Youtube videos and being in tune

[Toonttm]

Hey folks,

I'm playing along to a lot of youtube videos, but I cannot seem to get in tune.
Great example is AC DC, Highway to Hell, my guitar just doesn't sound right.
I have heard there is post-processing which can alter a song. Is it something like that or is my tuner out of whack?
I find it quite frustrating as a lot of songs I try and play along with, my guitar it out of tune.



Many (huge) thanks in advance if you can help me sort this out.
Playing with youtube tracks is kinda my relaxation!

Cheers

Toonttm

 

[Cryin_Caleb_Aaron]

It could be an intonation issue. Your strings may be tuned to pitch, but your notes could be sharp or flat on the fretboard.

 

[Toonttm]

It could be an intonation issue. Your strings may be tuned to pitch, but your notes could be sharp or flat on the fretboard.

the funny thing is that with lots of other videos I am in tune...????
I just don't know enough about the tech side, I just want to jam along with something, lol

 

[DougWheeler74]

I don't know if this applies, but it way back in time when cassettes were the medium for small releases. I was trying to play long with a friends album but my guitar was off on just one song. It urned out that after recording the song it felt that the tempo was just a little slow the audio engineer sped it up putting the whole thing just slightly sharp. The change wasn't enough to make it sound off but it was hard to play along with it.

 

[oneforsorrow]

I don't know if this applies, but it way back in time when cassettes were the medium for small releases. I was trying to play long with a friends album but my guitar was off on just one song. It urned out that after recording the song it felt that the tempo was just a little slow the audio engineer sped it up putting the whole thing just slightly sharp. The change wasn't enough to make it sound off but it was hard to play along with it.

I was going to suggest that it may be a case of tape manipulation.

 

[Vdub66]

Also, back in the day people tuned by ear on a lot of these recordings. There are multiple recordings that are just slightly sharp or flat. I love playing along with older stuff and am constantly retuning to match up with what happened.

 

[KuKuKu]

I had that problem, too, when I tried to play along a 50s Rockabilly song. Don't remember exactly which one, it was probably Carl Perkins' "Honey don't". Turned out it was recorded a bit too slow or fast. I fixed that by downloading it as mp3 und put it in Audacity and adjusted the pitch. Maybe give that a try.

 

[juks]

AC/DC is using drop D tuning. Hence normal tuning would sound very much off if you try to play along.

 

[GDGT]

Also, back in the day people tuned by ear on a lot of these recordings. There are multiple recordings that are just slightly sharp or flat. I love playing along with older stuff and am constantly retuning to match up with what happened.

There are a lot of possible variables here—tape stretch, playback speed, tuning by ear, etc—but another one is that on some recordings that use rarely-tuned or difficult-to-tune instruments, the band will tune to that instrument (like a piano) because the cost, time, and expense of getting that other instrument corrected is too high.

A studio I've been in a couple times has a rarely-used "tack piano" (a modified upright with brass tacks on the felts: think "Lady Madonna") and the whole instrument is about 15 cents sharp. It's (mostly) in tune to itself, at least. I'm sure they'll get it closer to concert pitch one day.

 

[Henry]

I doubt it's youtube. Some older studio songs are published with changes in tempo which means they are off standard tuning even if recorded in standard tuning. If it's a lve show, then the instrument may be out of tune

 

[audept]

Also, back in the day people tuned by ear on a lot of these recordings. There are multiple recordings that are just slightly sharp or flat. I love playing along with older stuff and am constantly retuning to match up with what happened.

Welcome to the forum, @Vdub66 !

 

[dmunson]

It's not you. Even back in the 60's when I was playing along, with records, many of them were "out of tune". The Beatles were the worst, and the Ventures were the best, at recording in tune. I keep that in mind whenever I try working with YT.

 

[cielski]

It's not you. Even back in the 60's when I was playing along, with records, many of them were "out of tune". The Beatles were the worst, and the Ventures were the best, at recording in tune. I keep that in mind whenever I try working with YT.

Engineers would speed up or slow down songs likely as ordered by the producers.
Many bands would play slower and tune lower in concert to make it easier to sing.

 

[Toonttm]

Seems I stumbled across what might be the answer. I know that most AC DC is standard tuning, there is the odd song which is Eb tuning, and there is even a capo used for "A long way to the top" to match the bagpipes, lol.

But, what Justin from "justin guitar" says is that it is most likely a recording issue due to technology at the time. For Dirty Deeds he reckons it is around 25/100th of a semitone flat! He states that originally he used to change the tuning of his guitar, but he now uses software to change the recording and leaves his guitar in standard tuning. Hence, the 25/100th of a semitone value comes from the software setting he was using! I have posted the 1 minute clip where he discusses this.

Anyway, thank you for all the input, now to try and do what Justin has done and modify the recording =)

Opps, seems I can't upload the video so I'll post the link instead. He talks about this as 12mim22 and finishes around 13min16

 

[Falconetti]

Songs recorded or processed at something other than concert pitch is very common. Many guitar based bands play tuned down a semitone all the time to make things easier on the singer. An example of post production adjustment is the Cure’s ‘Friday I’m in love‘. It is nominally in D but will sound awful if you try to play along with the recording. i believe it was adjusted about a quarter tone sharp due to accidental post production and Robert Smith just liked how it sounded.

 

[JohnnyLaw]

If I simply have to play along to a particular recording that s not to concert/A440, I tune to the recording. It only takes a minute, and I can always “rewind” on Youtube and start the video over.

 

[Shadowy_Man]

the funny thing is that with lots of other videos I am in tune...????
I just don't know enough about the tech side, I just want to jam along with something, lol

Some recorded music is slightly slowed down or sped up, which can make it fall outside of standard A440 tuning. I imagine you'd have to be slightly flat or slightly sharp to match the recording.

 

[BuddyHollywood]

For most of the last half of the 20th century professional recordings were made on 2" tape. It was common practice to speed up or slow down a recording during mixing to get the best feeling tempo for a song.

 

[Toonttm]

The Transcribe software is $US39, but there is a free app called Transpose. I just added it to my browser and tried a few videos, it seems to work really well. Can't wait to plugin the guitar and try it properly.

Transpose | Pitch Shifter - Browser Extension

Pitch shifter, speed changer and looper for online videos like YouTube. Musician's toolbox for practicing and rehearsing.

transpose.video

 

[stevo]

Almost never will your guitar match a YouTube video. I use the “Amazing Slow Downer” app to change the pitch of the song to match my guitar.