The Song Fight Bulletin Board

So I have 8 takes of a vocal track that pretty much line up but I want to combine them into one meaty monster (oo-er) and somehow get my audio editor to ignore/wipe away any parts where they don't exactly match up, so that it sounds super-tight (fnar) even when it actually isn't.

I have a vague memory of reading that back in the analogue old days one could use a flanger(?) to do this. If so, could someone explain the process to me so I can try and apply it to my set-up? What I am trying to avoid for instance is going through and manually fading in /out every time multiple 't's at the end of a word create a stutter.


Alternatively does anyone have any suggestions for a (preferably free) VST plug-in that does this, or can be tweaked to do it?

i hope this request makes sense to someone - any suggestions (other than play it tighter in the first place) would be very welcome.

j$

I might be able to do something with Melodyne - it can fix timing as well as fixing notes - but it sometimes does odd things to the timing. However if you have a good base clip, the others can be snapped to the timing of the base one pretty well. It's not free so I couldn't give it to you, tho
No idea how you'd do that with a flanger.
-bill

Yeah, I'd think a flanger or anything else would just make a mess out of timing issues. Or you'd lose a lot of words from lost consonants. I edit backing vocals by hand to line things up but it is tedious, so I understand wanting an auto-process, but if you really note which spots need it bad then I bet it's manageable.

I'd probably blow up all 8 tracks and line up the high and low peaks until they are as close as possible. Then I'd experiment by panning out the tracks left and right in different spots until the sound is sonically even on both sides.

I've seen melodyde used, but I've never tried it. But as Bill said, that program is designed for things of this nature.

OK, with the above said. If I wanted to achieve a fat vocal track, I'd take one vocal track, duplicate it, do the JB trick and move the duplicated track back a hair until it sounds good, duplicate the duplicated track after it's been moved back, pan the two duplicated tracks left and right with the original track centered. You might even add some ambiance to the duplicated tracks to achieve depth. Fade to the delight of your ears.
Tip: Never move your duplicated tracks forward. Always keep the original track as the leading track. It took me about a half dozen times using this trick before I realized why I lost my tight sound. I was moving things forward like a dumb ass and not realizing that the slight pre start was the cause.

So your goal is to just leave one "s" or one "t" or whatever on the end of the word on one track, and eliminate or reduce it on the others?

Compression is the tool you're looking for. Apply a de-esser to the track, and twiddle your knobs until the ends of the words go away.

That's right, I said twiddle your knobs.

I dunno if you're going to have *enough* consonant at the end of this process. If you don't, you'll want to enhance the strength of that one track by following Billy's advice above, with the moving and duplicating of tracks and whatnot.

JB

jb wrote:So your goal is to just leave one "s" or one "t" or whatever on the end of the word on one track, and eliminate or reduce it on the others?

Holy crap, is that what he said? Damn, my reading comprehension is awful.

j$ wrote: any suggestions (other than play it tighter in the first place) would be very welcome.

I know you don't want this suggestion - but I do vocals over and over until they match. I think it is easier than technical fiddling. It takes a lot of repetition (so it helps to have an empty house or you will drive others mad) but after about the 3rd run through, you get into the groove and remove all the little variations. Break the vox down so you just do a few lines at a time, over and over again.

I remember seeing a show on telly about how Nirvana recorded 'Nevermind'. I think it was Butch Vig or someone said that all Cobain's vocals were double or triple tracked or something - and Kurt could match himself exactly everytime.

My guess is the reason you remember doubled vocals being associated with flanging is because of this:

http://tinyurl.com/6gncc8

The Beatles were thrilled by Townsend's invention and used it throughout the Revolver album, and on many of their subsequent recordings. Lennon dubbed the technique 'flanging' after producer George Martin jokingly told him it was produced using a "double-bifurcated sploshing flange."

This is, of course, only vaguely related to what we now call a flanger. What this article describes sounds like some kind of primitive tape-based version of what Billy describes above.