Latest from MusicRadar in Vocal-techniques

“There was a time I was collecting synths and using as much hardware as possible – maybe it’s a bit weird to downgrade from that”: Ikonika on discovering their voice and going back-to-basics for Sad

Si Truss — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 09:15:00 +0000

The career of London-based producer Ikonika (aka Sara Chen) has taken multiple twists and turns. From early dubstep releases on Hyperdub – the influential label that is home to the likes of Burial and Kode:9 – through tracks that have embraced elements of techno, grime, UK funky, gqom and amapiano.

Their latest release, Sad, is the boldest reinvention yet, seeing Ikonika step front and centre as a vocalist as well as a producer for an album that explores both their journey as a songwriter and their trans identity.

As Ikonika explains in our breakdown of album highlight Slow Burn (above), those different sides of Sad are inherently linked. The more complex, song focused structures of the tracks allowing Chen’s vocals to provide a narrative focal point.

“[Slow Burn] is very personal. It's about my transness,” they explain. “I'm a non binary person, and the track is kind of disguised as a poppy electronic track, but it goes through a certain transition towards the end.

“It kind of goes into a reprise and turns into a more dreamy, airy, fluid sort of piece of music. It uses my own vocals as well. The vocals are very airy, very fluid. They kind of meld or glue the track very well.”

We visited Ikonika in their London studio to talk about the album's creation, the challenges of working with vocals, and how the album translates to live performances.

How did you first get into music production?

“I first got into making music after dubstep changed my life. I just wanted to make tracks that were really bassy – really lots of sub bass and not much to it. Also, I'm a big fan of '80s pop, so I always wanted to have synths.

"I learnt DJing around the same time as I was going out to dubstep nights. From there, I got into grime and UK funky, then I started retracing the roots of electronic music. I got into Chicago house, techno, juke and footwork, and a lot of sounds from South Africa. Things like kwaito and bacardi and now amapiano and gqom. They're big influences and constantly make me want to make music.”

(Image credit: Ardy Bernado)

What is it about those South African genres that appeals to you?

“I think the first real genre that caught my attention was gqom, just because it kind of sounded a bit like grime, in a really weird way. I think it has the same feeling as grime and UK funky mixed together – sort of housey grime kind of stuff.

“I think, just dynamically speaking, it just had that bass that reminded me of dubstep nights and going to clubs with really nice sound systems, like Plastic People.”

You have a fair amount of hardware in your studio, did you use that in creating the album?

“Sad was pretty much made on my laptop in Ableton. Since having a child, I've downsized – so that's why I'm just purely in the laptop. I'm kind of loving it at the moment, because it reminds me of when I was a bedroom producer.

"It's nice having things that simple again. But obviously it comes with certain challenges. For example, CPU load now that I'm recording vocals and there's 40 or 50 tracks in a song.

“It's made me think about access to things. There was a time when I was collecting synths and trying to use as much hardware as possible. That was really fun and it was such a good learning process – just understanding how it worked, also just the physicality of things, like, actually touching buttons and knobs. I love that. But you know that's quite complex in itself.

“It's maybe a bit weird to downgrade from all of that into a laptop, but I'm really enjoying it.

"The only thing I kind of dislike is CPU load and having to think of workarounds. If a soft synth is bugging out with all the plugins I'm using, or if I have a very wild, overloaded chain going on – how do I work around that? Is it going to stop my creativity? At what point does it get a bit too much and what am I going to do to remedy that?

“Those are the kind of challenges I'm facing. But yeah there are always like workarounds.”

Sad is your first album to include your own vocals – how did that come about?

“I started exploring my vocals back during Covid. I was in a different studio then, and we had lots of nice microphones, but I wasn't really getting any vocalists in. It just felt like a waste to not use those mics.

“So one day, I set one up and just started saying stuff into the mic. It was kind of like, just chants, ‘yeah’, ‘hey’, ‘ooh’, some breath, that kind of stuff. Then I started thinking maybe I could try singing. I just gave it a go and kind of went from there.

“I released an EP with Hyperdub called Bubble Up that had my vocals for the first time. And then a few other tracks came out, like Details that came out on Night Slugs.

“After that I was just making more and more tracks with my vocals. I had a handful of them, and I kind of felt like maybe these weren't singles or an EP, and that there was a bigger story to tell.

“So that's when I started thinking about an album, and that's how Sad came about. It's just this collection of vocals that I didn't think would be useful in the club. They weren't traditional songs for the club. They had elements of pop and R&B, so it just kind of felt right to place them in an album format.”

How much of a challenge has it been incorporating vocals into your productions?

“It was like a whole new thing for me. I learned through a lot YouTube videos, a lot of TikTok videos, just to see how people generally do it, because I didn't really know fully how to track vocals, how to engineer them.

“When I started to learn that kind of stuff, like what you traditionally do to process vocals, I realised I could do things quite differently. One of the big things for me is I'm not too precious about having a clean, flat, dry, perfect sounding vocal.

“I realised that the microphone can pick up so many different things. I'm really into that actually, and not just with my vocals. It's like, when I'm recording little clicks or little claps or little just breaths or air, I'm really into the way, like the microphone receives that and translates it into the computer.

“I'm thinking about that journey that the sound is making. I'm thinking about it more not in a technical sense, but more as a living, breathing sort of thing. That's what I'm really enjoying right now.”

Album artwork for Sad (Image credit: Hyperdub)

Tell us about the contribution of Tice Cin on the final track…

“The last track of my album is called Make It Better, and it features my friend Tice Cin. She is a writer, a DJ and a general music person. She wrote a book called Keeping The House, She kind of spat some bars on the last track.

“It's funny, because actually it was supposed to be an intro, but then we kind of felt it would be better as an outro, because it concludes the album very well. She's been there since the beginning of this album, so she's seen how it's unfolded and the way it's grown and turned into this thing.

“She also helped me with understanding the narrative of the album from a writer's perspective. We chose a train as the vessel for the narrative. So it was just simple questions at first: if this album is a train, what kind of things happen on the train? What happens before you get on a train? What happens on the train? What happens when you get off the train?

“She basically said, that's how writers write. Maybe try having that writer's mindset when thinking about the album.”

How are you planning on performing the tracks from Sad live?

“When I started performing these tracks it was more of a hybrid DJ situation. I'd be running playback on the CDJs and it would be mixed like a DJ set. I'm still keeping to that core – because being a DJ, that's kind of all I know – but I’m now using Ableton and a Push 3.

"My voice is the instrument now. I have to look after myself."

“I've been running Push in standalone mode for a few shows, which I think is really nice, but it also gives me anxiety, because I don't really trust it.

“The live setup is very simple. It's just a Ableton Push 3 and a microphone. Like my production setup, everything is in-the-box. It sort of has the same kind of feel as a DJ set – there's no gaps in it, and it kind of journeys from the more of the sadder tracks of Sad and then gets a bit uplifting.

“It’s stem based, so there's room to mix in different clips from different songs and different percussion elements and loops.

“For me, it's more important to get the vocal across while at the same time keeping that club energy.

“I'm now thinking about vocal coaching. I'm thinking about how to warm up my voice. I'm thinking maybe not to have too many cigarettes, and maybe just ease off the Henny.

