Helpful ReplyCould Some Kind Soul Here PLEASE Help Me!

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Studioguy1
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Re: Could Some Kind Soul Here PLEASE Help Me! 2018/05/27 03:19:29 (permalink)
John,
I have been making song demos for many, many years...yeah, I'm old.  It is what it is.  I learned several things over the years, 1.  Every song I write is not meant for my voice or my voice range.  2.  Sometimes it takes putting a different voice on a song, and who knows?  You might realize that your voice was indeed the best suited for the song after all.  I listened several times and the very first thing I would do is transpose the song down a few keys so you don't have to feel as if you are straining to hit notes.  I do that a lot because I have severe allergies and suddenly my range is reduced drastically.  So, I lower the song.  I know one thing, however, after that voice track is made, you might try putting Cakewalk's own Vocal strip.  Not sure how you have your vsts set up, but one of the ways I do it is by manufacturer.  So, I go to the cakewalk folder in the audio vsts area and insert that Vocal Strip.  There are a lot of great vsts out there, but surprisingly, Cakewalk already has included a bunch of them for you.  Also, there are pre-set chains in the Cakewalk Content\Cakewalk Core\FX Chain Presets folder.  A lot of guys recoil at the thought of using pre-sets.  A pre-set only means that somebody who is familiar with the products has given you their settings to start with.  Now that is the key.  Start with a pre-set that sounds somewhat close to what you are looking for and start tweaking a bit.  By the way in that folder that I mentioned there is a folder called Vocals which gives you some choices to try and even one on ProChannel settings.  You will see others too, but I don't want to confuse you too much.  Start simple and work from there.
 
Honestly, John, your track is pretty clean.  You may want to process it a bit, but man, lower the key for yourself first.  I personally sound like my shorts are too tight when my allergies kick up.  I have no choice but to lower it.  Maybe it will work for you, too.

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Johnbee58
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Re: Could Some Kind Soul Here PLEASE Help Me! 2018/05/28 01:54:00 (permalink)
Thanks SG
I can't seem to locate Vocal Strip.  Is it free in CbB?  I'd like to try it if I can find it.  BTW-my practice is to always try presets first.


Lenovo Core i5 4460 Desktop PC (Windows 8 64 bit), Focusrite Scarlett 6i6, Nektar LX61 Keyboard MIDI Controller, Avantone Pro CV-12 tube condenser microphone, JBL LSR308 8" active monitor speakers.  Cakewalk by Bandlab, Reason 7,
NI Session Strings Pro, NI Strummed Acoustic Guitar, Miroslav Philharmonic, Auturia DX7 V, Garritan JABB 3, EZ Keys, EZ Drummer.
 
 "I will create music the way I want to whether a million people are listening or no one is listening."   Dan Fogelberg, Singer/Songwriter-1951-2007
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Euthymia
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Re: Could Some Kind Soul Here PLEASE Help Me! 2018/05/28 02:16:41 (permalink)
Johnbee58
I can't seem to locate Vocal Strip.  Is it free in CbB?  I'd like to try it if I can find it.



It is included with CbB, I found it by poking around in the file structure. For some reason it's disabled by default, and becomes so again after each new upgrade install.
 
To (re)enable it, go to the Utilities menu, then select Cakewalk Plug-In Manager.
 
When Plug-In Manager comes up, click on VST Audio Effects, and down below, select Show Excluded. In the middle column, you should see a list of 4 plug-ins, Boost11, Percussion Strip, Tube Leveler, and Vocal Strip.
 
You may enable these plug-ins by clicking on their names and then clicking on the button Enable Plug-In, which is down below the left-hand column.

-Erik
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Euthymia
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Re: Could Some Kind Soul Here PLEASE Help Me! 2018/05/28 02:24:22 (permalink)
John,
 
Have you given any more thought to putting up raw stems of a track on BandLab or elsewhere for your friends here to demonstrate what we're talking about as far as processing?
 
A minute or 30 seconds of the song's stems or just the vocal track itself would be enough for someone to throw some of Cakewalk's default plug-ins on it and see if we could come up with something you might like. It might even take less time to do it than to type about it.
 
It just occurred to me that a bit of ADT (automatic double tracking) might be something that would work to fatten it up.

-Erik
___________
3.4 GHz i7-3770, 8G RAM, Win 7 64-bit
2X PreSonus Firepods, Event 20/20bas, Alesis Monitor Ones, Alesis Point Sevens
Cakewalk by BandLab, Mixcraft Pro Studio 8.5
Warning: if you tell me my issue can be remedied by buying more RAM, an SSD, or a Waves plug-in, I will troll you pitiilessly
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Johnbee58
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Re: Could Some Kind Soul Here PLEASE Help Me! 2018/05/28 10:04:24 (permalink)
Euthymia
John,
 
Have you given any more thought to putting up raw stems of a track on BandLab or elsewhere for your friends here to demonstrate what we're talking about as far as processing?
 
