I want to add some 2 or 3 part harmonies to my vocal tracks. I see there are a number of DAW plug-ins for this purpose. I saw this one on Sweetwater www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Quadravox--eventide-quadravox-plug-in. Price is right, but maybe someone has a better suggestion. Thanks.
Post by Auf Kiltre on Sept 3, 2020 11:07:16 GMT -5
I don't have a suggestion for the plugin but may I ask why not just track the harmonies? I personally like to hunt and peck for good harmonies, it's not like you're committed when they're tracked. A good effect is to double the harmonies and pan them left and right, makes for a nice wide effect. Even pitch correcting them will probably produce a more natural result than a plugin. JM2c.
I don't have a suggestion for the plugin but may I ask why not just track the harmonies? I personally like to hunt and peck for good harmonies, it's not like you're committed when they're tracked. A good effect is to double the harmonies and pan them left and right, makes for a nice wide effect. Even pitch correcting them will probably produce a more natural result than a plugin. JM2c.
My tin ear shows itself when I try to harmonize, even to my own voice. I just don't get it. It sound like I'm singing the melody note either flat or sharp.
Post by Auf Kiltre on Sept 3, 2020 13:14:38 GMT -5
Ah, got it. I was going to suggest a vocal harmonizer pedal that you can they use for any live performances, but see they're roughly double the cost of the plugin you linked. Best of luck!
The plugin I use for any audio that is pitch related is Melodyne. It's a monster but quite expensive. About $700 for the polyphonic version. Probably not what you're looking for but it will do everything. Pitch correction, harmonies, convert audio to MIDI, etc. The only reason I have it is because I got a sizable check for my birthday last year that paid for almost all of it.
I've used a demo version of Melodyne, what a great program. I've had autotune for many years now and use it in graphics mode to pencil in little nudges in pitch. But no polyphonic application, at least in my version. A long time ago I found a bunch of mellotron samples that I downloaded and saved, but some where seriously ratty in pitch. Because many were layered (2 octaves of strings, for instance) I couldn't fix them in Autotune. I did it with the Melodyne demo and it worked fairly well.
Back to vocal hamonizers, I recently saw a duo (vocalist/guitarist and a girl fiddle player) doing a set at a bar in Michigan. We were sitting outside and not very close but I became aware of 3 part male harmony that sounded like highly produced Nashville vocs. Pretty incredible once you surrender to the technology. I'm sure most audience members don't question the artistic integrity, and with the chump change musicians get paid these days, another vocalist or 2 on the roster is a likely deal breaker.
You can make it really simple and run your mic through a harmonizer pedal to capture it all at once. The drawback with this method is the lead vocal and harmonies are all on the same track, so there's no way to adjust levels in relation to each other; you have to set your levels and get them right before the Red Light is lit.
Any rebroadcast, reproduction, or other use of the pictures and accounts of this post without the express written consent of Major League Goofball is encouraged.
Learning to sing three-part harmony is pretty simple. If you think in terms of "do - re - mi" it becomes a simple matter of working out the lines. The more you practice (and do) this, the easier and more automatic it becomes. Check this out.
Any rebroadcast, reproduction, or other use of the pictures and accounts of this post without the express written consent of Major League Goofball is encouraged.
Harmonies always came naturally to me. I would often find myself singing along to a tune on the radio and realize I'm singing the harmony, even if there wasn't one there. Everly Brothers were good for finding a third part.
I've worked with some musicians who struggled with harmony. I could show them the part and they'd sing it back to me fine. Then by the time they got to the line they blew past the Re and Mi and were squeaking the Doh an octave higher. A good training process in the world of digital recording may be to construct a harmony line, even a short simple one by applying what theory you know of chord construction on guitar. Track it without a lead vocal reference. Then put the lead voc back in the mix and see how it sounds. The objective would be repetition until the part sounds right and natural to you so that singing it wasn't causing any brain parity issues with the lead vocal.
Last Edit: Sept 5, 2020 8:58:48 GMT -5 by Auf Kiltre
Harmony has always been easy for me as well. Probably has to do with growing up singing in church choirs. I was also very fortunate to be blessed with a good musical ear. I was learning to play Beatles songs from the radio, on the piano, when I was 7. That's when my mom thought I should start taking piano lessons.
I have worked with a number of incredible lead vocalists who could not sing harmonies unless it was drilled into their performance by intense guidance and rehearsal.