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Editing vocal, what comes first?
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| Lana |
Ok...
I have recorded a vocal.
But what comes next?
-Combressor?
-Normalizeser?
I think it would be combressor, and after that the normalizeser...
What do you think?
:conf:
And after those come the other effects like reverb and delay... |
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| cryophonik |
There are no set rules for this, but I generally clean up the audio clip before getting into the audio processing. Having a "clean" clip to work with makes the audio processing (compressing, EQing, FX, etc.) much easier.
Cleaning up the clip involves (in no particular order):
1) comp takes, if necessary
2) pitch correction, if/where necessary
3) gate/clip any dead space having background noise
4) De-ess
5) Remove/reduce breaths, if necessary
6) Add gain envelopes to boost/cut the levels of any parts/words that are too quiet/loud, as necessary (makes compression much easier and more transparent)
I usually don't normalize vocal tracks, although sometimes I will increase the overall gain slightly, if necessary. But, more often than not, it's not necessary to alter the overall level, if I've got a good take, low signal:noise, and a clean clip to work with, a compressor will usually get the levels right where I want them. |
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| Lana |
| quote: | Originally posted by cryophonik
There are no set rules for this, but I generally clean up the audio clip before getting into the audio processing. Having a "clean" clip to work with makes the audio processing (compressing, EQing, FX, etc.) much easier.
Cleaning up the clip involves (in no particular order):
1) comp takes, if necessary
2) pitch correction, if/where necessary
3) gate/clip any dead space having background noise
4) De-ess
5) Remove/reduce breaths, if necessary
6) Add gain envelopes to boost/cut the levels of any parts/words that are too quiet/loud, as necessary (makes compression much easier and more transparent)
I usually don't normalize vocal tracks, although sometimes I will increase the overall gain slightly, if necessary. But, more often than not, it's not necessary to alter the overall level, if I've got a good take, low signal:noise, and a clean clip to work with, a compressor will usually get the levels right where I want them. |
Very good advices!
Thanks!!
But what do you mean by "1) comp takes..."?
I mean, what is comp takes?
:eek: |
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| cryophonik |
Comp'ing (Compositing) takes: cut/paste the best parts of each take into one cohesive track. For example, if you recorded a verse two times and you're happy with everything in the second take except for the second line, then replace it with the second line from the first take, if it is better.
edited for clarity. ;) |
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| Lana |
| quote: | Originally posted by cryophonik
Comp'ing (Compositing) takes: cut/paste the best parts of each take into one cohesive track. For example, if you recorded a verse two times and you're happy with everything in the second take except for the second line, then replace it with the second line from the first take, if it is better.
edited for clarity. ;) |
Aaah... Now I see!
That's really good advice!
Thanks!!
:toothless |
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| Ray_Chappell |
| quote: | | [i][b]5) Remove/reduce breaths, if necessary |
In doing this, you want to leave some breaths throughout the vocal for it to sound natural, right? Or is it typical to remove them entirely?
Personally, I've always like the sound of natural breaths in a vocal that aren't overbearing, but have never noticed if some tracks have them removed entirely. |
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| cryophonik |
| I usually just reduce them until they're barely audible using clip gain envelopes, rather than delete them. But, sometimes I will totally remove those really quick and loud breaths that people take when they have little time between phrases to breathe, depending on how out-of-place they sound. |
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| Eldritch |
| quote: | Originally posted by cryophonik
Cleaning up the clip involves (in no particular order):
1) comp takes, if necessary
2) pitch correction, if/where necessary
3) gate/clip any dead space having background noise
4) De-ess
5) Remove/reduce breaths, if necessary
6) Add gain envelopes to boost/cut the levels of any parts/words that are too quiet/loud, as necessary (makes compression much easier and more transparent)
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Yep, that's pretty much what I do. But I do timestretching as well before pitch correction to fix bad timing.
I don't like the remove breath sounds though. It can make a vocal seem very unnatural. |
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| aquila |
| removing breath sounds is un-natural, but sometimes leaving them in can make the vocalist sound like they're using scuba gear. Best just to lower them. |
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| Lana |
What programs do you use for editing vocals (timestretching, bitch correction, remove/reduce breaths...)?
:eyes: |
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| cryophonik |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lana
What programs do you use for editing vocals (timestretching, bitch correction, remove/reduce breaths...)?
:eyes: |
I use the Melodyne plugin or V-Vocal (Sonar-only plugin) for pitch-correcting vocals and for time stretching.
SoundForge 9 for time stretching and any waveform corrections. Wavelab and Adobe Audition have similar functions.
Sonar has a feature called audio snap that is used for quantizing audio, so sometimes I'll use that for correcting bad timing as well.
Spitfish is a good free de-esser. Also check out Blockfish (compressor) and Floorfish (expander/gate) while you're there.
A few companies (Waves, I believe) make de-breathers, but I just use the old-fashioned method of drawing in a gain envelopes to reduce breath levels.
Depending on what DAW you're using, you may already have the capabilities to do most of this in-the-box.
| quote: | Originally posted by Lana
...bitch correction...
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Freudian slip? :stongue: |
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| Lana |
| quote: | Originally posted by cryophonik
Freudian slip? :stongue: |
Uups... yeah, sorry, picth, not bitch :D
Well, I am using Reason and on/off Logic Pro 8.
At the moment I record my vocals with SoundTrack Pro (it come with Logic pro).
But Oh My God! it crashes like 15 times in 1hour! And the 15times is not even the worst case...
Melodyne is familiar name (I have seen their adds/promo videos and it looks just awesome). |
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