Pitch correct entire track...?
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Posted on Apr 04, 2005 04:30 am
Diamond Joe
Member Since: Feb 14, 2005
Hey Guys,
I recorded a VERY rough track, just guitar and vocals... onto seperate audio tracks in Sonar (clean tracks, there's no microphone leakage). Now... the guy playing the guitar tuned by ear before we started, and he's half a semitone out. It matches the vocal pitch-wise of course, because we did them in the same session. Now I want to redo some guitar parts myself (it's a collaboration... he's a great singer, but a little shaky on the guitar) but I want to keep his vocal as a guide. What's my question? Oh, yeah... is there a way in Sonar, or maybe with a plug-in, where I can raise the pitch of the vocal slightly? I don't mean certain vocal phrases, like you would with Autotune, but with something that will slightly raise the entire pitch of track in one easy movement by ear... like maybe a slider or a knob or something. Oh, and obviously I'd like to maintain the same timing after the pitch change. Is this possible?
I hope it makes sense.
Oh, and I'm going to use a condenser mike as well as a direct line-out from the guitar (through a preamp) and then into Sonar (and watching out for phase problems). Does anyone have any advice on some tricks to get a nice comination of the two? Not after anyone's secrets of course, just some advice for some nice effects etc.
Cheers :-)
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jmailjimmie neutronMember
Since: Feb 14, 2005
Apr 04, 2005 07:30 am Not being a Sonar user, I don't know if it does (a Sonar 4 ad says they've got "time scaling mpex"), but CEP 1.5 does, and I've used theirs. It's a Time/Pitch effect in CEP. The "quality" of a part after doing that gets a little strange. Imagine Mickey Mouse on helium, through an artificial voice box (or Robert Plant on Houses of the Holy). Similar to the difference between a tube distorted guitar and a digitally distorted guitar. They're both distorted, but you can tell the one's been altered digitally. Gives it that "metalic" sound. The CEP effect gives you control over the pitch and speed, but seemed a little "backwards" for me to control it. I'd take a copy of a small section of your recording and experiment on it to get your settings before "rendering" the whole track, 'cause it may take a while for it to do it. Don't expect miracles...
Apr 04, 2005 08:06 am boo to fixing it in the mix.
play it again.
Apr 04, 2005 08:47 am AS chance would have it, I was just reading an article on this veru subject at Sound on Sound. Scroll down to about the middle of the page and there is a walkthrough for doing this with a plugin that is part of Sonar.
www.soundonsound.com/sos/.../sonarnotes.htm
jmailjimmie neutronMember
Since: Feb 14, 2005
Apr 04, 2005 12:37 pm I agree with JHY above. From the article philthyone points to:
"Not surprisingly, real harmonies from a human singer usually sound better than this synthetic version. But synthesizing harmonies creates a distinctive timbre that may sometimes be desirable; in fact, sometimes you might deliberately choose not to use formant preservation, just to achieve a weirder effect."
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Apr 04, 2005 01:15 pm As to the guitar recording:
I think if you put on headphones that are plugged into the board, you could hear for the 'magic' spot to record your guitar. The DI won't change, of course, but the air-injection one will change with placement. Just put on the cans, start playing and move the mic around while you're playing.
Even better, have someone else move the mic around while you're playing with your eyes closed. Then you'll be very objective as to where the mic should be (trust your ears, not what your eyes / brain are telling you).
I'm kinda saying this as all guitars / mics / rooms are different, and have to be learned and played with accordingly.
As far as the pitch thingy, I've played around with a pitch change in n-tracks with good results. Though the best option would probably be to track it again. Set the tuner in front of the player, hinting flagrantly that the tuner keeps one in tune with everyone else =).
HTH, good luck.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Apr 04, 2005 03:17 pm Raising a full semi-tone probably won't sound very good on the vocal. I would just tune my guitar to match the vocal or have the guy redo the vocal.
Dan
Josh RoseJR ProductionsMember
Since: Mar 03, 2005
Apr 04, 2005 04:21 pm I just read something about DIing and miking a amp. The article said if you wanted a big sound, pan 30% (you can mess with this number to your taste)one way with the miked side and then 30% to the opposite side with the DI. I haven't actually tried this yet so if you decide to try it and it works well for ya post something about it.
Good luck.
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
Apr 04, 2005 05:06 pm Quote:
Oh, and I'm going to use a condenser mike as well as a direct line-out from the guitar (...) and then into Sonar (...). Does anyone have any advice on some tricks to get a nice comination of the two?
My advice on that combination: ditch the DI and just use the signal recorded by the condensor. I really hate the DI acoustic peizo pickup sound, even if its just mixed in a little. Save that peizo for use during live performances...its my opinion that it has no use in the studio.
Apr 05, 2005 01:56 am Thanks to all... and yes, obviously recording the parts again is the ideal solution... and it is something I will be doing (pretty sure I said that) but I was after an "in-the-meantime" solution to help me rerecord some guitar parts... sometimes it's useful to have a vocal guide so you can maintain the emotional vibe of the track adjusting your guitar playing to suit.
Philthyone, that article looks perfect, thank you... and thanks to Josh, pjk and Tadpui for the advice on using (or not using) the DI signal. I'll experiment and see how I go.
