Hearing Flat With Headphones Options

[wrk]

Hi Guys,

In the topic “Vibrato Bends Question” i have tried to explain an issue to hear pitches correctly when recording. It’s something which bothered me for quite some time, but never tried to really understand whats going on.

To recap my problem: When recording a solo i often have difficulties to evaluate the pitch of some bends, mostly on some tiny spots with quick bends or pre-bends. Well aware of technical inability’s on the guitar, i somehow thought my ears were not too bad, always something to improve ofc. Still wondering why i hear these pitch issues, but not instantly or direct after playback.

Searching the internet i found some interesting discussions about a similar issue. Often a singer tend to sing flat when recording with headphones. I figured, singing is somehow comparable to string bends as the player actively manipulates the pitch. I assumed the pitch issue has something to do with high overtone frequencies, which are more or less audible on different speakers. I guess that was a wrong approche.

What i found out, increased volume does effect pitch perception, especially with headphones. There are different explanations, like lower frequencies are perceived a bit flat in pitch and the singer tries to adjust to this or bass frequencies modulating the mid and high frequencies. Maybe both, don’t know what is exactly happening, but the effect seems similar to what i experience. For different reasons i mainly use headphones for practicing and recording and over the process i slowly turn up the volume bit by bit to get me rocking. Not extremely loud but yeah, it’s not on "meditation level"

Just thought it might be interesting for some of you. Keep your volume low when working on your bends and pitch and maybe try to avoid headphones all the time! Everything can be learned, but it's sometimes good to get aware of what is happening

Anyone have similar experiences or thoughts on this?

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