“I'm thinking of all these kinds of things, because my body, my voice is the instrument and is the performance. I have to look after myself. I have to look after my health. I can't get a cold, I can't get a cough, chest infection, anything like that. So it is rather different from a DJ set.

“I'm trying to not rely on something like Auto-Tune, because I feel like it can go kind of a bit wrong sometimes. That’s where the vocal coaching comes in. I want to just actually learn my songs and not be pitch perfect but, you know, there abouts.”

SAD by Ikonika is out now via Hyperdub

“People ask that question so much because he has such an identifiable sound… It's literally just his voice”: The 'secret sauce' that creates Dijon’s distinctive vocal sound isn't what you thought it was

ben.rogerson@futurenet.com (Ben Rogerson) — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 12:24:09 +0000

Dijon’s Baby is not only one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year, but also among the most interesting on a production level.

Sounds and moments come and go so quickly that it’s sometimes hard to work out what they were and why they were there, but the distinctive thread that keeps the show on the road is the Dijon’s (Dijon Duenas) distinctive vocals.

Inevitably, many fans have tried to work out how these are processed. However, speaking to DeadWax, producer Tommy King, who worked on multiple tracks on the record, suggests that there’s far less going on than you might think.

Quizzed on how Dijon’s vocals are treated, King says: “People ask that question so much because he has such an identifiable sound… It's literally just his voice.”

Quite the plot twist, but there are other factors in play, many of which relate to the way that Dijon likes to record.

“Sometimes, you know, he can be in his garage with like a 414 [AKG mic] or something. And other times, he's just [Shure] SM57 and the mains are as loud as they can go. And then what you're hearing - the ‘processing’ - you're hearing bleed. You're literally hearing the entire song coming through, right? You're hearing a million different vocals. I mean, they're stacked and it's just fully freestyle.”

In fact, ‘freestyle’ is a good way to describe Dijon’s approach to the album as a whole. King says that, in the beginning, the various collaborators on the album (others involved included Mk.gee, BJ Burton and Andrew Sarlo) set up a few drum machines - the Elektron Octatrack, an Akai MPC and the Roland TR-8 were all heavily involved, apparently - and just jammed through the night.

“He'd be on his drum machines and his modular stuff with the microphone just kind of like scratching,” says King of Dijon’s role in all this. “For him it's all, like, freestyle. I don't think he's going back home and writing lyrics. It’s just like… catching vibes.”

In the end, though, it was down to Dijon to coral these ideas into a finished album at his garage studio, a process that King says took around two months.

“Ultimately, you know, Djon being that incredible producer that he is, needed to isolate, and figure it out, you know? And I remember when I first heard this stuff, he was like, ‘Hey, Matt, it's done.’ I walked over and listened. We live four houses away from each other. And I went to his garage and I was just like, ‘What? What did you do?’”

King’s surprise stemmed from the fact that, although some songs sounded similar to those he’d originally worked on, others had been transformed completely. However, rather than taking offence, he completely understood.

“What he did was turn it into an interpolation of what is going on in that wild brain,” says King. “He had to take it home and finish it and make it his album.”

"We are in and out of there – sometimes in an hour-and-a-half! – and we’re done with the track": Burned out recording vocals? Myles Kennedy shares his top for getting the perfect take

Jonathan Horsley — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Recording an album isn’t easy on anyone. It’s a marathon process. It’s hard enough on the guitar players, trying over and over to nail the perfect take, but it can be brutal on vocalists. There is only so much load the voice can handle.

Myles Kennedy knows this only too well. Vocal burnout is real. The Alter Bridge frontman and co-conspirator of Slash says it takes monastic discipline to keep his voice in working order when on tour.

“It is a life of no fun! [Laughs] It’s the lonely, lonely life of a singer,” he says. “You sing and you go, you get to the bus, you shut up, and you get to your bunk and you get as much sleep as you can. And you don’t party. You don’t talk a lot.”

In the vocal booth, it requires a more calculated approach, and over time he and Alter Bridge’s long-standing producer, Michael ‘Elvis’ Baskette, have got it down to a tee.

It wasn’t always like this.

“You’d be turning it in, just singing it down, singing it down, singing down and singing it down, and then the voice would get worn, it would get tired,” says Kennedy.

The secret is to pick your moments. Baskette knows when to push Kennedy’s voice, and crucially when to rest it. It’s all about maximising how much energy is left in it.

“You just have a finite amount of power and pitch control, and once that stops with the human voice, okay, just put it away,” says Kennedy.

Some producers might ask for a best of three then let the singer rest. The takes can be comped together to see what works. But Baskette is a a little more exacting about what he wants from Kennedy. They get the vocal engineering down cold so everything is all set up.

“It’s the idea of, ‘Right, we’re going to sing this down, we’re going to get it to open up, make sure everything sounds right, with preamps setup for the volume, blah blah blah…’”

(Image credit: Chuck Brueckmann)

They go over the song, take it section by section, and let it rip.

“Elvis has really figured this out for my voice – he knows my voice better than any producer I have worked with because we have done so many records together,” says Kennedy. “One thing we do is we’ll hit a certain part really hard, give it maximum intensity, and then let it rest for a few minutes.

State-Sanctioned Killings for Drug Offences in East and Southeast AsiaInstead of just going, ‘Okay, we’re going to do three passes, just give it a 100 per cent, and then we’ll put a comp together and take it from there.’ What we do is we’ll focus on a section, know what we need to do, and that way we are in and out of there – sometimes in an hour-and-a-half! – and we’re done with the track.”

Alter Bridge recorded the lion’s share of their new studio album at 5150 Studios, in Los Angeles, the recording facility built from the ground up by the late Eddie Van Halen, which is now owned by his son, Wolfgang.

With Wolfgang a close friend of the bend – playing in Tremonti’s solo band for a while and sharing management – he extended an invite that no one in Alter Bridge was going to think twice about.

“It was literally, the minute we walked in the door, it was very Wayne’s World. ‘We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!’” said Kennedy. “Being able to go into a sacred space like that and start the process was a dream come true. I think Mark and I can both testify to that.”

You can read about Alter Bridge’s experience of recording at 5150 Studios here.

Alter Bridge’s self-titled eighth studio album available to pre-order and is out on 9 January 2026 through Napalm Records.

“The vocals are either only in your left ear or only in your right ear. No vocals are straight down the middle - I’m calling this my retro pop vocal production”: Raye breaks down the head-spinning vocal arrangement in her hit single Where Is My Husband!

ben.rogerson@futurenet.com (Ben Rogerson) — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 14:29:23 +0000

Raye’s hit single Where Is My Husband! might have a killer vocal hook, but chorus aside, it’s not a song that you can easily sing along to.

This is due not only to Raye’s rapid-fire delivery but also the intricacies of the vocal production, which the star has been breaking down in a series of bite-sized videos.

In the first of these, we see Raye (AKA Rachel Keen) in front of the Where Is My Husband! Pro Tools project, taking us through the finer details of the song’s complex outro section.

“Originally the outro was just me singing ‘ooooh…’ but after singing it on stage it felt a bit boring to me,” she says in a caption. “We gotta add the lyrics,” she decided.

