i always thought that acapellas get on well with nearly all chord progression but that isn't true so i only use them for remixes or if i make a track for that specific acapella.

The process in my case is this:

-Chop it
-Fit to tempo the parts
-Align to beats

Now separate the vocal parts in different channels.

-EQ, remove 20-200hz, female voice doesn't go that low so i remove it to make more room, but look at the equalizer and see if there is a lot of worthy sound here or not, for chorus sometimes there is.

-Apply effects, usually reverb and stereo delay, but sometimes a gater if vocals are horrible and it's better to juggle with them.

-Izotope Ozone mastering, there is a preset for vocals , i use it, some general improvement, watch out the levels because you may need to reduce them at this point.

I record my own vocals.

Good vocal in the first place is most important but I don't fully agree with the GIGO thing as I've been part of projects where the singer was badly off and not exciting at all, and we still managed to get a decent result.

Another point in case is Eric J's recent mix of Not Over Yet. I heard that new vocal (sorry Stephen) in the remix pack and felt so uninspired and detested the vocal so much (compared to the original) I didn't even open logic to attempt the remix. Eric managed to get the vocal to work through effects and sit really nicely in the track. Was my limitation that stopped me from making something out of it, but it sometimes take a a bit of vision and some perseverance. Having said all this you'll never get a great result from a bad vocal.

In logic, between flex time, pitch & time, and the pitch shift options, everything you need is all in the program to conform just about any vocal (at least on a technical basis) to a given track. Whether it works artistically is another matter.

she was rather ghastly. She had this muddy mid range Cher quality that just sounded awful. And her diction just sounded weird. Not to mention the track didn't have that arpeggio that really makes the track what it is.

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old stuff from days gone by (2001-2004)
Mad For Brad's gay little contest

quote:

Originally posted by Mad for Brad she was rather ghastly. She had this muddy mid range Cher quality that just sounded awful. And her diction just sounded weird. Not to mention the track didn't have that arpeggio that really makes the track what it is.

I know - it was her diction/enunciation that really killed it for me, but still Eric managed to get something from it.

On the subject of chopping, I think that this is still one of my faves...

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN Good vocal in the first place is most important but I don't fully agree with the GIGO thing as I've been part of projects where the singer was badly off and not exciting at all, and we still managed to get a decent result. Another point in case is Eric J's recent mix of Not Over Yet. I heard that new vocal (sorry Stephen) in the remix pack and felt so uninspired and detested the vocal so much (compared to the original) I didn't even open logic to attempt the remix. Eric managed to get the vocal to work through effects and sit really nicely in the track. Was my limitation that stopped me from making something out of it, but it sometimes take a a bit of vision and some perseverance. Having said all this you'll never get a great result from a bad vocal.

To be honest, I was basing my GIGO assertion on my experience with my first venture into remixing for a competition, a long time ago. Between the contemptibly emo male vocalists ventures into the key of D+#, periodically tuned to A420, and my own atrophic over-production. It was so bad, at one point, that I gave up on "fixing" the vocals and routed them to a vocoder.

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my old stuff, not quite up to snuff - but I still dig it - UPDATED 9/23/2012