V-Vocal copy confusion

Sorry to bother you guys with a noob question. Especially since I have done this for so many years. I am used to working with singers that are good enough to not even have to touch V-Vocal at all. Just from curiosity, I have pulled it up and played around with it and am fairly able to understand the tools. The question I have is I hear or read to create the clip, edit, and when done bounce the changes to the clip, and remove V-Vocal. This is where I am slightly confused.
Do I bounce the changes to the clip in the track I am working on and then remove V-Vocal from that clip, or do I bounce that clip to another track including FX? Please, someone if you would give me a detailed explanation of this, I would surely appreciate it.

Glad to hear that you are working with vocalists that can sing.  Bit jealous.  When you have a troublesome vocalist, after take 10, V-vocal is a great tool to save the 'best take so far' by fixing the couple of spots where he went flat.  then you can move on.  yay.

I typically leave the V-vocal-ed track alone unless I am running out of cpu power.  In that case, I just bounce-to-track and the changes get written.  I have seen (but I don't know if this is always the case) that under that clip is a muted clip (hidden) of the original take (if for some reason I want to torture my ear drums some more....).

yeah yeah bounce to clips (not bounce to tracks).  my bad.

FastBikerBoy


Just to add a tip - V-Vocal is useful for more than just pitch correction.

I use the dynamics tool to remove breath and other noises in the small gaps between phrases. I find it more accurate and quicker than setting up volume or mute envelopes.

Good one, FBB - It really is excellent for eliminating extraneous things you don't want, faster and easier than doing a volume envelope.  I draw free form in the dynamics window to even out a track, opening up the volume of a held note that's starting to get weaker for instance.   It's easy to get accurate manual d-essing, scooping down on sibilant moments, reducing whoomps etc.  The only drawback is that V-Vocal can add odd phasing noise even before you've done any editing - not always, but sometimes, and in a way I can't predict.

Another tip when working with vocals, and you're shifting up or down, to use the formant control in tiny amounts really helps correct any unnatural effect that may be introduced by a shift beyond 1/2 step.  The formant needs to be moved in the opposite direction of the pitch shift - If the note was flat and you've pitched it up, then pitch the formant down, but any more than -4 starts to sound artificial, and it's always best to draw free hand rather than using the line tool.

Another tip - the vibrato control is very useful.  I often grab that first and reduce the pitch wobble, and that alone can help correct the pitch.  Flattening it out too much and then of course you're getting into the realm of special effects.

Randy B.

FastBikerBoy


Thanks for the formant tip Randy. I've never really used that before working on the theory that if I don't understand it I leave it alone. ...

Ah, good - Glad the formant tip was helpful, FBB.  Having that makes the pitch shift part of V-Vocal more than an old school shifter that didn't deal with how fragile sound is when not played back at its natural speed.  The famous Chipmunk effect is an exaggerated example of vocals pitched up with no correction for the complex formant phenomenon.  Play with it in small doses - Pitch something up a step, then take it down with the formant tool - you'll hear how the unnatural treble sound is reduced, the natural lower frequencies added back.  It can make vocal pitch shifts sound totally acceptable, at least when sitting in a mix.

Randy B.

Me again! Thanks,guys. I tried the techniques you all recommended and it works like a champ. I don't know if I will ever really get any serious use out of it, but, it is nice to know that it is there and working if I need it. Thanks again.

V-Vocal is useful for more than just pitch correction

 
I use it to adjust timing as well.  An entrance just behind the beat can easily be corrected.

V-vocal is a great tool for doing a lot of things on instruments as well as vocals. Like SH said, I too use it for fixing timing issues. I mainly use it to tighten up the bass and kick timing. It sounds better imo than Audio Snap. I also use it to change keys on guitars rather than use the 'transpose' option. It just sounds much better to me.

Remember to activate layers on your V-Vocal tracks to see the hidden muted original track. Also, when you chop up a track in to clips, don't forget to select 'apply trimming' on the clip you want to use V-Vocal on, otherwise you are essentially working with the entire original track.

Bitflipper just did a great tips thread for V-Vocal. Here's a link.

I regularly use V-Vocal for fixing pitch, timing & formants, usually in quite small amounts, so the end result is altogether natural.

Using the timing function is great for those instances when you've got multiple voices which need tidying up.

Words ending in 's', 't' etc have a nasty habit of popping out at the end of phrases, instead of ending on a clean e.g. 's', you get a multitude of 's' 's' 's' 's'

Using the timing function cleans this right up, and you can get as forensic as you like about it.