Get On Pitch Vocals Without Software

I don’t care what the “purists” might say, a true mark of professional recordings is a singer who is on pitch and in tune. Now just how MUCH in tune the vocalist sings is completely subjective. But let’s be honest here. If your vocalist is off pitch in your mix, listeners are simply going to move on.

That being said, the solution to on pitch vocals isn’t always pitch correction software, although it is a legitimate tool. With some simple fixes and sneaky moves you can help your singer deliver a great on pitch performance every time!

Via Eduardo Santos Flickr

It’s All In The Monitor Mix

Plain and simple, the singer’s monitor mix determines everything about the outcome of his or her vocal performance. Obviously the better the vocalist can hear herself, the better she will sing. You want to spend as much time as necessary to help your singer feel comfortable. But here’s a dirty secret: you can control how on pitch your vocalist is without her ever knowing it.
 
That’s right. By simply adjusting the volume of her own voice in her monitor mix, your vocalist will sing either more sharp or flat. For example, if you find during a pass through of the vocals your singer is really sitting too sharp on the notes (singing higher than the intended pitch) it’s likely because she can’t hear herself as well as she’d like. Consequently she is over-singing. Easy fix. Simply turn her vocals up in her mix (in real time even) and she will start to settle right on the note perfectly.

The same holds true for the opposite problem. If she is singing too flat (under the pitch) it’s likely the result of her vocal being too loud in her mix. She hears a lot of herself and she backs off (ever so slightly and without consciously thinking about it). No problem for you though, simply turn her vocals down in the mix and she’ll sing out just enough to lock back up into key. It’s a beautiful thing really.

Go With One Ear

If those subtle tweaks to the monitor mix aren’t quite enough to get your singer to lock in the pitch, it may be time to get even more basic. Tell her to simply pull the headphones off one of her ears. What this allows her to experience is both the monitor mix (the instruments and her vocals a bit) plus her own voice in real space (the way she’s used to singing) giving her more confidence and control of her voice. You might have to turn up her overall mix so she’s getting enough in the one remaining ear, but other than that this technique really works well for most singers who feel uncomfortable with the headphones.

Making The Un-Natural, Natural

At the end of the day, our goal as producers and engineers is to help our vocalists (and all musicians) to deliver a beautiful and natural performance in a very unnatural musical environment, the recording studio. No musician LOVES to be isolated in a booth or room, with headphones on, and other people listening in to just their performance ready to pounce if it isn’t adequate.

If you want great recordings, whether for your music or someone else’s, you must make it your job to help make people feel comfortable int the studio so they can focus on what they do best, making music!