General Music Chat

We're always off key but we're off key together...

[b]I DONT THINK YOU CAN PUT THE HUMAN VOICE IN THIS CONVERSATION. ITS NOT A HARD INSTRUMENT, ITS A PIECE OF MEAT IN YOUR THROAT. THE VARIENCES ARE WIDE AND INDIVIDUAL AND IT IS BASED ON THE TWO EARS JUST ABOVE IT. IF A SINGER CANT SING, HE USUALLY CANT TELL. HE CANT HEAR HOW BAD HE IS. THATS WHY WHEN YOU TELL HIM HE GETS UPSET BECAUSE HE HEARS GOOD AND YOU HEAR BAD. A GOOD SINGER IS FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. A BAD SINGER CAN IM BAREASS THE WHOLE BAND AS YALL KNOW. IT IS TUNEABLE BUT NOT MUCH FROM MY EXPERIENCE. USUALLY IT IS WHAT IT IS.

Here's something that may make some of the "Good" singers here think about their own singing . . .
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A lot of time, off-key singing is a function of time.
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What I mean is that - most people cannot hit a note dead-on, instantly.
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Most folks will sing a note, notice a slight discrepancy, and subconsciously slide upwards or downwards towards hitting the right note.
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. . . subconsciously . . .
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And - you've got to have a fast enough response time to hit the note before the next note come along. And - some folks are faster than others . . .
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In other words - the guitar may hit the note, for example, 1/16 of a beat earlier than you.
If you CAN hit the note, then hit it at the exact same time as you are supposed to . . .
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Think you're good? Try singing withOUT corrections. BAM! Dead on . . . it can be hard . . .
How fast are you?
1/32 beat late?
1/64 beat late?
1/128 beat late?
Early?
Exact same time as the song asks for?
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This doesn't matter much in slow blues, gopsle, or C&W, and many other kinds of music which actually calls for, (and prefers) 'sirening . . .'
I'm not talking about lilting.
One can lilt, and hit the proper note at the proper time.
The proper time is "what sounds best" - or what sounds good, anyway.
. . . depends upon the song, of course . . .
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This is assuming that you can actually hit the right note - eventually . . .
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It depends upon the tempo of the song, and the amount of time it takes you to hit the note - assuming you DO hit the note at all, of course . . .
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It's like this:
If it takes you 1/2 second to slide up or down to the right pitch - then you're effectively off-key . . .
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If it takes you 1/4 second to slide up or down to the right pitch - then you're not so great . . .
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If you can hit the note in an eyeblink - then you're perceived to be singing in key.

Hey Rhythm, In my genre bending a note is common place in nearly every song to some extent. In Pop music scaleing around a note is common. In blues, bending and adding a little gravel is heard. There are many different techniques all of which are individual to that singer. Some do it well and some not so well. Vocals are a strange thing that have as many variations as there are grains of sand it seems like. It's a good thing that there are a lot of ears out there too.

I was time-shifting some vocals in a recording which sounded off key.
I moved them forward 1/64th of a beet - voila - in key.
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But like I said - it depends upon the song. And, yeah, the singer, too . . .
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A lot of singers 'warble' around a note.
They sing too high, then too low, which means the never have to hit the note and stay on it.
It's come to be popular in a lot of songs, and a growing trend - but to me, it sounds like crap.
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There are probably more people who disagree with me than agree with me on that . . . I don't care.
Because it's easier to tremelo than it is to hit the right note.
Those who song off-key can hide their deficiancies by warbling . . .
I think it's only effective if used sparingly . . .
But - you're right about it depending upon the specific singers.
Some can pull it of, and others only THINK they're pulling it off . . .
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Let's see them pull out a guitar tuner, and sing a staright "A" or an "F#" dead-on . . . and hold it right on the money.

I'm not all that sharp, but my ass is flat!

Interesting observation Alan!