Vocal Doubling

[polarity]

I read through the other topic on doing vocal doubling that went way off topic and got to noticing no one brought up VocAlign Pro. Curious if there were others on the forum who have used it and had anything to add. Seems like a very simple way to line up multi track vocals.

I don't have it, but I've been at a local studio with a buddy the last few nights and they use it there and love it.

Edit: Yarg, I meant to put this in the recording forum not mixing. Mods if you would be so kind as to place it where it belongs.

 

[miroslav]

If you are in a hurry, like most video post houses are (or you're just lazy) I guess that's a quick solution, but even a $600 vocal alignment program like VocAlign Pro needs to be tweaked... you have to set protected ranges that you don't want processed, and you have to assign points for the alignment...etc....and the most important thing is that VocAlign Pro uses "pattern recognition" which might work well overall, but it can't *hear* the results. Sometimes you can nudge one vocal track against another by just a few sample in either direction, and it all sounds good....but different...and only your ears can decide which difference sounds best to you.
Also...VocAlign Pro only works with Logic and Pro Tools, so users of other DAWs will not have had an opportunity to use it (though there are other apps out there that help with vocal alignment).

So....with all that in mind....it's just as easy to slice up a vocal track into sections of words/phrases...and then nudge them manually. I mean, in most cases if you have two vocal tracks, they wilalreadyyd be pretty close.

I think when you somethingting like VocAlign Pro....you might be tempted to accept its solution for the sake of saving some time, rather than your own manual choices. In the home/project recording world, time is rarely an issue.

 

[polarity]

Hmm thanks miro. Didn't really think of it that way. The way they were demoing it in the studio you and I could sing the same verse. If I couldn't get the timing down you could sing it, then we use your take to line up my vocal and suddenly I was singing it in time.

It was a pretty crazy plugin. They also had one that did 4 part harmony. I was unaware but apparently some pretty big acts have recorded there. I was impressed but they do seem to be stuck in their way of doing things and are sure it's best. Just like I was told you HAD to have pro tools because it sounds the best.

 

[miroslav]

Well "in time" is a subjective thing.

I'm sure the VocalAlign Pro will get things in time pretty good....but again, you can nudge one vocal up, back and in-between, and still be "in -time"...yet each position will sound a little different.

If we sing the same word..... your pronunciation and mine will NEVER be identical so our patterns will always be different...yet the VocalAlign Pro is just looking for the best-fit portion of the "patterns" in the sound wave, and not hearing what it sounds like.

I'm just saying that I would rather make the choice based on how it sounds rather than how the patterns fit best....though if time is an issue, then the app will be faster and still give you a decent result.

 

[Protocall]

I think to yield the greatest results you need your artist or performer to have good recordings to begin with. I use double's in almost all my music and I perfectly align it without any 3rd party programs. I think by using 3rd party programs to do something you can do without, your lowering your quality standards.