How To Produce PITCH PERFECT Acapella (when you're bad at singing) [Vocal Production + Mixing]
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- čas přidán 12. 05. 2024
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Producing modern vocals that sound crisp and clean is pretty easy these days if you have access to pitch correction software. Even without programs like Melodyne, Autotune, Wavetunes, or Nectar, you can still make your vocal mix sound WAY better just by using some common sense mixing principles like panning, doubletracking, compression, and EQ.
Most of my videos are theory based- this one breezes past the theory and writing to jump straight to production. In my opinion, the modern musician MUST consider production when writing his/her music, unless they strictly intend on only performing the music live. The more production knowledge a composer has, the more easily their songs can realize into the actual world without any hiccups. It also gives you a lot of confidence as a songwriter, knowing the sort of production techniques you intend to use when writing that can create certain sounds or cover up certain deficiencies.
Note- there are some strange audio glitches during the demonstration part of the video that really only pop up because of the way I filmed this. In the final rendered version that you hear at the beginning of the video, none of those strange glitches (clips and autotune freakouts) are audible (to me at least!). Also, if you have some criticisms on my arrangement, I'm game for a public call-out on what I did "wrong".
If you liked this video, definitely be on the lookout for the following folks and thank them for the generous support!
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Table of Contents:
00:00 "The Magic of Pitch Correction"
01:27 Intro
02:36 Writing and Arranging
06:52 Recording
07:48 Mixing without effects
14:23 Pitch Correction
21:43 Compression and EQ
25:53 Reverb
27:23 Summary
![How to Sound Like Daft Punk, Tool, or EVERY Rock Band using Minor/Aeolian [Riffing With Modes #6]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Bz_q96JhSOg/mqdefault.jpg)
lol the unedited audio isnt that bad
Sounds like that group of people who are on their way to a party and started singing on the way.
just a little off-pitch, but for me it's okay
Preferable even.
I was hoping for something terrible so I could have hope for mixing my voice. Instead, this dude turned out to be a solid karaoke singer.
you are not hearing the soprano part
Forget singing, go into announcing. You definitely have a radio voice.
I was thinking he auto tunes his voice lol
You're quite right
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.
That's what everyone tells me and I'm sick of it. He probably heard that comment a thousand times before in his life as well.
@@ImNotQualifiedToSayThisBut The closest i've gotten is getting told I have a great face for radio.
Dude you sound way better unedited than like 3/4 of every local band ever.
True THAT!
Jake: ...We can actually get rid of all these little modulations.
*dying modulations sounds*
16:43
NUUUᴜᴜᴜᵤᵤᵤᵤ
Lol
lol
LMAO
I was thinking the same exact thing lol that shit was hilarious
I expected way worse honestly, and the song itself is really really cool, great job :D
ahaha yes me too!!
it was ok in human mode !
I though he was gonna sound like me 😂😂😢
Ahah agreed 100% and the song is great ahah
Yeah dude, self deprecate much 😜
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 am a Churklee-trained vocalist and i disagree
i'm a completely shit vocalist and i do agree
I'm a vocally-trained Wendy's and I agree
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!
I'm a pharmaceutical - trained nuclear janitor from harvard and I agree.
I can't stress enough how well presented this video is. As a person who used to make "homemade" music covers, this is a masterclass.
I live for that “I have not been doing fine / I’ve relied on Melodyne” rhyme.
(and the little Broadway vibe at the end of it)
Rhyme
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.
I guess I'll wait until they perfect the magic tool.
This comment and this video here: czcams.com/video/05hTQC1CZko/video.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. 👍
It’s just like using the pen stabilizer in procreate. It will help with your line art but it won’t make your art good if your art sucks.
@@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. 👍🏻🎶
Even missing notes by a half step is considered really bad singing. Imagine more than that lol 😶😶
The quality of this content is unbelievable. I do not know why the algorithm isn't treating it better, but hope this comment & like helps.
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!
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.
Epic intro!!
Watch the intro of his video about polymeters, It's amazing :D
Jake, you are the greatest gift to bedroom musicians from all over the world. Great video as always.
Amen lol
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.
