You are a brave dude. People will likely attack this as well. They stop listening after 30 sec and are typing a response for the rest of it. Good luck. Thanks Fil. Most get it.
[Kitty hatches mischievous plan to thwart Fil's international treasure status 😼] PSSSST> Don't tell @Suzi Q or she will send Lil' and Bella to disrupt Kitty's shenanigans 😶shhhhhhhhhhh
This also explains why playback of your recorded voice doesn't sound like what you hear in your head. How many times has someone heard a playback of their voice only to say, that doesn't sound like me. Best explanation of this phenomenon I've heard.
The recorded voice example you just gave was a clearer example to describe what's going on than Fils. Both are correct and the same thing but yours was easier to understand and relate to. What I thought was my masculine voice sounds like a whiny bitch on recordings.
So True!! When I first heard recordings of not only my singing voice, but my singing voice, I couldn’t believe the difference. I had a different perception of the way I actually sounded to others. I wasn’t repulsed or anything like that, but it was completely different from the way I thought I sounded.
Retired woodwind player here; matching pitches with other instruments on different parts of the stage is our whole life. I enjoy your videos immensely. We play with earplugs all the time, to protect our hearing (from brass players!). Still, I've always been curious (as I've gotten older) how hearing loss of different frequencies affects our ability to deal with pitch. Keep up the good work. Thank you.
Excellent and logical explanation. I hope any critics you may have will now have a better understanding of why you said what you said. Thank you Fil for sharing the truth..
You are spot on - and I'm sure many of us have indeed seen some harmony singers placing a finger in one of their ears....so that thery can hear their own voices directly in their skulls.
Fascinating how the perception of pitch can change explained. I’ve seen the exact things singers do pulling out one earphone to hear the monitor speaker accurately, or tapping on the earphone because there is a problem. The fact that Fil has had this exact problem and had to change the configuration of the way sound goes through his headphones when he is singing to enable him to hear the music better gives validity to his point. Back in the day when I was singing for a group, hearing my mic voice drove me bonkers!
Oftentimes, I am unaware of everything I don't know about sound and music, until I hear you explain it. I learned a lot from this post about resonance, and resonance frequencies being different for different people. I never thought of sound being heard differently inside different skull shapes. Well, it's just a small portion of what you were talking about today. I want to say that I learn so much from you and your patience shown in your teaching style. Thank-you Fil!
Well explained, and most musicians know this from experience. Always leave one ear uncovered when using headphones to record a vocal to a track playing back through the headphones. If not, real danger of being slightly flat. ☺
As a nonmusician, I've noticed that as well. Singing is a hobby for me and sometimes I like to record myself. I've sung with both headphones on, one, and without. My voice is usually pitchy for with headphones and much improved without. I've kind of understood that sound can be heard differently by different people and in different environment, but I never really understood the science behind it. It's really fascinating.
Singing in choir, we had something similar happen in a particular loft of the church. EVERYONE sang off pitch in that loft due to the weird acoustics it had. They finally installed 2 monitor speakers and we were able to sing on proper pitch.
It’s very common for some singers to sing a bit flat when using in-ears monitors or headphones if there is a delay lag (latency) between the sound of the instrumental part and their own vocals. It may occur also when playing live without headphones but the singer cannot hear herself loud enough. Thanks Fil for your videos 👍
This is partly why people's voices sound different to themselves than to others. My son felt he was a great singer and often tried impressing his friends. I finally offered to record his singing and he promptly stopped. He was a bit devastated to hear the truth, even though I was kind as possible.
To back you up. My voice I hear in my head when I am talking sounds at a deeper pitch than whenever I hear my recorded voice played back to me. It is almost embarrassing to hear my voice as others probably hear it.
Hi Fil, mine was possibly one of the comments that motivated this response video. I suggested that she may have been purposely sabotaged , but when i reflected on that thought I realised how improbable and likely not possible that was ( the dangers of posting early morning when not fully awake, which i am doing again right now). As a would be home recording "engineer " I should have known better. I have had many experiences with the phenomena you are explaining here , recording things that sound fine through headphones but sound woeful when played through speakers. You begin to doubt your ears , your ability and your sanity I have been working for around three and a half years on a bunch of songs, recording on a small Zoom R8 and trying to keep it as organic as possible, resisting the temptation to incorporate a DAW system, trying different monitors and headphones ..etc ,I never expected to be able to replicate the recording quality of a multi million recording studio, just something that was listenable with out being embarrassing, but the whole experience has been so maddening that I am almost ready to pack all my gear away and never play again....Instead becoming an " old man yelling at clouds " by posting comments on RUclips🤣
This is interesting! I recorded a practice track for my choir a couple of years ago, using headphones to hear a light piano only backing, recording with a condenser mic though a digital interference to GarageBand. It was only when I listened back in a different environment (the car), that I realised that I was consistently flat. Intervals were OK, but overall it was off. I re-recorded, increasing the volume of the backing and standing a bit further away from the mic. It worked and then I just adjusted the mix. Hadn’t had that before!
