound natural if you use them right.  I don't think you'll find better in an external processor.

[tommy p]

I think autotuners of all kinds sound worse the farther off pitch the original sound was so some of it could come down to get a better performance to begin with.  Having said that, I LIKE imperfections so I wouldn't do 37 takes of anything if take 3 had the right feel.

[hamerhead]

19 hours ago, tommy p said:

I think autotuners of all kinds sound worse the farther off pitch the original sound was so some of it could come down to get a better performance to begin with.  Having said that, I LIKE imperfections so I wouldn't do 37 takes of anything if take 3 had the right feel.

I agree with all of that 10000%. Maybe more.

I would MUCH rather have an imperfect take that retains it's soul than a computer robot going blah blah blah. No wonder kids nowadays are AFU.

[scottcald]

On 12/5/2023 at 9:11 AM, hamerhead said:

I agree with all of that 10000%. Maybe more.

I would MUCH rather have an imperfect take that retains it's soul than a computer robot going blah blah blah. No wonder kids nowadays are AFU.

Yeah, Chili Peppers would anyone buy a Chili Peppers sell as well if Keidis sang on pitch? 🤣

[Jakeboy]

Yeah, I use Reatune in Reaper occasionally but very sparingly…you’d never know it. The compressor is more important and there are some plugs that compress just like the classics they emulate. When I first started recording, the best advice I was given was Lget it right at the mic”.  Nothing replaces a good performance.  You want some humanity in there too. Perfect imperfections as Dwight Yoakum said. And that is the first and last time I will ever quote him lol.
 

 

[HamerCustomEr]

Even the guitar is never completely in tune anyway.  Especialy when bending!  Who cares?  Nobody is perfect; nothing here on Earth is perfect.  That kid needs to grow up.

[Jakeboy]

It’s the current engineering culture where people want a song constructed perfectly down to each individual note….as opposed to just playing and capturing a performance.  This is why anyone with an iPad and access to artificial intelligence can build a song. All without even actually playing a real instrument.

I even reject setting up a grid in my DAW on my music. Music needs to breathe and ebb and flow. Technology has been a tremendous boon to recording as well as a tremendous detriment. Just because we CAN do something doesn’t mean we SHOULD necessarily.

 

[hamerhead]

On 12/26/2023 at 8:15 AM, Jakeboy said:

It’s the current engineering culture where people want a song constructed perfectly down to each individual note….as opposed to just playing and capturing a performance.  This is why anyone with an iPad and access to artificial intelligence can build a song. All without even actually playing a real instrument.....

Drummer Bob (it's his kid) was telling me how they recorded just him on drums and let AI create a song around it. He said it sounded great. But then he's a drummer. And his kid grew up on all the computer-perfected crap the same way we grew up on Zeppelin, so it is to be expected. It's sad in the same way my guitar was to my accordion-playing Dad.

 Autotune is one thing, but the whole AI bit makes me want to puke. I have less than zero interest in that.

[scottcald]

That and the fact that NOTHING is basically done without a click anymore.  

[Jakeboy]

13 hours ago, hamerhead said:

Drummer Bob (it's his kid) was telling me how they recorded just him on drums and let AI create a song around it. He said it sounded great. But then he's a drummer. And his kid grew up on all the computer-perfected crap the same way we grew up on Zeppelin, so it is to be expected. It's sad in the same way my guitar was to my accordion-playing Dad.

 Autotune is one thing, but the whole AI bit makes me want to puke. I have less than zero interest in that.

As you well know, the difference is stark: the accordion and the electric guitar were both being played by humans, creating and making music with their brains, ears, and hands, and heart. AI is fake music. What’s the point? I had a dude at church show me a song that chatgbt wrote for him and I freaking lost it a bit. It is soulless and just fake. 

11 hours ago, scottcald said:

That and the fact that NOTHING is basically done without a click anymore.  

Screw the click.I want a drummer. I remember when Joey Kramer got replaced  for not wanting to play to a click at the Vegas residency. Jack Douglas stated that all the early Aerosmith records had perfect tempo issues…the songs ebbed and flowed as they moved in intensity. He said it is part of what made them great. You can hear the humanness. Ironically enough, Jack’s son replaced Joey and he had no issues playing to a click live.

[Jakeboy]

And I also remember being appalled at a Mutt Lange interview where he stated Def Leppard worked for 3-6 months on JUST THE DRUM SOUNDS on Pyromania. They would endlessly play each specific part of the kit  until Mutt thought that hit was perfect.

They may have pieced together the drums but at least Rick actually played them while they were being recorded.

I would lose my mind. That said, that album made them superstars and millions of dollars. And the drums DO sound huge.

 

[hamerhead]

1 hour ago, Jakeboy said:

Jack Douglas stated that all the early Aerosmith records had perfect tempo issues…the songs ebbed and flowed as they moved in intensity. He said it is part of what made them great.

Absofuckinglutely - some of their stuff cut a groove a mile wide.

[scottcald]

3 hours ago, hamerhead said:

Absofuckinglutely - some of their stuff cut a groove a mile wide.

Can you imagine any of those guys like Kramer or Bonham or Watts playing with a click?