Eight layers of lyrics, in fact, each of which has Raye singing the “I would like a ring,” line that’s become one of the most quoted from the song. These are panned left and right, to create what Raye calls “this kind of surround sound feeling in your headphones, or in your speakers, or in your car.”

In fact, says Raye, there is no specific ‘lead vocal’ in the chorus or the majority of the rest of the song. “The vocals are either only in your left ear or only in your right ear,” she explains. “No vocals are straight down the middle - I’m calling this my retro pop vocal production hahahaha.”

Raye also says that many of the vocal “flourishes” were last-minute additions, which delayed the song’s completion. Where Is My Husband! Is unusual in the sense that it was performed live before it was completed - it was introduced to the world at the Glastonbury Festival in June, but wasn’t released as a single until 19 September - so was able to evolve over time.

In fact, in a second breakdown video, Raye says that she may well make more edits to the song before it appears on her as-yet-untitled new album.

“We did some new brass parts at the NFL performance [at halftime during a recent game in London] and I’m really upset that they’re not in the record,” she says.

Describing herself as “a maximalist when it comes to music production and vocals,” Raye says that she likes to throw “every bit of paint” she can at her mixes and then rein it back.

We also get to hear some isolated vocal harmonies, and more of the tiny details that went into the painstakingly constructed arrangement.

“I made a pad out of my voice,” she says, before pointing out that, even if you barely notice it, it definitely makes a difference.

“One of you will care as much as I care about these things,” she says with a laugh, which is surely all that any music producer can hope for when they’re looking to add that extra 1% of quality.

With a release date for Raye’s new album still not confirmed, though, it seems like the moment when Where Is My Husband! is finally declared ‘finished’ could still be some way off...

“There's so many of these so-called vocal experts that I could kick 'em right in the balls”: Ex-Skid Row man goes on wonderfully unhinged rant about Youtube armchair critics

Will Simpson — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 08:44:20 +0000

Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach has launched a broadside at the anonymous mass of armchair critics that lurk out there on Youtube.

The 57-year-old singer, who released his fifth solo album Child Within The Man last year, has called out supposed vocal ‘experts’ who have critiqued his life performances online.

During an interview with Australia’s Spotlight Report, the Skid Row man launched into a quite splendid rant, saying: “I see videos of guys that call themselves vocal experts or vocal instructors or whatever, and these idiots watch a video of me on stage, like at Wembley Stadium, running around with no shirt on in hundred-degree weather.

"And I'll do a note in my concert footage, and they'll sit in their chair and go, 'Ah, ah,' sitting in their chair, watching it on YouTube, thinking that's the same fucking thing as me running around on stage in the summertime. And I don't get to sit down and watch and go, 'See, I can do that.'"

"You can't do shit,” he said. “And another thing is, you don't just do one note of the song. The challenge is to sing the whole song I Remember You. And then at the end there's a scream, and you'd better be ready for that.

"So spare me sitting there like this, going, 'Oh, see, I can do that.' No, you have no clue what the hell it is that I do. Sing the whole fucking song - then hit the scream at the end in a hundred-degree weather, on no sleep, jet lagged."

But Bach wasn’t finished. Oh no.

"It just makes me laugh,” he said, warming to the subject. “It's just so funny that people think that they know how to get on a stage and rock for an hour and a half or two hours.

"It's a dying art, and you can't sit in your living room, in your air conditioning, watching it on YouTube, thinking you have a fucking clue about what it is to get up on that stage and do it every single night.

"It's not physically or mentally easy to do. And there's so many of these so-called vocal experts that I could kick 'em right in the balls. Because don't even think you know what it is that a guy like me does.

"I'm not saying this to you,” he said to his interviewer, just in case they’d got the wrong idea. “I'm saying this to all the experts in their basement, in their air conditioning."

Yeah, that’s told ‘em!

“Her love for ornamental melodies and hypnotic lyricism fit perfectly into my sound world”: Producer Danny L Harle enlists “dream collaborator” PinkPantheress for Starlight, a song inspired by ‘90s Eurodance, '00s trance… and Elizabethan madrigals

ben.rogerson@futurenet.com (Ben Rogerson) — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:50:24 +0000

Producer Danny L Harle has kicked off his “new musical era” with Starlight, a quirky collaboration with PinkPantheress.

This finds Harle “searching for euphoric melancholy via his love of Elizabethan Madrigals, 90s Eurodance and 2000s trance,” which might just be a first for anyone. At least some of these influences are evident when you give Starlight a listen, though.

“Starlight reaches for a kind of euphoric melancholy - a guiding light in all of my music,” says Harle. “It’s shaped by my love of the melancholic songwriting traditions of Europe from composers like Monteverdi and John Dowland, all the way to ‘90s Eurodance and the uplifting trance of the 2000s - artists like Gigi D’Agostino and Alice Deejay. PinkPantheress is the dream collaborator for this song, her love for ornamental melodies and hypnotic lyricism fit perfectly into my sound world”

Harle has been playing Starlight in his DJ sets for some time, but only today (8 July) is it getting a full release. It’s his first new material as an artist since 2021 album, Harlecore; he’s since worked with a diverse range of artists, including Liam Gallagher, Shygirl, Dua Lipa, Caroline Polachek and Olly Alexander.

There’s no word yet of a new album, but Harle will be continuing to DJ throughout the summer. PinkPantheress released Fancy That, her new mixtape, earlier this year.

Read our interview with Danny L Harle from earlier this year.

“Sometimes I’m surprised by what I can do now, because I could not sing”: As she prepares to release her new album, Vie, Doja Cat says that she now has a lot more knowledge of how to use her voice “as an instrument”

ben.rogerson@futurenet.com (Ben Rogerson) — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 14:58:16 +0000

Doja Cat has form for teasing the potential genre of her next project before we get to hear it. In 2022, she suggested that her new music would have a “‘90s German rave kind of vibe” - though subsequent 2023 album Scarlet didn’t quite fit this billing - and, after that, she said on Twitter that she was done with making pop music.

That doesn’t appear to be true either, though, as the star has now told V Magazine that her upcoming new album - titled Vie - will indeed be part of the pop landscape.

“I do want to be self-aware enough to admit the fact that this is a pop-driven project,” she says. “I know that I can make pop music, and pop is just that it’s popular.”

What Doja Cat does appear to have an issue with, though, is the idea that pop is somehow less worthy than other musical genres.

“It starts to become a bit of a thing that’s viewed as a sport by people who are just bystanders to it, who enjoy it, but maybe also don’t respect it or what it is, which is just music,” she argues. “There are some people who don’t see it as music. They see it as if this is some kind of football for girls and gays.”

Elsewhere in the interview, we learn that Vie draws inspiration from the slightly bland, anonymous office buildings that she remembers her parents working in. “I wanted to play with that nostalgia by using these lo-fi sounds and samples and things that reminded you of something from your childhood, but it wasn’t on the nose ‘80s,” she explains.

Doja Cat has also been stretching herself vocally: “Sometimes I’m surprised by what I can do now,” she admits, “because I could not fucking sing.”

“I have a lot more knowledge of how to use my voice as an instrument, more than I ever have in my life,” she adds.