Anyone who can't "follow" what you described is either a) intentionally rejecting it because they refuse to hear what might 'assault their reality,' or b) unable to follow your semi-technical terminology, or c) falling asleep. So.... that was a fantastic description AND explanation! Here is another thing that struck me while you were explaining... MANY reactors to a cappella groups (in particular) talk about the importance of listening with good headphones versus cell phones, or even high-quality acoustic speakers. There is no doubt whatsoever that the exact same original musical SOURCE sounds very different through different listening media... whether it be speakers or your skull. Thank you, Fil!
I totally get it. Some people depending on the monitoring situation perceive pitch slightly flat overall, thus they sing flat overall. This is deferent than a singer not being able to hit the pitch on certain high notes. I’ve heard this from engineers, it does happen occasionally. Thanks Fil !
The last video you did on this was totally correct and the conclusion you came too was understandable and obvious. This lady has a fantastic voice, I looked her up after the video and her normal musical style is very different, from this performance.
Accessing environmental audio helps immeasurably to regulate volume and timbre as well as pitch. Also if the playback has reverb or other effects, that will throw you and mask mistakes. One headphone off and the other as quiet as possible, and as raw as possible - this I believe is the best formula for everyone recording studio vocals, including those who don't think they have an issue.
At first I didn't understand what you mean, but now I get it. I've also experienced what you described. I often recorded at home with just the music in my ears and sometimes I thought I had a good take but it turned out I was off pitch. Or once my monitor went out, I kept singing, but as I heard my voice in my head it didn't match the music and that confused me. Then my monitor came back and I was off so had to adjust.
I believe in your work! It's great that someone knowledge is shining a light on the industry's assult on wonderful singers and standing firm. Your music is awesome too! I'm wondering if you would do an analysis on the vocals of ~Somewhere~ the duet by Barbara Streisand and Jackie Evancho I personally can't hear any computer work other than reverb. I isolated the voices, and on the pitch monitor, it looks like their natural voices are spot on. But it's so accurate that I'm unsure if I'm missing something important that I should be looking for.
Guys, Fil is correct. I've been singing ever since I can remember. My 1st instrument,,,a specific blade of grass. Professionally at age 7...my mother made me. I can't imagine a world without music....But, music is actually all around...the rhythmic sound of a well-maintained speed bicycle, the calming sound of a worn wooden rocking chair. I was born with hypersenses....I thought everyone had them. Fil...find a specialist in audiology or ear, nose and throat. You'll be tested in a soundproof booth, with specialized earphones, etc. Many facets of your hearing will be tested AND how you're effected by each sound, no matter how minute. It was an eye opener for me and has changed my daily life greatly. They also give you resources, to help you recognize and deal with the sounds that affect you negatively, even though you didn't know they did. Please do this, you'll benefit greatly, in all ways. (Hope you had a great Birthday! : )
Even being off axis of a wedge speaker can distort perception of pitch. Yes the old folk singer's used to put a finger in the ear, i use a swimmers earplug to similar effect because i play guitar and sing. Great video ❤
This explains why the lead singer at church is consistently flat, but the back up singers are on key! Thank you for that. The ladies rely on the monitor speakers and the lead singer always has an in air monitor. The guy on charge of music is otherwise musically talented, so I wondered why this was.
To all those who claim pitch can't change the obvious reply would be "never heard of the Doppler effect?" You have the patience of a saint taking so much time to explain it so thoroughly. Don't let the naysayers get you down.
I think I remember a long time back the UK entry for Eurovision had a similar problem. Sang the whole song flat.... Consistently. They got absolutely destroyed by the media, but obviously the singer was hearing it 'wrong' at that particular moment.
Balancing the setup on in ear monitors is essential. If you don't it's common for the singer to be flat or push the vocal harder to make up for the levels. Alternately removing the earpiece or reducing the music mix can work.
I guess another example is when you see a video of some singer in a studio recording their vocals and their headphones are placed on head a bit awkward so one year is not covered
I have found that by using that technique it is sometimes easier to stay on pitch because one ear is hearing the natural voice and the other is hearing the voice through the headphone along with the backing track
Fanatics (fans) can be rabidly stubborn. It doesn’t matter how many times you explain things; if they’re in the “fanatic” mindset, they won’t hear the message (or the plugins). Tim Welch had some rabid fanatics on yesterday’s video of Sleep Token, who refused to accept that auto tune was heavily used. The head shape is something that never occurred to me as a factor in hearing.
