Melodyne Tip

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konradh
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2012/04/23 13:41:12 (permalink)

Melodyne Tip

Some things that may be worth noting:
 
- You can move a note up or down quite a bit without making it sound unnatural; however, flattening out the pitch variation (either a little or a lot) sometimes is fine and sometimes results in artifacts.
- If you hear a pop or click on the first of a note, it is often a result of flattening out pitch variation on the previous note.
- If the singer slides up or down from one note to another, you probably want to keep the slide, but you may want to smooth or flatten the pitch variation on the either or both notes.  Use the separate tool to slice the note so you have one note with the glide and one note with the rest of the sound.  That way you can flatten out the variation but keep the glide.  (Sorry, a picture would make this easier to understand.)
#1

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    Guitarhacker
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    Re:Melodyne Tip 2012/04/23 14:31:47 (permalink)
    cool.... yup, I just did #1..... uhhhh... I mean I did your noteworthy thing .....  before I saw this post. 

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    #2
    Rick O Shay
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    Re:Melodyne Tip 2012/04/23 14:38:57 (permalink)
    Yep, so true.

    Sometimes I find that with backing vocals, I have to flatten out some of the pitch variation especially if there is vibrato that fights with the lead vocal.  Even though the flattened track  sounds a little weird by itself, it usually blends well with the lead vocal.
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    konradh
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    Re:Melodyne Tip 2012/04/26 15:25:49 (permalink)
    Just like singers who used microphones live or in the studio learned different techniques than people singing unamplified in opera houses, I find I sing differently if I know i will be using Melodyne because I know what will work and what will not.
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    DoctorCalabria
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    Re:Melodyne Tip 2012/04/27 01:35:15 (permalink)

    By flattening pitch variation do you mean removing the unintentional vibrato or warble when a singer is trying to lock in the note?


    I'm having lots of fun with Melodyne but I think it is an art as much as a science. I don't know how steep the learning curve is to make it time effective vs doing another take.  I can't imagine doing more than a few notes. Sometimes I get great vocal pitch correction other times I get "art".  Even tho I've watched the tutorials, I suspect I'm missing some elemental concept.  Still, I love randomly screwing with a trumpet riff.
    Does anyone really fix extended passages with this?
    #5
    konradh
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    Re:Melodyne Tip 2012/04/27 10:44:47 (permalink)
    By pitch variation, I mean the lines drawn on top of the blobs in Melodyne.  This can be good vibrato, too much vibrato, or just wavering from a singer who is not very skilled.  This can be changed or corrected with the tool that looks like a triangle wave form.  Double-clicking a blob with this tool flattens out all variation or restores the original variation.  (It toggles between this two functions.)

    If the pitch is overall trending off the main note (up or down) you can use the tool below the variation tool (the one that looks like a single curve) to pull the variations so they center around the note.

    I fix extended passages with Melodyne.  I am a songwriter with weak vocal skills and I tweak every note I sing in a demo.

    it is very common for producers to touch every or almost every note on a pop or country record--mainly centering it on the pitch.  (Listen to the Jennifer Hudson/NeYo duet from "Think Like a Man."  Two fabulous singers but their performances were tweaked because it gives a different sound.)

    Funny story:  I think Whitney Houston was possibly the most talented pop singer in decades.  I watched The Bodyguard in its theatrical revival a few weeks ago and noticed that she missed pitches in a few fast passages.  Our ears have just gotten tuned to expecting perfection in pop and country.

    Some people may jump on this and want to argue and that's fine.  I am just saying that's how it is, right or wrong.  I personally don't care if other people's vocals are perfect.  I fix mine because I am a better writer than I am a singer.
    #6
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