In addition to these creative ambitions, Doja Cat says that she wants to avoid obsessing over streaming numbers and craving ‘success’ for its own sake - something she recently encouraged her fans to do when she told them in a now-deleted X post that “The amount of streams on a song isn't indicative of the quality or effort put into it.”

“I want to focus more on: how does the mix sound? Do I even need these instruments here? Do I need to recut this verse? It’s how things sound that makes the music worth listening to,” she says now. “I would not be an artist if I didn’t care, right?”

A release date for Vie has yet to be confirmed.

The vocals on Billie Eilish’s Birds Of A Feather are consistently out of tune, says this musician, and he thinks he knows why

ben.rogerson@futurenet.com (Ben Rogerson) — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 13:52:53 +0000

It might have been one of the biggest hits of 2024, but the vocals on Billie Eilish’s Birds Of A Feather are consistently out of tune in comparison to the rest of the arrangement, says musician and YouTuber Noah Forbes (AKA Nojah).

In a recent video, Forbes begins by saying that, although he thinks the song is “brilliant”, there’s always been one thing that stands out for him when he listens to it - “that Billie’s vocals are very noticeably sharp”.

To prove his point, Forbes calls up an instance of Melodyne with Eilish’s Birds Of A Feather vocal loaded into it. This illustrates that, yes, her performance is consistently above the song’s key centre (it’s written in D major) - an average of 38 cents above, in fact (that’s 38 100ths of a semitone).

So what’s going on? “I promise this is not going to be a ‘Billie Eilish can’t sing’ video,” says Forbes, “because it goes without saying that Billie Eilish is a phenomenal singer and songwriter.”

That said, Forbes does have a theory: that the instrumental production on Birds Of A Feather is what caused Eilish to sing slightly sharp, and also why most listeners don’t really notice it.

“The song is very minimal and also tonally vague,” argues Forbes. “Most of the harmonic structure comes from soft low-end synths and basses that don’t offer as much of a tonal anchor for the listener to grab onto compared to instruments like piano and guitar.”

As a result, the pitch clash between backing track and vocals doesn’t sound so jarring, and this lack of tonal definition could explain why the vocal was recorded ‘sharp’ in the first place.

So, while we’ve seen others theorise on Reddit that the off-key vocal could have been a conscious production choice, Forbes is of the opinion that it was accidental, and not off-putting enough to be worth worrying about.

“I think that what happened is that while recording the song, Billie’s internal key centre drifted due to the ambiguous nature of the production and the instrumentation and no one noticed. Or perhaps more accurately, no one cared.”

Sounds plausible to us, though now that the tuning discrepancy has been pointed out to us, we think we’ll struggle to un-hear it.

“I don’t know the science behind it but it really works”: Olivia Rodrigo swears by this $50 Vocal Trainer gizmo to keep her singing voice in shape, but how does it actually work?

ben.rogerson@futurenet.com (Ben Rogerson) — Mon, 19 May 2025 14:24:18 +0000

Among the items that Olivia Rodrigo has stashed in her bag - as revealed in a new video interview with Vogue - the most interesting for music tech-curious folks like us is the Vocal Trainer, a small kazoo-like gizmo that we’ll admit we’d never previously heard of.

This is designed to help you “eliminate cracks, increase control, reduce strain and enhance technique,” and is believed to be used by not only Rodrigo, but also Sam Smith, Sia, Rascal Flatts and Avril Lavigne.

“I don’t know the science behind it but it really works,” says Rodrigo. But how, exactly?

Manufactured by Better Voice, the Vocal Trainer product page confirms that its effectiveness is based on the belief that you can improve your singing skills by doing regular Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract (SOVT) exercises, which involve controlled restriction of the vocal tract to increase back pressure.

The theory is that, by doing this, you can improve your breath control, pitch accuracy and vocal strength. Vocal strain is said to be reduced and better technique promoted.

(Image credit: Better Voice)

Using the Vocal Trainer involves putting it in your mouth, creating an airtight seal around the tip (it’s made of “medical-grade” black resin) and adjusting the amount of resistance (back pressure) with the lever. You’re encouraged to use it when doing regular vocal exercises such as singing sustained notes, scales and arpeggios, and even for practising challenging sections of songs.

If you’re yet to be convinced, you could start by doing your vocal warm-ups with a straw in your mouth, which creates a similar effect. This doesn’t give you the ability to adjust the amount of resistance, though.

“It places you in the right place,” reckons Rodrigo, who also confirms that voice rest is a big part of her vocal health routine.

You can find out more about the Vocal Trainer and place an order on the Better Voice website.

“I actually specifically remember making a deal with myself": Billie Eilish reveals what she had to do in order to become “looser and jazzier” with her vocal delivery

ben.rogerson@futurenet.com (Ben Rogerson) — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 10:35:56 +0000

Billie Eilish performs onstage at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on 17 March, 2025. (Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)

Known initially for her breathy, almost whispery singing style - not to mention her unmistakable pronunciation of the word ‘duh’ - Billie Eilish has since added more shades to her vocal palette. Now, in an interview with British Vogue, in which Eilish took questions from celebrities, she’s been explaining how that happened.

It was put to Eilish by SZA that on her latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, she delivered a lot of “soulful runs and tonal differences”, and she was asked where the decision to “lean into different textures” and flex her vocal ability came from.

After thanking SZA for her “thoughtful question”, Eilish went on to explain that she has indeed been working on her singing.

“Honestly I’ve been doing so much training now for a while and my voice has gotten so much better and stronger and like I just can play in a way that I never have been able to before,” she confirmed. “That has been such an amazing experience.”

Another factor, says Eilish, is feeling confident enough to record her vocals with the freedom she feels when she’s singing just for fun.

“In the past when I’d do demos of songs, or do a voice memo of them,” she begins. “I’d do all these runs that came naturally. But then when I record the song I kind of have always recorded it pretty straightforward to the melody we wrote, and I would never really add any playful runs or anything. And this time I actually specifically remember making a deal with myself that I would play with my voice the same way when recording that I do when casually singing just openly in a room.”

Eilish goes on to reveal that her tendency to sing her parts ‘straight’ came from her experience of being in a choir, where deviating from what was written wasn’t really allowed. “That has been something I’ve had to really unlearn in a way to allow myself to be looser and jazzier with it,” she says. “I love singing more than anything in the world. And it was really nice on this album to let myself sing how my soul wanted to.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Eilish was asked by actor Alex Wolff to name her favourite Beatles song, something that, like many of us, she struggled to do. “Hardest question of my life! So impossible to pick a favourite,” she replied.

There are a few contenders, though: “Something never gets old,” says Eilish. “I’m Looking Through You is actually one of my favourite songs ever. She’s Leaving Home, In My Life, A Day in the Life, And I Love Her, Michelle, Julia... Like, I could just go on and on. I feel bad not naming more.”

Softube’s latest plugins are a pair of must-have vocal effects – and right now you can grab them as a bargain introductory bundle

Advertorial feature — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Swedish software brand Softube has just launched two new plugins, Vocal Tuner and Deesser, each of which puts an easy-to-use spin on an essential technique for vocal production. What’s more, thanks to a bargain introductory offer, you can currently grab both for just $99.

