Pitch or Playing in Tune

[Robroy]

I have been playing on a friend's upcoming cd and have had
to go back in on 2 different occasions to re-do some guitar
parts that were out of tune just a little. Has anyone else had this problem when recording? I'm starting to get a complex about this. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[MichaelK]

With all due respect, what kind of suggestions are you looking for other than "tune your guitar?"

[LSchefman]

Sometimes what happens is that the excitement of recording causes players to squeeze the neck harder, and their fingers accidentally bend the strings sharp.

Other than being careful, and tuning your guitfiddle, what else can ya do?

[T.Wesley]

Yeah, it's a tough spot. I've had to go back months later and fix things that were simply out of tune that were missed the night of tracking and didn't surface til much later during mixing.

One suggestion I always make is for everybody in the band to use the same tuner, no matter how good or bad it is. That way, if somebody's out of tune, at least you're all out of tune together

--chiba

[Scott Peterson]

Strobe tuner.

I learned it from a producer looooooong ago. Just get one, use it every time.

[Robroy]

Thanks for the suggestions. They are very
helpful. I'm glad to know I'm not going crazy.

ScottP, why a strobe tuner as opposed to
a tuner by Boss?

Thanks,
Robroy

[Rich T Fingers]

Strobe tuners are a lot easier to see and are more accurate.
But in reference to the out of tune moments, it doesn't matter how well you tune the guitar you can still go out of tune by inaccurate string bending.
There is a solution (avoiding re-doing the parts) - which I haven't personally tried - and that's to use an intonator such as Antares Autotune. I'm told it works well although you have to set it up carefully.

..Of course you'll get stick from the lead singer

[MichaelK]

Originally posted by Rich T Fingers
There is a solution (avoiding re-doing the parts) - which I haven't personally tried - and that's to use an intonator such as Antares Autotune. I'm told it works well although you have to set it up carefully.

AutoTune only works on single-note lines, and even then it sometimes makes things sound wierd. There's no substitute for proper tuning.

Strobe or not doesn't matter a whole lot, IMO. An ordinary tuner is fine, just tune it. Every few takes, check it and tune it again.

[Kiwi]

Having learned the hard way:

Tuning up before a take is great. But it doesn't end there.

1) As has been noted, in the excitement, you can press down hard and go sharp, or your grip bends the note side ways (ever so slightly sharp).

2) Your guitar is not quite intonated perfectly. You're in tune when you tune up on open strings, and not in tune when you play up the neck.

Kiwi

[partytrain]

When I went in to do my band's project a few years ago, I got addicted to the strobe tuner. I'm not joking either, literally, I couldn't play a track unless I went over and retuned my guitar. So when I set up my home studio, a strobe tuner was the first thing I bought (even before my recording software).