Terrible Singer, Can I fix it?

[hondacrxdude]

I'm currently recording a friend of mine, sadly, singing isn't there best quality.  I keep having him sing take after take hoping I can have enough to make something decent but so far, that hasn't been working out either.  What do you guys recommend? Is it possible to use a small amount of autotune where it doesn't sound like T-Pain?

[RawDepth]

So, who led him to believe that he was ready for the studio?

[stainless]

sometimes the best approach is to simply be honest and state your opinion that the vocals just aren't cutting it

the studio can be a very humbling experience place as the recording media whether it be tape of digital has no preference, sympathy or compassion- if there's pitch problems, it is what it is

Pitch correction .... sometimes I think this was an evil invention, allowing folks to 'slide by' the honesty of the music-  a little pitch correction is usually not too noticeable, but it sounds like you're already accepting the fact that it's gonna take some work- sometimes the old say "you can't polish a turd" has more relevance and irony than you'd like ... but....

I'd suggest that your friend go home and practice and do it looking into a mirror- not because he/she needs to see themselves but it keeps their chin up which helps to keep the diaphragm from being compressed, so breathing is much better. Breath is the most common culprit

or re-work the song, changing to a key they can sing

If they think they sound great, bounce the song and let them deal with well meaning friends and relatives- who know's could be the next Yoko Ono?

[hondacrxdude]

I'm going to have a sit down with him, let him hear himself from the recording and also talk to him about working on his singing skills.  Just maybe I can salvage this.  Besides singing into the mirror, are there any other way I could possibly help him sing better?  Lessons?  Youtube videos? anything?

[stainless]

a voice coach can do wonders, but it's not a quick fix, so he would have to commit to some period of time/lessons/meetings-

there are exercises designed to improve breathing and breath control (they are not the same) might be something on YouTube

but the sing-along method isn't always the greatest as there's always reference notes for the person to sing/sound out- the challenge is can they hit the notes when the only reference is in their head?

[Robin.bjerke]

If all else fails, try melodyne.

I bought it a couple months ago and it really is something else. As with all tools it must be used with taste though, but it is definitely the ebst tuning plugin I have ever encountered.

You can even change the key of chords with it, which is theoretically impossible...

www.celemony.com

[stainless]

Do you really like Melodyne over Antares EVO?

I have both... as well as an outboard TCHelicon- I find i use Antares more, TC of building harmonies, and Melodyne when there's a really off note here and there (only because I haven't figured out the graphical mode for EVO yet... and in truth I haven't put mush time in it

[Robin.bjerke]

I havent used antares EVO I must admit,

But the cool thing with Melodyne is the flexibility. And the way it can affect pitch without changing the voicing and the character of the singer. I also love they way you can work with polyphonic material, like changing single notes in a piano chord or a guitar chord.

I'll have a look into Antares EVO though.