What is Vocal Tuning and why do I need it?
You have a great voice, but is that enough to stand out?
Maybe when you’re playing live, everyone in the room can feel the magic, but when you submit material to major record labels and publishers, oftentimes they may never get a chance to see you play live, so they’ll judge your voice. completely. vocal quality” demonstrated in his song.
What exactly is vocal quality?
Vocal quality can be broken down into a number of technical elements, but some of the main aspects are pitch, pitch, and range. The pitch control is especially important and can make or break a song. A big reason why many songs sometimes miss the mark is because of the high pitched vocals. In lamen terms, this means vocal notes that are not in tune during vocal performance. Someone doesn’t necessarily have to be an audio engineer to notice high pitched vocals, and in fact, even fans can pick them up!
So what, is it just some vocal notes?
That may be true, but A&R professionals at major record labels and publishers have grown accustomed to top-tier recordings created by industry producers, so sadly they typically judge their recordings on equal merit and not they make exceptions. It seems difficult, but their works are highly dependent on the songs they select to be recorded by major artists, so they must feel confident that only the strongest songs are suitable.
Great artists need to be sure that the song they ultimately choose and record for their album is the right choice, any feeling of hesitation, like high-pitched vocals, can put them off, even if their song fits perfectly. This brings me to vocal tuning.
What specifically is vocal pitch?
Vocal tuning is the process by which a producer will carefully adjust the notes of your vocal performance to ensure they are in tune. This means going through each vocal phrase and checking for pitched vocals and editing them accordingly.
Didn’t you just put on Auto-Tune?
Auto-Tune can help but it won’t necessarily do a perfect job 100% of the time. There may still be vocal notes that are out of tune even with Auto-Tune. Also, over-application of Auto-Tune can affect the singer’s natural vocal performance and make it sound mechanical.
Vocal tuning is also a creative tool producers can use to improve song quality by adding more melodic depth to vocal phrases. When an artist is looking for a great hook, this can be a key tool to apply. A few select vocal edits on the hook line can really take you from something good to something great! Usually in a hook line there are certain phrases that resonate with the emotions or tug at the heart strings, through careful and skillful vocal tuning these phrases can really be lifted for the listener so they don’t just sound good , but they drive home and deliver!
But do I have great tone control and awesome melodies anyway?
That may be true, but vocal tuning is a tool that should be seen as a way to enhance and improve, not inhibit. Unlike fancy vocal processors that make you sound like a machine, vocal tuning is used in conjunction with a natural vocal performance, making it sound even more natural and soulful by allowing artists to achieve greater vocal possibilities than perhaps they haven’t realized it yet.
For example, when I’m tuning my voice, I sometimes like to try a particular note an octave higher during the phrase, like on the hook, for example. The fast wave from high to low can create a very exciting and melodic emotion for the listener! Extending the duration of a vocal note can also be very effective in making the listener sit up and listen for a second. Vocal tuning can also be used to add harmonic layers that thicken and enrich the vocal sections to which the harmonies are applied.
Can’t artists just fine-tune their voice themselves?
Unless you are prepared to spend hours precisely “fine-tuning” the vocal performance of each of your songs, I would not recommend it. Unfortunately, a vocally half-tuned song just won’t cut it. Artists need to focus on what they do best, be creative, write amazing songs and perform! Leave the technicalities to the producers, that’s what they get paid for.
But will vocal tuning cost more?
It depends on the producer’s services, but some producers include vocal tuning as a default part of the delivery of a professional mix. Which means that if there are possibilities to not only repair the vocals with pitch, but also add more melodic depth and harmonies, they will do so to help the song reach its potential and really stand out!