The existence of Autotune and Melodyne are not the problem. The problem is the culture that has developed around them amongst producers and sound engineers that sees them as a ubiquitous part of the process. It’s made it culturally impossible, virtually, for natural sounding voices, regardless of how good they are, to have any place in pop music. People who DON’T use it need to start getting loud about it. “Contains no digital pitch manipulation of vocals” needs to become a thing. Making it a selling point.
Just don't listen to pop music. It is waste under any perspective. Remarkable: young people more and more listen do music of the 90s. Especially recognized in genres like HipHop. They are somehow sick of this always same kinda "product quality" and go for real stuff. Natural seems to be better than artificial. Small imperfections, especially when planned or intuitively done are the spice in any emotional context. Fil should analyse e.g. Kurt Cobain or Paul Gilbert, Hendrix, ... separate the voice of a whole Album like Smells like Teen Spirit and provide it as stream. People would immediately get the point of killing the magic.
@@iloveaviation-burgerclub-a8145 That isn’t a solution for people trying to make a career in music, or people who want to find new music to listen to, in addition to the old music they love. The problem is most of the music-buying public don’t know they are listening to pitch corrected vocals, because they’ve become so conditioned to it, they think that’s just what a “good” voice sounds like.
Kind of like how the food industry went. Started organic (just planted, picked and sold) then it got all pesticided and BHT'ed and chemicalled up with sodium nitrite et al and then after people finally realized that stuff wasn't particularly healthy to eat, then the companies sprung up making NORMAL food again but charging 40% more! BRILLIANT!
@@TruthSurge It's not a bug it is a feature. When you see strong patterns in life it is more often than not not a coincidence but rather a carefully calculated move with a purpose. This is to make people gravitate towards emptiness and soullessness and then make it universally homogenous as a norm.
That could have been a clueless record company exec saying that after the producer's pitch correction. It also takes a bit of talent for a musician to sing so much off from the key the song is played in. Fil did a great job there 😄
Great video Phil, I agree with you the idea that pitch correction is just another 'effect' is wrong and misses the point you have taken pains to point out.
I have to sing a modern(released in 2023), popular rock song for an upcoming musical at the end of March. I wasn't familiar with this band until now, but trying to learn the vocal from the studio track has been so frustrating because I was trying to replicate a fake voice. After seeing your work here, Fil, I started noticing that the vocalist in the track never breathed and sang things that he never could without breathing. Furthermore, his voice never sounded strained at all, even though the audio is all chest voice in a range that he cannot sing that way on the live tracks I have heard(he needed more falsetto). On top of that, the vocal for the radio version has been obviously pitch corrected. What's sad is that the guy for this rock band, has a great voice when I watched the live performances that taught me what the vocal truly sounded like. I feel like I can go forward now with a standard that I can meet. Thank you.
The one you're trying to match is probably multiple takes and overdubs edited together as well, so it unlikely to be replicable in a truly live setting. That usually produces less 'stressed' sounding vocals because you can rest between sections.
I am not a musician or a singer, but i understood your explanation of each "effect" and pitch correction. Thank you for taking the time to break it down for us. By the way, who was that talented young man singing and playing his guitar? Already, I like him a lot! Rock!
You re a very patient man, FIl. Seems like those arguing in favor of pitch correction are being willfully ignorant about what it is (NOT "just an effect). Keep teaching, though. You rock!
Brilliantly done, Fil. Long time engineer speaking - the key word is..."Correction" - they are 'correcting' singers who can NOT sing !!! Every other effect is an embelishment(!!) to an already good vocal track. Pitch correcting software such as Antares Autotune and Celemony's Melodyne are primarily(!!) used to correct bad singers !!!
Only they are Autotune every singer not just the bad ones , case of mentality is " it should make the Great Singers Better answer NO , what you are doing is taking emotional Feelings out of the Singing .
Unfortunately they're also using it on *good* singers ... then going back and using correction on good singers in the past. And taking poor singers with other marketable skills and passing them off as good singers, replacing excellent singers who don't "show well". If you look at early photographs from the 1890s, you can see how they retouched women's waistlines to make them look impossibly tiny. [There are videos on the subject, look up Snappy Dragon and Bernadette Banner.] Pitch correction is the same theory, applied to the voice. Some people may enjoy pitch corrected voices. I do not.
and of course, it isn’t just vocals being “corrected”. Quantizing instrument tracks to correct bad timing, using drum triggers to correct inconsistent dynamics, and piecing multiple takes together to make one “good” take are also part of the production game.
I'm not anything like a sound engineer/producer but I could have told you this before the video started - it's amazing that so called professionals really haven't a clue. It's probably why so much live music sounds like garbage these days and don't get me started on loudness......
4:41 Fil , You have certainly made pitch correction verses EQ, reverb , compression as clear and understandable as possible. If people can't understand the difference, now they may simply not want to ! You have worked so hard giving examples of pitch correction, each of which is crystal clear . I can understand why you may feel frustrated that some people still are not acknowledging it for what it is . Never give up ! That other guy in your video sure has a beautiful voice !
You and we know this is NOT the last time this is going to be explained. 🤣 Pitch correction moves the notes, an effect alters the sound of the note but it stays the SAME note. sharp-flat whatever, it stays the way it was made. 👍👍
I was just in the kitchen buttering some toast and I found myself singing Whoah Oh Yeah. I think you've got a genuine hit on your hands, kid. Beato is going to be analyzing this one on his next Spotify top 10.
