Goddamnit, I'm singing flat.

[percussion boy]

I dunno if this is off-topic, since electricity is not involved, but I'm really noticing some nasty intonation problems in my little homebrew song demos. We're not talking tone-deaf here -- I've sung harmonies in bands -- but just falling under correct pitch. It's real obvious next to the synth, which is in tune.

I'm allergic and stuffed up, could that be part of it? All these notes that feel like they're in the right location in my throat are now sounding slightly below where they should be.

Should I just install Autotune in my chest?

Sheeyit.

[djslayerissick]

dont expect to sound your best when you're not feeling your best.

try 'smiling' while you sing and opening your mouth more on vowels than you think is necessary. watch yourself in the mirror and see just how much your mouth is actually opening, as opposed to what it feels like.

if you open your mouth real wide, and then try to smile, you should notice an extra tenson in your cheeks - and even your eyes and eyebrows move upward - like you're excited. this will give a more 'excited' sound and should make you slightly sharp-er than usual - which in theory will correct your flat-ness.

[joeysimms]

Turn down the volume in your headphones, turn down the other parts of the mix except drums and bass, and try singing it with one ear in the phones and the other without. It helps me when my pitch is off. As far as harmony, it's damn near impossible for me to sing a smooth harmony UNLESS I turn off the track I'm harmonizing with.

[the_riff]

DJ Slayer is right. Try over exaggerating your mouth with vowels when singing. OPen that mouth up. Look like a friggen fruit. No one will see you except the engineer (which may be you). A good headphone mix is key though. For me it's all about a good mix and great compression. you want the vox to blend well with the music.

[elijahn]

breathe from your belly

[djgout]

joeysimms makes a good point about the taking one ear piece off. it makes a world of difference. that way you're hearing your own voice acoustically and also mechanically through the bones in your head. most headphones you'll find in studios block out alot of the outside sound.

i was assisting for this *vocals in the recording studio* class at school and the instructor turned me on to that trick. the class was all about little things singers can do to make recording go more smoothly and ways to get different sounds layered to tape. even though i wasn't technically enrolled in the class i learned alot from it and it's helped my production skills. it was cool to learn more about how to communicate with vocalists who generally have no idea what your job actually is and have never really thought about doing things differently for a certain sound or feel as opposed to just singing it the way they do.

sorry for the rant

[blue]

djslayerissick , and joeysimms, I agree with.

sometimes just another hour, or day I'll get it, no explanation that I know of other than another time.

I also attribute my problem when It's happening with me , to muddiness of mix, possibly I should get different headphones. But yeah, finger on one ear, that lower flap, or a headphone off.

also sing along with different mixes, not necessarily the tracks enfull.


I used to intend to make a cassette of musics that'd been on record, where the singer's intonation is less than good. natalie merchant, chet baker, are the only two I remember now, though I used to know of more.

[I'm Painting Again]

you could also try to poke your adams apple slightly inward..that actually worked for a friend of mine who was just falling flat in this one song..

[junkyardtodd]

dude, I used to have that problem SO bad! Another thing that really worked for me was to record w/o headphones at all,
This is a pretty well know trick, and they always say to "position the mic dirctly between the speakers, and wire them outta phase...", but that's really too much trouble for me, I just set up, n let it rip. (ala early Beatles)

A Ray of Hope: Over the years, my pitch in the studio has gotten much better. I would not consider myself to have much natural ability, I have just worked at it a lot, and my pitch has improved to the point that I can consistantly use first n second takes.

[penelec]

If you're congested, you can't really hear yourself accurately. Brew up some tea, stick your head over the mug, inhale deeply. Or take a hot shower to loosen all the crap in the canals.

Or as someone once mentioned on the old board, I think, get naked, run as fast as you can screaming around outside in the cold. I only mention that because (a) it works for me! and (b) your neighbors told me to.

[ubertar]

Um, take an antihistamine?

[bobbydj]

I know I always say this but try singing sitting down - I have no idea why this should work but it can do.

[jajjguy]

Learning to perform in tune with headphones is a separate skill, not to be underestimated. Took me years to be able to play cello in tune to a backing track with headphones.

Some say it has something to do with the very slight timing shift. In normal life, you'd hear yourself coming just a bit before the other instruments, which would be farther away in the room But when overdubbing on headphones, you hear the backing tracks a little before you hear yourself, because of mic placement, sample delay, etc. Not enough to notice when listening, but enough to throw off your performance, especially tuning. Maybe?

[bobbydj]

Learning to perform in tune with headphones is a separate skill, not to be underestimated. Took me years to be able to play cello in tune to a backing track with headphones.

Some say it has something to do with the very slight timing shift. In normal life, you'd hear yourself coming just a bit before the other instruments, which would be farther away in the room But when overdubbing on headphones, you hear the backing tracks a little before you hear yourself, because of mic placement, sample delay, etc. Not enough to notice when listening, but enough to throw off your performance, especially tuning. Maybe?

Wow! That's VERY interesting. I've always suspected this and would definitely say that something is afoot. Quite possibly due to the slight difference in timing. I do know that once, at a very very well equipped London studio (automated Neve, U87, Studer, 1176, yadder) I had something of a revelation. My vocals just happened in a way that they never had before. I was at the time absolutely convinced that it was to do with some kind of (admittedly very slight) time delay. I had to mention it to the engineer and producer, cos it was so apparent (to me). But they didn't have much in the way of an explanation. But the point that this apparently occurs with instruments like cellos is dead interesting. Nice one.

[percussion boy]

Thanks, folks. Lots of stuff to try.And the running around naked thing will probably go unnoticed, in my neighborhood.