Vocal Tuner is a real-time pitch correction plugin designed to deliver high-quality sound and a lightning-fast workflow. It offers two modes of pitch correction: Classic applies traditional pitch correction for a more old-school sound, while Modern maintains the formants of a vocal for more natural-sounding effect.

The plugin’s easy-to-navigate interface features sliders to adjust the character of the effect. The Subtle/Hard control alters the speed of the pitch correction, which can make shifts in pitch sound more or less obvious. The Natural/Robotic slider adjusts how much the pitch correction affects the transitions between notes.

Softube Vocal Tuner (Image credit: Softube)

Vocal Tuner can be set to adhere to a selected scale, or follow a MIDI input in order to track a riff or melodic part in your project. Beyond pitch correction, the plugin offers individual pitch and formant shifting capabilities, an octave section that can shift the audio up or down and apply stereo spreading, and a Tone Enhance slider to adjust the overall character of the sound.

All of this is aided by precise metering and a low-latency mode, meaning it’s possible to track vocals through the plugin or use it for live performance. With subtle settings, Vocal Tuner is perfect for natural sounding pitch correction, but push it to the extreme – or try it on non-vocal sources – and it’s capable of some distinctive creative effects.

Launched alongside Vocal Tuner is Softube’s Deesser plugin, another classic vocal processing tool.

A de-esser targets sibilance – the hiss-like sounds often produced when singing or saying the letter ‘s’ – which is a common problem in vocal recording that can lead to harshness in the overall tone and loss of clarity. A de-esser tames these sounds by reducing the frequencies associated with sibilant sounds.

(Image credit: Softube)

Softube’s take on the format is built around an easy-to-use interface designed for a fast and intuitive workflow. A simple control layout offers Frequency Detection and Threshold parameters that allow the user to precisely target the effect.

Deesser is another low-latency plugin, and is also low on CPU usage. Use it on vocals for transparent sibilance removal, or try it across a full mix in order to tame harsh frequencies.

Both Deesser and Vocal Tuner are available now. If you act fast you can grab the pair with a hefty discount, via an introductory offer that means you can pick up Vocal Tuner at half price and get Deesser completely free. That’s two plugins for just $99.

Download Softube Vocal Tuner and Softube Deesser now.

Transform your voice in just 12 months - score a year’s worth of vocal lessons for just $99 with 30 Day Singer

matt.mccracken@futurenet.com (Matt McCracken) — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:00 +0000

If you want to polish your vocals or learn to sing completely from scratch, utilizing online singing lessons is a great way to go about it. You can hit all your bad notes from the comfort of your home, honing your skills, developing the right muscles, increasing your stamina, and building the confidence to deliver your vocals with aplomb.

If this sounds like a bit of you then we’ve got an awesome deal for you, with a whole year's worth of online singing lessons for just $99. This exclusive offer comes via 30 Day Singer, who has been occupying the top spot of our singing lessons guide for some time now. You’ll also get a Songwriting 101 PDF completely free, giving you loads of top tips on nailing the art of a great record.

It’s only available between 02/21 and 02/25 so if you to take advantage you’ll need to move quickly. Exclusively for MusicRadar readers, we’ve also got a month's worth of lessons from 30 Day Singer for just $1, which is a great way to try it out if you’re unsure whether singing lessons are for you.

30 Day Singer Annual: Just $99
Great for beginners and more experienced vocalists alike, 30 Day Singer not only teaches you how to sing but also gives you the tools you need to look after your voice and ensure it’s always at its best. With loads of great tools for breathing techniques and warm-ups, these lessons are taught by professional vocalists with years of experience singing. View Deal

30 Day Singer: 1 month for $1
If you’re not certain you want to commit to a full year’s worth of lessons, we’ve got an exclusive deal for you that gives you full access to 30 Day Singer for just $1. It’s a great way to test the waters and find out if online lessons are for you, and insanely good value for money considering a typical month is $29.View Deal

In our 30 Day Singer review we gave the platform a hefty four and a half stars out of five and it’s currently the top pick in our online singing lessons guide. Our reviewer was full of praise for its wide appeal, with plenty of content for both beginner and advanced vocalists.

We really love the ability to download the lessons and practice them offline at your leisure, great if you want to get away from the computer to somewhere more private. The lessons themselves are brilliantly paced, delivering an excellent variety of achievable and more challenging tasks that will quite literally have you singing much better in just thirty days.

You’ll be taught by a singer appropriate to your own vocals, whether you’re a male baritone or female soprano. You can also adjust the more advanced lessons to suit your particular vocal style by changing the octave they’re given in. It’s a nice bit of personalization that will suit those singer who already have some experience under their belt.

You also get to access live-streamed lessons, which are around an hour long and delve into plenty of advanced techniques with loads of great tips for improving your voice. If you like you can also book personal lessons with the instructors, but we did find these a little cost-prohibitive, to be honest. In all, it’s our favourite online singing lessons platform, and well worth the entry price.

“I want to shout from a mountain top about this incredible technology”: Is Dreamtronic's Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro really the first artificial vocalist to finally nail the fake factor?

Daniel Griffiths — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:59:35 +0000

Originally released back in June 2020, before the major uptick in AI interest, Dreamtronics' original Synthesizer V Studio had already undergone four iterations from 2018’s Synthesizer V Editor as its team fine tuned its ability to create vocals without the need for a vocalist.

Now Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro takes its skills to the next level, and while that name is a bit of a mouthful, it looks like creating realistic-sounding vocals from MIDI notes and typed text couldn't be easier.

(Image credit: TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)

“It's like recording sounds across time”: How Yumi Matsutoya, one of Japan's biggest ever artists, used AI to turn back the clock when crafting her new album

Synthesizer V Studio is unique in its use of, and ability to manipulate, real vocal recordings rather than relying on trained AI to do the same job.

The result, its makers claim, is a best-of-all-worlds hybrid approach that sounds more realistic, and is free from any training, copyright, ownership and ethical baggage that surround similar AI-trained technologies.

The general idea is that if you can buy Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro, you get the (actual real, human, rights-attached) voice content you want – with nine different vocalists available – and can quickly create realistic vocals that are indistinguishable from ‘the real thing’.

Play, type, and have it sung back to you

Now simple vocal melody sketches in your DAW can become vocals in minutes. Choose your vocalist, provide notes, lyrics and tweak the expressions and your ideas get sung back to you.

And now thanks to 2 Pro’s new algorithmic design and multi-threading support, it can do it all up to 300% faster while offering a more human-level of naturalness and more tweakable features to make a performance all your own.

A new Phoneme Timing Panel allows for direct resizing and adjustment of phoneme intensity within a note, plus detailed adjustments to timing and prominence of plosive onsets.

Now pitch, timbre and pronunciation can be controlled, allowing you to make your performance unique and just as you imagine it while a new Expression Pad and ‘Single-Clock AI Retakes Panel’ let you try alternatives and experiment on the fly.

Finally (in addition to Korean language support for the first time) a new Mouth Opening parameter fundamentally alters vowel pronunciation, allowing users to accentuate specific words, or subtly modify the way a phrase begins or ends, adding further depth and expressiveness.

