Pitch Applications 87
MD8—Owner’s Manual
Pitch Applications
Adjusting the pitch is a common multitrack technique. It’s useful when recording instru-
ments that are slightly out of tune. For example, you’ve recorded the drum and bass parts
and now it’s time to record the acoustic piano part. However, the piano is a little flat. The
easy way around this problem is to record the piano part at a lower pitch with the pianist
playing a little slower. When you play back the recording at normal pitch, the piano part is
in tune with everything else.
The Pitch function can also be used when recording a vocal phrase with high notes that a
vocalist cannot quite reach. For example, drums, bass, guitar, and lead vocals have already
been recorded. Now it’s time to record the vocal harmonies. The vocalist, however, cannot
quite reach some of the high notes. The easy way around this is to record the harmony part
at a reduced pitch with the vocalist singing a little slower. When you play back the recording
at normal pitch, you have the high notes of the harmony and they’re in tune with everything
else.
A more advanced pitch technique that can be used to capture a super-fast guitar solo, which
is difficult to play repeatedly, is to detune your guitar so that it matches the reduced pitch of
the MD8. Then record the solo at the slower speed and pitch. When you play back the record-
ing at normal pitch, you have a super-fast guitar solo that’s in tune with everything else.
Monitoring
Whether you use CUE or STEREO for monitoring depends on your recording method. For
example, if after recording the first track you do not intend to use Input Channel 1 again
(i.e., other sounds will be recorded via other channels), you can use STEREO to monitor
Track 1. This allows you to pan the track and apply some EQ. Essentially, you can start build-
ing up your final mix. If, however, you intend to use Input Channel 1 again to record another
music source, it’s best to use CUE to monitor Track 1. If you use the punch in/out functions,
you must use CUE for monitoring.