Hi Fil, OMG… too funny! Sign him up… that kid sure has talent! And great hair… very clearly explained Thanks for being so determined to get this concept understood. You Are Awesome… Debbie☮️
>sigh< Well done, Fil. But I honestly don't know how many hearts and minds (ears?) you're going to win over. I'm increasingly convinced the whole "discussion" around pitch correction has reached the point where it resembles debates about religion or politics. There are those of us who find it an offense against art in the same category as, say, using Chat GBT to do your songwriting. And there are fierce defenders who see it as just another production tool. Lots of passion in both camps. It's my personal view that pitch correction is a major contributing factor in the continuing "blandification" of popular music. But I'm just a grumpy old man who grew up in a time and place where our relationship to music, and the artists who created it, was far different, far more organic and personal than today's maainstream marketplace will accept. Metaphor: We ate at restaurants; today's listeners choose the drive thru window.
I am 59 soon 60 I prefer all the music that I listened too as a kid , all the Genre's , and play Bass all those Genre's . Have a great turntable records and CDs before pitch correction took place .
I am a beginner singer and Fil won me over a while ago now with regard to not using pitch correction. I just keep practicing and practicing. The whole point for me in learning to sing is to sing the songs I love in my real voice, warts and all. I started 7 months ago and can tell the difference already that practice makes. I'm learning to process them in my DAW and do do comping and de-essing and sometimes compression (but I still haven't figured out exactly how that really works) but don't/won't use pitch correction. Fil is a god send for me.
I really like this comment. I think there will be both in the future - like there are restaurants and drive thrus. The main thing imo is to train us to recognize what's corrected and what's not - to help us decide what we really want to hear and when.
Personally, Fil, I very much enjoyed the original vocal before anything else was added. The second the "producers" added pitch correction, it sounded like a totally different voice (that may or may not be pitch perfect) that I didn't care for. This young man sounded great and I wish he had continued to sing and play more of the song! Breaking it down like this will hopefully help others to understand why pitch corrected vocals don't come even close to the natural voice. Nicely done, Fil!! Now I have to go watch some more songs from this young man!! Rock!
Thank you my dear Fil for helping us understand. You made it perfectly clear. In my way of thinking, this whole business of pitch correction and auto tune, is a matter of honesty and integrity toward the vocals. Do we want to hear the real voice, or a fake one?
It’s so nice listening to someone who actually knows what he’s talking about, for a change. Thanks so much for this crystal clear presentation, but just remember that old saying “you can’t argue with stupid”!
Well done, Fil. Exactly. Add all the reverb, EQ, and the rest, but it's the actual notes the singer hits that's most important. If the "singers" need pitch correction so the listener is not ripping off their ears, that is a problem.
It takes computing power to track the voice, sample the voice then tune it, the spit it back out. People need to come clean about electronically tuning their vocal lines. Thanks for covering this. There ARE great singers out there who nail lines due to great breath support, having a great ear, studio personnel, training...Fabulous job with your analysis and content
Fantastic! My favorite videos are the ones where Fil creatively (and patiently) explains concepts, like this video and the one about the singer who sang a few measures of a well-known song in one take just before lunch (he looked a twin to the fellow in this video). The two producers in this one sound quite familiar, I think they may be a voice I've heard before. :-) Anyway, If people still don't understand his point, they are new to the concepts and need to be directed to Fil's auto-tune/pitch-correction video collection for more instruction, they just disagree, or it's possible they may be trying to frustrate Fil's efforts.
Some of my best teachers were the ones who used humour to get their point across. For anyone who was still a little confused about the difference between pitch correction and other effects, this video should definitely make it clear. Very well done!! ❤️🇨🇦
I just want to tell you in my humble opinion that you are the best reaction person!!, your sincere humbleness and love for music is unmatched and undeniable!!, Many people let their ego get in the way,and refuse to recognize crazy prodigal talent!! I was one of them!!!, I know I'm never going to be the best guitarist in the 🌎! I'm finally great with that notion!! Now I can truly appreciate genius talent!! These people aren't trying to be the best, they are giving you " their " best!! Thanks to you,I see that now!! Thank you so much Fil!!
On a related topic, Rick Beato does a nice job explaining how correcting rhythm/timing ruins the organic feel of good music, and makes it sound robotic.
The first thing I want to say Fil, is that as a bassist and also a vocalist, I have to commend you on your example singing. It is very hard to not sing something right. In fact it is much harder than singing it correctly. You did a great job with the out of key singing. And everything you said about the effects is absolutely 100% correct. You can add every effect in the world but if the source material is out of key it's going to sound like, out of key with effects. I had to laugh when you mentioned How some people thought that it was because of compression. Being a bassist, I am familiar with how compression works. It does not change the pitch of anything. As far as the validity of pitch correction. Whether you like it or not, if it is there people are going to use it. Even back in the days of analog where everything was on tape producers and engineers knew how to vary the speed of the tape in order to correct the pitch somewhat. Granted it was not as refined as it is nowadays with digital, But it has been around for a very long time. In fact I would say many professional performers who go into the studio don't even realize the amount of pitch correction that might be used on them by producers and engineers. All those performers would worry about is when they listen back to the recording that it sounds good and it pleases them. So far your series of videos on pitch correction are among the finest I have seen. Very well done Fil.
