He does a good job doing what he is doing, sound engineering and offering clear explanation to guys like me who want to get better results mixing tracks.
First, as a Berklee-trained vocalist, I don’t really have a huge problem with the way the unedited audio sounded. Much more interested in the how you wrote and arranged this given that you got this kind of Billy Joel thing going on. I would love a vocal arranging follow-up video.
I’m a Theoretically Trained Forensic Astronomer with a degree in Fully Semi Automatic Cosmotology and I agree... errr disagree... uhhhh... you know, the thing!
"sometimes good enough is good enough" unironically good words to live by. Our own perfectionism sometimes really gets in the way of learning, improving and - most importantly - getting shit done
No it ain't, bedroom music is supposed to be unique, honest and real. This is just teaching a bunch of younger bedroom musicians that it's "better" to have your music sound like a cheap disney rip-off, and anyone with an ear can HEAR this shit is going on. Take the knowledge from this video and use it to get better at singing, use melodyne to observe your notes and use THAT knowledge to figure out what can be improved. ESPECIALLY if you're making pop/ rnb/ lofi shit.
EDIT* if you're going for that intentional autotune sound, then that's fuckin sick. fuck it up! that's an aesthetic choice. but doing this faked good singing bullshit just sounds so transparently bullshit to anyone who knows better.
Jake, you have an amazing ability to explain and demonstrate the concepts you are trying to get across. I have learned so much from you. I am 60 years old and have been playing music all my life but have never been in a band. I was going to say that you bridge the gap - but really you fill in the void for people like me who are self taught experienced players who are really yearning to learn more but are too old or self conscious to get more advanced training. You obviously have a full grasp of theory and the gift of breaking it down into manageable chunks that people like me can understand and digest. You have certainly opened up my mind and expanded my abilities. You are a down to earth learning experience and I sincerely thank you for all your hard work. I hope to make you proud someday!
Two little things! 1- If you honestly think I sound better without pitch correction, then you probably won't make it far as a choir director, producer or, acapella member. Being that out of tune and wonky with pitch does NOT OCCUR at professional levels of vocal performance. There's a reason why, it's because most people don't like the sound. If you do, congrats- you're special! But sadly the rest of the world wants to hear well performed vocals. 2- At parts of this video, the file i'm working with looks like a STEREO file. This is because I actually rendered out the stems and imported them into a new project in order to mix and make this video. In practice, I recorded in MONO and panned everything to stereo. Also, melodyne won't play with time changes like the slow down I automated at the end, so I was pretty much forced to take my recorded tracks and render them into a brand new set.
Well, some people just want to hear mistakes. I think sometimes with things that are too perfect, they can sound boring. I think that's why Ritchie Blackmore criticized Joe Satriani's playing in an interview. I find your chord progression very interesting. Can you do a video explaining your choice of chords?
@@potatosan4250 This is a version of melodyne that came bundled with one of my old interfaces - it isn't new at all but does have the polyphonic feature. I'm pretty sure the newest versions WAY MORE capable than what I demonstrated here
Love your videos man, you've helped me make sense of theory like no one else ever could. I have a question you might could make another video on. How do you intentionally sing in a certain key? I can tell if I'm singing in key with what I'm playing but that's from adjusting my voice to sound good with my music. I've always wrote my music first and then vocals later. Wich I realise now that's probably why I struggle writing vocals because I'm not writing the melody first. How do I know and intentionally sing in a certain key?
Just a quick note about that "gonna bust out a song in the cafeteria." So I went to a music oriented highschool in germany (musisches gymnasium) and one year we were doing the musical my fair lady. We basically involved the entire school our orchestra, choir and theater group all working together none stop on that musical. And yes it actually happened quite often that we would just bust out singing one of the songs and the entire cafeteria sang along. It was pretty cool tbh.
I wish more people understood what you said: 1 - If you miss the note by more than half step, you'r probably not a singer 2 - Tune correction programs works if you know how to sing decently, they're not magic tools.
