“…how hard it is…to record a great vocal track.”
With all due respect…please…spare me.
I’m a singer.
I sing on pitch.
How else does a singer sing, but on pitch?
Barring a certain punk-rock, Patti Smith/Lou Reed/Randy Newman-type approach, how does a singer take themselves seriously if they can’t sing on pitch?
What is that?
Live or on record (obviously there’s no excuse on record)?
Exactly how “off pitch” are we talking here?
I have perfect pitch.
I know what off-pitch sounds like.
I’ve listened to countless vocals by countless artists on countless recordings that gave me goosebumps and aroused tears.
If I wanted to, I could scrutinize all of them and show many, many instances of less-than-perfect pitch, here and there, in each performance.
Was I “faking it” when those vocal recording caused me to feel profound emotions?
Unless it sounds bad, it doesn’t sound bad.
I’ve never felt profound emotions with a vocal recording that used digital pitch correction.
Humans aren’t machines.
The human expression that occurs when a human sings is what we want to hear when we want to hear singing.
If we want to hear a synthesizer, we can listen to a synthesizer.
If the artist gives me a Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, Daft Punk-type thing, I know what to expect.
If a person’s inability to sing on pitch is so problematic, why are they singing at all?