I have had the experience of trying to listen to a song over speakers in a loud environment - like piped in music in a store. I was not able to identify the pitch or key of the music, trying to sing with it, and it takes a minute, maybe waiting for the ambient sound to lower in level. I think that is consistent with your hypothesis.
It’s amazing how we go our entire lives without questioning things. For example, I was 30 years old when I learned that not everybody associates letters and words and numbers with colours. For example, Munday is light blue. Tuesday is pale pink. Wednesday is red. Thursday is orange etc. The numeral one is white. The numeral three is green etc. I had just assumed that it was the same for everybody, because nobody talks about it, the same as nobody talks about how they think. We just assume everybody thinks the same way. As I said, I was 30 when I realised that I had synesthesia, which causes this. It’s like those TikTok videos where people present you with two sets of numbers and ask you how you go about adding them up. For example, the number is 58 and 47. Some people add the 50 to the 40 to get 90 and then add the 7 to get 97 and then at 8 to get 105. Some other people at the seven and the eight first and then add the 50 on the 40, whilst others take the 58 and add 40 and then at the seven. We just assume that all brains of the same. And it never occurred to me for one moment that people hear sounds differently. we just assume that everybody hears exactly what we hear in exactly the same way, and it’s processed exactly the same. But we’ve only ever heard our own hearing. We don’t know what other people hear. My voice may sound entirely different to 2 different people, but we just don’t Westin it, but once pointed out, of course it makes sense.
Also, some people's ears and/or brains don't process certain frequencies well. For some it's high frequencies, for others it's low or mid range. I wonder if these individual differences in hearing can affect perception of pitch.
Fil, this is quite interesting, because I have this happen to me twice in two separate performances The first was in a duet, where at the time we were not singing unison. I delivered my line which I thought I nailed. She followered with hers and I remember thinking "My god hennie, find the key". Only to realize that I sang my previous line probably about a half step down. I do think now and then on vamps where my ear is picking something up that's wrong. I can usually hear it right away and adjust but I've always wondered how/why this can happen. One other thought, and I have not seen the original vid, is there any evidence that the vocal was pitch corrected wrong somehow? maybe You'll address that in this vid... Going to continue watching, love the channel.
Many many years ago early 70s I worked in a real record shop..remember them. Some people used to ask to hear records though a set of headphones we had in the shop. Invariably, they would (unconsciously) start singing along and would always be terribly out of tune , other people in the shop could hear this and invariably start laughing. Of course they could have all been really crap singers. But ...this video really reminded me that this happened to virtually every single person singing along to a record they were hearing via the headphones. Second. I'm a drummer who also does backing vocals and for a while I used in ear monitors to hear the lead vocals so I could harmonise with them, however, I found it more enjoyable to only have one earphone in so that I could hear the actual stage sound in left year directly via ambient stage sound while the lead vocals came through in my right iem. I never actually analylised why I did it....rather for me it worked better. With two iem s in I didn't feel part of the performances and didn't enjoy it.
Hello Fil. I was thinking it would be cool if you took some recordings from nature, run them through pitch correction and do an analysis video about your findings.
Yes, you are right. But you are arguing with people that think we are all going to other planets to live. I try playing flute with loud rock bands on stage and my flute to me, during this rampage of noise, always sounds sharp. Your explanation holds true .
OK, I understand the acoustic idea of this. My question then would be why would a singer not want to check with the natural acoustics (say, taking headphones off of one ear, or similar) in order to check to make sure that they were singing in the same pitch as the instruments? Could the acoustics of your skull make you flat all the time if you’re only using headphones? Or would this only happen sometimes?
Fil it seems to me that you could explain this 100 different ways and still get the same comments. I’m betting that most of your subscribers (including me) had no issues with it 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Let me just say, I'm not musician, but I have always loved the science behind sound. This video was right up my alley. Professor Fil did an exellent job explaining. I'm not sure why some can not get this Go ahead, Fil, get complicated! Lol
If you want to add another layer of complexity to this, consider that it's not just skull shape. Your perception of the resonance inside your head can go off just because of a change in your sinuses, lol.
You are right. If the mix in the inear is 8 voc 2 orch the singer pitch is going under. If the singer can't hear his voice in the mix, is going upper than the tone he thinks is singing. It is happening with speakers too in some situations.
@Heightsomethinghuman yes. I was trying to say too much with less words. The phenomenon is more complicated. For example I had a woman singer that had perfect pitch without hearing the orchestra at all. There's no standards but 90% of singers react the way i described.
