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Play along with songs that are not in A=440?

#21
I use moises to do this. it has the benefit of also being able to remove the bass track to play along or isolate it to transcribe. Yes it's really hard to play with something that is out of tune. Lots of examples but Stones jumping jack flash studio recording is A=449 and really hard to play through that way. Lots of old recordings are sped up etc. Another opton for learning songs is to find a live version. They are usually A-440 but sometimes may be in a different key (downtuned).
 
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#22
This thread reminds me of my experience buying a new turntable in 1979. I was torn between two great turntables, and was ready to buy one except for the fact that it's speed was not adjustable. When I explained my dilemma to the man who owned the store, he solved my problem by adding a defeatable variable pitch control. Problem solved! :)
 
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#23
I have a session in Ableton for all the songs not in A440 that i like playing along to.
- Drop in the song
- Turn on warping so the speed stays the same even if the pitch changes
- Adjust the pitch of the track up or down until it's in tune with my bass. (Usually between 10-15 cents, but i've seen as far as 50 cents off)
- Solo that track and play along.

Also handy for songs in Eb and i'm too lazy to tune down or switch to my 5 string.

Any modern DAW you have probably has some sort of warp or elastic audio engine, and the ability to pitch shift audio files cent by cent. (100 cents per note/half-step/semitone)

Sometimes i'll pick up my fretless and use it as an ear/intonation exercise.


Back in the 90s i used to tune up and down for every song that was slightly off, or just deal with it being ever so slightly out of tune. Way easier to deal with these days.
 
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#24
Nowadays, I am digging the bass line on “Love to love you baby” by Donna Summer. Awesome song to play along with. Unfortunately, they sped up the recording a little bit. The song’s pitch is about A = 450.

BTW, since I have Helix Native, it will be easier for me to use its pitch shifter.
 
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#28
Gorn said:
What's an example of a song on Spotify I can play along to that has this problem?
Click to expand...
I keep a Spotify playlist of songs I find between keys. Here’s a few
 

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#29
#31
Chrisk-K said:
Not sure if this is the right forum to ask this question, but anyway...

Is there a Mac OS or Windows easy-to-use app that can pitch shift songs on Spotify to A = 440 so that I don't have to tune my bass to each song's idiosyncratic pitch when playing along? Lots of songs in the 70's and 80's are not in the standard pitch of A = 440. Of course, I could record those songs into Logic and pitch-shift them, but doing so is a hassle when I suddenly feel the urge to play along.
Click to expand...
Great thread. Thanks.
 
#34
guitarflinger said:
Help Me Rhonda seems to be in Eb, which always bugged me in terms of not being able to play along. Retuning the bass for that song worked, though clumsy
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Back in the day, if a record was off pitch a little bit or between pitches, we would re-tune our instruments to match the record to learn the song. Then we would re-tune to standard to perform it. Capital Records used to do this as standard practice - speed up the master to get more "excitement" out of a song. For example, compare the UK releases with the USA releases of early Beatles songs - Capital Records in the USA and Parlophone in the UK were both subsidiaries of EMI, but with different management for the different national markets. The Beach Boys also recorded with Capital Records in the early days, so this may explain the awkwardness with the pitch.
 
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#35
Back in the day, bands that didn't have a keyboard in the group tuned to whatever they could.

Cream tuned to Jack Bruce's harmonica. Taj Mahal's quartet with Jesse Ed Davis, Gilmore and Blackwell tuned to Taj's big chromatic harp.

I have all that stuff on original vinyl and sometimes I alter the speed of my turntable to compensate.

Other times, I leave the turntable set to correct speed and grab an unlined fretless to do a bit of fun house ear training.
 
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#37
xposaune said:
I use moises to do this. it has the benefit of also being able to remove the bass track to play along or isolate it to transcribe. Yes it's really hard to play with something that is out of tune. Lots of examples but Stones jumping jack flash studio recording is A=449 and really hard to play through that way. Lots of old recordings are sped up etc. Another opton for learning songs is to find a live version. They are usually A-440 but sometimes may be in a different key (downtuned).
Click to expand...
Yeah, The Stones were very cavalier about the whole tuning to pitch thing. Lots of examples.

BBB
 
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#38

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