What Key do you put your vocals in when using Auto Tune?

[Commander]

I thought Autotune was a car mag from the 70s.

[Folderol]

I thought Autotune was a car mag from the 70s.

Well here's a surprise
Where have you been for the last 2 or 3 years?

[Commander]

Well here's a surprise
Where have you been for the last 2 or 3 years?

Mainly defending the oceans from Titan and the Aquaphibians but then Marineville got locked down because of Covid so we had to dry dock Stingray.

[Sam Spoons]

Curious what Key you guys use when using auto tune for vocals. I know the "classic T Pain" style is a C Major but I have been using D-Major on my vocals and it seems to sound better. Curious what you guys are using. Attached is my vocals with D-Major for reference.
https://youtu.be/LQLKdus7woA

Yes, C major is the sweet spot.

It has to do with ear anatomy but also frequencies and how they resonate within the ear. This is why some keys sound 'better'. It is because the inner ear drum is resonating at a more comfortable frequency. The further you go from C maj the more the resonation so this could explain the effect on/in the listener. This is why very few pieces (if indeed any) in the classical period were written in B major (although at the time no one would have been aware of the fact even though they may have been witnessing some light ear discomfort). C major is the 'purest' of all keys and resonates at just 262 hz (which matches certain bodily biorhythms) so it seems reasonable that vocals put into this key are going to be more easily absorbed in the ear canal because those resonances are cancelling each other out.

This is in fact how some noise cancelling hearing aids work. It is also the same principle as the need for troops to break marching pattern when going over certain bridges in big cities (London or NY for example). It makes sense then, to tune a vocal to the most sonically amenable key. There may also be psychoacoustical factors at work here too. It's certainly an interesting area and there's a few articles available online.

Interesting idea but concert pitch back in the classical period and earlier varied from A = 390 Hz to 450 Hz so C could have been anything from 232 up to 268 Hz. But either way the key of C contains notes over the full range of the human voice so I'm not sure how what you say can be true?

[RichardT]

Curious what Key you guys use when using auto tune for vocals. I know the "classic T Pain" style is a C Major but I have been using D-Major on my vocals and it seems to sound better. Curious what you guys are using. Attached is my vocals with D-Major for reference.
https://youtu.be/LQLKdus7woA

Yes, C major is the sweet spot.

It has to do with ear anatomy but also frequencies and how they resonate within the ear. This is why some keys sound 'better'. It is because the inner ear drum is resonating at a more comfortable frequency. The further you go from C maj the more the resonation so this could explain the effect on/in the listener. This is why very few pieces (if indeed any) in the classical period were written in B major (although at the time no one would have been aware of the fact even though they may have been witnessing some light ear discomfort). C major is the 'purest' of all keys and resonates at just 262 hz (which matches certain bodily biorhythms) so it seems reasonable that vocals put into this key are going to be more easily absorbed in the ear canal because those resonances are cancelling each other out.

This is in fact how some noise cancelling hearing aids work. It is also the same principle as the need for troops to break marching pattern when going over certain bridges in big cities (London or NY for example). It makes sense then, to tune a vocal to the most sonically amenable key. There may also be psychoacoustical factors at work here too. It's certainly an interesting area and there's a few articles available online.

I don’t believe this is even slightly true. Plus it’s pointless tuning vocals to C major if the tune is in E major, say.

[shufflebeat]

Curious what Key you guys use when using auto tune for vocals. I know the "classic T Pain" style is a C Major but I have been using D-Major on my vocals and it seems to sound better. Curious what you guys are using. Attached is my vocals with D-Major for reference.
https://youtu.be/LQLKdus7woA

Yes, C major is the sweet spot.

It has to do with ear anatomy but also frequencies and how they resonate within the ear. This is why some keys sound 'better'. It is because the inner ear drum is resonating at a more comfortable frequency. The further you go from C maj the more the resonation so this could explain the effect on/in the listener.