Resonance is the selectivity of a cavity to a particular frequency. It will only occur at that frequency, at twice and three times frequency and dies down over a small number of frequencies (bandwidth) centered on that resonant frequency, basically a band pass filter (opposite of a notch filter). So in her head at particular frequencies, resonance may occur and she may have been confused. However, away from the resonant frequency there would be no resonant ringing effect. In which case she would hear no frequency shift or confusing frequency reference. I somehow suspect that her voice may well have been passing through a pitch shifter. Maybe an Autotune processor was in line with the microphone, but was not set to through, but was left with a small constant pitch change. Definitely, Autotune was not selected, since the frequency shift was constant across the spectrum.
I have a funny shaped head! My voice sounds different when I cover my ears, and compare it to when just speaking into a microphone. I have no idea though if I am singing on pitch 😂
Another problem I've experienced is that once you've heard the pitch wrong, it's very hard to correct it, even when you know something is wrong. That's when you remove the in ear monitor
J D Sumner used to hold his 13:35 hand up to his ear all the time whilst singing backup for Elvis. Edit. To distinguish his voice from the rest of the Stamps Quartet.
It’s a Doppler affect. You hear a train go by it sounds as though the whistle drops in pitch. When actually it stays the same. Just the difference in distance changes your hearing of the note.
I have a video explaining the Doppler effect, it has no impact when both the sound source and listener are stationary which is the case in every live performance I've ever witnessed.
Does volume affect pitch perception also? Could that be a factor in pitch perception with using in ear monitors also? Interesting stuff Fil, always appreciate you breaking this stuff down.
Are you talking about something astronomers refers to as redshift, but applied to sound? In that case you are right, my AI says. Doppler effect ex, when a train comes closer and then passes, the pitch of the sound changes. It might not be what you are talking about. I'm quite tired.
Yes, rooms have a resonant frequency. The reason speakers are designed using anechoic chambers is because they want the speaker to be as flat (I am using the word flat in a different context here) and accurate as possible. Once the speaker is taken home and placed in a room, it no longer sounds as accurate as it did in a perfect environment. It has peaks and valleys to the resonances in your room. That is why audiophiles treat their rooms to minimize this effect. Plus there as standing wave in the room AND in the speaker cabinet. And if one driver is expected to cover too wide a frequency range, there is a doppler effect where the LOW notes affect the wavelength of the HIGH notes.
Have you ever seen opera singers singing with one or even two hands next to their ears when they are recording like they are holding a mobile phone? That's why...
You are a brave dude. People will likely attack this as well. They stop listening after 30 sec and are typing a response for the rest of it. Good luck. Thanks Fil. Most get it.
Right? I’m waiting for the day. Phil mysteriously disappears at the end of… Who knows who. 😊
i was about to make a similar comment. He just opened up for a big debate. This is why you never read the comments section😂
Keep telling us the truth. Please ignore negative comments. You know what you are talking about.
Yes. He does.
This man is an international treasure and must be protected at ALL costs!!!
[Kitty hatches mischievous plan to thwart Fil's international treasure status 😼]
PSSSST> Don't tell @Suzi Q or she will send Lil' and Bella to disrupt Kitty's shenanigans 😶shhhhhhhhhhh
@@NinjaKittyBonks, *bonk*
@Suzi Q. 🙀Kitty is in trouble 😭
Ssshhhhhhhh! No Percy Johnson incident!
This also explains why playback of your recorded voice doesn't sound like what you hear in your head. How many times has someone heard a playback of their voice only to say, that doesn't sound like me. Best explanation of this phenomenon I've heard.
So true
The recorded voice example you just gave was a clearer example to describe what's going on than Fils. Both are correct and the same thing but yours was easier to understand and relate to. What I thought was my masculine voice sounds like a whiny bitch on recordings.
@@justrandomthoughts indeed !! 💯
So True!! When I first heard recordings of not only my singing voice, but my singing voice, I couldn’t believe the difference. I had a different perception of the way I actually sounded to others. I wasn’t repulsed or anything like that, but it was completely different from the way I thought I sounded.
Retired woodwind player here; matching pitches with other instruments on different parts of the stage is our whole life. I enjoy your videos immensely. We play with earplugs all the time, to protect our hearing (from brass players!). Still, I've always been curious (as I've gotten older) how hearing loss of different frequencies affects our ability to deal with pitch. Keep up the good work. Thank you.
Good question!
My Tuba apologizes but it's likely the High Brass that gets ya?
Fantasic anologies & analysis Fil...the most informative & honest video on music on YT. You are so patient & level headed-thank you.
Amen!
Our boy, Fil.... bring truth 💣 to those who don't want to hear it. Keep the integrity going, as that is why we are here ❤
Excellent and logical explanation. I hope any critics you may have will now have a better understanding of why you said what you said. Thank you Fil for sharing the truth..
You are spot on - and I'm sure many of us have indeed seen some harmony singers placing a finger in one of their ears....so that thery can hear their own voices directly in their skulls.