“In testing, the vocals generated by the Synthesizer V actually received the same naturalness ratings as real human vocals – a very exciting milestone for voice synthesis,” says Kanru Hua, Dreamtonics founder and CEO. “While J-Pop artists have used voice synthesis tools like this for some time now, most in the West have yet to discover it. Dreamtonics is proud to finally unveil the Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro and introduce endless inspiration and fun to more people’s music creation process.”

If this is all sounding a little strange (or simply too good to be true) check out the intro video above and tech preview below.

“A futuristic dream come true”

“I think Synthesizer V is a real breakthrough for creating vocal melodies and writing lyrics. I was blessed to be able to sing anything I can dream up, but so many people don’t have the ability” says Mischke Butler, singer, songwriter and vocal producer for the likes of Michael Jackson, The Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Keke Palmer, and Little Mix. “I was surprised how quickly I was able to get up and running. The MIDI functionality is a real game-changer. Being able to play in my melodies and then just copy lyrics from the previous take was seamless. This is a great app and plugin!”

While keyboardist and tech enthusiast Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater says: "Synthesizer V by Dreamtonics is an outstanding breakthrough in vocal modeling. For me it’s an almost futuristic dream come true. Input notes via MIDI, type some words and then pick your vocalist! I want to basically shout from a mountain top and let everyone in the world know about this incredible technology."

Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro will be available from 21 March. You can now pre-order Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro, all version 2 voices, upgrades and bundles ahead of the launch date at a special discount until 20 April, 2025.

Find out more at the Dreamtonics site.

"I realised the key was wrong - it was like this puzzle we were trying to piece together.”: How Chappell Roan’s Good Luck, Babe! went from album cast-off to global smash

Daniel Griffiths — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 16:20:34 +0000

In an age where huge writing rooms of musicians are able to get together and craft multiple hits a day, it’s refreshing to hear that Chappell Roan’s Good Luck, Babe! - released in April 2024 to international acclaim – had a far more tortuous and altogether less business-like birth.

“I always knew there was something unique about her, it was just about getting her in front of as many people as possible,” the song’s co-writer and producer Dan Nigro tells Music Week. “We met through my manager, who was a fan of hers. When we first started writing together, it was a little slow to start with as we were just getting a feel for each other. I remember her sitting on the couch telling me she liked ethereal-sounding guitars, so I started playing some chords. She was chill and quite coy, but she said she liked it. So I made a loop, and she started writing in her notebook. I was thinking, ‘Is she enjoying this?’ I didn’t know what she was doing for about an hour, but I just let her be!

"Finally, she said, ‘I think I have something.’ I was like, ‘Oh cool!’ Then she got on the microphone and sang pretty much the first verse and chorus of a song that became Love Me Anyway [2020].

"I was blown away. I thought, ‘Shit, what a beautiful voice, this person is incredibly talented.’ And from there, it all just blossomed."

Good luck, Babe! co-writer and producer Dan Nigro (Image credit: Getty Images/Kevin Winter)

Nigro and co-writer Justin Tranter had been working on an idea, which would become Good Luck, Babe! in late 2022. However, with the Chappell Roan machine in full swing and the tracks for what would become her 2023 The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess album being prepped for release, there wasn’t sufficient time or energy to grapple with half a troublesome idea and try and get it on the record.

“In my mind I had to compartmentalise it - it was like, ‘This is a great song but we still have to finish Red Wine Supernova and Coffee and Hot To Go! and all these other things for the album,” Nigro recalls.

“Then, when the album was nearly finished, Chappell and I opened up the song again and were like, ‘Wow, there’s something in this.’ There were great melodies, but the lyrics and some other things needed work. We tried to rewrite a bit, but we didn’t really get into it and put it away again. A few months later, we opened it once more and I realised the key was wrong - it was like this puzzle we were trying to piece together.”

Intriguingly, the song at this point was entitled Good Luck, Jane! as Roan had been insistent that she wanted a name in a song title. “But the more we went back and forth, Good Luck, Babe! just felt more sarcastic and playful, so once we had that, we had so many options for how the song could sound.” says Nigro.

And soon the demo was changing and morphing, becoming more dramatic and overblown as the trio tweaked and fretted over just what was keeping it off target.

“I was a bit nervous about basing the song around strings, because it could become pretty epic that way,” says Nigro. “As we were doing it, though, I was just like, ‘No, this is amazing, we have to go with this.’ I mapped out a quick preliminary string part and then [arranger] Paul Cartwright came in and when he heard my ideas, he was like, ‘I get it, let’s do this!’

“With Good Luck, Babe! I'd worked on it for so long and had been listening to it over and over... I got so hung up on the little things. At that point I had to just be like, ‘Right, I’m done!’

“I try not to have too high expectations for songs, because there’s always room for let-down. But with Chappell’s career, it felt like we were going step by step and Good Luck, Babe! was going to be an amazing way to kick off the next part of it.”

An interesting by-product of the song’s long gestation and collaborative tweaking process is the song’s unusual choice of key. It could be argued that the song is pitched too low for Roan in the verses. She’s essentially denied the opportunity to flex any power in her performance, coming across as moody, coy and just a little fed up.

“A lot of it is this kind of dance that we’re doing. What note is full voice? What note is falsetto?" Nigro told Mix With The Masters.

And with the verse and chorus essentially being the same it would have been easy for the song to maintain its downbeat plod… But instead there’s a burst of sunshine.

Roan leaps up the octave in the chorus. Suddenly she’s testing her range, sounding edgy and exciting, and lands like the sun has just come out.

Nailing the basics

“The hard part with writing is getting what I call the ‘meat and potatoes’ down – the vocals, the lyrics, the emotion. So once we nailed those things, the other stuff came easily, especially things like the bridge. But I do get pretty hung up in my head about things like song transitions, how good it feels when the chorus hits, that kind of stuff,” says Nigro.

And soon the trio knew they had a hit on their hands.

“Chappell was on tour when I sent it to her and she thought it was great. Then we sent it to the label, and no one had any notes. That kind of scared me - I thought, ‘Are they just trying to be nice?’ People like to have notes normally [laughs], but it was definitely gratifying when people seemed to like it."

And the song has one more terrific twist in its tale. If you’d been just tapping a toe and humming along until the song’s closing moments at 3:18 then that’s exactly when you’d sit up, take notice and demand, 'Who the hell is this?'

At that point, Good Luck, Babe! not only shifts in tempo, but also drops in pitch, with Roan tracking the ‘broken turntable’ backing track like it’s all part of the plan.

“She has such a confidence in who she is and what she wants out of a track and her performances,” explains Nigro. “Her songs are just classics. They’re tracks you want to listen to, that you want to play. That, with her dynamic live show, her stage presence, her outfits... people become enthralled by her.”

"Here's one: finish an album!”: Paul McCartney’s New Year’s resolution for 2025

Will Simpson — Tue, 24 Dec 2024 11:43:27 +0000

Even at the age of 82, Sir Paul McCartney has a work rate that would put many men half his age to shame.

