• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Notes randomly are higher in pitch: what things to watch out?

Aloe

Aloe

Apr 10, 2016
3,506
1
4,668
Ukraine
#1
during the last recording session I've got a lot of complaints about notes being randomly sharper at some times. I've checked my fretted notes on a turbo-tuner, they were spot on. then played a piece. and I can definitely hear some notes being up a bit higher, enough to disturb other musicians.

I've tried to spot this leopard in the wild and indeed there're several things which make my note higher than proper pitch:
1. unintentionally bending a string with left hand
2. plucking a note with more force
3. plucking parallel to fretboard not perpendicular (this one quite surprised me, as I don't really understand the physics behind it)

are there some other things that may affect the pitch to watch out?
any advice how to deal with the ones, I already found?

thanks
 
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: Dust2Dust and pholli00
#2
Aloe said:
during the last recording session I've got a lot of complaints about notes being randomly sharper at some times. I've checked my fretted notes on a turbo-tuner, they were spot on. then played a piece. and I can definitely hear some notes being up a bit higher, enough to disturb other musicians.

I've tried to spot this leopard in the wild and indeed there're several things which make my note higher than proper pitch:
1. unintentionally bending a string with left hand
2. plucking a note with more force
3. plucking parallel to fretboard not perpendicular (this one quite surprised me, as I don't really understand the physics behind it)

are there some other things that may affect the pitch to watch out?
any advice how to deal with the ones, I already found?

thanks
Click to expand...
Pushing down too hard on the string. Light touches and let the amp do the work.

Check your intonation at the first few frets (nut may need to be filed), the check it at 5th, 7th, 12th, 15th. It’s nearly impossible to perfectly intonate a guitar. Depending on where you play most often make sure it’s intonated in that area as good as you can get it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HolmeBass, LowEndSoul, MonetBass and 11 others
#3
BGroovy said:
Pushing down too hard on the string. Light touches and let the amp do the work.
Click to expand...

yeah, this also works, but with this particular bass I'm trying to pluck a bit harder, as s/n ratio is considerably better then (pickups are picking some hum). so basically I'm looking a way to develop a way with a moderate-light touch.

BGroovy said:
Check your intonation at the first few frets (nut may need to be filed), the check it at 5th, 7th, 12th, 15th.
Click to expand...

intonation is great, I've double-checked it. but the way I fret and pluck sometimes moves the things off.
 
#4
Aloe said:
yeah, this also works, but with this particular bass I'm trying to pluck a bit harder, as s/n ratio is considerably better then (pickups are picking some hum). so basically I'm looking a way to develop a way with a moderate-light touch.



intonation is great, I've double-checked it. but the way I fret and pluck sometimes moves the things off.
Click to expand...
If you have enough hum/noise coming through that you can hear it in the mix, I'd investigate that. Usually not something noticeable when a band is playing. Look at shielding/grounding, maybe add a noise gate. If you're changing your playing style due to hum I'd say something is off.
 
#6
BGroovy said:
If you have enough hum/noise coming through that you can hear it in the mix, I'd investigate that. Usually not something noticeable when a band is playing. Look at shielding/grounding, maybe add a noise gate. If you're changing your playing style due to hum I'd say something is off.
Click to expand...

grounding is perfect, shielding is also re-done by me, but the pickups are catching some hum from dirty power. if I'm running that home on a gas generator, they're silent. it's not the amp, just somehow the pickups catch some interference from wires in the walls.

yeah, I know, changing the pickups is an option, but not sure if swapping bh2s to cbcs will make a difference. my other bass has active pickups and they're much more emi-resistant.

this is not an issue when playing live, but is on a record, especially during intro, when it's quiet and not a lot of sounds around.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BGroovy
#7
Aloe said:
grounding is perfect, shielding is also re-done by me, but the pickups are catching some hum from dirty power. if I'm running that home on a gas generator, they're silent. it's not the amp, just somehow the pickups catch some interference from wires in the walls.

yeah, I know, changing the pickups is an option, but not sure if swapping bh2s to cbcs will make a difference. my other bass has active pickups and they're much more emi-resistant.

this is not an issue when playing live, but is on a record, especially during intro, when it's quiet and not a lot of sounds around.
Click to expand...
got it, yeah recording is a whole nother beast, you can enable a noise gate in the DAW to try and curb it. I can't record with my single coil jazz basses in my basement for this reason
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aloe
#9
- Squeezing too hard with the fretting hand.
Gripping/pressing to hard is essentially stretching the string/increasing tension on it. How hard you grip while you check the pitch is different from how hard you might be playing during a song, especially if you're playing aggressively with the plucking hand. Gotta be cognizant of maintaining a strong-but-relaxed fretting grip while digging in on the plucking hand.

- The closer you place to the midpoint between two frets could cause it.
Play as close to the fret as possible while still getting a clean sound. The closer to the midpoint you play, the more the string goes down towards the fretboard, stretching it further, increasing the pitch. This issue compounds the sharpness problem if you're squeezing too hard while you play because it's easier to squeeze a string at the midpoint and it will go down further than closer to the fret.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aloe
#11
Aloe said:
during the last recording session I've got a lot of complaints about notes being randomly sharper at some times. I've checked my fretted notes on a turbo-tuner, they were spot on. then played a piece. and I can definitely hear some notes being up a bit higher, enough to disturb other musicians.

I've tried to spot this leopard in the wild and indeed there're several things which make my note higher than proper pitch:
1. unintentionally bending a string with left hand
2. plucking a note with more force
3. plucking parallel to fretboard not perpendicular (this one quite surprised me, as I don't really understand the physics behind it)

are there some other things that may affect the pitch to watch out?
any advice how to deal with the ones, I already found?

thanks
Click to expand...
I really like this question. I didn't even know I should be aware of this. I like the answers you're getting, too! Definitely something to be aware of going forward.
 
#12
It's really hard to get the pitch of a note on a bass to go up dramatically though unintentional means, unless you really grip hard. Yes, the beginning part of a note is always a bit above the end part - the more amplitude the string vibrates with, the higher the average tension is, and that is what does that small pitch shift. If you're playing with guitars, their pitch shifts are mush more than yours - they operate with lower static tension, so when they pluck hard, the relative shift in tension is greater, and their pitches go up more than yours. Also, any vibrato or bends they do easily swamp what happens on a bass.

So, the comments that you're getting, unless you have vices for hands, don't make much sense to me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ronnie Pudding
#15
Always worth noting that whenever you change string gauge you’ll likely need to make an adjustment at the bridge. I recently redid all my basses, and quite a few needed minor tweaking as I’ve moved to lighter gauges.
 
#18
This sounds like something you can correct by practicing your left hand technique. I'd work on finding the minimum viable pressure required to fret a note. Start by resting your finger on the string so it's muted, then begin plucking. As you're plucking, gradually apply more pressure until you hear the fretted note with no buzz. This likely doesn't require as much pressure as you think, and it's very likely that you're tensing up while playing. I've been super guilty of this in the past, and it drove me crazy trying to figure out why I couldn't get my intonation right.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aloe

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back