Good heavens, I'm simply a music listener and I understood this concept before you posted this video. Not too hard to figure out. By the way, loved your original vocal with all the effects!!😀
Thanks Fil. I am a brass musician and guitar player and I do understand what pitch correction - correcting intonation - is. Your explanation is rigorous and valid and extends the envelope of understanding to include some people who don't understand that pitch correction is fraudulent misrepresentation of live musical expression.
Thanks Fil for that clear cut explanation. I’m musically challenged, but even I understood what you are teaching. That guy in vid might have a career in music!! Rock
As an absolute novice with no experience of electronic sound wizardry your explanation of pitch correction made sense to me very well. Thank you for posting this video.
'DIstinction without a difference' --- This video offers a straightforward audio demo explaining and disproving this view, of notably those familiar with use of effects and alteration. (Liked Fil-toon merger approach)
Thanks Fil. That was great. Well presented as always, laid down clearly, great demonstration 🤘💕Hopefully you don’t have to do it again 😜 PS. I think that song should be written for the next Britain’s Got Talent winner haha. Thanks again for Melbourne 😘
Informative, fun, and funny. Good work to you and ‘the team’. However, I wonder about folks who say those other effects are the same as PC. I use those effects on my guitar, but none of them put me ‘in tune’ when I’m sharp or flat - as, admittedly, I too often am.
Very informative. I’m not a musician, but I was surprised to hear that a lot of commenters think pitch correction is like adding superficial stuff like reverb, equalizing, etc. If you add, say, reverb to a tune played on an out-of-tune guitar it may muddy the waters but obviously it can’t fix the guitar being out-of-tune. You have to tune the guitar to do that.
Thank you Fil. His education on this subject has resulted in me being really aware of what's going on in a track. I can immediately hear pitch correction now. I'm an educated consumer. I am determined to seek honest artists now.
I misunderstood at first (my mistake); I thought you were saying this might be your last video, period. Whew. Thank you, Fil, as always, for making technically specific concepts explicable to laypersons. You are the best.
I jumped back and forth between the tuned and un-tuned versions in this video to confirm my uncanny-valley reaction to the tuned version. I already knew it, but there's something about tuned vocals that makes no emotional impression on me. Artists I have loved over the years sound oddly unaffecting on newer recordings, and I don't have to listen very hard to hear the presence of tuning. For a while I didn't realize how pervasive it was and only remarked on how little the newer music moved me. Then I started looking at why and realized it. Contemporary music production techniques contribute but tuning pushes it over the cliff. Thank you for what you're doing, it is important.
Nice job on explaining the process. It’s hard to sing in a different key than what is being played, but you did it and showed how much you can be done with pitch correction. Jolly good job!
Interesting, but I think your point in several previous videos was far more compelling: that pitch correction destroys the freedom and expressiveness that are the soul of music. 👍
Oh Fil, the relief! The first time I heard the vocal, my brain immediately went "Uh-oh, that sounds like it's off-pitch..." and I felt like a real meanie for basically accusing you of singing out of tune! I'm glad to find out you were doing it deliberately to make a point... which actually makes you a really GOOD singer, because, if you CAN sing in tune, it's actually REALLY DIFFICULT to deliberately sing off-key.
I, too, am a music novice, but understood your definition of pitch correction about 30 +/- videos ago on the topic. I’m just not understanding why someone wouldn’t understand the difference. To me it’s as clear as day how the sound of the voice changes to a robot like voice. It sound “tinny “ to me. However this was a great try to explain/show once again the difference. You had me laughing out loud again with you comment about how “this kid has talent “! He certainly does. He’s also extremely patient! 🥰
You convinced me about a hundred videos ago, but I support your never ending enthusiasm to bring this to the masses. keep on trucking fil. more power to your elbow.
Can one say that EQ and compression modify the amplitude of selected freqencies, reverb, delay and flanger introduce delays and mix the delayed signal back with the original but still maintain the original frequency content whereas pitch correction shifts the frequency of the signal to a new position. This is a non-linear operation as opposed to a amplitude and phase modification, which is still essentially linear. I agree with your statement that a new voice is created, different from the original.
Pitch correction is dishonest, is a cheat, and should not be allowed in music without clear declaration. Pitch correcting is not the same as other effects, anybody who doesnt understand that...are probably beyond help.
The notes of a melody are a line of little towns in the landscape, with a railway station each. A singer’s soundtrack is a line, a path, supposed to link and tie them. Yet sometimes maybe doesn’t really succeed in doing so. Doesn’t strike the railway station, doesn’t strike the right district, or totally misses the town. On a map you could then see that it is a dubious, maybe a wrong, a false line. Effects, compression, reverb, whatever, may make that path more cozy, more comfortable, the landscape around prettier - but they all maintain that dubious, maybe wrong shape of the line, still missing many railway stations, some districts, or even some towns. Pitch correction CHANGES THE PATH in order to directly link the railway stations - it is then a new, a different line on the map; that, in this new way, didn’t exist before the application of pitch correction; it ain’t no more the line that the singer sang. A good singer’s soundtrack is a rail-free path like a nice country road with picnic points that organically links the towns and town districts, saying ‘hello’ to the railway stations with a smile, when passing alongside and crossing the railroads. A pitch corrected or auto-tuned line in it’s best succeeded version is a mechanical, inch-obsessed railway line from station to station. ‘Pop Music’ has become, has turned to be the music of the technical and business era; if we succeed in surviving climate crisis and populism crises, there will be something else in the future.
