Daniel Keller for Universal Audio:
While you’ve been working hard and paying attention to the songs, the parts, the sounds, and all the other big-picture stuff, maybe something’s just ever so slightly out of tune. I’m not talking about the really obvious slightly sharp high E string on the rhythm guitar; sometimes it’s the subtle stuff that makes all the difference.
Nothing like an out of tune instrument to kill recording.
Good link. Thanks, Jim. I’ve actually had to re-record entire drum tracks because of toms that are 50 cents out from the bass.
Good article. I love the conclusion. Especially this: “Just like quantizing rhythm tracks to soul-less perfection, tweaking every microscopic note of every part is the audio equivalent of chasing your tail until you lose sight of everything you ever loved about music.”
The bottom line is that the twelve-tone scale is a compromise. Fourths and Fifths are nearly perfect but the major third is 13 cents sharp and the minor third is 14 cents flat from their ideal 5/4 and 6/5 respective ratios. String players and good vocalists automatically compensate but there’s not much we fretted instrument players can do. Chasing perfection is a fool’s errand.