Autotune vs. Kantos vs. Melodyne

dafduc

dafduc

New member
I gotta do something about my vocals - maybe the lessons will eventually pay off, but I'm gettin' old and my voice ain't better by much yet.

So, best way to correct (a) my pitch wobble, and (b) my tendency to go flat on high notes? I'd like to also be able to preserve my vibrato (which is different from my wobble, though I dunno if there's software that will differentiate).

I'm kind of intrigued by Melodyne's claim that it can affect formants. But Autotune is the 5000 lb. gorilla, of course. I'd prefer something that will give me natural sound, too.

Opinions, anyone? My tone's kinda sucky too, but pitch is my big problem now. BTW, I've had a little success in Acid with splitting a wav and applying pitch shift, but my ear's not that good - can't always tell when it's fixed or not. And it won't help the wobble, of course.

TIA,

Daf:confused:
 
I don't know about Kantos.
I have tried auto-tune and Melodyne.

Formant correction or not, nothing works too well on anything other than fairly thin voices. A thick, throaty voice picks up a peculiar quality that's hard to describe when re-tuned even by a small amount. The effect is worse when the voice drifts out of tune and the auto-tune kicks in and bends it back in key. You can slow down the correction rate but that's going to allow some bum pitching to get through.
Melodyne shows promise but although its basic functions more or less work, it has a definite "unfinished" feel to the program. Although the underlying code must be quite clever, the program doesn't look or feel worth the asking price.

Either way, d/load the demos and give them a try. Auto-tune has a time limited demo that you can use fully for the duration while Melodyne is save disabled. You can "save" it however if you don't mind re-recording its output into your sequencer or .wav editor.

If you like autotune, there is a much cheaper version called Oberheim OB-tune, a DX plug-in which can be bought as a download.
www.musicyo.com
$40!!!
 
Have you seen Melodyne 2.0 yet? Was the version you looked at 1.0 or 1.5?

The Oberheim sounds like a good way to get my feet wet. $40 is pretty near painless. Thanks a lot!!!

Daf
 
Don't get the OB tune.I got it a year or so ago and ended up getting auto tune.OB tune is a pale imitation of the real thing.
 
The problem with OB tune is that it only has an automatic mode. Autotune also sucks in the automatic mode. You need to use it in the graphical mode, where you can control exactly where and how much correction is applied.

I can't speak for the other programs as I've never used them, but Autotune is a great tool - when used judiciously. However, it will not make a singer out of a non-singer. And the more correction you need to apply, the more obvious (and bad) it is going to sound.

Vibratos are also tricky, as it tends to tighten the "waver" and bring it closer to the true note, which can make it sound quite unnatural.

My strong recommendation is not to use it as crutch. Sing the part right, and use it for a really good take that has a spot or two of intonation problems.
 
Its been said that anybody can be taught to sing - I believe it. But if you don't have the time for tutoring, a little extra work may get you through. As has been pointed out, pitch correction tools have their limitations.

Punch in and re-record the really bad bits until they're right in the first place.

Consider copy and paste to patch from say, a good chorus , to repair a bad one. If you limit this to a few phrases rather than the whole thing, nobody will notice.

Help yourself to sing well. Try to arrange to get a little reverb in the cans (it's possible to do this and record the track without the 'verb) and only cover one ear with them. It's important for the brain to get some feedback about what is coming out of your mouth and reverb "holds" the sound over to give the brain more time to react.

Mind you, all this is no use to me, I'm cursed with having the ability to sing but I really HATE HATE HATE the sound of my voice.
I'm waiting for that thing Yamaha are working on that gives you a kind of "Singer VSTi plug-in" :)

A few more words about Melodyne. Last time I looked, the demo is still Version 1.
I do think this program is a brilliant idea and I expect in the future some audio sequencers will have this kind of track editing. If you don't already know, it opens a recording like a midi piano-roll editor and you can drag the notes up and down in pitch manually, have them quantised to a scale or the notes of a midi file. Furthermore, you can make a midi file from it if you want a synth/sampler instrument to follow any monophonic recording. Nice, but I wish it was a plug-in rather than a standalone program.
A play with the demo is well worthwhile.
 
Jim Y said:
Nice, but I wish it was a plug-in rather than a standalone program.
A play with the demo is well worthwhile.
Click to expand...

2.0 still isn't a plugin, but it is ReWire compatible...

Daf
 
Jim, if you can sing but you don't like the sound of your own voice, try changing it with this

http://www.tc-helicon.tc/Default.asp?Id=418

"Second generation VoiceModelingTM.
Enhance or even transform vocals using algorithms which include Vibrato, Breath, Growl/Rasp, Inflection, Spectral and Resonance."


I'm fairly certain that's how Daniel Bedingfield got his vocal sound. (listen to "Gotta get through this", "James Dean", "If you're not the one".)Look where it's taken him! Mind you, he would have used the original VoicePrismPlus, which didn't sound as good as VoiceOne.

Also, read this

http://www.tc-helicon.tc/Default.asp?Id=246&AjrNws=521
 
I have both Autotune and Melodyne.... both are very good, but have different purposes (at least, for me they have...)

Bottom line on each... Autotune is very effective in graphic mode (only!) and relatively quick to use -- it's a plug, so you select the segment and apply the plug.

Melodyne is actually better than Autotune in that it is much more tweakable and is less prone to glitching -- the only issue I have with it is that it's much more of a pain to setup....

I use Melodyne if I need to do something complex such as "construct" a new harmony line from an existing melody.

I use Autotune in graphic mode if I need to quickly fix a bum note or two in an otherwise good take. Melodyne is too cumbersome to use "plug-in" style just to fix a few notes....
 
Thanks, guys - I d/l'd the Autotune DX version last night - we'll see what kinda damage I can do in the next 9 days. Then I'll try my tracks with Melodyne's demo, see which I like better (or hate less).

I really appreciate the input...

Daf
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top