Problems with two singers

[Deadcatt]

Okay, we picked up the game last night, and my GF and I were both singing ( 2 mics ), and for the life of us, it was next to impossible for the harmony singer to hit their notes. This was being played on medium, with 2 RB expert singers. I think we may have gotten one double fab out of 22 tries. What gives? No matter how I tried to change my pitch, I couldn't get it to match the harmony, I could ace the lead vocal, but like 30-40% on harmony.
Could the loud surround sound on the speakers be interfering with the pitch of my voice, and carrying hers?
I don't know, it makes it no fun at all to have two singers, but only being able to hit the lead vocals lines.

[elfreako]

Where did you get the idea that harmonies were going to be easy? It's hard to hear them properly, let alone sing them and phase out the main melody from your brain.

[skysaw]

Singing harmony is an art. It requires a good ear to pick out the part, and to sing it at the correct pitch. I recommend doing the harmony tutorial as a start, but it's still going to take some practice. It helps if you've heard the song a few hundred times. :)

[PleasePleaseMeat]

I am terrible at harmony, unless it's something REALLY clear (i.e. Twist and Shout).

However, my mum is really good at it. Strange...

[Opus Penguin]

I find the tutorial helps on one set of harmony, but not for 3. Listening to The Beatles songs, you can sometimes pick out some harmonies (For "I Want to Hold Your Hand" my daughter and I got a perfect score because I was able to identify Paul's distinct pitch), but some other songs are not so easy. This is one reason I am going back to the Anthology music to hear other recordings of the songs that might help.

[hmxsean]

You may also want to turn down the mic sensitivity as well as run through the trainer for the songs (which let you hear the individual harmony parts via a synthesized tone). You'll get there! I assure you there is no bug here, harmonies are just wicked hard.

[RockBandoleer]

What's shocking about the Beatles is that, decades into singing their songs, doing individual parts is a ballbuster.

My wife and I, singing last night, found we often sing harmony parts to songs, by default, and seemingly have done all our lives. It was singing the lead that was the tough part!

Great move on the harmonies, btw, HMX, and thanks for not making us have a Wii-mote for each one.

[BarnesyJr48]

Singing harmony is an art.

Ne'er a truer word spoken!

I had to do improvised harmony for an exam on my University music degree, and failed it miserably...

Although, I'm now wondering if I'd had done better if they'd released TB:RB earlier and I'd had time to use the Harmony trainer tool in game. It really is that good!

[skysaw]

I had to do improvised harmony for an exam on my University music degree, and failed it miserably...
I had to sight-read two- and three-part counterpart with my classmates way back when I was in conservatory (1984ish). Now *that's* fun! :D

[Ehfahq]

I was having a problem too. So we dropped it down to easy and now im getting the hang of it. Its hard when your voice is flat.

[TurboStitchCW]

the harmony feature is awesome! I never noticed some of the smaller harmony parts in some of these songs, and it's getting easier to distinguish between how many people are singing in any particular song...nice job HMX!

[LuigiHann]

I think we may have gotten one double fab out of 22 tries. What gives? No matter how I tried to change my pitch, I couldn't get it to match the harmony, I could ace the lead vocal, but like 30-40% on harmony.

Yeah, you're probably all singing the melody part, or if you're like me, singing the melody part in different octaves :p

[Yim the Blim]

Singing in harmony is very hard. None of my gang can sing the harmonies (even on Easy), so my friends sing the melody part because I'm the only one who can pick out the harmony parts & match the pitches, & even then it can be very hit & miss.
But it's worth it & great deal of fun; when my friends & I tried I Am The Walrus last weekend, even though we didn't hit all the Double & Triple Fabs, the rest of the band said it sounded fantastic. ^_^

[rworne]

Well, since I am tone deaf I usually do well on the harmonies because my pitch is often slightly above or below that of the lead singer.

[Bent_Mongoose]

Try playing harmonies by yourself. I find myself bouncing between the lead, harmony, and melodies (depending what's present). Screws my score ALL up compared to if I just did solo. But I like to see where the other singers are supposed to be.

[mgleisten]

I LOVE finally figuring out what John's Parts were. I have been trying to find the exact parts for ever (from all those years ago:). Now they are right in front of me. This makes the game exceptional..... I also Love learning Ringo's Beats. Quite a tutorial.... now when I write a song, I get Ringo kicks, and fills coming in much more naturally.

[slipkid69]

I haven't tried singing with anyone else, but I have noticed it does help to lower the mic sensitivity. I've got it down to a setting of three, and found I can really cut lose and the vocal needle will stay solid. Plus harmonies are an art form. The Beatles were good, but take a listen to the Beach Boys. Those guys were amazing!

[Rod_Stixx]

It isn't easy, but it can be done. I'm a top notch Expert Beatles vocalist (if I do say so myself), and I know those harmonies as well as the leads after 40 years. When I sing harmony with my gf, she usually takes lead while I harmonize. She knows most of the leads ok enough to do well, but she'll get lost singing the harmony track sometimes. So she has a much easier time staying on the lead vocal. If we could get a third singer on our box (and somebody that really knows the songs), we'd be really tearing up the Triple Fabs.

[Moiread]

My wife and I, singing last night, found we often sing harmony parts to songs, by default, and seemingly have done all our lives. It was singing the lead that was the tough part!

Oh my God, emphasis mine. Apparently I've been singing harmony to a lot of things all my life too.

[JimDynamo]

It's a great feature; Kudos to Harmonix.
It really is a matter of practice and familiarity. You'll hit them once you know the lines, but it's really challenging - especially when the main melody is so ingrained in people's minds.
(Agonizingly challenging if, like me, your vocal range is already an octave below the original.)
They really need to figure out how to allow players to sing harmonies online from different locations. I don't know enough singers to ever see a triple fab.