May Angels Guide

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K-dub

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May Angels Guide - Employing vocal synths and harmonizers




This is a tune where I employ both the female vocaloid as well as use a midi harmonizer that follows what I'm singing/saying but the actual notes being sung are directed via a midi track.

All comments are warmly appreciated.

K-
 
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The chiming guitar in the intro is very "Walking On The Moon" - but that's not a bad thing.
The keyboard could use some support when it's carrying the chord progression.
A very mature piece of work mate.
 
rayc said:
The chiming guitar in the intro is very "Walking On The Moon" - but that's not a bad thing.
The keyboard could use some support when it's carrying the chord progression.
A very mature piece of work mate.
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Ha ... they do sound "Police-y". Thanks for the thoughts, Ray!
 
Sounds pretty good. I'd never guess that's a robot woman. I'm not crazy about the chorus effect on her "voice" but that's just personal taste. The mix sounds right to me.
 
I thought it sounded great. The tone on everything sounds nice.

I'd put the harmony vocals all the way through the chorus.

OK maybe a little more crack on the snare? It's a little muffled. A very minor nit.

But that's it. Real good.
 
Oh one thing on the vocaloid.. They're kind of washy. I couldn't really make out what the words were. It fit with the overall mood of the song, so it's no big deal. But if you want the words to be be understood, you'd need to bring out some clarity.
 
Greg_L said:
Sounds pretty good. I'd never guess that's a robot woman. I'm not crazy about the chorus effect on her "voice" but that's just personal taste. The mix sounds right to me.
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I put a spot of work into making her sound natural ... but I still was trying to "mask the ruse" ... so I still tried to bury in effects ... figuring that it would both make "her" sound both "ephemeral" and hide the "phony".

It's a balance. :)
 
Personal preference: I'd rather hear her clearly in all her vocaloid glory.

Your vocal: I'm hearing sibilance and something that reminds me of phase, but isn't. Is that the harmonizer?
 
TripleM said:
I thought it sounded great. The tone on everything sounds nice.

I'd put the harmony vocals all the way through the chorus.

OK maybe a little more crack on the snare? It's a little muffled. A very minor nit.

But that's it. Real good.
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Agreed on the snare sound ... some minor tweaking to follow. Interestingly, I did originally have the harmony start right at the beginning of the first chorus ... but to me, it sounded like "too much too quick" and instead opted to insert them in the second half of the chorus the first time around and the whole chorus the second time around.

Thanks for the thoughts, Trip. Always appreciated.
 
TripleM said:
Oh one thing on the vocaloid.. They're kind of washy. I couldn't really make out what the words were. It fit with the overall mood of the song, so it's no big deal. But if you want the words to be be understood, you'd need to bring out some clarity.
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As noted to Greg, they're intentionally washy ... as I'm trying to blur the synthetic sound and ... well, it's an angel. :)

This sort of goes to show how valuable other ears are ... for I know what the lyric is ("We are with you now ...") and to me, they're as clear as a bell.
 
dobro said:
Personal preference: I'd rather hear her clearly in all her vocaloid glory.

Your vocal: I'm hearing sibilance and something that reminds me of phase, but isn't. Is that the harmonizer?
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Yes ... and I describe it as an ever so slightly metallic robot tinge ... but there is nothing I can do really to tame it, for it is inherent in the sound of the device.
 
... btw?

I refer to this as my "tweeners lament" -- that time period where on one hand we're saying hello to the grandchildren and goodbye to our parents.

... even though I've yet to have grandkids, the first verse was written about my daughter just after she was born. The second verse was written after losing my Mom last December.
 
Very nice exploitation of technology Kev. The sounds hang and blend really well imo. It's a cool tune too. Really like that organ part around 2.00. Reminds me of something from the 80s that I just can't put my finger on. I like your vocal delivery on this, quite restrained, almost subdued. Great job
 
There's some clipping in the master, most evident in the male vocal, but also in the drums. Absolutely ADORE the drummer and the overall groove of the piece. Love the 80s patina of the rhythm guitars. Great sound field choices; the imaging is attention-grabbing. This sounds really great, save for the relentless clipping; the relative track balance is very good indeed... The vocaloid stuff is well-executed. Very enjoyable song; I just was having a hard time with the clipping...
 
K-dub don't clip. He's trying out some weird shit on vocals these days, but he don't clip.
 
Hah! Just remembered what track that part reminds me of - Abacab by Genesis.
 
Bulls Hit said:
Very nice exploitation of technology Kev. The sounds hang and blend really well imo. It's a cool tune too. Really like that organ part around 2.00. Reminds me of something from the 80s that I just can't put my finger on. I like your vocal delivery on this, quite restrained, almost subdued. Great job
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Thanks K! Frustration is often the mother of experimentation. I knew I wanted an "angel" ... but also that I'd never actually be able to sound like one. :)
 
Llarion said:
There's some clipping in the master, most evident in the male vocal, but also in the drums. Absolutely ADORE the drummer and the overall groove of the piece. Love the 80s patina of the rhythm guitars. Great sound field choices; the imaging is attention-grabbing. This sounds really great, save for the relentless clipping; the relative track balance is very good indeed... The vocaloid stuff is well-executed. Very enjoyable song; I just was having a hard time with the clipping...
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I'm not certain why you're hearing clipping, Phil. I run my levels way down, and generally don't hammer the main bus w/ brick limiting. Mostly I'll apply a limiter that trims the peaks, but I keep limiting on the rather soft side. I tend to go by the notion that if you can hear the compression (if it sounds like sonics up against pressed glass), you've too much of it.
 
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