You made my day! Love the way you combined the clear and useful explanation with your great sense of humour. Love it. Please do some more roleplaying 😉
Very nicely (and humorously) done. Since pitch correction grabs a voice and drags it kicking and screaming to the nearest “proper” Hertz line, is it fair to say that it stretches the voice and makes it sound tinny and cartoonish? And might a good title to this fine episode have been “The Hertz remains the same?” 🤓
Great job, Fil! I applaud your crusade. This insidious practice must be exposed and rejected by music lovers who need to hear soulful human expression not the angelic junk food rhat we have currently masquerading as music. You give me strength to fight the good fight, proudly a tad pitchy when I strain to hit a note just beyond my range.😮
Another suggestion. The effects are like singing in a different room. The pitch correction actually shifts the center frequency of the note. Makes a note slightly sharp or flat, like stretching or loosening a guitar string or a vocal chord.
Oh my! Do I see the makings for a Wings of Pegasus 'Pitch Meeting' series? :) Because that kid's got talent! Like I've said before, we as a World have already gone through this pitch correction thing, except with a different sensory input: Our eyes. And it was called Photoshopping. Everyone remembers how magazines could photoshop (ie, pitch correct) someone's hip or elbow out of the picture. And, of course, removing something that was there / adding something that wasn't there not even on the justifiable side of actual effects such as changing the contrast of or color tuning a base photo. Everyone also remembers how that eventually blew up in faces of the fashion and model industries. This will be the same way. It's the same ol' thing.
Fil may need to distinguish between two uses of pitch correction. If pitch correction is primarily used to get a note more in tune, then the original and the corrected note will sound essentially the same when heard in isolation. It is remarkable because it does not affect the timbre of the note. Messing with the pitch of notes becomes an effect when the software is used to radically alter the pitch of a note, remove or exaggerate pitch drift, adjust note length or timing, or change the formant or harmonic structure. Like EQ, reverb, delay, or other effects, it can greatly alter or distort the quality of the original. Like other effects, it is “added,” is reversible if the track has not been bounced, and when overused can be annoying.
I found this series very enlightening. I mean I knew autotune was out of control but had no idea how many artists I would not have thought used it actually do.
Before I found your channel, and learned about PC, auto tune, and EQ, I always said that "such and such song" sounds "so overproduced". I didn't know *why* I said that, but now I do.
Another way to think of this - you can apply pitch correction to instruments. So, an out of tune guitar can be brought into into tune. No amount of effects like reverb, etc. will make the guitar sound "right" until it is in tune.
AAAbsolutely brilliant Fil. You certainly don't shrink from a challenge, as you have mentioned on the Livestreams. BTW Producer 2 sounds vaguely like The Troll... LOL & Hmmm.
Some folks like drive up fast food. Some folks like organic homemade homecooked home grown....both dislike the other's preference... I am just thankful that we are all trying to make a piece of art that moves us onward.
The existence of Autotune and Melodyne are not the problem. The problem is the culture that has developed around them amongst producers and sound engineers that sees them as a ubiquitous part of the process. It’s made it culturally impossible, virtually, for natural sounding voices, regardless of how good they are, to have any place in pop music. People who DON’T use it need to start getting loud about it. “Contains no digital pitch manipulation of vocals” needs to become a thing. Making it a selling point.
Just don't listen to pop music. It is waste under any perspective. Remarkable: young people more and more listen do music of the 90s. Especially recognized in genres like HipHop. They are somehow sick of this always same kinda "product quality" and go for real stuff. Natural seems to be better than artificial. Small imperfections, especially when planned or intuitively done are the spice in any emotional context. Fil should analyse e.g. Kurt Cobain or Paul Gilbert, Hendrix, ... separate the voice of a whole Album like Smells like Teen Spirit and provide it as stream. People would immediately get the point of killing the magic.
@@iloveaviation-burgerclub-a8145 That isn’t a solution for people trying to make a career in music, or people who want to find new music to listen to, in addition to the old music they love. The problem is most of the music-buying public don’t know they are listening to pitch corrected vocals, because they’ve become so conditioned to it, they think that’s just what a “good” voice sounds like.
Kind of like how the food industry went. Started organic (just planted, picked and sold) then it got all pesticided and BHT'ed and chemicalled up with sodium nitrite et al and then after people finally realized that stuff wasn't particularly healthy to eat, then the companies sprung up making NORMAL food again but charging 40% more! BRILLIANT!
@@TruthSurge Upload again man!
@@TruthSurge It's not a bug it is a feature. When you see strong patterns in life it is more often than not not a coincidence but rather a carefully calculated move with a purpose. This is to make people gravitate towards emptiness and soullessness and then make it universally homogenous as a norm.
'It's Easier to Fool People Than to Convince Them That They Have Been Fooled'
That's because for most people they don't like to be wrong or be told they are.
I’m an average music person that loves to listen to music and you couldn’t make it any clearer. Even I understand
They used to say " you can't polish a turd" But with pitch correction you can but it turns it into something else just as unsavoury. Cheers fil
Funny 2X over
they managed to do it with Taylor Swift ?
gotta get Me sum@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee
You can't polish a turd...but you can roll it in glitter
Mythbusters proved you can polish a turd but you just end up with a shiny turd. Not something you really want or need.
I lost it at, “ now it sounds like it’s under water “. 😂
🤣
I liked "obviously the kid's got talent"
First the manager has to test the kid´s talent in his bedroom
That could have been a clueless record company exec saying that after the producer's pitch correction.