Citation?

This does not correspond with other well established consensus.

[GilesAnt]

B major is not the most common choice of key for the major composers by any means, but only one semitone away we have B flat - for which there are symphonies, concertos and sonatas galore.

Mind you I have never liked any of them - now I know why!

[shufflebeat]

B major is not the most common choice of key for the major composers by any means, but only one semitone away we have B flat - for which there are symphonies, concertos and sonatas galore.

Mind you I have never liked any of them - now I know why!

Oh, no. As a guitar player Bb is F in disguise. Great key for tunes.

This does not, of course, come from piano based music theory or orchestral tradition, apart from some folkie based stuff like Janacek or Dvorak, but rather the experience of playing tunes and the accidental notes (proper accidents, not those namby-pamby planned ones) that fall to your hand unexpectedly.

[forumuser840717]

Curious what Key you guys use when using auto tune for vocals. I know the "classic T Pain" style is a C Major but I have been using D-Major on my vocals and it seems to sound better. Curious what you guys are using. Attached is my vocals with D-Major for reference.
https://youtu.be/LQLKdus7woA

Yes, C major is the sweet spot.

It has to do with ear anatomy but also frequencies and how they resonate within the ear. This is why some keys sound 'better'. It is because the inner ear drum is resonating at a more comfortable frequency. The further you go from C maj the more the resonation so this could explain the effect on/in the listener. This is why very few pieces (if indeed any) in the classical period were written in B major (although at the time no one would have been aware of the fact even though they may have been witnessing some light ear discomfort). C major is the 'purest' of all keys and resonates at just 262 hz (which matches certain bodily biorhythms) so it seems reasonable that vocals put into this key are going to be more easily absorbed in the ear canal because those resonances are cancelling each other out.

This is in fact how some noise cancelling hearing aids work. It is also the same principle as the need for troops to break marching pattern when going over certain bridges in big cities (London or NY for example). It makes sense then, to tune a vocal to the most sonically amenable key. There may also be psychoacoustical factors at work here too. It's certainly an interesting area and there's a few articles available online.

Can you cite any actual, real, peer-reviewed medical and/or psychological studies (by actual, real medics/psychologists who aren't making it up as they go along and who havent been completely discredited) to back up any of this? (I mean properly researched and accredited ones rather than random internet articles or initial proposals/un-examined postulations or gibberings, or papers written by people with degrees in New Age Idiocy or Homeopathy.)

Only because, at the moment, I can't help but hear the sound of tiny hooves (in the key of C-Maj of course) as the word "bollocks" canters cheerfully into view.

[shufflebeat]

I've been trying to find a link to a BBC radio series that discussed this very subject. Various orchestral luminaries played and analysed the "unique" properties of the various keys but when the question was asked whether this was intrinsic to the key or the mechanics of the piano and stave there was conflicting opinion with the majority being with the "mechanical" argument.

The killer point seemed to be that the different properties of brass family meant that the "home" key varied with the physical properties rather than the ear of the listener.

[Tomás Mulcahy]

There is apparently a mega-hit called “Fancy” by a guy called Iggy Azalea and I have never heard of either.

Probably some pop act or dance craze.

[Sam Spoons]

It's all been downhill since we let them Morris Dancers onto the village green...

[RichardT]

I've been trying to find a link to a BBC radio series that discussed this very subject. Various orchestral luminaries played and analysed the "unique" properties of the various keys but when the question was asked whether this was intrinsic to the key or the mechanics of the piano and stave there was conflicting opinion with the majority being with the "mechanical" argument.

The killer point seemed to be that the different properties of brass family meant that the "home" key varied with the physical properties rather than the ear of the listener.

Yes, it’s quite common for musicians to give keys certain qualities. Before equal temperament, each key had slightly different intervals - though they weren’t always consistent - and so could easily have a different emotional effect. Less so after equal temperament and I wonder how much is down to expectation and how much is real. I don’t know.

