ReaPitch

Need a helping hand to make sure you do it right, first time? Got some good advice to pass on, so no-one makes the same mistakes you did? This is your forum.
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Armistice
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ReaPitch

Post by Armistice »

This probably falls into the "I should just do it and see" camp, but you're all bored and lonely so I'll ask anyway.... :biggrin:

The Christmas song thing - it's a piano song with some intricacies in timing, and I have to not only play it on guitar but also change the key by downtuning a semi or tone so I can sing it better, and actually play it - there are chords here which do not translate easily - I have to work in the root position and I'm going down, not up, so I can't capo.

I want to put an MP3 of the original into Reaper, play along with it on a single guitar to try to match the timing as best I can, then piss the original off, change the pitch of the recorded track to my desired, lower pitch using ReaPitch, retune the guitar (which I've mistuned to match the chord shapes in the original - it's piano, it's just not so simple!) and retrack what will be the keeper track with the guitar correctly tuned, playing along to the pitch shifted track to match the timing as best as I can.

I could just attempt to pitch shift the original MP3 I guess but that would probably sound super weird, or I could just try to play along with the retuned guitar in a different key to the original MP3, but I'm guessing this will just be too offputting as well.

That would work, wouldn't it? It's a clean electric guitar - I just don't know how ReaPitch will handle the chords. The retuned track would be discarded, obviously, and wouldn't end up in the final tune...

Thoughts?

I could just try it but it's Friday night and I'm not getting guitars out just now. If it doesn't work, I'll have to think of another way, and, gasp, learn the song properly... but who has the time? :cool:
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JD01
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Re: ReaPitch

Post by JD01 »

Why don't you just get your metronome kind of in time with the song so you've got your tempo right, and just learn how to play the song? Then you don't have to worry about playing along to a backing track.
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Armistice
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Re: ReaPitch

Post by Armistice »

JD01 wrote: Fri Nov 17, 2017 5:07 am Why don't you just get your metronome kind of in time with the song so you've got your tempo right, and just learn how to play the song? Then you don't have to worry about playing along to a backing track.
Trust me JD, this is very definitely not a song you can put a metronome to - it has huge amounts of bar by bar slowing down in spots for "feel"... it's almost the sort of thing you'd "one take" with guitar plugged in and singing at the same time, but I doubt I'd do either justice that way, so I have to find an alternative solution...
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JD01
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Re: ReaPitch

Post by JD01 »

Fair enough, sounds awkward. I stuck to a simple one... then totally re-arranged it to make it even simpler and sound like something I'd play.
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Armistice
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Re: ReaPitch

Post by Armistice »

JD01 wrote: Fri Nov 17, 2017 6:01 am Fair enough, sounds awkward. I stuck to a simple one... then totally re-arranged it to make it even simpler and sound like something I'd play.
I'm trying to decide whether to attempt a Waitsian rasp with the singing, or just sing it normally. But I have to get the instrumental track, or one of them, in place before that. Goal for this weekend!
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JD01
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Re: ReaPitch

Post by JD01 »

Ah, I just basically turned a chirstmas carol into one of my own songs.
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Greg_L
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Re: ReaPitch

Post by Greg_L »

I do this all the time with covers. Very rarely can I do my version in the same key as the original.

Just pitch-adjust the MP3 source track so you can play along in your desired key. It's so much easier than all the shenanigans you're talking about. Who cares if it sounds a little weird? You're only using it as a guide to track it your way.
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Armistice
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Re: ReaPitch

Post by Armistice »

Sounds like the way to go. I probably would have tried that anyway first seeing I had the track there. I've just never used ReaPitch for anything, so was wondering how good it would work and was too lazy to wander over and try it out on a Friday night when there was wine to be drunk and reruns of Deadwood to watch... :lollers:

Cocksuckers! :biggrin:
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Re: ReaPitch

Post by Greg_L »

Armistice wrote: Fri Nov 17, 2017 5:14 pm Sounds like the way to go. I probably would have tried that anyway first seeing I had the track there. I've just never used ReaPitch for anything, so was wondering how good it would work and was too lazy to wander over and try it out on a Friday night when there was wine to be drunk and reruns of Deadwood to watch... :lollers:

Cocksuckers! :biggrin:
I don't even know what "reapitch" is. I just import an MP3, right-click, item properties, pitch adjust up or down however many semitones I need. If there's an easier way, just do that.
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Armistice
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Re: ReaPitch

Post by Armistice »

Greg_L wrote: Fri Nov 17, 2017 6:07 pm
Armistice wrote: Fri Nov 17, 2017 5:14 pm Sounds like the way to go. I probably would have tried that anyway first seeing I had the track there. I've just never used ReaPitch for anything, so was wondering how good it would work and was too lazy to wander over and try it out on a Friday night when there was wine to be drunk and reruns of Deadwood to watch... :lollers:

Cocksuckers! :biggrin:
I don't even know what "reapitch" is. I just import an MP3, right-click, item properties, pitch adjust up or down however many semitones I need. If there's an easier way, just do that.
It's Reaper's onboard pitchshifter - of course you're right - I didn't even think of the Item properties thing - seen it a million times, but never had cause to use it to change pitch. Worked a treat - doesn't sound half bad either, considering... :wink:
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Re: ReaPitch

Post by vomitHatSteve »

Huh. I didn't know you could pitch-shift individual media items. I've used reapitch a lot.
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jonny deep
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Re: ReaPitch

Post by jonny deep »

Select the item(s), hit F2, change the pitch property. Simples.

Works for midi too.
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