Originally Posted By: Janice & Bud
Hmmmmm....I've followed this with some interest and obviously, at least to me, some good points have been made. I gather that some folks are of the notion that ALL vocals need "fixing" to greater and lesser degrees.

I don't have a lot of guitar or bass (my instrument) hot chops but I do have a pretty good ear for pitch. Sure before this technology was available a lot of singers did many takes to get it "right;" however, before sound on sound and from what I've researched mutiple takes were much less common. Listen to some of the big band singers from the 1930's-1940's -- wanna "fix" their vocals? I damn sure don't. Go back a little further and listen to blues and jazz. I have ZERO problems with Billie Holiday and many others. So much of what I define as soul in singing is essentially a lot of the little nuances, the sometimes ever so slight roughness around the edges, the subtle characteristics that technically might to some require "fixing." One of our favorite singers said that he didn't care so much about the genre but whether not the singer had soul. I think it would be pretty easy to "fix" away soul.

To get it closer to home. Janice is what back in our bluegrass days we called a "bent note" singer. it's the way she sings and she sings hardly one bar over the same way. We've never double tracked -- that might be interesting given what I just pointed out! She's always moving notes around -- maybe to some ears she stops too soon or too late when she lands the note. What I hear is, well, her style. I couldn't imaging attempting to "fix" her vocals no matter how subtle the "needed" changes might be.

Perhaps that might take it out of our music room on the next tier, level or whatever. But I simply don't want to go there. Pardon the ole phart ramble and zero offense meant to folks who differ.

Incoming!!


Well I agree with this. What you say is actually the point I think I didn't make well. I certainly don't want to be known as a singer that sings flat. But the reality is, I do "bend the notes", always have. In live performances you can get away with a lot of note bending and other infractions. Recordings...not so much. I have come to accept the character of my vocals which sets me apart from others. However, some things like a heavier vibrato, accentuated by age, is also a problem. The use of any tool that allows me to clean up vocals on recordings is no different than using spellcheck to clean up documents.
On another NOTE (gag) I like what I'm learning from this forum.
- Carolyne