This comment and this video here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-05hTQC1CZko.html Are Really The Best Starting Guide to not only using autotune, but Also to Knowing Knowledge Of Autotune In General. Wish more people had seen this. 👍
@@myoriginalname an really true musician would also know that, not like the others comments I seen on this topic, thanks kind sir of this quote to set the table. 👍🏻🎶
I’m totally all for pitch correction and will use it, but I’ve loved so many “amateurish” performances with so much character, like the unedited part of that intro, that I wish the average modern ear was more used to that raw sound. Not even just unedited vocals, but vocalists who aren’t world class...I just like that shit sometimes idk
Agreed- sometimes, I must tune the note. Other times, it would be a sin to remove the humanity. There is no "one size fits all" rule to pitch correction, it can be wielded for good or evil.
I think is different when the vocalist go off pitch in a emotional track i hear the error as an emotion and when the vocalist sing all over the place and just dance to pretend he/she isnt singing that bad.
This proved my point I was explaining a couple days ago to my colleague. Auto tune isn’t necessarily what makes someone that can’t sing sound amazing, it’s more about layering a bunch of tracks of a certain vocal 🤯 cuz it sounded fine without pitch correction, especially to someone’s untrained ear 👂
Dude... you sound WAY BETTER using no modifications and your own natural and beautiful voice. Software modification to make a voice sound better is not what makes a singer. The natural ebb and flow of an organic voice makes a singer true.
FYI, classical voice leading rules for “figured bass” don’t really apply to most actual melodies. the voices in basso continuo tend to mostly move by stepwise motion and never really range more than a fifth (unless its the bass); this excludes so many pieces of even classical music. In practice classical composers tend to think about voice leading rules vertically (e.g. chord movements) rather than for each voice, and even then they commonly break these rules. so feel free to orchestrate how you want!
I can't tell you how many times I get stuck or give up because my performance isn't up to my standard. It gives me so much anxiety. Your confidence to show your "pretty bad" performance to the audience and confidently walk through how to make it sound better is SO encouraging to me. Thank you!
I’ve just learned more about producing music in the last hour of watching your content than I have in the last 23 years of being alive, you are amazing
After reading through the comments, I realized that most people don't have the ear to tell if the vocals are off pitch. While simultaneously others are horrified by the slightest off note. (I've got a friend like that.) This method ensures that everyone is happy. Thanks so much for making this video, I really learned a lot.
This took me the longest to understand! I make beats and I would’ve a mate with perfect pitch tell me there’s something out of key and it would frustrate me so much because i could’ve never hear what he was hearing...over time my ears have gotten better that I’m still bad at hearing singers ahahah
I can clearly hear it's off pitch, yet I weirdly like it, except for a few horrible moments. Maybe I've been listening to too much jazz haha When everything is too perfect, it loses a bit of character.
Great video Jake. As a lead singer in my much younger days, back in the early 80s, your voice is what set you apart from everyone else. Today, wow! So many possibilities and options. You actually have a decent voice when you stay in your natural range. Unfortunately, your range is like halfway between most natural melody lines, but I'm sure you already know that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this process because you encourage people to expand their potential and try new things. Your descriptions are hilarious and true, yes most people will notice, but unless they are expecting a professional performance they will usually be more optimistic. Lol
Hey, I've watched the "same type" of videos from many other big youtubers and you always do the best job. With this video, and others. You are super knowledgeable.
On top of all content you've put in here, I can't imagine how much more was in order to first plan all of it and wrap it all in this fantastically holistic video, with the final perspective(s) in mind. You're my bridge to what really can be done from home, and yet reach out to what comes out the professional studios. Maybe I joined too late, but ever since I did, I'm endlessly grateful, and will remain forever one (maybe not most invested, yet) of your patrons exactly for that humility you bring out with, all this so valuable content, in its rightful context. Much love and respect from a Bulgarian fan in London. Thank you, and keep remaining you 🙏🤘🤗💓
I read a lot of preferences for both parts. Eventually, you trade in naturalness for correctness, and both have value. But what makes this song so fresh and special, is that you did both of them back to back. That contrast between the two parts is what makes it so fun.