A minute or 30 seconds of the song's stems or just the vocal track itself would be enough for someone to throw some of Cakewalk's default plug-ins on it and see if we could come up with something you might like. It might even take less time to do it than to type about it.
 
It just occurred to me that a bit of ADT (automatic double tracking) might be something that would work to fatten it up.


I have to think on that some more before I do it.  I don't have the Bandlab app installed, only CbB at this point.
As far as ADT, I have something similar in Softube's Fix Doubler.  I tried doubling on this track but artistically, I don't want it.  It would soften it up, but I prefer the Natural sound for this particular song.
 

 
BTW-Thanks for the tip on getting to the hidden utilities.  I'll try that next session.


Lenovo Core i5 4460 Desktop PC (Windows 8 64 bit), Focusrite Scarlett 6i6, Nektar LX61 Keyboard MIDI Controller, Avantone Pro CV-12 tube condenser microphone, JBL LSR308 8" active monitor speakers.  Cakewalk by Bandlab, Reason 7,
NI Session Strings Pro, NI Strummed Acoustic Guitar, Miroslav Philharmonic, Auturia DX7 V, Garritan JABB 3, EZ Keys, EZ Drummer.
 
 "I will create music the way I want to whether a million people are listening or no one is listening."   Dan Fogelberg, Singer/Songwriter-1951-2007
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Johnbee58
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Re: Could Some Kind Soul Here PLEASE Help Me! 2018/05/28 11:26:44 (permalink)
Euthymia
Johnbee58
I can't seem to locate Vocal Strip.  Is it free in CbB?  I'd like to try it if I can find it.



It is included with CbB, I found it by poking around in the file structure. For some reason it's disabled by default, and becomes so again after each new upgrade install.
 
To (re)enable it, go to the Utilities menu, then select Cakewalk Plug-In Manager.
 
When Plug-In Manager comes up, click on VST Audio Effects, and down below, select Show Excluded. In the middle column, you should see a list of 4 plug-ins, Boost11, Percussion Strip, Tube Leveler, and Vocal Strip.
 
You may enable these plug-ins by clicking on their names and then clicking on the button Enable Plug-In, which is down below the left-hand column.


I found these plugins and after I enabled them, they disappeared!  Where did they go?
EDIT-Never mind.  I found it.  After I enabled it I realized I had to go into the selection window and choose it from there. I put it into my folder called "Vocal Effects".

Lenovo Core i5 4460 Desktop PC (Windows 8 64 bit), Focusrite Scarlett 6i6, Nektar LX61 Keyboard MIDI Controller, Avantone Pro CV-12 tube condenser microphone, JBL LSR308 8" active monitor speakers.  Cakewalk by Bandlab, Reason 7,
NI Session Strings Pro, NI Strummed Acoustic Guitar, Miroslav Philharmonic, Auturia DX7 V, Garritan JABB 3, EZ Keys, EZ Drummer.
 
 "I will create music the way I want to whether a million people are listening or no one is listening."   Dan Fogelberg, Singer/Songwriter-1951-2007
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Johnbee58
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Re: Could Some Kind Soul Here PLEASE Help Me! 2018/05/28 12:54:16 (permalink)
OK.  After all of the advise and back and forth on this I came to the conclusion that the track as it is sounds the best I can get it and my ears seem to be settling in to that fact.  After a few days of giving my ears a break from the constant assault of this tune my conclusion is that it sounds satisfactory on my Walkman and my little stereo CD player (through headphones).  Nothing ever sounds good on my monitor speakers (but that's for another thread).  Haven't listened to it in my car stereo yet, but things have a tendency to sound their best there.  The only place this tune sucks seems to be on my ear buds, but everything sound like crap on a cheap 5 dollar set of ear buds.
 
I tried re recording this in a half step down (Am to Abm) and what it all comes down to is my voice just sucks. I even went so far as to try Gm, but that's TOO low.  Had I sung this 20 years ago, even in Am it would've sounded much better, but now it's so shaky and lacks control that this is the best I can do and no amount of effects or expensive hardware is going to change it.  And at 63, it's too late for vocal lessons (I took those when I was 23 anyway).
 
Thanks to all for their tips!
JB

Lenovo Core i5 4460 Desktop PC (Windows 8 64 bit), Focusrite Scarlett 6i6, Nektar LX61 Keyboard MIDI Controller, Avantone Pro CV-12 tube condenser microphone, JBL LSR308 8" active monitor speakers.  Cakewalk by Bandlab, Reason 7,
NI Session Strings Pro, NI Strummed Acoustic Guitar, Miroslav Philharmonic, Auturia DX7 V, Garritan JABB 3, EZ Keys, EZ Drummer.
 
 "I will create music the way I want to whether a million people are listening or no one is listening."   Dan Fogelberg, Singer/Songwriter-1951-2007
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stratman70
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Re: Could Some Kind Soul Here PLEASE Help Me! 2018/05/28 19:31:05 (permalink)
That's Cool! Glad you sorted it out for yourself...that's what matters the most!

 
 
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