The ex-Beatle has only just wrapped up his mammoth two year Got Back tour, which finished up with two nights a piece in Manchester and London’s O2. After such a physically demanding undertaking, the thoughts of most octogenarians would be turning towards pottering about in the garden or spending more time with the grandkids. Not Paul, whose mind is already on a new album.

The news came via a Q&A with fans on his official website over the weekend. One fan asked if he had any resolutions for 2025, to which Macca replied: "Here's one: finish an album! I've been working on a lot of songs and have had to put it to the side because of the tour. So, I'm hoping to get back into that and finish up a lot of these songs. So, how's about that? 'My New Year's resolution is to finish a new album!' How about that for a teaser? You can do it, Paul!"

He hasn’t made a new record since 2020’s McCartney III, although there was an ‘Imagined’ version of the same record that came out the following year, which included remixes, covers and features from an array of other artists including Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age, Beck and Phoebe Bridgers.

McCartney’s date at the O2 last Thursday was notable for an onstage reunion with his old bandmate Ringo Starr – the first time the two surviving Beatles have performed together in five years. They played the reprise version of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and Helter Skelter, and predictably brought the house down.

Ronnie Wood turned up to play on Get Back, with Macca wheeling out a Hofner 500/1 bass he hasn’t played for 50 years since it was stolen. The instrument – which went missing from a van in Ladbroke Grove in 1972 - turned up last year in a loft in Hastings, with McCartney reputedly paying a six figure sum for its return.

“A magical part is this sidechain with the bass”: Lady Gaga breaks down Disease in new studio video

Daniel Griffiths — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 09:54:44 +0000

Lady Gaga has gone on the record revealing the story and inner workings of her recent hit Disease, the lead-off single from forthcoming new album LG7.

Gaga has been working on LG7 in amongst her recent movie projects and soundtracks, being constructed in many famous studios including Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La.

"Shangri-La is just down the road from where I live so when I have an idea on the piano I can go there and record it,” she explains. “We made LG7 at Shangri-La and I would joke that Rick Rubin produced the album, but he wasn’t there, but like his spirit was there. But I go to Woodshed, I go to Dragonfly, I sometimes go to Henson… The Village… I’ve nested in all these studios.”

While it’s not made clear where the recording is taking place Gaga reveals that she did the bulk of the work on the album at home, with a newly equipped studio. “Micheal [Polansky, her partner] built a home studio for Valentine’s Day. He said ‘I have a surprise for you’ and he turned his office into a music studio. It’s kinda romantic,” she says.

Diving into the track she explains its origins. Operating the computer with Logic playing via an SSL Matrix 2 desk she outlines the backing track of drums and dual basslines supplied by producer Cirkut that inspired the track.

“For Disease the energy of the sound is where I wanted to start the album. It’s like diving headfirst into an ice cold pool of water,” she says. “With electronic music there are lots of interesting ways to manipulate the voice, sometimes using [Antares] Autotune, sometimes using [Celemony] Melodyne, in this case we used [Soundtoys] Microshift. It widened the sound and helped make me and the music one.”

Going in deeper we hear that the track is propped up by plenty of synth squeals and long reverb tails that – without the rhythm track to pin them down – slide around, being unquantised but obviously placed to perfection.

“I thought ‘This is a killer dark pop record. We have to work on this.’ And I knew we needed a big chorus with a chord progression, so for that we went to the piano,” she explains. “Then when we went back to the track we realised we had to build it around the song. There’s no one way of making music that’s ever the same. I have to do what the song is telling me to do.”

“A magical part is this side-chain with the bass,” she demonstrates, playing the throbbing bass of the chorus which pulses in and out with the kick drum. “I wanted it to feel like the human being singing it was about to explode,” she says.

“We probably did about 40 mixes of Disease. Some were warm and softer but it started to lose its unwieldiness. But you know when it sounds right. At some point it just feels right.”

“You can’t push sound and you can’t push music if you're not willing to try new things. Especially with the bass on this song. We took a lot of ‘wrong’ choices.”

Gaga is particularly proud of the track’s chorus-reprising breakdown, being “something that I used to do” on her earlier hits. “Circuit wrote it for the chorus but I played it on the piano to make it really creepy and acoustic,” she says, soloing the dark, haunting piano sound below the song's moody interlude.

And there’s a touching moment when she beams with visible delight while soloing her own ultra-thick “Queen-style” backing vocals. “I guess that’s what I’m known for,” she bashfully admits. “Queen vocals, Bowie guitar… I guess you pull from what you love.”

And all throughout the rhythm is given a human element with gasps and screams. “I did a track for Cirkut where I was screaming and making little noises and he sampled them and added them to the record,” she explains.

All in all it’s a great insight into how she’s making music and the unusual choices and textures at play in crafting one of the year’s most interesting electronic tracks.

Looks like Gaga just can’t stop searching for the next level and pushing the needle into the red.

“I was making music like who I wanted to be. Now I’m making music like who I am now.”

“The quest for clarity and loudness can only go so far”: Bibio on his career-long fascination with tape recording, budget samplers and vintage pedals

matt.mullen@futurenet.com (Matt Mullen) — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 14:22:41 +0000

Bibio is something of a musical chameleon. Not many artists have the confidence to take a sharp left-turn from sumptuous synth-funk to spectral ambient in the space of two albums, but Stephen Wilkinson has never been afraid to experiment.

It’s a testament to the singularity of Wilkinson’s production, however, that both projects - the glossy, playful grooves of 2022’s BIB10 and the elegiac drone of this year’s Phantom Brickworks (LP II) - while both departing from the tape-worn alt-folk for which he’s best known, somehow sound recognizably his own.

Wilkinson is that rare combination of gifted musician and skilled producer. He’s also a lo-fi maven; his earliest experiments were captured by budget samplers and cassette tapes, their wistful loops and fingerpicked instrumentals tinted with an arresting shade of melancholy by his equipment’s scuzz and warble. Though these caught the attention of Warp Records - a label he remains with two decades later - it was 2009’s Ambivalence Avenue that became Wilkinson’s breakout release, peeling away a layer of lo-fi grit to reveal a brighter, poppier sound.

In the years since, Wilkinson has built a carefully curated studio centred around a five-figure console, but he remains dedicated to balancing the clarity and convenience of professional recording with the aesthetics of lo-fi. “Since Ambivalence Avenue I’ve been trying to somehow merge both worlds,” he tells us. “A pristine recording of something feels more real, whereas a lo-fi recording covered in grain that has blurred edges, smeared details and faded colour is less like reality. That can be a very powerful thing.”

Wilkinson’s latest release is Phantom Brickworks (LP II), a sequel to a project released in 2017 that found its inspiration in disused industrial sites and ghostly, forgotten locations across the United Kingdom, blurring the lines between myth and memory. Wilkinson’s music has long lingered on places and landscapes, but where previous albums often possessed a comfortingly pastoral glow, all birdsong and verdant meadows, the Phantom Brickworks project revealed a darker and more disquieting side to his sound.

Like its predecessor, Phantom Brickworks (LP II) is an austere and impressionistic collection of ambient pieces, its improvised recordings looped through a treasured vintage delay pedal, the identity of which (we’re sad to say) remains a closely guarded secret. As Wilkinson successively lays down loop on top of loop, the sound begins to smear, fade and decay, distilling the haunted beauty of his titular settings in woeful drones and distant echoes, all coated in a thick layer of hiss and crackle.

