MusicScribe BLOG

So I got an iPod. Actually I got it two years ago for my dad, but he never used it, so I took it back for myself and let it sit for a good year before I finally took the effort to organize all my music into iTunes.

Since getting it all synced up and running, I’ve been playing my 3000+ songs (that’s not counting what I still have in storage!!) on shuffle. It’s fun to hear songs that I forgot I even had pop up, mixed with songs I’ve been playing non-stop. According to iTunes, I have enough music to listen for a week and not hear the same song twice.

While enjoying my belated entry into the modern music world, I heard “Heartbreak Ridge and New Hope Road” start playing from the GVB Reunion video, and was reminded of something that should be either a glaring mistake, or pure laziness….

The track for the song was lowered a whole step. Big deal, with technology today, you can raise or lower tracks with virtually no audible distortion (other than some goofy-sounding tones, especially from the drums). The mistake/laziness is in the stacks. When you lower the track, you have to do one of three things: lower the pitch digitally on the stacks, recut them in the new key, or not use them at all.

When you buy performance trax in stores, retail versions will not have background vocals present if the track has been repitched; you only get BGV’s in the original key. The reason for this is that, while instruments can be pitch-shifted relatively easily, voices are a whole ‘nuther beast altogether. Voices generally are not shifted more than maybe a half-step in either direction, and that’s only in small pieces (unless you wanna sound like a drunk uncle on thanksgiving or one of the Chipmunks). The biggest complaint with autotuning today is related to this, as well, giving voices an almost robotic sound when they are shifted more than a half-step.

The most logical thing to do in a situation where the track has been shifted as such would be to eliminate the stacks altogether and rely strictly on the live voices. If one INSISTS on using stacks, then they should be recut in the current key.

Gaither did neither of these.

Instead, he left the stacks on the track, pitch shifting and all. The result is an awkward mix of live voices that sound natural and prerecorded voices that sound like a tape is dragging. It’s most noticable in David Phelps’ voice – as a tenor, his tonation tends to be more open, and the track makes him sound like he’s singing everything more rounded, creating a sonic clash.

On top of that, it’s no secret that Bill tends to keep his bass solos intact on the trax. In this case, his “glory” solos sound downright funny, given that it’s already at the bottom of his range, and now it’s being lowered digitally. I’m also pretty sure there’s an autotuner involved, as well, but it sounds like it’s confused as to where to put the pitch.

This seems to be the same track that Bill used during the Together taping with Signature Sound, and the song didn’t make the final cut (although it does appear as a bonus cut on the DVD), maybe for this very reason. I don’t understand why Bill wouldn’t take the time to recut those vocals, or just leave them out altogether, even if it is done after the fact (which is why I lean more toward laziness rather than honest mistake). That’s the only track on the project that I know of that was edited in such a way (even Mike English sang “I Bowed On My Knees” in the original key during the Reunion taping, something he hasn’t done in a while).

The first time I heard Gaither edit tracks in such a way was on the I Do Believe DVD. “Sinner Saved By Grace,” “More Than Ever,” “I Do Believe,” and “Where No One Stands Alone” (and maybe a couple others, I can’t remember for sure) were digitally lowered, but I couldn’t hear any noticable problems with the stacks (unless Bill wasn’t relying on them as much at that time). I haven’t heard of many artists who have lowered tracks digitally outside of Gaither, either; I know that Gerald Wolfe had “Champion of Love” recut with Lari Goss, pitched a half-step lower, and Legacy Five recut “I Stand Redeemed” lower, as well, but in both cases, the tracks were completely redone, not digitally edited.

Thus far, the stacks that are present on Gaither’s (and just about anyone’s) trax have blended okay, but in this instance, not so much.

A video demonstration of what I’m talking about can be found here and here. The first clip is in the original key, shot during the Austrailian Homecoming taping; the second is the one discussed above from the Reunion DVD. And as an added bonus, here it is from the Together taping….