Fascinating how the perception of pitch can change explained. I’ve seen the exact things singers do pulling out one earphone to hear the monitor speaker accurately, or tapping on the earphone because there is a problem. The fact that Fil has had this exact problem and had to change the configuration of the way sound goes through his headphones when he is singing to enable him to hear the music better gives validity to his point. Back in the day when I was singing for a group, hearing my mic voice drove me bonkers!
So True! Sometimes I Cup my ear if singing Harmonies in a room w/ others but FIL, you absolutely
correct how this all works. Very GOOD VID!
Oftentimes, I am unaware of everything I don't know about sound and music, until I hear you explain it. I learned a lot from this post about resonance, and resonance frequencies being different for different people. I never thought of sound being heard differently inside different skull shapes. Well, it's just a small portion of what you were talking about today. I want to say that I learn so much from you and your patience shown in your teaching style. Thank-you Fil!
Apparently people assume if it's never happened to them, it's never happened to anyone.
Well explained, and most musicians know this from experience. Always leave one ear uncovered when using headphones to record a vocal to a track playing back through the headphones. If not, real danger of being slightly flat. ☺
As a nonmusician, I've noticed that as well. Singing is a hobby for me and sometimes I like to record myself. I've sung with both headphones on, one, and without. My voice is usually pitchy for with headphones and much improved without. I've kind of understood that sound can be heard differently by different people and in different environment, but I never really understood the science behind it. It's really fascinating.
Thank you! I never even thought about the difference of listening with ear phones. Great job!
Singing in choir, we had something similar happen in a particular loft of the church. EVERYONE sang off pitch in that loft due to the weird acoustics it had. They finally installed 2 monitor speakers and we were able to sing on proper pitch.
It’s very common for some singers to sing a bit flat when using in-ears monitors or headphones if there is a delay lag (latency) between the sound of the instrumental part and their own vocals. It may occur also when playing live without headphones but the singer cannot hear herself loud enough. Thanks Fil for your videos 👍
This is partly why people's voices sound different to themselves than to others. My son felt he was a great singer and often tried impressing his friends. I finally offered to record his singing and he promptly stopped. He was a bit devastated to hear the truth, even though I was kind as possible.
Elvis Presleys third grade teacher said he wasn't a good singer either! Maybe when he's older, he'll sound different!
Have we deserved so much clear, intelligent and understandable explanations of complex musical phenomena?
I've learned so much about the human singing voice from you! 👍👍👍
To back you up. My voice I hear in my head when I am talking sounds at a deeper pitch than whenever I hear my recorded voice played back to me. It is almost embarrassing to hear my voice as others probably hear it.
Thanks for this explanation. I also had questions regarding your last video. Now I think I got it!
Hi Fil, mine was possibly one of the comments that motivated this response video.
I suggested that she may have been purposely sabotaged , but when i reflected on that thought I realised how improbable and likely not possible that was ( the dangers of posting early morning when not fully awake, which i am doing again right now).
As a would be home recording "engineer " I should have known better.
I have had many experiences with the phenomena you are explaining here , recording things that sound fine through headphones but sound woeful when played through speakers.
You begin to doubt your ears , your ability and your sanity
I have been working for around three and a half years on a bunch of songs, recording on a small Zoom R8 and trying to keep it as organic as possible, resisting the temptation to incorporate a DAW system, trying different monitors and headphones ..etc ,I never expected to be able to replicate the recording quality of a multi million recording studio, just something that was listenable with out being embarrassing, but the whole experience has been so maddening that I am almost ready to pack all my gear away and never play again....Instead becoming an " old man yelling at clouds " by posting comments on RUclips🤣
love the comments on this explanation video. Great work
This is interesting! I recorded a practice track for my choir a couple of years ago, using headphones to hear a light piano only backing, recording with a condenser mic though a digital interference to GarageBand. It was only when I listened back in a different environment (the car), that I realised that I was consistently flat. Intervals were OK, but overall it was off. I re-recorded, increasing the volume of the backing and standing a bit further away from the mic. It worked and then I just adjusted the mix. Hadn’t had that before!
The only thing I question on this channel is how come he doesn't have at least 1 million subs.
@@a9ball1 😉😆100% true
Anyone who can't "follow" what you described is either a) intentionally rejecting it because they refuse to hear what might 'assault their reality,' or b) unable to follow your semi-technical terminology, or c) falling asleep. So.... that was a fantastic description AND explanation! Here is another thing that struck me while you were explaining... MANY reactors to a cappella groups (in particular) talk about the importance of listening with good headphones versus cell phones, or even high-quality acoustic speakers. There is no doubt whatsoever that the exact same original musical SOURCE sounds very different through different listening media... whether it be speakers or your skull. Thank you, Fil!
