vocal pitch correction steps or tricks

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Member Since: May 10, 2005

TC helicon Voicetone Correct vocal pedal

How can pitch correction help with my vocals to stay in PITCH, and hit solid notes to stay in KEY and PITCH of the chords of the song?

How can i use this to guide me or put a guide track for vocals by using pitch correction please?

How do u guys use pitch correction or other plug in's on vocals tracks to make them sound in KEY and in PITCH better?

How can i use this TC helicon Voicetone Correct vocal pedal to make better vocal tracks? how would u guys use this pedal please?

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Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Jul 17, 2007 08:09 pm

i have no idea about the Voicetone, but if you want perfect pitch, you can use a vocoder, auto-tune, or go find a real singer.

what i do is get a guitar tuner with a built-in-mic and tape it to the mic stand...that way the singer can see when he/she is drifting out of pitch.

of you don't have a tuner turn off the left channel in their headphones and play the melody on a keyboard that has been tuned properly.

on of my favorite tricks is to have a loaded pistol laying on the mixing desk. works every time bro!

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jul 17, 2007 08:16 pm

Oh jeezuz, I can't even imagine trying to use a pitch correction pedal on the fly to fix stuff...what a nightmare, I'd say the best bet is to get a better singer. Pitch correction is something I only do to recorded tracks, not on the fly...

Czar of Cheese
Member
Since: Jun 09, 2004


Jul 17, 2007 08:40 pm

No vocal correction for me, please. What you hear is what you get. People pay voice teachers a lot of money to learn how to physiologically sing on pitch. How to breathe...how to shape your mouth...stuff like that. Like dB says, Walters, pitch correction is best used after the fact.

If you want to be a better singer, then take singing lessons.

Member
Since: May 10, 2005


Jul 17, 2007 08:55 pm

would singing in a guitar tuner really work to find the notes?

If i hook up a microphone up to a guitar tuner it would find the pitch and display my VOCAL pitch?


Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jul 17, 2007 08:59 pm

pitch is pitch, doesn't matter what the source is...can't say it'd be perfect, but it'd be a hella good benchmark...

Eat Spam before it eats YOU!!!
Member
Since: May 11, 2002


Jul 17, 2007 09:01 pm

yes

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Jul 18, 2007 01:00 am

better use two in case one is faulty.....i havn't done this, but i bet if you have a bass tuner below (not above) the guitar tuner, it'd be a bit more accurate and you will have more of a "full range" sound.

www.TheLondonProject.ca
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2005


Jul 18, 2007 02:04 am

I prefer to use both an analog and a digital tuner... blend to taste... the bass tuner is a cool idea... gonna have to try that one out. If you reverse the battery in one of the tuners can you reduce phase issues?

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Jul 18, 2007 02:18 am

nah, all that does is flip the polarity...so it's a 180 degree flip. my daw has a special feature that lets me do that on most tracks...i find it's great when you want the speaker to 'suck' instead of 'push'.

Typo Szar
Member
Since: Jul 04, 2002


Jul 18, 2007 03:45 am

I think using a pitch corrector live would sound worse than singing out of pitch! Just imagine all teh weird obvious synthetic glitches and jumps it would make... i mean, unless u want to sound like Cher?

And like everyone said, pitch correction on the fly should be in ur head and lungs and not a pedal, im the singer in my band and i can honestly say im terrible, but i take pride in my craft and have worked hard over the years to develop pitch, and even now im not 100% but i think if i can do it, anyone can, becoz i started off basically tone deaf.

Vocal teachers have a lot of tricks and exercises and its worth it to look into stuff like that. Vox r just like any other instrument u have, u can tune it and improve it infinitely, and itll be worth it in the end.

Czar of Cheese
Member
Since: Jun 09, 2004


Jul 18, 2007 11:37 am

If you try hanging upside-down when you sing it lets the air out of your lungs more evenly. This will facilitate more accurate pitch. Of course, you would need to then put the bass tuner ABOVE the guitar tuner or your polarity will be way out of whack! (And don't forget to turn your mic upside-down as well! ) Duh!

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Jul 18, 2007 11:41 am

holy crap! that makes total sense to me....i've got one of those 'hang-up' excersize things that'll be perfect for this! maybe they should be sellin' them in Musicians Friend instead of Sears. i'll try it tonight and let y'all know how it goes...

man that's pure genious!

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jul 18, 2007 08:49 pm

Oh man this is killing me.

I gotta keep my mouth shut or I'll end up in trouble.

OK, just one.

Ever think about voice lessons?

Member
Since: Jun 02, 2007


Jul 19, 2007 09:20 pm

If you want to spend some money on a fantastic plugin, get Melodyne. It literally is amazing and sounds natural. Works great on instruments too.

Member
Since: May 10, 2005


Jul 21, 2007 11:25 pm

what can i use to DISPLAY METER for vocals?

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jul 21, 2007 11:26 pm

...any frequency analyzer should do it...

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Jul 22, 2007 12:49 am

no, no....that's where MOST ppl get it wrong. you should NEVER trust the meters....you gotta mix with your ears, not your eyes.

so here's what i do, i mentally project a 'color' to represent different frequency's in my mind....like lows are red, mids are yellow and highs are blue.....now you can take that to whole new levels if you work the whole 'spectrum' this will definately help you visualize what you're hearing....

so train rolling by, that's an easy red *if you're inside your studio*

a bird cherping, picture that as more of a violet with shades of orange, this is what we audio pros call 'color' when we talk about sound.

you'll hear ppl mention it from time to time around these parts.

remember the goal of a good mix is a nice smoothe grey.

