Recently I have been playing with the Vocal Harmoniser on the 9000Pro. With the microphone I'm using I am getting some nice clean sound....unfortunately my voice is not so clean...Ha!!!
(As a boy I had a reasonable voice in the local church choir).

QUESTION. How does one decide and find the best key to play in to suit ones singing voice.

Graham UK

I often struggle with this too. I would be able to sing it ok privately but when it comes time to sing with lots of people around me, the key would turn out to be too high some of the times.

I usually use the rule that people normal range is from C note to the next C octave and adjust songs so that the lowest range and highest range falls in that range. It usually works. But not all the time. I also try to sing the song mentally going through the whole range of notes instead of using the voice and that seems to work a lot too and getting that "sweet" key better. Then trying it with the voice afterward.

anyone else ?

Graham,

I'm not the expert that some of the others are on the forum but I try to pick a key where the highest note in the song will be about two notes lower than the top note of my range. If the song goes high and stays high for a long time I might drop it a little more.

Tom

I'm close to agreement with Tom, except that I try to keep the highest note about 1 full step below the top of my range (which is about 'F') .... therefore any song not going above Eb is ok .... However, also like Tom, if the song stays in that upper range, I would probably go lower, and there are times when I might stretch to F# or G on a one shot deal ....
t.

Graham,

The rule of thumb, at least according to my community college vocal instructor, is to pick the highest note that you are comfortable with in a particular song, then work from that level down.

There are no rules etched in stone as to which chord you select to sing a particular song. You just work in the confort zone. Works for me!

Cheers,

Gary

Thank you all for your reply's. It all sounds like common sense answers, its just that I wanted to confirm to myself I was thinking on the same lines.
I have not previously played about with the Vocal Harmoniser, but find its an enjoyable experience....just wish I was a choir boy again !!!!.

Graham UK

Some sylables will sound easier than others, so even if the pitch is the same - the 2 notes may not be equally easy/hard to hit. A lot has to do with breath, placement, support, diction ..... it's a science, and it has limitations, that's for sure.
I can sing a "G" above the staff, but only in Piano Man ...... and only at a pretty good volume. In softer songs, with different words.... I stay away from anything higher than an Eb mostly.
Billy Joel and I both hate singing in "E".

I have always heard that the "D" key is pretty universal for everyone. Has anyone else heard that?

pat

Kind of along the same topic, I once worked in a group where the lead guitarist/vocalist performed everything one half step down from the originals (supposedly to ease strain for singing) and accomplished this by tuning everything half step down rather than playing it half step down.

Tell you what, I was never so thankful for my keyboards transpose button.

The idea of his tuning never really did make sense to me even though I had heard of others doing this same thing on occasion.

Your thoughts on this?



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The old Newb

There is only ONE rule for deciding keys. SOUND.
If it's a vocal - the voice has to sound best.
If it's an instrumental - the melody instrument has to sound best.
That's it. Period. End of story.
Make it the best for the instrument that carries the tune.

As a singer, I make sure my keys suit my range and comfort zone before anything else. Boo (or any sax player) would have an awful time accompaning me because I often play in B, E, or F#. Can't be helped - sometimes, that where my voice NEEDS to be.
I hate it when people tell me to play something in "the original" key. I have no idea what that is most times ! I know it in the key I LEARNED it in, because that's why I learned it in the first place. I learned it to perform it myself, not accompany others in someone else's key.
That's the biggest reason I discourage amature guest singers. Most don't know the key, the words or the way to sell the tune. They're just having fun. They can do that at home. When I'm working ..... I'm too busy to babysit Karaoke pipe dreams.

On a brighter point: I'm almost moved into my new birthday house ! Yipeeeeeeee !