I'm half asleep and it all makes perfect sense.
I totally get it. Some people depending on the monitoring situation perceive pitch slightly flat overall, thus they sing flat overall. This is deferent than a singer not being able to hit the pitch on certain high notes. I’ve heard this from engineers, it does happen occasionally.
Thanks Fil !
Nice video. Explaining the acoustic space was interesting
Your take on the acoustic sciences is quite acute.......
Good work Fil............!!!
The best explanation I've seen on this channel! Thank you so much)
I used to wear 1 ear plug to play out. It helped me hear my harmony vocals better and it was more dependable than a stage monitor.
The last video you did on this was totally correct and the conclusion you came too was understandable and obvious.
This lady has a fantastic voice, I looked her up after the video and her normal musical style is very different, from this performance.
Great job, Fil 🎶
Accessing environmental audio helps immeasurably to regulate volume and timbre as well as pitch. Also if the playback has reverb or other effects, that will throw you and mask mistakes. One headphone off and the other as quiet as possible, and as raw as possible - this I believe is the best formula for everyone recording studio vocals, including those who don't think they have an issue.
At first I didn't understand what you mean, but now I get it. I've also experienced what you described. I often recorded at home with just the music in my ears and sometimes I thought I had a good take but it turned out I was off pitch. Or once my monitor went out, I kept singing, but as I heard my voice in my head it didn't match the music and that confused me. Then my monitor came back and I was off so had to adjust.
I believe in your work! It's great that someone knowledge is shining a light on the industry's assult on wonderful singers and standing firm.
Your music is awesome too!
I'm wondering if you would do an analysis on the vocals of ~Somewhere~ the duet by Barbara Streisand and Jackie Evancho
I personally can't hear any computer work other than reverb. I isolated the voices, and on the pitch monitor, it looks like their natural voices are spot on. But it's so accurate that I'm unsure if I'm missing something important that I should be looking for.
Guys, Fil is correct. I've been singing ever since I can remember. My 1st instrument,,,a specific blade of grass. Professionally at age 7...my mother made me. I can't imagine a world without music....But, music is actually all around...the rhythmic sound of a well-maintained speed bicycle, the calming sound of a worn wooden rocking chair. I was born with hypersenses....I thought everyone had them. Fil...find a specialist in audiology or ear, nose and throat. You'll be tested in a soundproof booth, with specialized earphones, etc. Many facets of your hearing will be tested AND how you're effected by each sound, no matter how minute. It was an eye opener for me and has changed my daily life greatly. They also give you resources, to help you recognize and deal with the sounds that affect you negatively, even though you didn't know they did. Please do this, you'll benefit greatly, in all ways. (Hope you had a great Birthday! : )
Even being off axis of a wedge speaker can distort perception of pitch. Yes the old folk singer's used to put a finger in the ear, i use a swimmers earplug to similar effect because i play guitar and sing. Great video ❤
This explains why the lead singer at church is consistently flat, but the back up singers are on key! Thank you for that. The ladies rely on the monitor speakers and the lead singer always has an in air monitor. The guy on charge of music is otherwise musically talented, so I wondered why this was.
To all those who claim pitch can't change the obvious reply would be "never heard of the Doppler effect?"
You have the patience of a saint taking so much time to explain it so thoroughly. Don't let the naysayers get you down.
Is this where the sayings "numb skull and bone head" come from? Just kidding. Great explanation on sound and resonance. Thanks. FIL
@@DiamondGirl-1234 👍 😆😍(made me lmao-daddy used to call me bonehead when i messed up)
@theresamealer3314 🤣🤣
I think I remember a long time back the UK entry for Eurovision had a similar problem. Sang the whole song flat.... Consistently.
They got absolutely destroyed by the media, but obviously the singer was hearing it 'wrong' at that particular moment.
Balancing the setup on in ear monitors is essential. If you don't it's common for the singer to be flat or push the vocal harder to make up for the levels. Alternately removing the earpiece or reducing the music mix can work.
Oh FIL you have always proved your case . Perhaps you could have been a lawyer or barrister as you might say ❤
I guess another example is when you see a video of some singer in a studio recording their vocals and their headphones are placed on head a bit awkward so one year is not covered
I have found that by using that technique it is sometimes easier to stay on pitch because one ear is hearing the natural voice and the other is hearing the voice through the headphone along with the backing track
Right 😊
Another Authentic Analysis !
I love this explanation! So clear and makes perfect sense! 💜🌅😌
Fanatics (fans) can be rabidly stubborn. It doesn’t matter how many times you explain things; if they’re in the “fanatic” mindset, they won’t hear the message (or the plugins). Tim Welch had some rabid fanatics on yesterday’s video of Sleep Token, who refused to accept that auto tune was heavily used.
