John: thank you
Robby: hummm... what's the reasoning behind that request...? Or do I even want to know?
Cian & Scotty: good ears guys.... however, I'm not 100% sure about the answer. There are definitely issues with the vocal track that I would loved to have been able to fix or do something else totally. Let me see if I can provide some answers for you. Dena recorded the vox in her studio at a time when she was going to class and working (IIRC) and was extremely busy with young children. I also think she had just moved and was living in Tennessee north of Nashville. I just found out recently that she was also recovering from surgery just a few weeks prior. In addition to that, at that time both she and I were basically just really getting started in home recording with much to learn.
I have no idea what processing was done (if any) to the track prior to sending it to me. I do not have the original track, as that has gotten lost and a thorough search of my laptop did not find it. The track I used was pulled from another version of this that I found in a storage drive. (Thank God for storage drives and remembering to back some things up)
I do recall that the original track was extremely breathy. She was obviously singing close to the mic and every breath and lip smack was captured. The fast pace of the vocals required her to draw quick, sharp breaths and all that was picked up by the mic. On the very first version, many folks here commented that the breaths were too distracting to the song. (They were correct) I went back into the vocal track and used process mute to silence the worst offenders. As a result the track has a chopped sound when solo. Chopped meaning the singing and room sound from the mic to dead silence of mute. In playback with anything else playing the vox is not heard as choppy. The track in solo has a distorted, slightly over driven sound to it with a slight emphasis on the higher freqs. Almost sibilant in a few places. I think that is really the thing that you are picking up on. The vocal track was sung fairly accurately and I do not recall having to do much to pitch correct it. In all fairness though, I did pitch correct it where it needed, on a few drifted or sharp/flat notes. But even at that early time, the goal was to have a transparent track. So I don't think that's what you're hearing at all. I included a screen shot of the vox track where the overs are very evident. The entire track is similar.
I also think that to some degree or another, Dena's singing style plays a part in this discussion as well. She's a damn fine singer.... great voice. I have nothing but praise for her talents and abilities..... however, I do have to say, I have a very hard time understanding some of her pronunciation. I actually had to look at the lyrics to know what she was saying in a few places. I worked on this song as a cowriter on the musical side so I had no clue on the lyrics until I got a printed copy.
All that to say, I would have preferred to work with a new vocal track. One that had headroom, and was totally unprocessed in any way. However, Dena has moved to Hawaii and is pursuing different things in life now...... and I don't think she has done any recording that I'm aware of in a very long time. Her studio is probably in a box in storage somewhere. So getting the original or even better, a newer clean recording, is totally out of the question for now.
Good ears guys.... hope that answers it to some degree.
But one question back at ya.... exactly where in this song are you hearing what you perceive to be artifacts of Melodyne Editor? Just curious. As I listen, I don't hear that... but then again, I'm really familiar with what's happening in the tracks....