Mixing A Cappella Voices

[mwerne04]

I've got the LE and am wondering if anyone out there knows a technique to mold a cappella voices to move in sync w/ each other (whether it be lengthening/shorting). Some people are short on phrases, some are long--Is there a relatively painless way to edit the waveforms (phrases) to get everyone in time? Anyone have professional experience with mixing a cappella?

Thanks
Mike

[allstaar]

This is pretty much what the Vocalign plugin was designed for. It can work very well in many situations and you should definitely try it.

This can be done manualy as well using edits, fades and timestretch/shrink.

[where02190]

I'd first ask the artists if they want it that way before I go fixing it. Not every style of music is supposed to sound like M-TV junk.

[nightshadecrisis]

if its too apparent vocalign would certainly help, and i believe you can use it so there still is some variation, which wont make it sound exactly on.

-ev

[vicwind]

being a choral conductor, i have to recomend regular rehersal. Just kidding (actually i'm serious.) if you can do another session, maybe let the singers listen to the track and point out their mistakes. many singers, to many people's surprise, can be very loose with the placement of their end consonants, particularly at the end of long sustaind phrases or held notes. suggest to them that the strongest member lead the ensemble with some sort of impetus or gesture which will cut off the words at the appropriate times.
unless they are going for some kind of Byrd-like pervasive immitation, this should clear it up. sorry, now i realize that your querry is spawned because another session is not in the works. in that case, the above are correct and Vocalign can be used. with a leader, the group can work as a more organic, flexible yet accurate, ensemble.
good luck