new piano VI sound OK?

[mikeymike2000]

Hey Mark,

Yeah, that is a good sounding piano! I remember saying some not so flattering things several weeks ago about the Casio.

Good addition!

[oakman]

Yup, this is the VI I've been waiting for. And at that price it's a no-brainer. Thanks Mike.

Mark

[eddied]

Hi, Mark:

Nice song, beautiful piano -- your voice really soars on a few of those high notes. And I especially like your phrasing on the second verse, specifically on "That's me in the mirror."

One thing -- your voice sounds a bit chorused, or perhaps Melodyned on some phrases? As a habitual Melodyne user, I thought I was hearing a bit of their give-away signature. It's subtle, but I think I am hearing something there. One thing I found in Logic, is that if I Melodyne my vocal on the same track where I have other effects added, I need to make sure to move Melodyne to the top of the chain, so it is working with the dry signal. If I don't do that, it's processing becomes a lot more obvious.

Take care!

EddieD

[oakman]

Eddie,

Yup, you're hearing Melodyne. I use Presonus Studio One for a DAW. Bought the top-level version that comes with the essential version of Melodyne. Recently though I'm doing the 30-day trial of the editor version, and I used that to Melodyne my vocals on this song. I've watched many of the training videos on Celemony's site and certainly have learned a lot from those, but I sure would love to spend an hour with a seasoned Melodyne professional.

Frankly I think I'm over using it, which is probably normal for a newbie. Possibly an unfortunate side-effect of having Melodyne is that I probably don't work as hard to get the perfect take thinking that I can correct it later. I'm sure it's more of learning a balance, and I suspect I will get there in time.

It occured to me last night that maybe if I re-record the vox while monitoring my Melodyne performance, I might be able to get a performance that requires less post-processing. I'm going to give that a try, especially since I feel like I've got a much better take in my for this song.

Regarding Melodyne's place in the chain, Melodyne is integrated into Studio One, so it doesn't even appear in the chain. That said though, I can maybe add it and then I'll have control of the position. And I can always bounce it to another track if that doesn't work. Thanks for that tip.

I am smitten with my new piano VI. What's interesting about it is that it's not a sampled VI. They reproduce the sound on the fly. Amazing stuff.

Thanks for your nice comments. The line you pointed out may well be my favorite line in the song. I'm a Glee fan and if you've watched the show, there are many scenes shot in the bathroom with the kids in front of the mirrors. The song really came from a dream I had, although Glee certainly played its part in the lyrics.

Mark

[eddied]

Hi, Mark:

That gave me a big smile that I caught on to what is in fact perhaps your favorite line of the song -- isn't it interesting how we communicate with our music? The things that resonate the most within us, if we communicate it well (craft/technique, etc.) are going to be what speak to our listeners.

Interesting info re Melodyne! I didn't know they had allowed their tech to be baked into some other product. Certainly a strong selling point for PreSonus. Of course, if it is accessible as part of any audio track, I expect they are taking care of making sure it is ahead of any plug-ins added to that track. So long as it is as full-featured as the stand-alone plug-in (is that an oxymoron??) you can buy, you should be OK. As far as training, I bought the Groove3.com course on Melodyne and went through it. Helped me a lot. Using Melodyne, I will occasionally get that same slightly vocoder-y tone, and it usually comes from using the Pitch Modulation Tool to flatten out the squiggly line in the note "blob." (I only use highly technical terms!)

My work-flow on problem notes is (1) select that note, (2) apply Correct Pitch macro (usually only applying about 80% to leave a bit of humanity!) (3) if it still sounds whack, then work with Pitch Modulation Tool to see how much rescue work can be done, making sure to keep enough of the squiggle that I don't get that vocoder thing going on. If it still sounds bad, then cry.

Of course, as you and so many others observe, the first goal is to capture a good performance, so that tools like Melodyne are not needed, or needed as much. But I thank God every night when I go to sleep for my beautiful wife and my Melodyne because, as Clint Eastwood observed, "A man has to know his limitations."

EddieD

[oakman]

I checked out the video tutorials for Melodyne by Groove3.com and it's only 20 bucks. I'll probably pop for that.

The Essential version is what's bundled with Presonus Studio One Professional version, and it can also be used as a stand-alone application. I've been demoing the editor version but I think the assistant version will have the features I need to work with my vocal tracks. I can upgrade to that for $149, half the price of upgrading to the editor version.

My wife and I got a big kick out of your Eastwood quote. Thanks Ed, for both the info and the laughs!

Mark