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my singer rekons his headphones don't reproduce pitch correctly, he thinks they sound sharp... is this possible? (prob not!) he blames them for some out of tune vocal performances

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anonymous Mon, 09/26/2005 - 02:28

im not really sure about the mathematics or physics behind this, but i know for sure that if i turn up the bass or the overall volume on the headphones of a singer, he/she always tends to sing flat.
i think its because at loud volumes, the bass tends to sound flat on headphones.
someone should probably elaborate on this, but my main tip would be to not use a very loud headphonemix, and try to keep out as much bass as possible.

maintiger Mon, 09/26/2005 - 10:38

yes, when the volume is too loud the ear will start hearing a different pitch, usually sharp. Try monitoring at low volume when you are singing to a track. The louder the headphones, usually the more out of tune your track will be. Try this experiment to see if its your singer or your headphones:

Play the track back at low volume through your studio monitors (no headphones!) and record the singer. If the headphone mix is the problem your singer will be in tune (though you will have track in the vocal channel) If your singer is still out of tune he/she probably does have a pitch problem. If he/she is in tune, then you know its the monitoring level. Then try giving the singer the track in the cans at low volume to see if you can sing a level that will allow him/her to be in tune. This is actually a common problem with singers in the studio.