The head shape is something that never occurred to me as a factor in hearing.
Excellent, easy to understand explanation. Thank you.
Makes sense to me.
You speak the truth of what you see.
I have had the experience of trying to listen to a song over speakers in a loud environment - like piped in music in a store. I was not able to identify the pitch or key of the music, trying to sing with it, and it takes a minute, maybe waiting for the ambient sound to lower in level. I think that is consistent with your hypothesis.
It’s amazing how we go our entire lives without questioning things. For example, I was 30 years old when I learned that not everybody associates letters and words and numbers with colours. For example, Munday is light blue. Tuesday is pale pink. Wednesday is red. Thursday is orange etc. The numeral one is white. The numeral three is green etc. I had just assumed that it was the same for everybody, because nobody talks about it, the same as nobody talks about how they think. We just assume everybody thinks the same way. As I said, I was 30 when I realised that I had synesthesia, which causes this. It’s like those TikTok videos where people present you with two sets of numbers and ask you how you go about adding them up. For example, the number is 58 and 47. Some people add the 50 to the 40 to get 90 and then add the 7 to get 97 and then at 8 to get 105. Some other people at the seven and the eight first and then add the 50 on the 40, whilst others take the 58 and add 40 and then at the seven. We just assume that all brains of the same. And it never occurred to me for one moment that people hear sounds differently. we just assume that everybody hears exactly what we hear in exactly the same way, and it’s processed exactly the same. But we’ve only ever heard our own hearing. We don’t know what other people hear. My voice may sound entirely different to 2 different people, but we just don’t Westin it, but once pointed out, of course it makes sense.
Great video as always Fil
Also, some people's ears and/or brains don't process certain frequencies well. For some it's high frequencies, for others it's low or mid range. I wonder if these individual differences in hearing can affect perception of pitch.
WoP has gone beyond mere songwriter, guitar player, singer, now an official maven of sound!
Fil, this is quite interesting, because I have this happen to me twice in two separate performances The first was in a duet, where at the time we were not singing unison. I delivered my line which I thought I nailed. She followered with hers and I remember thinking "My god hennie, find the key". Only to realize that I sang my previous line probably about a half step down. I do think now and then on vamps where my ear is picking something up that's wrong. I can usually hear it right away and adjust but I've always wondered how/why this can happen. One other thought, and I have not seen the original vid, is there any evidence that the vocal was pitch corrected wrong somehow? maybe You'll address that in this vid... Going to continue watching, love the channel.
You explained it perfectly. If anyone misunderstood... You'll never be able to explaine it to them.
Very good explanation on this. Cheers, Fil! ✌️
Thanks again, Fil. This is absolutely correct. I have experienced this all of my life and music career too.
EXCELLENT !
Man, I studied live sound at university years ago… you would make a great lecture. You ever thought about getting into teaching?
Thanks for the explanation.
I knew what you meant but apparently many people never experienced that.
We experience this quite a bit in choir. We practice with different palate positions to hear how it affects resonance.
Fil, when people erroneously say you're wrong, I put my fingers in my ears, and then I can't hear them. ;)
By then you already heard them, cant unhear it...
Very good and so real!l
I would suspect any singer who is NOT SURE of what is being heard, will tend to sing flat rather than sharp as a natural defense mechanism.
I’ve never heard this explained before. I believe it is a thing though and it kind of makes me want to go back to wedge monitors.
I’m a singer. Sometimes i hold my hand in front of my face angled towards my ear and then I can hear my voice better 😂😂
Many many years ago early 70s I worked in a real record shop..remember them. Some people used to ask to hear records though a set of headphones we had in the shop. Invariably, they would (unconsciously) start singing along and would always be terribly out of tune , other people in the shop could hear this and invariably start laughing. Of course they could have all been really crap singers. But ...this video really reminded me that this happened to virtually every single person singing along to a record they were hearing via the headphones.
Second. I'm a drummer who also does backing vocals and for a while I used in ear monitors to hear the lead vocals so I could harmonise with them, however, I found it more enjoyable to only have one earphone in so that I could hear the actual stage sound in left year directly via ambient stage sound while the lead vocals came through in my right iem. I never actually analylised why I did it....rather for me it worked better. With two iem s in I didn't feel part of the performances and didn't enjoy it.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to record it, will the pitch be in 440 equal temperament?
Hello Fil.
I was thinking it would be cool if you took some recordings from nature, run them through pitch correction and do an analysis video about your findings.
Yes, you are right. But you are arguing with people that think we are all going to other planets to live. I try playing flute with loud rock bands on stage and my flute to me, during this rampage of noise, always sounds sharp. Your explanation holds true .
