Out of tune instruments drive me nuts

The intro of Lola was the first think that came to my mind when reading the thread title.

 

Yes, I'm very sensitive which was a drag in the studio. If something or somebody was out of tune it bugged me to no end. An instrument can be retuned but somebody who is singing is another matter. With one singer I had to give him a thumbs up or thumbs down to try to constantly correct his pitch, and that was not very effective.

 

Thank You! For years, I have been bringing this up to family and friends only to be greeted with blank stares and shoulder shrugs. I knew I wasn't crazy (at least in this instance ).

 

The bass in "Beg Borrow and Steal" by the Rare Breed/Ohio Express is also tuned noticeably sharp. Either that, or the bassist is playing a half-step high!

 

Worst out of tune by the fab four

Guitars AND bass out of tune

 

You gotta be kidding! That's just soulful!

This electric guitar on this one is much worse (I'm Looking Through You):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KulSQjjQVPE

 

YES. I suspect the slightly out-of-tune guitar is a big reason why I don't rate the album quite as high as the albums surrounding it.

 

The entire track is slightly flat (about a quarter-step or so), which could have been due to either tape speed or the instruments actually being tuned down... but I don't think there's anything actually "out-of-tune".

 

I don't hear it, either.... if it IS sharp, it's only by a fraction of a semi-tone (definitely not by "a mile").

 

That it is.

 

I give a pass to live recordings and any albums made in studios before the advent of cheap electronic tuners, but it's almost unforgivable that any albums made in this day in age suffer from tuning issues, unless said issues are deliberately part of the recording itself. (i.e. avant-garde, atonal noise rock, etc.)

It's the equivalent of an author releasing a book riddled with obvious spelling errors, and it shows a disdain not only for one's own art, but the intended audience as well.

 

As a long term fan of The Fall, out of tune instruments/vocals have never bothered me at all.

 

Out of tune people drive me nuts...

 

Those are Mellotron parts, I believe, which often had issues with being slightly off-kilter in pitch reproduction.

 

No, it's Paul on recorder, plus some professional flute players.

 

Ah, you're right. I'd been thinking for years that I'd read those recorder and flute parts were all done via a Mellotron, and that was why the recorder sounded "off".

 

Depending on my mood, I find Hendrix' use of a Uni-Vibe on Machine Gun to be a little too extreme in its pitch variation, giving the impression of him being out of tune.

Guitarist Marc Ribot played with Chuck Berry for a time. He said in an interview that Chuck was once so out of tune that Ribot had a choice of keys that he could play along to.

 

Yes, well, that's why I never considered this to be the definitive version.

 

Ditto on Layla. Heard the coda on the way home from work and cringed more than a few times.

 

I don't hear out of tune for the most part. If the feeling and song are there, it doesn't bother me. But I've never been a guitar or keys player either and have no idea how to distinguish chords either. It's something I should teach myself though.

 

Piano on Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)

I read or heard somewhere Lennon saying he always had one of his strings slightly out of tune so he could tell which guitar was his on a recording.

 

The synth solo at the end of ELP's "Lucky Man"

The lead guitar on the intro to Aerosmith's "Dream On"

The coda to "Layla" is an out of tune mess.

 

it's live sounds ok to me

 

again it's live