In a recent chat with Justin Hawkins Rides Again, Myles Kennedy shared his thoughts about using technology to correct vocal and musical ‘mistakes’ on records. Talking about Pro Tools’ effect on Alter Bridge’s earlier albums, he explained:
“Yeah… I’d say that was more previous experiences, kind of coming up the ranks… When Pro Tools first became a thing, and especially with pitch correction, I think some engineers were just like, ‘Oh!’ A lot of times, I feel, not just with notes, but also with rhythms and whatnot, they’re looking at the grid, and then they start moving things.”
The singer also referred to the instrument parts and said:
“It’s a big pet peeve of mine, as well, with drummers. If a drummer has a really great feel, and he lays back on two and four — I love that; that [John] Bonham thing, just a hair back on two and four. But then, if engineers [are] looking at that, going, ‘Well, I gotta take that snare drum and bump it up to be right on two, and right on four’ — like, ‘Oh, no, no, please don’t do that.'”
Going back to discussing pitch correction, he went on:
“So I think that was from coming up in that era…It was like if you’re doing a live DVD or something, and then you watch it back, and you go, ‘I don’t remember that hitting that note right there. I remember swooping into it.’ It’s little things like that. But as time has gone on, the producers I’ve worked with over the years embraced that human element, which is awesome. So I don’t have to worry about that [anymore].”
On the other hand, Kennedy also admitted to the pros of technology during live performances in his other interviews. For example, while speaking with Music Radar in 2022, the singer revealed that he would use in-ears during his early career if he could go back in time and shared:
“I don’t know how people can perform without them because it really is such a game changer. And not only does it protect your ears, but it’ll help you perform better. Mark [Tremonti] is a good example; hearing his vocals now that he uses in-ears versus when he was just using wedges. He can hear his pitch much better now he doesn’t have to push as hard. It’s just a total game-changer, so I would highly recommend it.”
You can watch Kennedy’s recent interview with Justin Hawkins below.