@@AnotherWorldYT yo why are you so heated bro LOL
@@AnotherWorldYT L
this was awesome!
"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
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.
@@SignalsMusicStudio the force is strong with this one...
@@zac3392 The force has a special affinity for an individual such as he.
Jake... I am your father
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.
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.
Is this the full version of melodyne? Thanks for putting in so much work once again!
P.s.Also love how you used omnipresent in there too!
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?
@@SignalsMusicStudio Sweet! I got one that came for free with nectar 3 when It first came out so ima see what I can do. Thanks!
Your intros are always fire 🔥🔥
Seriously, I love these vids. Your sharing of knowledge has been invaluable in my own musical learning journey and I greatly appreciate you sharing it.
Man I died of laughter on the opening sequence. I love it.
great content! thanks
ok
Why hello there, Mr. Legend!
Wow didn't expect to see you here! I just remember your name from journey which was a total bop haha
@k-391 Never stop learning!
@K-391 haha hey bro!
I love how your explanations are so straight and uncut. Always say just the right words. You are a great teacher!
This popped in my recommended feed again, and that entire song is still very catchy. Love the lessons as always!
Pentatonix wants to know your location.
Okay you got me. 2 months later you made me laugh in the bathroom so hard the stall next to me asked if I was okay
@@Tacospaceman Glad to have contributed to such a biblical laughter!
Don't they know? It's...HERE. How dumb ARE these guys?? :)
Pentatonix does not need it...............yet.
Pentatonix uses melodyne and autotune.
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.
I’ve got a good ear but not always good at singing what’s in my brain. It makes me feel like a jerk sometimes.
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
Music is about feeling
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.
I mean clearly the soprano and the low voice were not perfect. But it was still pretty overal and it still sounded okay.
This is GREAT!! I am just about to undertake a little acapella project of my own just for fun and you made my week thank you so much!
u changed my whole disposition on music production thank you
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 came here to say this
even without the pitch correction, just at the very beginning of the video, it still sounded really good
Yeah I agree
The higher voices were horrible though 🥺😢🤣
The very beginning of the video is already pitch corrected
@@augusto7681 yeah i know, but i was referring the part where he gets rid of the correction. i feel like that was obvious
I come back to this video every few days just to listen to the intro - it's so good and is permanently stuck in my head!
I already know everything you go over in this video but I still watched the whole thing just because it's so well done. Great to watch! Keep it up :)
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.
I love that you are doing more general and not guitar centered tutorials. Very helpful.
I always come back to listen to that intro. I like it. You should make a full song of it!
Wow -- this opens a whole new world for me. Looking forward to the learning process. Thanks Jake.
Another amazing video Jake. Please please do more videos connected to the voice and music theory and voice and ear training. It’s very under emphasized imho.
I sing so poorly that even the pitch corrector gives up.
When it tries to average the tone, it ends up dividing by zero.
Well, I sure as hell hopes that it knows how and when to divide by zero if it's doing it.
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...
@@phillipzx3754 I read the original comment and was chuckling so much I had to "rewind" the video. (|
This is absolutely amazing. You did a fantastic job!
Your explanations of Compression and EQ were so easy to follow! Great video thank you
The highest harmony shouting in the unedited version made me crack up, great video!
Possibly the best tutorial I've ever watched -- well done, sir!
I think this video might have finally given me that little nudge I needed to even ATTEMPT to record music. So much insight from this video (and just about every other music theory video you've put out, really). Thank you! You're a real one!
I have just stumbled on your channel, and I find it amazing.
To the point, down-to-earth, well understandable presentation.
Have learned much already!
Thanks, subscribed!
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!
The difference in the beginning is that of a pro choir and a high school choir.
Fantastic video, song and tutorial. I learn a lot about how to EQ group harmonies from this video too. It was a nice surprise to see how you EQed the different harmonies... and I can 100% understand your method and why you chose the EQ curves. Outstanding, this is one of the better video I have seen on harmony vocal production and editing. I really learned a lot. Thanks!
Excellent production of the lesson plan! You tweaked your presentation as professionally as you did your song! Keep ‘em coming!! Many thanks for sharing your expertise!!