It also takes a bit of talent for a musician to sing so much off from the key the song is played in. Fil did a great job there 😄
I giggled when he said that, he's so funny hey!
Great video Phil, I agree with you the idea that pitch correction is just another 'effect' is wrong and misses the point you have taken pains to point out.
I have to sing a modern(released in 2023), popular rock song for an upcoming musical at the end of March. I wasn't familiar with this band until now, but trying to learn the vocal from the studio track has been so frustrating because I was trying to replicate a fake voice. After seeing your work here, Fil, I started noticing that the vocalist in the track never breathed and sang things that he never could without breathing. Furthermore, his voice never sounded strained at all, even though the audio is all chest voice in a range that he cannot sing that way on the live tracks I have heard(he needed more falsetto). On top of that, the vocal for the radio version has been obviously pitch corrected. What's sad is that the guy for this rock band, has a great voice when I watched the live performances that taught me what the vocal truly sounded like. I feel like I can go forward now with a standard that I can meet. Thank you.
I hope it goes well for you!
The one you're trying to match is probably multiple takes and overdubs edited together as well, so it unlikely to be replicable in a truly live setting. That usually produces less 'stressed' sounding vocals because you can rest between sections.
Good luck to you!
Misunderstood concept understood. 😊 Fil keep doing what you're doing. You're a good honest man. We love you!❤
I am not a musician or a singer, but i understood your explanation of each "effect" and pitch correction. Thank you for taking the time to break it down for us. By the way, who was that talented young man singing and playing his guitar? Already, I like him a lot! Rock!
You have my deepest sympathy that you were driven to explain this.
"The kid's obviously got talent", your funniest comment yet Fil. LOL
The lyrics are excellent.
whoa yeah - oh yeah yeah... they sure are 🤣
Too deep for the listening masses 😔
🤣@@dianecourtney2724
A Grammy next year for sure
@@ardalla535 No, can´t beat Taylor Swift. Too much talent has she.
You re a very patient man, FIl. Seems like those arguing in favor of pitch correction are being willfully ignorant about what it is (NOT "just an effect). Keep teaching, though. You rock!
And there we have it!!
This was both educational and humorous, I agree with you Fil, that kid as your subject has talents!
Brilliantly done, Fil.
Long time engineer speaking - the key word is..."Correction" - they are 'correcting' singers who can NOT sing !!!
Every other effect is an embelishment(!!) to an already good vocal track.
Pitch correcting software such as Antares Autotune and Celemony's Melodyne are primarily(!!) used to correct bad singers !!!
Only they are Autotune every singer not just the bad ones , case of mentality is " it should make the Great Singers Better answer NO , what you are doing is taking emotional Feelings out of the Singing .
Unfortunately they're also using it on *good* singers ... then going back and using correction on good singers in the past. And taking poor singers with other marketable skills and passing them off as good singers, replacing excellent singers who don't "show well".
If you look at early photographs from the 1890s, you can see how they retouched women's waistlines to make them look impossibly tiny. [There are videos on the subject, look up Snappy Dragon and Bernadette Banner.] Pitch correction is the same theory, applied to the voice.
Some people may enjoy pitch corrected voices. I do not.
Far more disturbing is the fact that _'they are 'correcting' singers who _*_CAN_*_ sing!!!'_
and of course, it isn’t just vocals being “corrected”. Quantizing instrument tracks to correct bad timing, using drum triggers to correct inconsistent dynamics, and piecing multiple takes together to make one “good” take are also part of the production game.
@@user-ys1jq6kr8z exactly! Wish they would leave it the hell alone!
I'm not anything like a sound engineer/producer but I could have told you this before the video started - it's amazing that so called professionals really haven't a clue. It's probably why so much live music sounds like garbage these days and don't get me started on loudness......
4:41 Fil , You have certainly made pitch correction verses EQ, reverb , compression as clear and understandable as possible. If people can't understand the difference, now they may simply not want to ! You have worked so hard giving examples of pitch correction, each of which is crystal clear . I can understand why you may feel frustrated that some people still are not acknowledging it for what it is . Never give up ! That other guy in your video sure has a beautiful voice !
You and we know this is NOT the last time this is going to be explained. 🤣
Pitch correction moves the notes, an effect alters the sound of the note but it stays the SAME note. sharp-flat whatever, it stays the way it was made. 👍👍
I was just in the kitchen buttering some toast and I found myself singing Whoah Oh Yeah. I think you've got a genuine hit on your hands, kid. Beato is going to be analyzing this one on his next Spotify top 10.
Hi Fil,
OMG… too funny! Sign him up… that kid sure has talent! And great hair… very clearly explained Thanks for being so determined to get this concept understood. You Are Awesome… Debbie☮️
Great hair and the cutest smile 🥰
@@dianecourtney2724 oh most definitely!
>sigh<
Well done, Fil.
But I honestly don't know how many hearts and minds (ears?) you're going to win over.
I'm increasingly convinced the whole "discussion" around pitch correction has reached the point where it resembles debates about religion or politics.
There are those of us who find it an offense against art in the same category as, say, using Chat GBT to do your songwriting.
And there are fierce defenders who see it as just another production tool.
Lots of passion in both camps.
It's my personal view that pitch correction is a major contributing factor in the continuing "blandification" of popular music.
