I've used v-vocal for years. It has its artefacts. On any sibilant or breath sounds, that 'pitch correction' artefact shines through. But that's been ok as I've just edited those parts out and only put it on the section which needed a change.

Until today.

Working on a song for my album, comping and correcting my vocal takes. I have a clean take. Maxing at -6dB so no clipping. No bleed from the track. Dead dry recording, no reverb. Super clean. I try to shift a simple held note up 20 cents. V-vocal decides to make me sound like I'm singing in falsetto or introduces this weird clipping/chugging noise. Sounds like it's in time with it's internal sampling system it uses to make the pitch change or something.

I've tried it in X1d and X2a. Bother exact same result. For demonstrational purposes, I have made three samples below. Original, slight shift to the correct note and big shift (to show how the 'sampling noise' changes with pitch change).

https://soundcloud.com/mattlyonsmusic/v-vocal-sample-clipping

And a screenshot of each change that was made in v-vocal:

i remember this happening once or twice.  i cant remember how i got around it.  imay selected a smaller, more precise region in vvocal.

With X1(all) I used V-Vocal without issue...

When I went to Win 8 with X2a, now, even with minor changes
I get a LOT of clipping noise...even though the tracks are not even
close to clipping...

Consequently, I quit using it, it's old, antiquated, backwoods
technology....and it hasn't gotten better, it's only gotten worse.

There's a lot of great alternatives out there with far better technology...
so using something that is "old & broken" is just not an option...

I try to get tracks that are good enough on their own and don't need
correction, so V-Vocal used to be nice just for a minor tweak here or there...

There are other threads on this problem I know...my work around?
I just don't use it...

My only point of reference is Melodyne Editor as I do not have V-V. 

I have encountered a few places where no matter what or how I tried to fix something it came out with "not quite acceptable" results. 

If it's possible simply record that one small part again. I have done this a time or two and the second punch in fix was either OK "as is" or I was able to use ME to fix it without the artifacts. 

Another option I use when ME  won't fix something is a simply cut/paste replacement .... this works wonders when the issue is in a chorus where the phrase is repeated. If the "other" instance of the word or phrase is good..... hey, copy it out and use it in the glitchy part. That little trick has save my butt and a lot of time .... more than once. 

The bottom picture has a very abrupt change in that yellow line. I don't suspect that is a good thing. 

In ME pitch mode I can simply select a note area and double click it to put it dead on the pitch center. (It's also possible to grab multiple notes in a phrase, for example)  That puts  the note on the pitch..... but it still leaves the drift "as is". Switching to drift mode I can then correct the drift. At any point in this process I have the option to split the note so I can leave part of the correct out of the fix..... if I want to keep the initial drift up to a note for example but them have the rest of it stay dead to pitch. 

Let me ask this: Does V-V have a manual mode?  

In ME for example, I used to use the "autocorrect mode" which let it do it's thing. I was often having to UNDO some of what it thought it was supposed to do. I started using the manual correction mode. It takes longer, but I decide if, and by how much, a correction is done on a given note. The results are so much better when I'm making the decisions. There are also times when I want to leave a "not quite right" note in place. It does give a more natural feel to the track which can be desirable as long as it's not distracting.

Looking at the photo's really isn;t helpful .... hearing a sample clip of the issue might be better. 

BlixYZ


i remember this happening once or twice.  i cant remember how i got around it.  imay selected a smaller, more precise region in vvocal.

I'll have to try cutting it into a smaller section and see if that makes it happy. Forgot about that, it sometimes makes it happier I've found.

cclarry


With X1(all) I used V-Vocal without issue...

When I went to Win 8 with X2a, now, even with minor changes
I get a LOT of clipping noise...even though the tracks are not even
close to clipping...

Consequently, I quit using it, it's old, antiquated, backwoods
technology....and it hasn't gotten better, it's only gotten worse.

There's a lot of great alternatives out there with far better technology...
so using something that is "old & broken" is just not an option...

I try to get tracks that are good enough on their own and don't need
correction, so V-Vocal used to be nice just for a minor tweak here or there...

There are other threads on this problem I know...my work around?
I just don't use it...

Ahhh I agree... They need to bring a new one out!!!!

Guitarhacker


My only point of reference is Melodyne Editor as I do not have V-V. 

I have encountered a few places where no matter what or how I tried to fix something it came out with "not quite acceptable" results. 

If it's possible simply record that one small part again. I have done this a time or two and the second punch in fix was either OK "as is" or I was able to use ME to fix it without the artifacts. 

Unfortunately I'm not able to re-record anything any more as I've moved houses and lost all my acoustic treatment. Anything I re-build won't sound the same and I'm also in a rainforest with lots of noisy birds around!!! Mixing only for now till I get the cash to build a proper studio!

Another option I use when ME  won't fix something is a simply cut/paste replacement .... this works wonders when the issue is in a chorus where the phrase is repeated. If the "other" instance of the word or phrase is good..... hey, copy it out and use it in the glitchy part. That little trick has save my butt and a lot of time .... more than once.  

I do use that one a lot and often only sing my chorus parts once. Unfortunately I can't really do it with this one. On the plus side, the bits I'm trying to tweak are just backing doubles, but still won't work with the sound it's putting out...

The bottom picture has a very abrupt change in that yellow line. I don't suspect that is a good thing. 

You're 100% correct. That was purely there for the purpose of showing the end result. In practise, I would make that smooth (the second one has a hard jump too which is no good). I shifted that out of key purely to show how V-Vocal reacts.

In ME pitch mode I can simply select a note area and double click it to put it dead on the pitch center. (It's also possible to grab multiple notes in a phrase, for example)  That puts  the note on the pitch..... but it still leaves the drift "as is". Switching to drift mode I can then correct the drift. At any point in this process I have the option to split the note so I can leave part of the correct out of the fix..... if I want to keep the initial drift up to a note for example but them have the rest of it stay dead to pitch. 

Let me ask this: Does V-V have a manual mode?  

In ME for example, I used to use the "autocorrect mode" which let it do it's thing. I was often having to UNDO some of what it thought it was supposed to do. I started using the manual correction mode. It takes longer, but I decide if, and by how much, a correction is done on a given note. The results are so much better when I'm making the decisions. There are also times when I want to leave a "not quite right" note in place. It does give a more natural feel to the track which can be desirable as long as it's not distracting. 

I NEVER use autocorrect and work 100% manual. I'm extremely fiddly with getting things sounding smooth and natural and I like to think I'm quite good at it. I regularly split section up to only correct one part of a note etc. I'm using all the tools in the book here ;)

Looking at the photo's really isn;t helpful .... hearing a sample clip of the issue might be better. 

Check my original post again, I have a link to the sample clip posted right above the photos. It has been there all along ;)

Be careful how you use the Formant Controls. That's a good way to wind up sounding like Cher....

Over time using V-Vocal, I found that for me, best results occur when not using the auto stuff, and just do things manually.

The other thing for me is that I get the best results doing very small clips.  It is certainly more a pain to do it that way, but I find it makes the processed section MUCH less goofy sounding.

With the above, it does an OK job of fixing slight vocal flat/sharp problems, and I sometimes either add or remove vibrato, but again small clips produce better results.

I hoper that helps - WAY kewl you have so many critters where you live - except for the saltwater crocs and snakes.

Best - Bob Bone

daveny5


Be careful how you use the Formant Controls. That's a good way to wind up sounding like Cher....

Well aware of that one thanks :) I rarely ever need to touch them as I'm only really ever shifting up to about 20 cents at most usually. In the rare case that I do I big shift, I might use it slightly to bring things back in line but it's rare. I fully clued up with how to use it.