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
I woke up with this song stuck in my head for some reason, now I have to watch the video again
Great stuff man, look forward to watching more of the stuff you come out with.
So well explained, would love to see more production based vids!
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
Don't mind me just gonna listen to the intro song for the 12th time in a row
it's SO catchy
Yeah man, he should make a full song out of it xD
It got stuck in my head :(
The quality of this video is unbelievable. Thanks for the content, such a huge help
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.
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 👂
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 🙏🤘🤗💓
thank you 🙏🙏
@@SignalsMusicStudio only stating the obvious broski! We thank you right back, for remaining yourself 🙌🙏😊
This is super helpful not only for arranging acapella, but I appreciated how you explained the different processing you can do during the production phase. This is great for those new to music production!
Outstanding video demonstration and honestly an excellent tune. Subscribed!
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.
The C diminished seventh chord made me cry 😢😍
I really Love this. There are so many informations i will defenetly watch this a 100 times again while trying to so my own stuff with some nice vocals
your comments are so true about the amount of work this takes...thank you!
I vote yes on the reverb, though maybe a little less. I'd also love to hear what happens with some delay.
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. :)
Great Video.....Thanks for taking the time to break everything down! I understand the amount of time and effort this production took!
Keep doing this work J. It’s enlightening the newbies and reminders fir us old heads. Good stuff.
"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.
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!
Awesome!! Super useful and insightful. Thank you for taking us through so many clear steps
I like your methodical approach. Great job on the explanation.
"I can take my main vocals and listen to them all on their own"
12:50 *"OOOOO"*
The unedited sounded like something from a theatrical music album something like a pirateship sea shanty
I have already learned so much from this channel, and you keep surprising me !
Every video you post reminds me why i subscribed to your channel to begin with. Amazing stuff :)
You are my favorite content creator from your field. love it and learning a lot from it.
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
16:07 "Any decent sh*t singer" hahaha, love the vid man. Thanks for the content.
Bloody brilliant dude!!!!! Outstanding demonstration.
I absolutely love that intro video!10/10
Brian Wilson did all of this with 1 working ear.
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.
@@StatusQuonald they’re all pretty decent singers, Carl and Brian would be the best out of them all. Brian didn’t use any pitch correction back then.
It was Cyberdyne at first but it became Melodyne after the "pitch" was corrected.. :-D
😆
You are seriously one of my top 3 CZcams channels of all time.
You are so entertaining, so intelligent and educated on music and teaching.
Just wanted you to know you're very appreciated my man. Thanks for all you do!
Wow just found your channel, thanks for such a thorough explanation of some of the mixing functions. I just started learning production myself recently and went with Ableton. I had absolutely no prior knowledge so just learning the basics about panning, EQ, melodyne, and compression has me feeling way less overwhelmed already about learning the features of producing and this DAW starting from scratch. Your content is incredible! You’re a fantastic teacher, hope you keep making both production and composing videos forever!
2:37 I love it when a pinch of humour is added here and there where I don’t expect it...😂
Gates....
After editing all of those lip smacks out with automation I feel relieved and stupefied at the same time 😅
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.
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.
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!
@@SignalsMusicStudio Well it still sounds good and it worked. Personally I find it visually easier to look at, especially in large projects.
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
@@SignalsMusicStudio lol, that would do it too ;)
Tbh even if you using pitch corection/autotune you still have to learn vocal technique.
Just don't out of tune or tempo too far
I fucking love this video. I watch it on days where I'm feeling bad and it just cheers me up. You have some amazing facial expressions
honestly one of the best thumbnails i've ever seen. cracks me up every time i see it.
The unedited version sounds actually really good and reminds me of weezer without instruments
Without melodyne it ain't bad either
Wow. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 .. thanks a ton.
This revolutionized how I see and understand the mix. A ton of golden nuggets here, and you brought it all together beautifully.
Great masterclass.
this tutorial is pure gold, thanks
The fact that he can even sing quarter tones... Means that he can kinda sing a little bit at least. Some people can sing but cant harmonize well in a group.
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.
this video was fantasic and has helped me in so many of my projects, thank you!
Really enjoyed watching the process.