But I'm just a grumpy old man who grew up in a time and place where our relationship to music, and the artists who created it, was far different, far more organic and personal than today's maainstream marketplace will accept.
Metaphor:
We ate at restaurants; today's listeners choose the drive thru window.
Amen!
I am 59 soon 60
I prefer all the music that I listened too as a kid , all the Genre's , and play Bass all those Genre's . Have a great turntable records and CDs before pitch correction took place .
I am a beginner singer and Fil won me over a while ago now with regard to not using pitch correction. I just keep practicing and practicing. The whole point for me in learning to sing is to sing the songs I love in my real voice, warts and all. I started 7 months ago and can tell the difference already that practice makes. I'm learning to process them in my DAW and do do comping and de-essing and sometimes compression (but I still haven't figured out exactly how that really works) but don't/won't use pitch correction. Fil is a god send for me.
I really like this comment. I think there will be both in the future - like there are restaurants and drive thrus. The main thing imo is to train us to recognize what's corrected and what's not - to help us decide what we really want to hear and when.
Pich correction-vaccination-warmonger-climate religion-fraction?
Yes, this really helps. You’re a great teacher as well as all that other talent and charm
Personally, Fil, I very much enjoyed the original vocal before anything else was added. The second the "producers" added pitch correction, it sounded like a totally different voice (that may or may not be pitch perfect) that I didn't care for. This young man sounded great and I wish he had continued to sing and play more of the song! Breaking it down like this will hopefully help others to understand why pitch corrected vocals don't come even close to the natural voice. Nicely done, Fil!! Now I have to go watch some more songs from this young man!! Rock!
The "kid" obviously has talent! Love it Fil, thanks so much for your professional perspective!
Thank you my dear Fil for helping us understand. You made it perfectly clear. In my way of thinking, this whole business of pitch correction and auto tune, is a matter of honesty and integrity toward the vocals. Do we want to hear the real voice, or a fake one?
It’s so nice listening to someone who actually knows what he’s talking about, for a change. Thanks so much for this crystal clear presentation, but just remember that old saying “you can’t argue with stupid”!
"The kid's obviously got talent!" And a sense of humor!😁 And a lot of determination to try to explain this to people. Well done!
The attempt to sing terrible on purpose must have been a bit of 'Monty Python' channeling, luv it so very much! Thank you so much!
Such a clear, creative explanation and demonstration of the difference between that list of effects and pitch correction. Many, many thanks!
Well done, Fil. Exactly. Add all the reverb, EQ, and the rest, but it's the actual notes the singer hits that's most important. If the "singers" need pitch correction so the listener is not ripping off their ears, that is a problem.
If it were named correctly, "pitch destruction". At least when it's applied to very good singers.
It takes computing power to track the voice, sample the voice then tune it, the spit it back out. People need to come clean about electronically tuning their vocal lines. Thanks for covering this. There ARE great singers out there who nail lines due to great breath support, having a great ear, studio personnel, training...Fabulous job with your analysis and content
Fantastic! My favorite videos are the ones where Fil creatively (and patiently) explains concepts, like this video and the one about the singer who sang a few measures of a well-known song in one take just before lunch (he looked a twin to the fellow in this video). The two producers in this one sound quite familiar, I think they may be a voice I've heard before. :-) Anyway, If people still don't understand his point, they are new to the concepts and need to be directed to Fil's auto-tune/pitch-correction video collection for more instruction, they just disagree, or it's possible they may be trying to frustrate Fil's efforts.
Fil that was a great video totally agree pitch correction is not just another effect your friend in the video has got a set of vocal chords ❤
I sure hope this helps your doubters understand pitch correction
Some of my best teachers were the ones who used humour to get their point across. For anyone who was still a little confused about the difference between pitch correction and other effects, this video should definitely make it clear. Very well done!! ❤️🇨🇦
I just want to tell you in my humble opinion that you are the best reaction person!!, your sincere humbleness and love for music is unmatched and undeniable!!, Many people let their ego get in the way,and refuse to recognize crazy prodigal talent!! I was one of them!!!, I know I'm never going to be the best guitarist in the 🌎! I'm finally great with that notion!! Now I can truly appreciate genius talent!! These people aren't trying to be the best, they are giving you " their " best!! Thanks to you,I see that now!! Thank you so much Fil!!
On a related topic, Rick Beato does a nice job explaining how correcting rhythm/timing ruins the organic feel of good music, and makes it sound robotic.
The first thing I want to say Fil, is that as a bassist and also a vocalist, I have to commend you on your example singing. It is very hard to not sing something right. In fact it is much harder than singing it correctly. You did a great job with the out of key singing.
And everything you said about the effects is absolutely 100% correct. You can add every effect in the world but if the source material is out of key it's going to sound like, out of key with effects.
I had to laugh when you mentioned How some people thought that it was because of compression. Being a bassist, I am familiar with how compression works. It does not change the pitch of anything.
As far as the validity of pitch correction. Whether you like it or not, if it is there people are going to use it. Even back in the days of analog where everything was on tape producers and engineers knew how to vary the speed of the tape in order to correct the pitch somewhat. Granted it was not as refined as it is nowadays with digital, But it has been around for a very long time.
In fact I would say many professional performers who go into the studio don't even realize the amount of pitch correction that might be used on them by producers and engineers. All those performers would worry about is when they listen back to the recording that it sounds good and it pleases them.
So far your series of videos on pitch correction are among the finest I have seen. Very well done Fil.