Ne'er ate 'er
Member
Since: Apr 05, 2006


Jul 22, 2007 12:19 pm

Sorry, but the true goal is plaid. Trust me on this one.

Member
Since: May 10, 2005


Jul 22, 2007 05:50 pm

The TC pedal has a METER built in why can't i use this to guide my vocals better?

Or What can i use to GUIDE my vocals to be better in pitch and in key?

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jul 22, 2007 05:55 pm

ummmm, sheet music?

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jul 22, 2007 07:23 pm

Good call dB!

Sheet music would surely help guide you. I know its worked well for me in the past.

Member
Since: May 10, 2005


Jul 22, 2007 08:10 pm

What sofware program will do midi notation on my vocals in REAL TIME?? so it write the midi notation the sheetpaper for me?

So when i sing my vocal track it will do the midi notation of the vocal melody then i know what notes i'm hitting

What would be the best for vocal midi notation software program?

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jul 22, 2007 08:17 pm

Well several programs will do midi notation in real time. But if you are looking for a program that can take the audio of you singing and convert that to notation then you are out of luck. Unless of course you have an unlimited supply of cash, then there are probably one or two programs out there that can do pitch detection. But none of them will write notation in real time.

Czar of Cheese
Member
Since: Jun 09, 2004


Jul 22, 2007 09:12 pm

Try not using vocals when you sing...then there's no notation issues. I've used this trick successfully several times.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jul 22, 2007 09:25 pm

Have a go here, might find something useful. But it mostly looks like you'll need to know how to write your own program to get what you want out of it.

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Jul 22, 2007 10:02 pm

funny, i did my thesis on this very concept...i could never get a good price for it, so i shelved it....how much money are we talkin' here?

www.TheLondonProject.ca
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2005


Jul 22, 2007 11:02 pm

The Autotune plugin will show you the vocal notes in real time.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jul 23, 2007 06:33 pm

But will it write them to midi or a staff view? I've not used it enough to ever see if it does that. I just try to sing on key. But when I need it I use V-Vocal in Sonar.

Member
Since: Jul 25, 2005


Jul 24, 2007 09:37 am

im not sure whats being asked here . . . but heres where you can get a pitch correction vst plug-in for free

www.gvst.co.uk.


look for gsnap

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jul 25, 2007 05:34 pm

Welcome to HRC keith.

No one is really sure what Walters is ever asking to be honest.

I think he is looking for something that will do notation as he sings, not an easy find though, or cheap.

That sight looks like it has some pretty cool stuff. And lots of people here are into the free pluggins for sure.

Thanx a bunch for posting the link.

Noize

Ne'er ate 'er
Member
Since: Apr 05, 2006


Jul 25, 2007 06:06 pm

Keith's been a member for two years, Noize. Today's his anniversary. ;-)

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jul 26, 2007 06:10 pm

I swear it said 2007 last night.

Member
Since: Jan 26, 2004


Aug 02, 2007 02:00 pm

celemony melodyne is the best for pitch correcting. change individual notes on the fly in real-time. Must have.

Member
Since: Aug 22, 2007


Aug 22, 2007 06:36 pm

Hello,

There’s a lot I’d love to say about many of the notions discussed in this thread, but I’m sure no one wants to read my long winded opinions.

I do want to explain something about VoiceTone Correct's design with respect to pitch correction and the original question asked.

Note: I’m a software engineer at TC-Helicon, love the product, and want you to buy one ;-) Just being honest here.

First of all, chromatic pitch correction: We're talking about subtly nudging a singer to the closest semitone. The Cher effect is a cool, but Voicetone Correct is not designed for that. One benefit of chromatic correction is that it doesn’t matter what “scale/key” your song is in. No configuration necessary. The draw back is you have to be a pretty good singer to start with. Lots of testing has proven to us that this type of correction can be extremely beneficial in live situations (think end of a long set, a bad day, etc…).

This is where I’d also love to explain the guide feature (suited for pitch purists and useful for self improvement) as well as the benefits of using vocally optimized tuners, instead of general instrument tuners. Most importantly, it would be a shame not to mention the other part of VoiceTone Correct, which is how it makes your vocals stand out in a live performance. But I’ll refrain unless anyone is specifically interested.

Cheers,

Stephen
TC-Helicon

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Aug 22, 2007 09:23 pm

Thanx for that bit of info Stephen. Nice to have someone who knows the inner workings of the devices drop in and shed a little light on things.

I know a few users here are using your companies gear and love it.

Do feel free to share anything you find interesting as there are a few other threads regarding the use of pitch correction as well as harmony effects some of which your company makes.

And welcome to HRC by the way.

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Aug 23, 2007 06:44 am

yes i agree wholly with the above post.

that said, "walters" is a bit of a character and deliberately leaves vague posts at numerous audio websites, just to see what ppl say....strange muse as it is.

but thanks alot for your input! it's good to see you guys lookin' out for what's needed.

cheers

wyd
HRC

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