Tone vs. Pitch

[4Tay]

You hear the judges saying it all the time. Is there a difference between the two? (I know this should be in OOT, but I think I'd get a better response here.)

[zimmer879]

Tone is the quality of the voice. Pitch is whether or not you're hitting the notes.

[Aloysius]

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Tone is the quality of the voice. Pitch is whether or not you're hitting the notes.

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Tonal quality is about personal preference imo... but there are characteristics most people find displeasing and are almost universally bad (e.g. nasally ala Richardson). Also those that have "rounder" tones (the note is sustained and just sounds "full") are generally more pleasing sounding to most people.

Producing a round, pleasing tone is largely a function of proper breathing and diaphragm control. Which is why singers with training can have an edge.

Pitch is not a matter of preference. It's either on point or off-key. FWIW Randy is usually correct when he notes a contestant is "pitchy".

-Al

[LBK]

"FWIW Randy is usually correct when he notes a contestant is "pitchy"."

Well, it's not hard to be wrong when every one of them is consistently pitchy save Melinda.

[pete fabrizio]

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"FWIW Randy is usually correct when he notes a contestant is "pitchy"."

Well, it's not hard to be wrong when every one of them is consistently pitchy save Melinda.

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Melinda has actually had a couple of very small pitch problems, but you'd never notice because she has great tone and great phrasing.

[GoRedBirds]

There are a couple of good posts in this thread about pitch. And a wiki article at the end. Pitch is more or less what note the person is singing, while tone is how the note is sung.

[Aloysius]

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feel stupid, but what does pitchy mean?? i actually don't know what pitch means. does it mean it went on/off key??

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See wikipedia for a link on pitch. Basically off key and pitchy are the same thing.

But pitch does have a subjective value so it may be possible that occasionally the live audience (including the judges) may perceive a performance as different than the TV audience because of what overtones and other sound features are transmitted.

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That's a good post on "pitch" from your linked thread GRB.

And yeah he's right pitch does have a subjective quality to it (to amend my above point)... but for the most part someone is on-point or off-key.

Pete brings up something that gets overlooked alot - "phrasing". Melinda (especially in her "My Funny Valentine" performance) has exceptional, unreal phrasing.

Phrasing is tied to rhythmic choices, volume choices, and general cadence. Sinatra had amazing phrasing, for example, one of the things that made him an exceptional singer.

-Al

[mjkidd]

So "tone" is pretty much the same thing as timbre?

[Aloysius]

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So "tone" is pretty much the same thing as timbre?

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I think so - timbre (I really only hear it wrt instruments, AI Forum musicians C/D) - is like "tone quality". So if it's "warm" or "full" or "thin", I think these descriptions fall under timbre.

-Al