OK, I understand the acoustic idea of this. My question then would be why would a singer not want to check with the natural acoustics (say, taking headphones off of one ear, or similar) in order to check to make sure that they were singing in the same pitch as the instruments? Could the acoustics of your skull make you flat all the time if you’re only using headphones? Or would this only happen sometimes?
And I always sing with one headphone off my right ear
Fil it seems to me that you could explain this 100 different ways and still get the same comments. I’m betting that most of your subscribers (including me) had no issues with it
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Let me just say, I'm not musician, but I have always loved the science behind sound. This video was right up my alley. Professor Fil did an exellent job explaining. I'm not sure why some can not get this
Go ahead, Fil, get complicated! Lol
If you want to add another layer of complexity to this, consider that it's not just skull shape. Your perception of the resonance inside your head can go off just because of a change in your sinuses, lol.
There is a frequency I can make with my voice that vibrates my whole head. You can feel the vibration in the skull and it makes my inner ears itch.
Fil is basically the Stephen Fry of vocal recordings. He is The Schoolmaster.
@@stevecampbell9670 💯
The doppler effect is real. Phase cancelation is real. Headphone misalignment to ear canals is real.
Fil is correct.
Makes perfect sense....
That's purrfect sense😾
You are right. If the mix in the inear is 8 voc 2 orch the singer pitch is going under. If the singer can't hear his voice in the mix, is going upper than the tone he thinks is singing. It is happening with speakers too in some situations.
You are referring to volume with the 8 and 2 ? Correct?
@Heightsomethinghuman yes. I was trying to say too much with less words. The phenomenon is more complicated. For example I had a woman singer that had perfect pitch without hearing the orchestra at all. There's no standards but 90% of singers react the way i described.
Resonance is the selectivity of a cavity to a particular frequency. It will only occur at that frequency, at twice and three times frequency and dies down over a small number of frequencies (bandwidth) centered on that resonant frequency, basically a band pass filter (opposite of a notch filter).
So in her head at particular frequencies, resonance may occur and she may have been confused. However, away from the resonant frequency there would be no resonant ringing effect. In which case she would hear no frequency shift or confusing frequency reference.
I somehow suspect that her voice may well have been passing through a pitch shifter. Maybe an Autotune processor was in line with the microphone, but was not set to through, but was left with a small constant pitch change. Definitely, Autotune was not selected, since the frequency shift was constant across the spectrum.
I have a funny shaped head! My voice sounds different when I cover my ears, and compare it to when just speaking into a microphone.
I have no idea though if I am singing on pitch 😂
Another problem I've experienced is that once you've heard the pitch wrong, it's very hard to correct it, even when you know something is wrong.
That's when you remove the in ear monitor
J D Sumner used to hold his 13:35 hand up to his ear all the time whilst singing backup for Elvis.
Edit. To distinguish his voice from the rest of the Stamps Quartet.
Great show, BTW.
It’s a Doppler affect. You hear a train go by it sounds as though the whistle drops in pitch. When actually it stays the same. Just the difference in distance changes your hearing of the note.
I have a video explaining the Doppler effect, it has no impact when both the sound source and listener are stationary which is the case in every live performance I've ever witnessed.
@ I’ll have to check that one out. Thanks 👍
I remember reading the Beatles has trouble with the echo in big auditoriums, as the echo might come back slightly off. Very interesting..
The voices in my head are always yodeling :) at least they have good pitch. 👍
😂😂
Does volume affect pitch perception also? Could that be a factor in pitch perception with using in ear monitors also? Interesting stuff Fil, always appreciate you breaking this stuff down.
Me too!
Agree 100%
iconic title 🙂↕️
Please check out Laufey, I am almost certain she is not autotuned, but would like to know.
Are you talking about something astronomers refers to as redshift, but applied to sound? In that case you are right, my AI says. Doppler effect ex, when a train comes closer and then passes, the pitch of the sound changes. It might not be what you are talking about. I'm quite tired.
Yes, rooms have a resonant frequency. The reason speakers are designed using anechoic chambers is because they want the speaker to be as flat (I am using the word flat in a different context here) and accurate as possible. Once the speaker is taken home and placed in a room, it no longer sounds as accurate as it did in a perfect environment. It has peaks and valleys to the resonances in your room. That is why audiophiles treat their rooms to minimize this effect. Plus there as standing wave in the room AND in the speaker cabinet. And if one driver is expected to cover too wide a frequency range, there is a doppler effect where the LOW notes affect the wavelength of the HIGH notes.
"Explore the space" -Bruce Dickenson
"the only thing this video needs... is more resonance"
Have you ever seen opera singers singing with one or even two hands next to their ears when they are recording like they are holding a mobile phone? That's why...