Mixing Vocals/Pitch Correction

[esko4k]

So this guy that I know is an amazing singer, but of course he tuned his vocals some to give it the "polished" sound and I was wondering could anyone give me any tips on this? It doesn't sounds like a lot of pitch correction, but maybe something else.

Take a listen. Any idea on how I could acheive something of this method?

Thanks

[The Dougfather]

Link?

[esko4k]

Lol sorry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVGVR...e_gdata_player

[The Dougfather]

IMHO the best way to use pitch correction is to not make it blatantly obvious that it is being used, in which case it's what you don't tune rather than what you do.

Personally, i'm an Autotune user and if you really get deep in to it the results are fantastic. I never tune whole phrases or words, i mostly tune tales, warbles etc and it really helps to sharpen the performance.

That said, to my ears your guy is using compression to get that super smooth sound, along with delays and possibly reverb. It sounds well recorded with a nice mic and pre, and most important of all he can sing. It's all these elements combined which give the result.

[iyaron]

Originally Posted by The Dougfather

IMHO the best way to use pitch correction is to not make it blatantly obvious that it is being used, in which case it's what you don't tune rather than what you do.

Personally, i'm an Autotune user and if you really get deep in to it the results are fantastic. I never tune whole phrases or words, i mostly tune tales, warbles etc and it really helps to sharpen the performance.

That said, to my ears your guy is using compression to get that super smooth sound, along with delays and possibly reverb. It sounds well recorded with a nice mic and pre, and most important of all he can sing. It's all these elements combined which give the result.

nice singing.
preparating is everything: I think he could have got even better results if he worked a few more takes. also he is just a bit out in certain places, did you track with a reverb ? singers will track better that way.
I am an anuto tune person too. Really light touch ups. I like the way Auto tune is explained at the Lynda.com site worth watching and adapring the workflows.

[esko4k]

Thanks! I tried the compression plugin in pro tools and it worked! I haven't figured out how to get it as "tight" as he did, but thats probably because I was working with the presets and didn't modify it.

And yes, he is an amazing singer!

[lancejorton]

I always use AutoTune in graphic mode as an AudioSuite plug-in. After the vocal comp, I create a new playlist of the vocal. As I'm listening back, I highlight the word that I know or suspect might be out of tune (grab more than just the word so you can crossfade it back into the vocal). You then click "Track Pitch" and then "Preview". This will give you a curve of the vocal.

I usually set retune speed to 40, especially if there is lots of vibrato in the vocal. If a syllable is off or maybe the whole word is off, I click "Create Curve". I'll then use the drawing tool and draw a straight line over the part I don't want to tune and then click "Cut". This gets rid of any "AutoTune" where you don't need it.

Finally, I'll hold down shift (keeps the curve from sliding side to side) and move the curve as close to on pitch as a I can. If the pitch drifts, I'll draw a very small line in the middle to break up the curve so I can tweak it. Keeping the natural curve will make it sound like you were never there (AutoTune in auto mode does NOT keep the natural curve but pulls the vocal towards a smooth curve). Many times the artist/singer won't even know.

Remember, vocals naturally have off pitch parts (that's what vibrato is). So you don't want to draw a straight line or you'll get artifacts. Also, you don't want to tune breaths or you will also get artifacts. You just want to tune the very smallest part you can. If the vocal is just a hair off, I might leave it or check the tuning on another instrument. Sometimes I'll realize that the bass was slightly sharp and the vocal was very slightly flat so the bass is more of problem. If it's a harmony vocal, I'll sometimes draw a straight line to lessen the vibrato.

Good luck!

[esko4k]

Thanks for the advice everyone! You guys are amazing. I haven't tried the graphic mode of AutoTune yet, but I will tonight when I get home.

[lancejorton]

Originally Posted by esko4k

Thanks for the advice everyone! You guys are amazing. I haven't tried the graphic mode of AutoTune yet, but I will tonight when I get home.

make sure you set the clock source to "internal" instead of "host".