Excellent, very clear explanation, with a bit of humor.
Good heavens, I'm simply a music listener and I understood this concept before you posted this video. Not too hard to figure out. By the way, loved your original vocal with all the effects!!😀
Thanks Fil. I am a brass musician and guitar player and I do understand what pitch correction - correcting intonation - is. Your explanation is rigorous and valid and extends the envelope of understanding to include some people who don't understand that pitch correction is fraudulent misrepresentation of live musical expression.
It's great to SHOW in order to explain. You've SHOWN us how Pitch Correction is different from reverb and the other effects. Thanks
Thanks Fil for that clear cut explanation. I’m musically challenged, but even I understood what you are teaching. That guy in vid might have a career in music!! Rock
Yes! Thank you. Most helpful.
Fun way to make the point super clear!
Great work, Fil!! Thank you!
Great demonstration of the point - interesting to hear what those different effects do vs changing the vocal with pitch correction. Thanks, Fil!
As an absolute novice with no experience of electronic sound wizardry your explanation of pitch correction made sense to me very well.
Thank you for posting this video.
'DIstinction without a difference' --- This video offers a straightforward audio demo explaining and disproving this view, of notably those familiar with use of effects and alteration.
(Liked Fil-toon merger approach)
Thanks Fil. That was great. Well presented as always, laid down clearly, great demonstration 🤘💕Hopefully you don’t have to do it again 😜 PS. I think that song should be written for the next Britain’s Got Talent winner haha. Thanks again for Melbourne 😘
I’ve been a professional maintenance engineer since 1976 and I agree that you are 100% spot on! Wonderful demonstration.
Thanks for this. This is a really interesting idea regarding AFFECTing vocals.
Informative, fun, and funny. Good work to you and ‘the team’. However, I wonder about folks who say those other effects are the same as PC. I use those effects on my guitar, but none of them put me ‘in tune’ when I’m sharp or flat - as, admittedly, I too often am.
Very informative. I’m not a musician, but I was surprised to hear that a lot of commenters think pitch correction is like adding superficial stuff like reverb, equalizing, etc. If you add, say, reverb to a tune played on an out-of-tune guitar it may muddy the waters but obviously it can’t fix the guitar being out-of-tune. You have to tune the guitar to do that.
Well done Fil! I hope this finally dispels any confusion in a fun, lighthearted way. I actually laughed out loud with the flanger effect!
Thank you Fil. His education on this subject has resulted in me being really aware of what's going on in a track. I can immediately hear pitch correction now. I'm an educated consumer. I am determined to seek honest artists now.
I misunderstood at first (my mistake); I thought you were saying this might be your last video, period. Whew.
Thank you, Fil, as always, for making technically specific concepts explicable to laypersons. You are the best.
This was a great vid Fil. Made me laugh. Good job Brah!
Thanks for this interesting and very enjoyable video. I think you're right about the vocalist. Britain's got talent!
Thanx Fil, despite my misgivings, I think that helped us all appreciate something a little more-you some how seem to do that a lot ;-)
Yep, I think that was very clear! If people don't see the difference now they're not paying attention
We all are on your side…never doubted you at all FIL!!! Rock on!!!
It would have been good if you put the before and after through your pitch analysis software. Great video as usual. Rock!
I really enjoyed this demonstration. Thank you, Fil❤
Thanks Fil. You cleared up the effects and PT and AT.
I jumped back and forth between the tuned and un-tuned versions in this video to confirm my uncanny-valley reaction to the tuned version. I already knew it, but there's something about tuned vocals that makes no emotional impression on me. Artists I have loved over the years sound oddly unaffecting on newer recordings, and I don't have to listen very hard to hear the presence of tuning. For a while I didn't realize how pervasive it was and only remarked on how little the newer music moved me. Then I started looking at why and realized it. Contemporary music production techniques contribute but tuning pushes it over the cliff. Thank you for what you're doing, it is important.
Fantastic explanation Fil, thank you :)
The kid really does have talent! I think most would understand this tutorial. Thanks Fil.
I understood the pitch correction stuff and about effects, however this was so well worth Watchung! 😅😅 thank you as always Fil !
Nice job on explaining the process. It’s hard to sing in a different key than what is being played, but you did it and showed how much you can be done with pitch correction. Jolly good job!
Interesting, but I think your point in several previous videos was far more compelling: that pitch correction destroys the freedom and expressiveness that are the soul of music. 👍
Oh Fil, the relief! The first time I heard the vocal, my brain immediately went "Uh-oh, that sounds like it's off-pitch..." and I felt like a real meanie for basically accusing you of singing out of tune! I'm glad to find out you were doing it deliberately to make a point... which actually makes you a really GOOD singer, because, if you CAN sing in tune, it's actually REALLY DIFFICULT to deliberately sing off-key.
I, too, am a music novice, but understood your definition of pitch correction about 30 +/- videos ago on the topic. I’m just not understanding why someone wouldn’t understand the difference. To me it’s as clear as day how the sound of the voice changes to a robot like voice. It sound “tinny “ to me. However this was a great try to explain/show once again the difference. You had me laughing out loud again with you comment about how “this kid has talent “! He certainly does. He’s also extremely patient! 🥰
You convinced me about a hundred videos ago, but I support your never ending enthusiasm to bring this to the masses. keep on trucking fil. more power to your elbow.
Very informative and instructive! Thank you!
I think you made it very clear. Thank you for this video. We can help friends understand with this video.
