Ableton Forum

Is it just me, or do quite a few of the instruments in Live have out of tune notes ? I seem to have noticed it most with the bass instruments, e.g Tension's Double Bass , though that might just be because I've been using them more often. I know you can change things like "string inharmonicity", but that just seems to affect which notes are most out of tune.

Are some of the instruments supposed to be set up for use in particular keys, or for some strange reason not set as equal temperament tuning ? If the whole instrument was consistently out, I could use fine-tuning (though why would any instruments not be set to A=440 as default?), but when the tuning is inconsistent this is not possible.

No one else has noticed this then...?

http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=143736

Not with Tension (but I dont have any of the Suite Instruments, just EIC II)

out of tune towards what? there is no global tune parameter in ableton live... so where is the refference pitch?

440 hz? or 441? or 438? or eve 392?

beside that.. usually bass notes have to be tuned lower to sound in harmony with theire equaly tempered brothers some octaves above... so the tuning is probably wright but that is wrong )

you could argue that since the advent of the tempered octave (thanks j.s.bach), the entire output of music using this system is out of tune.

Oh yes... I'm having this issue. Had it with one of the bass sounds, so frustrating. And now just with Grand Piano... sounding off unless I pitch my bass sound +6 cents.

G-Drums wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:00 am

Oh yes... I'm having this issue. Had it with one of the bass sounds, so frustrating. And now just with Grand Piano... sounding off unless I pitch my bass sound +6 cents.

3phase mentioned that the bassier range as to be tuned a bit differently to sound "correct". I have no idea if this is true and/or documented psycho-acoustics but will certainly do some research about it, but what is sure is that that's what my experience is telling me...
Before reading this 3phase comment I thought that maybe my pitch interpretation wasn't very good with very low notes (mostly sub, or at least low timbres with very little harmonic content), but maybe everything's fine with my hearing!

The piano's low notes have loads of harmonics so this wouldn't be a usual candidate, at least in my experience, did you check it with Tuner?
6 cents is a lot with low notes....

I noticed this too.

It’s one of the things making me think twice about Ableton. Standard tuning should be the default, no?

velaramon wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 22, 2021 1:55 pm

I noticed this too.

It’s one of the things making me think twice about Ableton. Standard tuning should be the default, no?

This has nothing to do with Live!

[jur] wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 22, 2021 2:18 pm

velaramon wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 22, 2021 1:55 pm

I noticed this too.

It’s one of the things making me think twice about Ableton. Standard tuning should be the default, no?

This has nothing to do with Live!

Yes, I know. It was explained above. It’s J.S. Bach’s fault.

Seriously, stating that Live isn’t the issue isn’t helpful. I heard what I heard. And no one is doubting that live can play in tune. The question is why some of us hear something odd that we have not heard when playing live with a bassist who tunes their bass properly.

velaramon wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:04 pm

[jur] wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 22, 2021 2:18 pm

velaramon wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 22, 2021 1:55 pm

I noticed this too.

It’s one of the things making me think twice about Ableton. Standard tuning should be the default, no?

This has nothing to do with Live!

Yes, I know. It was explained above. It’s J.S. Bach’s fault.

Seriously, stating that Live isn’t the issue isn’t helpful. I heard what I heard. And no one is doubting that live can play in tune. The question is why some of us hear something odd that we have not heard when playing live with a bassist who tunes their bass properly.

Hey, mate - been using Live for 10+ years and I’ve never ever had a problem with instruments sounding out of tune (unless I’ve sampled something, but that’s on me).

What might be helpful is if you explained what is out of tune with what. Like, is it a certain Live instrument that’s out of tune?

Will check my session a bit later on. Never had tuning issues with Logic which was my default for many years.

In terms of reference... well I use my ears. It sticks out like ****. Perhaps will post sample if it is possible. I'm also a trained musician of 30+ years, and I know if the bass ain't right (as fundamental) your session (or ensemble) is going to suffer. Tuning needs to be 100% right from the bottom up for a good session.

Wow... just added the tuner plug-in to a sound I'm using (Guitar Palm Legacy) and it's seriously sharp with reference to A440. In one particular octave the tuner even mistakes an A for a Bb momentarily. Now I would have to look into how this sound has been created, but that's extremely nasty in my opinion.

i have this problem too. not only with bass but other defualt plugins, i dont get it, am i have to manually tune it which is hard sometimes for me, im confused, (2 years experience)

If the instruments use physical modeling, it’s absolutely common that they get out of tune, especially in the higher range.