Tweaking Vocals

[spikezone2004]

Hello all, first time posting on these forums. I have been making beats for a while now, nothing that great but I enjoy making them which is enough for me to keep doing it if it makes me happy. But I have hit a spot which I cant figure out.

I am trying to make something for my girlfriend she wants to sing a song she likes and I recorded it a couple times and well her notes aren't perfect so I put it into antares auto-tune (Yes I know auto-tune is everywhere but its a little project for her and shes having fun with it) However I just can't get the vocals sounding good with it. Its either all choppy switching from pitch to pitch or like there is no auto-tune at all, I have never really messed around with it much (never done vocals except for once with this girl who sung perfectly) but I cant seem to get it to work like it should, any tips? I feel like I am missing something simple with it.

 

[JG96]

I am pretty sure that with autotune you can do manual tuning meaning you can adjust notes to the correct pitch center rather than the program doing it automatically which is much less subtle.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Hey,
Yeah..+1.

Autotune plugs are obviously capable of that ridiculous effect, but they're also capable of very powerful, manual, subtle corrections.
Don't use it as a blanket effect. Zoom in on particular notes and make adjustments to them.

If you're singing's pretty accurate, the tuner should know what note you meant to hit.

I use Waves Tune which is the same but different.
It reads my recording but does nothing to it unless I tell it too.
If I zoom in and pick a note I can adjust note transition (reduces deviation from the root pitch),
and effect speed (how quickly the tuner kicks in on that note).

High speed and flat transition = autotune effect, so just tread carefully and make subtle changes.

More often than not I don't change the speed setting. I just select a note and reduce transition enough to smooth out subtle errors.

If you're quite far out the tuner could detect your C (for example) as a C sharp or whatever.
In that case you'll need to grab and pull that note down into the right place so the software knows you were attempting a C.
From there you might need to reduce note transition slightly too.

My rule with autotune is this : If you can hear it, I've done it wrong.

Make sense?

 

[JG96]

I use waves tune too. And then feel bad about myself +1 on only fixing the notes that need to be fixed. If it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb let it be. Nobody is perfect! Except maybe T-Pain

 

[spikezone2004]

Thanks all for the input. I will take a look into Waves Tune and then look for some good tutorials on changing notes by hand.

one other question, what are good effects for vocals? I read a little bit of reverb is good, but I want to make them sound more part of the song they seem to stick out a little bit still.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Thanks all for the input. I will take a look into Waves Tune and then look for some good tutorials on changing notes by hand.

one other question, what are good effects for vocals? I read a little bit of reverb is good, but I want to make them sound more part of the song they seem to stick out a little bit still.

Just to clarify, I'm not recommending Waves tune or saying it's a better plug than any other. I just happen to have it.
Waves is a money pit.

Speaking very very generally, reverb, eq and compression are common.
In the ideal world eq and compression aren't necessary, and depending on your tracking environment, reverb might not be either.
Some people like a slap delay. Some double track; That's pretty common.