Can one say that EQ and compression modify the amplitude of selected freqencies, reverb, delay and flanger introduce delays and mix the delayed signal back with the original but still maintain the original frequency content whereas pitch correction shifts the frequency of the signal to a new position. This is a non-linear operation as opposed to a amplitude and phase modification, which is still essentially linear. I agree with your statement that a new voice is created, different from the original.
Pitch correction is dishonest, is a cheat, and should not be allowed in music without clear declaration. Pitch correcting is not the same as other effects, anybody who doesnt understand that...are probably beyond help.
The notes of a melody are a line of little towns in the landscape, with a railway station each. A singer’s soundtrack is a line, a path, supposed to link and tie them. Yet sometimes maybe doesn’t really succeed in doing so. Doesn’t strike the railway station, doesn’t strike the right district, or totally misses the town. On a map you could then see that it is a dubious, maybe a wrong, a false line. Effects, compression, reverb, whatever, may make that path more cozy, more comfortable, the landscape around prettier - but they all maintain that dubious, maybe wrong shape of the line, still missing many railway stations, some districts, or even some towns.
Pitch correction CHANGES THE PATH in order to directly link the railway stations - it is then a new, a different line on the map; that, in this new way, didn’t exist before the application of pitch correction; it ain’t no more the line that the singer sang.
A good singer’s soundtrack is a rail-free path like a nice country road with picnic points that organically links the towns and town districts, saying ‘hello’ to the railway stations with a smile, when passing alongside and crossing the railroads.
A pitch corrected or auto-tuned line in it’s best succeeded version is a mechanical, inch-obsessed railway line from station to station.
‘Pop Music’ has become, has turned to be the music of the technical and business era; if we succeed in surviving climate crisis and populism crises, there will be something else in the future.
Thank you for this extremely informative video. I don't know where you got these recordings of the music team but keep them coming!
You made my day! Love the way you combined the clear and useful explanation with your great sense of humour. Love it. Please do some more roleplaying 😉
Very nicely (and humorously) done.
Since pitch correction grabs a voice and drags it kicking and screaming to the nearest “proper” Hertz line, is it fair to say that it stretches the voice and makes it sound tinny and cartoonish?
And might a good title to this fine episode have been “The Hertz remains the same?”
🤓
Great job, Fil!
I applaud your crusade.
This insidious practice must be exposed and rejected by music lovers who need to hear soulful human expression not the angelic junk food rhat we have currently masquerading as music.
You give me strength to fight the good fight, proudly a tad pitchy when I strain to hit a note just beyond my range.😮
Another suggestion.
The effects are like singing in a different room. The pitch correction actually shifts the center frequency of the note. Makes a note slightly sharp or flat, like stretching or loosening a guitar string or a vocal chord.
Oh my! Do I see the makings for a Wings of Pegasus 'Pitch Meeting' series? :) Because that kid's got talent!
Like I've said before, we as a World have already gone through this pitch correction thing, except with a different sensory input: Our eyes. And it was called Photoshopping. Everyone remembers how magazines could photoshop (ie, pitch correct) someone's hip or elbow out of the picture. And, of course, removing something that was there / adding something that wasn't there not even on the justifiable side of actual effects such as changing the contrast of or color tuning a base photo. Everyone also remembers how that eventually blew up in faces of the fashion and model industries. This will be the same way. It's the same ol' thing.
Fil may need to distinguish between two uses of pitch correction. If pitch correction is primarily used to get a note more in tune, then the original and the corrected note will sound essentially the same when heard in isolation. It is remarkable because it does not affect the timbre of the note. Messing with the pitch of notes becomes an effect when the software is used to radically alter the pitch of a note, remove or exaggerate pitch drift, adjust note length or timing, or change the formant or harmonic structure. Like EQ, reverb, delay, or other effects, it can greatly alter or distort the quality of the original. Like other effects, it is “added,” is reversible if the track has not been bounced, and when overused can be annoying.
The correction of a note is a lie, manipulation. Creating an illusion.
I found this series very enlightening.
I mean I knew autotune was out of control but had no idea how many artists I would not have thought used it actually do.
I understand and accept that all kinds of stuff are done in the studio. It is when they start doing it to a LIVE performance that upsets me.
Before I found your channel, and learned about PC, auto tune, and EQ, I always said that "such and such song" sounds "so overproduced". I didn't know *why* I said that, but now I do.
Thank you, Fil! I thought that was very helpful. Pitch correction was nothing like those effects. It changed the voice; the effects didn't.
Thank you, Fil! I have learned so much from your educational videos.
Hey Fil, I don't know who that guy was but you really do need to sign him up, he's a star in the making....
Another way to think of this - you can apply pitch correction to instruments. So, an out of tune guitar can be brought into into tune. No amount of effects like reverb, etc. will make the guitar sound "right" until it is in tune.
I can see this as a Filtune. Hilarious and educational. This kid definitely has talent!!
AAAbsolutely brilliant Fil. You certainly don't shrink from a challenge, as you have mentioned on the Livestreams. BTW Producer 2 sounds vaguely like The Troll... LOL & Hmmm.
Some folks like drive up fast food.
Some folks like organic homemade homecooked home grown....both dislike the other's preference...
I am just thankful that we are all trying to make a piece of art that moves us onward.
Have to wonder about someone opening up a bag of McD's and viewing it as food that is art. Some might like it - but it is what it is.
Nice experiment and demonstration.