[MixAndMatch]

Curious what Key you guys use when using auto tune for vocals. I know the "classic T Pain" style is a C Major but I have been using D-Major on my vocals and it seems to sound better. Curious what you guys are using. Attached is my vocals with D-Major for reference.
https://youtu.be/LQLKdus7woA

Yes, C major is the sweet spot.

It has to do with ear anatomy but also frequencies and how they resonate within the ear. This is why some keys sound 'better'. It is because the inner ear drum is resonating at a more comfortable frequency. The further you go from C maj the more the resonation so this could explain the effect on/in the listener. This is why very few pieces (if indeed any) in the classical period were written in B major (although at the time no one would have been aware of the fact even though they may have been witnessing some light ear discomfort). C major is the 'purest' of all keys and resonates at just 262 hz (which matches certain bodily biorhythms) so it seems reasonable that vocals put into this key are going to be more easily absorbed in the ear canal because those resonances are cancelling each other out.

This is in fact how some noise cancelling hearing aids work. It is also the same principle as the need for troops to break marching pattern when going over certain bridges in big cities (London or NY for example). It makes sense then, to tune a vocal to the most sonically amenable key. There may also be psychoacoustical factors at work here too. It's certainly an interesting area and there's a few articles available online.

I don’t believe this is even slightly true. Plus it’s pointless tuning vocals to C major if the tune is in E major, say.

It is fairly easy nowadays to tune the track to C maj. On Cubase for example, this can be done with a simple mouse click. Most pop music nowadays is in C maj. There has to be a reason for this and I agree with the OP as to the vocal advantages of this key. Simply put, the best results can be obtained in C. Don't take my word for it, try it for yourselves!

[Sam Spoons]

And we haven't touched on A = 432 Hz yet

[Martin Walker]

I am currently looking for someplace to crawl under

How about an Azalea bush?

Andy is obviously aware of the main area of Iggy Azalea's notoriety

Martin

[N i g e l]

it’s quite common for musicians to give keys certain qualities. Before equal temperament, each key had slightly different intervals

no no no ! Equal temperment is the bodge.

The natural doh ray me ... scale exists for each of the base notes and are harmonious to the ear.

The equal temperment scale is based on mathmatics that minimise the frequency error for each of the scales when they are compressed into 12 notes/frequencies.

[fretless instrument & gypsie jazz players stop laughing now !!!! ]

each of the scales therefore has differnt errors, giving different emotions & qualities.

Modern synthesizers allow for the different rootnote/scales & its on my list of things todo once ive mastered the bigger picture of choosing the right notes, playing them in the right order & at the right time.

in the mean time [normal times] listen to the Academy of ancient music, playing authentic scales on authentic instruments.

"If it isnt baroque dont fix it "

[Murray B]

It is fairly easy nowadays to tune the track to C maj. On Cubase for example, this can be done with a simple mouse click. Most pop music nowadays is in C maj. There has to be a reason for this and I agree with the OP as to the vocal advantages of this key. Simply put, the best results can be obtained in C. Don't take my word for it, try it for yourselves!

I have no opinion on whether or not C major is a more resonant key for the human ear, but there are a lot of scales with many of the same notes in and many shared chords too. But this could also explain the claim that Dm is also a key of extreme power and is perhaps the saddest of all keys.

I also have no clue if the majority of pop music is in C but I'd also contend that as DAW input via a midi keyboard has become the standard way of creating music for many artists working from home - it's just easier to stick to the white notes if you aren't a skilled keyboard player? It gets a lot trickier to use the black notes if you aren't sure what you are doing

[Johnsy]

Most pop music nowadays is in C maj.

Not according to this:

https://io9.gizmodo.com/a-chart-of-the- ... 1703086174

[Eddy Deegan]

Most pop music nowadays is in C maj.

I suspect this to be a case of most trolls preferring C-maj and do not predict a glittering future on the forum for them should they continue in the same vein