[buddy lee]

Has anyone else experienced this? While playing live, whether that's alone with recorded material or with one of my bands, I don't hear any tuning issues whatsoever. But when I'm recorded, I sound a little flat almost across the entire range of the horn. I'd push in a little more but honestly I'm pretty much on as far as the mpc can go.

I'm wondering if there's something in the EQ (bringing up higher partials frequency) that could make it sound livelier and hence not "flat".

It's hard to put into words and I know that EQ does not = tuning. I just don't think I'm flat while playing with other people, and no one I've played with has told me I'm flat...

 

[turf3]

It's my understanding that a sound that's EQd with reduced higher frequencies, can be perceived by the human ear and brain as pitched flat, even though it's not.

 

[buddy lee]

It's my understanding that a sound that's EQd with reduced higher frequencies, can be perceived by the human ear and brain as pitched flat, even though it's not.

That's what I'm wondering. I'm running EQ flat, does anyone know what I should look at?

 

[Nefertiti]

Why don't you try boosting the highs a bit in the EQ and see how that sounds next time you record?

 

[buddy lee]

Why don't you try boosting the highs a bit in the EQ and see how that sounds next time you record?

Any idea what frequency range I should target? The EQ in Pro Tools is parametric and basically I can pick anything I want to boost or cut.

 

[Nefertiti]

Any idea what frequency range I should target? The EQ in Pro Tools is parametric and basically I can pick anything I want to boost or cut.

I would just boost a bunch of the highs at first to see if it fixes it and then if it does, fine tune it to make sure it is a sound you like. (I have no idea as far as frequencies and all that.......)

 

[adamk]

Do you have a tuner that's quick enough in response to see if recorded notes are actually in tune?
When playin vibrato many players (of many different instruments, singers too) vary the pitch from in tune to a little flat making the averaged pitch low.
I found that when listening to myself recorded I can get manic about all aspects of the performance. With a little time and space my overly critical attitude abated.
You might not be doing either of these things.

 

[buddy lee]

Do you have a tuner that's quick enough in response to see if recorded notes are actually in tune?
When playin vibrato many players (of many different instruments, singers too) vary the pitch from in tune to a little flat making the averaged pitch low.
I found that when listening to myself recorded I can get manic about all aspects of the performance. With a little time and space my overly critical attitude abated.
You might not be doing either of these things.

I haven't tried that, but I could isolate my track and do so on some held notes I guess.

 

[Merlin]

I haven't tried that, but I could isolate my track and do so on some held notes I guess.

You could also use a pitch correction plugin for comparison purposes. A/B the results and see if there's a difference.

 

[ralph lh]

Play the recording back a bit faster....

 

[Bjroosevelt]

By EQ, I assume you mean the equalizer on your stereo/home entertainment system/computer/mixing equipment. If this is correct, then maybe my post is helpful. If my assumption is incorrect, please ignore this post.

Having your EQ set to flat (across the frequency spectrum) does not mean that your speakers / headphones are broadcasting exactly with equal loudness across the audible frequency spectrum. To make it more complicated, speakers (or instrument) broadcasting equally across the frequency spectrum does not mean that your ear is receiving an equalized signal. Every room and every headset absorbs and reflects different frequencies differently. Every speaker reproduces certain frequencies better than others.

To get my listening room set up properly, I pull out my AudioTools app on my iPhone, hook it up to a microphone, and watch the frequency response chart when Pink Noise is broadcast. I do this with the microphone placed in my ideal sitting position. I then adjust my equalizer until I get a relatively flat frequency response across the frequency spectrum as heard by the microphone. (a slightly declining line is preferred by some). At that point, I am pretty sure that I am set up properly. The sound improvement is normally quite noticeable.

I do this in my home, and I do this in my car. Regarding my headset, I give up - I have no clue how to make them sound better.

 

[MLucky]

I can relate. During the pandemic, I've been doing a lot more recording of myself than usual, and it's hard to get used to hearing what I sound like on a recording as opposed to how I sound to myself while playing. I think it's like hearing your own speaking voice on tape: it's just weird.

But this particular problem seems like a relatively easy thing to check: just record some long tones, and check the pitch with your tuner. The long tones will presumably be on pitch, and so will the recording of them, and that's something you can verify. If it only "seems" flat, it's possible you might improve the sound with EQ.

 

[buddy lee]

Thanks everyone. I spent some time last night and I think it was a lack of air support, so I was flat. I turned the gain down on the interface and took a step back so I could use more air. Problem seems to be solved.

 

[lostcircuits]

Yes, I have run into this myself, trying to sound "nice" and holding back too much while using too much input bias to compensate. Especially when using headphones while recording, but after playing it back and hearing that I am flat I usually can hit the notes clean if I do it over. It's almost a psychological effect that you play flat when you don't watch out but I don't know why.

 

[HeavyWeather77]

I think, buddy lee, you beat me to the suggestion I was about to make. One common phenomenon of playing a wind instrument is that it's difficult to know what we actually sound like in the moment, so recordings can reveal some (often unpleasantly) surprising results. As awful as this pandemic has been, one silver lining is that it's forced many people to record themselves more often than they're used to, maybe even for the first time, and this actually ends up being very useful for development as a musician.

Air support, tongue position ("voicing"), and reed strength can all have a huge impact on intonation. This is essentially why practicing overtone control helps intonation and tone production so much.

No amount of EQ can fix pitch issues. Boosting highs on a performance where the pitch is low will only result in a more abrasive out-of-tune sound. It is indeed possible for a note to be both flat and screechy, and nobody wants that.

 

[Berg-Man]

If you are having trouble playing intune when you record yourself what happens when you play out live? I agree with HeavyWeather with everything he said.