Almost every studio teacher has a tuner that they use on a regular basis to help their students tune their instrument or play in tune. However, now there is a tuner that will show a student visually that their pitch is high or low. It is called Vocal Lab.
Each time your student plays or sings a note, it will show them where they are on the pitch by drawing a green line on a bar graph. If they are exactly on pitch, it will be right on the line for that note. If they are not on pitch it will draw the line either above or below the pitch. The pitches are displayed in real time.
If the student goes up or down in pitch as they hold a note they will be able to see it immediately. I’ve found it incredibly useful for voice students since they can see exactly where their pitch is in relationship to where it should be and visually see what their corrections do to the pitch.
The tuner can be customized to make it easier or harder for the student to get the green line on the pitch line by changing settings in the preference panel to make the dots larger or smaller and the tuner track faster or slower.
The resulting graphs can then be saved for future reference or printed for the student to take home with them. You can download a free trial version of the software to check it out. However, the software is very inexpensive and more than pays for itself on the first use. The only downside is that it is only available for Macintosh computers.
After I wrote this story, I received several requests for a PC compatible version of this software. The company that makes Vocal Lab does not currently produce one. However, after some digging around on the internet, I was able to find one! It is called Singing Coach. There is also a version for kids called Singing Coach Kidz. It creates a graph similar to the one created by vocal lab and has a few added features as well.
On the basic version, you can track three students progress, there are 20 lessons to help you improve your pitch and you can view sheet music online (something not available on vocal lab. The software is a little more expensive than Vocal Lab, but it definately looks like it is work it. There is also another version of the software called Singing Coach Unlimited. It tracks 6 students and comes with a headset microphone. It comes with 24 practice songs and 12 song downloads.
About the Author
Singer and Voice Teacher, Amy Gould has performed for numerous audiences around the western Michigan area. She is a vocalist and flutist with the 126 Army Band from Wyoming, Michigan and has performed as a guest artist with the Grand Rapids Symphonic Band. She has also performed with the Grand Rapids Opera Chorus and as a substitute for The Musekgon Camarata Singers. Throughout her teaching career of more than ten years, Amy has helped hundreds of students to improve their voices and reach their singing goals. She holds a B.A. in Vocal Music Performance from Michigan State University and has studied at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. She has also attended master classes in vocal pedagogy by Richard Miller and acting by Mark Taslitt. Currently, she teaches private voice lessons and directs the VSA Adult Choir for adults with special needs. She also writes and produces her own podcast and blog to help singers (of all styles and ability levels) improve their singing.
by Craig Tompkins — Sat Jan 5, 2008 @ 1:20 am
by Ed Pearlman — Sat Jan 5, 2008 @ 10:43 am
by Craig Tompkins — Sun Jan 6, 2008 @ 10:11 pm
by Amy Gould — Mon Jan 7, 2008 @ 11:23 am
by Amy Gould — Mon Jan 7, 2008 @ 12:54 pm
For now, I'm going to stay with SmartMusic and keep looking for an alternative tuner or pitch display.
by Craig Tompkins — Sat Jan 12, 2008 @ 1:32 am