Super interesting. I picked up singing while under house arrest, but I didn't think about recording anything yet (my tone is horrendous). Your video gave me a good overview of the pitch correction process. Thanks dude.
This is unbelievably spot on time wise. Promised one of my coworkers that I’d write and record a song. Using Ableton for the first time in 10 years, and my voice has gone south in that time. Needed this video right now. You actually sound good without the processing, and sound even better with it. Thanks.
13:07 "If my bass part sounds louder than the rest of the voices, imagine how weird that would sound" Yeah that'd just be Kokomo or any other Beach Boys song led by Mike Love
That intro song was fire!! 🔥 🔥 🔥 Also, I kind of liked the unedited part as an out of tune bridge section, building tension with the slight imperfections which make that final super in tune E major sound so sweet!
"You can't Melodyne a cracked voice." NICE. Bruh I wish I had some kind of Melodyne-ish plugin for the software I use. (I probably do but haven't been able to find it yet.) On the other hand though I've really had to figure out how to sing SO! :D If I ever do find a plugin for it, I'll have less work to do. Thankfully all I'm singing right now is Skyrim bard songs so as long as I sound better-or-equal-to the vanilla performers, I'm doing okayish.
Melodyne isnt automatic, you have to actually drag each note to the correct place, which is why it is so superior to autotune. It also preserves the natural sound of the singer instead of making it sounds all robotic like autotune
"When it tries to average the tone, it ends up dividing by zero." I don't have the writing skills to express my laughter when I read that. Programmers and math nerds will get it. I'm not sure about anybody else. :-)
@@DodgaOfficial autotune has knobs that let you control the human feel (flatness, vibrato, etc) and there’s even the option to do it manually so there’s no sense to what you said...
dear friend it's because of you I now have found how to correct my horrible singing problems and have put out one if not two radio ready amateur songs thank you so much
Hey Jake, I'd love to see an analysis video on "I'm going slightly mad" from queen. This song is really interesting and has a beautiful weirdness going on. :)
In 1966 when Brian created Pet Sounds, technology like this hadn't even been dreamed of. Just demonstrates his production capabilities and what great singers the Beach Boys were.
The beach boys are not always in tune. Quite the contrary. There not great singers individually (except maybe Carl), but together it's magic and the little off notes aren't noticeable too much. Plus: Brian's used a lot of pitch correction on his recent work.
Oh...Incredible,,sliders,,Notches,,Lecture,,Reasoning,,EQ,caution,,Compress,,Depress,,ALL blown out,,,YOU HAVE FILLED THE MINDS OF NOVICES WITH practicals,,SO MUCH with SO LITTLE MOVES,,Lovablae and Laudable VID,,wonderous Guidelines,,
Man once again just a great vid great topic, ur not boring! I just find it easy to watch listen and learn, quite often I watch videos and leave scratching my head even after several watches. U really get the message across thanx for sharing ur wealth of knowledge I'm a self taught player but iv used you tube for the past year or 2 I didn't even knw about scales when I first got into you tube. You and many others hav been such a privilege to all us who gain so much from ur experience and wisdom thank you for sharing this video and taking the time to help others.
One observation. You didn't need to record stereo files, mono would work exactly the same in your example. It saves resources and processing overhead. A stereo file from a mono Mic source is basically two copies of the same thing. As you go on to double and then pan hard left and right effectively only one half of the stereo file is used making the other half redundant.
Huh I agree 100% - I don't know why it defaulted to the stereo view when I recorded in Mono. I think my preferences changed when I updated ableton and I didn't realize it!
oh wait i solved it lol! I actaully DID record in MONO like I suspect, but I rendered out the individual stems in stereo to place into a new setlist for mixing/filming/etc. I didn't mention it but I had to automate a time change at the end for the slowdown, and melodyne won't work with timechanges so I basically imported everything into a new set, and thats where the stereo tracks came from :P
This is brilliant! And it shows how much of a gift that computers are to us! This is acapella, but the same principle goes into almost all of music production. The computer makes it possible for everyone to express themselves through music if they want! Technology is amazing! Saying this while teaching my nephew Blender, so it's not just music! My theory is that art is the very essence of.. well.. life!
