shiningseraph

Thanks for your feedback!

This is a pretty specific question, but I use Melodyne 4 as a plugin in Logic. Every time you use the Note Separation tool, the separated notes' pitch center in the Correct Pitch Macro resets back to 0%. Is there any where to do note separation and keep the pitch center whatever % I initially had it?

I'm a male singer who often does covers of female singers. I like to make the original song fit my range a little better instead of singing down the octave, so I often pitch down the instrumental I find. However by doing this as everyone is aware, the quality of the instrumental gets lost, sounding more muddy. Are there any techniques in pitching down instrumentals for covers while keeping or recovering quality?

Thank you for your feedback! I really appreciate it!

Thank you so much for your feedback! Just to confirm, would this technique be ideal for, for example verse vocals with a single lead melody, in order to make the sound more full as described?

I know this question has a lot of different answers as well, but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to make a cohesive or glued together instrumental track? I work mainly with pop tracks. Oftentimes, I find that I like the sound of the individual instruments put together, but that they don't necessarily sound like they're glued together, and that there are "gaps" of empty space in the mix. What are some suggested techniques to "close"/lessen those gaps, or to make the combined instruments sound more "full" together?

Ahh, I see, that also makes sense!

Thanks for your response! I think I understand what you mean with the arrangement. I assume you mean taking into account things like panning, and making for example a literal empty central space in your instrumental mix so that your lead vocals have even less to compete with? I think knowing about carving space for the vocals is good for me to know as well since I do a lot of covers of songs, meaning I don't have the liberty to arrange to allow for space for vocals.

Thanks for the clarification on the multipressor, and the suggestion of something to use in its place! I also just realized that, harmonies are still vocals like the lead melody vocals, just maybe higher or lower, but generally will be around the same frequency. Meaning, when you carve out space in the mix for vocals, you will also end up carving out some space for those harmonies as well! My mind was so focused on lead vocals that I didn't realize this very obvious point lol. I agree with basically carving out space for only clashing frequencies, as I imagine overdoing it might cause some issues such as lack of depth, so I guess I just really need to use my ears and determine on my own which tracks to carve out! I really appreciate all of the help! I just tried downloading TrackSpacer, so I'll play around with the demo!

Thank you so much for your response! I forgot about Track Stacks, and in a case like this, this definitely seems like the easiest option (and basically the same thing I mentioned about sending a group of things to a bus). I completely get what you're saying about carving out space for the vocals! I think my comment on sidechaining was confusing because I'm still not sure of it myself, haha. I guess going off of this video: The compressor should be put on the instrumental, and sidechained to a group of vocals it seems. At 1:12, he shows what it's being sidechained to, and it's a bus that contains the melody and its dubs for the chorus, as that's the part with the busiest instrumentation. If I also had harmonies as well for a section like this, would it be best to have that bus also contain those? So basically, sidechain the instrumental to all of the vocals of the busiest part of the song? Lastly, they're using a Waves plugin, but is there an equivalent stock plugin to this? Is sidechain compression basically the multipressor?

I was curious what the difference between using EQ to carve out space for all of the vocals and ducking the instrumental using sidechain compression? Should one be used over the other, or both together? Are doing both of these things typical in the production of a pop track? I also have a specific questions about both processes. For carving out the instrumental, is this typically something you do in the mixing stage, or mastering stage? Should you bus all of your instrumentals to one aux track and then apply EQ there to carve out space, then send that to Stereo Out? Or should you only carve out space directly on the tracks the instrumentals are on/only for the instruments that have frequencies in the same space as the vocals? For the sidechain compressor, should the compressor be sidechained to a bus of all of the vocals sent to one aux track, or only of a bus of all of the lead vocals? --- Sorry for all of the questions, but I'm finding the answers the users here provide to be extremely helpful and understanding for newbies like myself, which I seriously appreciate!

This was probably a very newbie realization, but this is VERY good to know! I'll try making a more significant cut in the low end to lessen that additive mudiness in my vocals! Thanks again; I really appreciate your feedback!

I figured this was the case! Is muddiness additive, kind of like how multiples of the same waveform on top of each makes a louder sound? I ask this because especially pop songs tend to have a ton of vocal layers, so does it make sense to kind of "overcompensate" if you were think of each track being EQ'd individually and cut more?

I use a Blue Yeti microphone for my recordings at home. My set-up isn't anything out of the ordinary, and I try to reduce as many factors in my room that will affect the recording. The quality of the recordings come out pretty good, but what are some techniques to try to reduce the "muffle" sound of these types of home recordings using a USB condenser mic like the Blue Yeti? Would reducing the lower-mids via EQ do the trick, especially when layering multiple vocals? I think I struggle to find the balance of reducing the lower mids while still keeping some sort of depth to the vocals. I'm a male singer by the way with a slightly deeper timbre to my voice.

I was hoping that wouldn't be the case. Thank you, though!