Man... There is this good energy, not just in this particular video or any other one, but in your whole channel that resonates within me. The content of your channel really is next level. And your personality is the cherry on top of it all. You're pretty much the one friend we've always had since childhood that we trust and turn to when we need advice.
Ok, how many people have ears good enough to notice that Jake's singing wasn't the most pristine? I couldn't, though I will admit I have a tin ear. Even when the effects were turned off I found it quite passable.
It's a bit more distinguishable when you wear earphones in a quiet room. But yeah, I think most untrained people who don't have perfect pitch will probably not find it that bad.
There's people like you saying their harmonies and vocals are horrible, then there's tons and tons and tons of latin artists who heavily rely on melodyne/autotune to sing their songs. With only the intro you got me, that's awesome! All the intro helps me see that I'm not that bad at singing and fixing the tune a bit is not a sin in the music industry, lol.
Exactly. Guitars dont sound distorted or loud when played naturally. And we have zero issues with guitarists using different tools to get a cool sounding tone. Stop pretending that there are different rules for vocalists. I do agree with doing your best to practice getting the vocals as close to pitch perfect as possible. However,- Nobody is perfect everytime. Its our jobs as producers to make everything in the final production sound great. So we will continue to use tools that are available to us to achieve that goal.
@@lionsdenstudio4934 Sounds a little like an excuse bringing in guitar into this. You change the tone of the electric guitar, not the actual note being played. The note will always be the same. Tone, effects can't save you if you can't play in tune. You're making it sound that guitarists just put on an effect that keeps them in tune. I know you probably didn't mean that but it sounds like that.
I'm curious, if you'd like to share, how often you pitch correct the vocals on songs you create for this channel. The Metallica scale song? The various modes videos with vocal songs? I ask because I'm an instrumentalist with a not-great voice trying to get into singing so I can create "complete" tracks with vocals on my own. But I'd like to know how and if pitch correction can be used with something that's more rock or metal or any other genres that are less vocal-oriented than acapella.
Every single time you've heard me sing on this channel in a finished mix, I've used melodyne. Except for the times were I'm singing/playing at the same time to demo, like I often do in my Perfect Progression videos. I even use melodyne for good singers like Kerry Devine just to clean up little annoyances and carve out some interesting nuances.
I am a formally trained music major that helps direct an a cappella ensemble, and this is how I arrange my vocal arrangements. Notation is the very last thing I do so people can actually learn it. This very much helped me with mixing virtual ensembles! Thank you!!!
C'mon now. You're being too nice. The whole point of this video is that you can cheat using pitch correction to sound like an actual professional singer with amazing control of their voice, which most people who use it are not. He's wildly out of tune all over the original performance, he acknowledges it himself.
I agree, if he actually put the effort into getting better takes and understanding what his actual issue is (he's just commonly flat, especially in the lower-register parts) and mitigating that with practice, he'd have something so much better than the pitch corrected version, something that DOESN'T sound like a straight to DVD disney soundtrack rip off.
@@matturner6890 Yeah he's out of tune but it still sounds better. Sounds like a bunch of dudes sitting around singing together. Being slightly out of tune is similar to purposefully adding white noise to your track, it makes it sound warmer and more relaxed. It's not "being nice" it's having an opinion about which sounds better.
His voice is pretty low set. His upper break is at like F. I used to think I was low set and I can get up to A the way he gets to F# - barely at all. I can still sing as low as he does in this bass track too, I think speaking dynamically throughout life has expanded that range. He sounds comfier the lower he goes.
I just came here to write a comment to just say thank you. You have inspired me with your music theory tutorials and production tips videos to create something of my own. I knew the theory before I discovered your channel but it seemed thus far too convoluted and impractical. You have a gift to present stuff as it is very simple. Thank you! Keep up the good work!
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