We caught up with Bibio following the release of Phantom Brickworks (LP II) to find out more about his studio set-up, the creative process behind this latest project, and where his restless urge to experiment might take him next. (Here’s a clue: it involves MIDI-controllable fairground organs.)

How did you get into music production initially? What kind of set-up were you using when you started?

“I started experimenting with recording music when I was a child using a cassette recorder. I never had a Portastudio as a kid, but learned a crude overdubbing technique with a Goodmans boombox with a twin cassette deck using two tapes: by recording something onto a tape in one deck, then swapping the tapes over (only one deck could record, the other could play), then I could play back what I’d just recorded and dub it whilst simultaneously recording a new track to a second tape in the record deck.

“If you keep repeating this process you can layer tracks, but the quality deteriorates with each layer as you’re making multiple generations, the first tracks you lay down get copied the most amount of times, so they become the murkiest - there’s also no way to mix levels afterwards, they’re all baked together. I also tried this technique on my mom’s karaoke machine which had a twin cassette deck, and later revived the technique with two MiniDisc recorders when I was at uni.

"The early experiments using cassettes as a kid got me tuned into the artifacts of older analogue recordings"

“Another key piece of gear was a budget sampler (which is one of my secret pieces), I had this for my 20th birthday while still at college. It doesn’t have a lot of sampling time, you can get more sampling time by reducing the quality, which makes things sound kind of ‘hairy' as they become coated in noise, a bit like fluff on a turntable stylus. The first tracks I made under the Bibio name were made with this sampler - about four years before I got my first computer since my Commodore 16+4 in 1985 - and I used this sampler heavily on Fi, Hand Cranked, and Vignetting The Compost. It made a bit of a return later on, in tracks such as Wren Tails, Curls, and Oakmoss.

“I didn’t start using a computer for music until 2002, which is when I got my first iMac. The early experiments using cassettes as a kid got me tuned into the artifacts of older analogue recordings, as well as growing up watching films and documentaries made in the ‘60s and ‘70s, so as a teen in the ‘90s I was drawn to music that sampled old crackly recordings with lots of atmosphere, like Portishead’s album Dummy and some stuff on Mo Wax - the main thing that drew me to hip-hop was sampling, not rapping, in fact I always preferred instrumental hip-hop.”

How does that compare to your current studio set-up?

“I’ve got too much gear now, it would take too long to talk about it! [laughs] I’m actually in the process of selling loads of gear, as I’ve collected more than I realised. But it’s through purchasing gear that you discover what you like - there’s stuff I’d never want to sell and there’s stuff I don’t care about.

“Sometimes I can be on the verge of selling something and then give it another chance, and then I’ve totally changed my mind. This happened with my Roland V-Synth GT. I was thinking of selling it years ago, then decided to get it out of storage and give it another chance in my studio, and then I totally clicked with it and it’s stayed on the synth rack ever since.

“When I made Pretty Ribbons and Lovely Flowers with it, I truly realised the power it had. I had made tracks with it before then, such as Ivy Charcoal from the first Phantom Brickworks album, but then I put it in storage and kind of forgot about it. I’m glad I didn’t sell it. I use it strictly as a sampler, but it can do things that my other samplers can’t.”

(Image credit: Richard Roberts)

Can you pick out one or two pieces of kit that were fundamental to the sound of Phantom Brickworks (LP II)?

“The equipment used for Phantom Brickworks is very minimal. Most of it is live improvised looping using ‘80s digital delay pedals, which are also guarded secrets. The piano tracks are all made with the same piano that I’ve been using for over 20 years. It’s moved house with me a couple of times and will be moving with me again next year. The black gloss paint was stripped, removing the maker’s name, so I don’t know the manufacturer, although it says 'BRITISH MANUFACTURE' on the harp.

“My girlfriend’s parents liberated it from a school in the ‘80s for her to learn piano on when she was a child, and I’ve been using it since we met in 1996. My piano tuner thinks it might be from the 1920s-1930s. Another key instrument is baritone electric guitar. I have a few of them now but I mostly use my Gibson Les Paul Studio baritone. I changed the pickups to Lollartrons and I usually use a volume pedal and a Strymon blueSky reverb pedal with it, which gives me this distinctive droney sound, but the looping is done in one of the ‘80s delay pedals I previously mentioned, which have loads of character as the loops get murky and crumbly as they repeat.”

Can you talk us through one or two techniques that you use in the studio to achieve the kind of sounds and textures heard on the project?

“As I said, a lot of the tracks are improvised loops with either baritone guitar or piano. On this album there are some other techniques used too. In 2020, over a couple of days, I made a simple set up with a volume pedal and a couple of vintage digital delays. Rather than using a guitar or piano as the source, I scoured YouTube for things to sample. This ranged from cheesy relaxation Chinese flute music to old documentaries.

"I scoured YouTube for things to sample. This ranged from cheesy relaxation Chinese flute music to old documentaries"

“The technique involved more or less randomly ‘grabbing’ bits of audio by feeding the audio from YouTube into the volume pedal, and then the delays. I would use my foot to fade in random bits of audio into a loop and then keep adding to it - filling in the gaps with other bits of audio to make a pattern of cross-fading samples. It’s very hit and miss, as it’s so easy to mess up a loop by fading together parts that don’t work, but I’d just keep doing it until I got a loop going that was beautiful, then I’d leave it running for a while so it started to get grainier.

“I did loads of these tracks, sampling all sorts of stuff, and made over an album’s worth of music over two days. I compiled the best takes and burned them onto a CD, which was the first time I’ve burned a CD in over a decade. I made two copies and gave one to a friend. I called it Shuffle Drones as it was intended to be played on shuffle, but one of the tracks made it as the last track on Phantom Brickworks (LP II).

“I’ve used this technique in the past; it can be very rewarding as so much of it is down to chance, so my role becomes more like a listener and a selector, which is quite different to playing every single note by hand. For Dorothea’s Bed, I took a Vashti Bunyan acapella and repitched the whole verse using Melodyne to make it more melancholy, then I reversed it and played it through a tape echo, this became the foundation of the track, to which I added other layers such as Minimoog bass and Mellotron.”

You’ve spoken before about preferring working with analogue gear to software. What is it you prefer about analogue over digital?

“Actually, I love analogue, digital and software. I just love them for different things, and I need all of them. I prefer analogue synths to software emulations, and I prefer tape and valve amps to emulations, but software is essential too. I record and arrange in Logic and it’s a wonderful tool, it allows me to turn my imagination into a reality and it’s also a great tool for having a conversation with myself, musically speaking. Multi-tracking is still what I love most, as in layering musical ideas, that’s what I’m best at.

"I love analogue, digital and software. I just love them for different things, and I need all of them"

“Live looping is similar to multi-tracking, but I use very primitive gear for that, so there’s no undo function, for example. The Phantom Brickworks improvisations all work within this limitation of making live loops on a delay pedal without the ability to undo, so it’s all about making patterns that slowly evolve and decay. I favour these vintage digital delays over modern ones because the loops get grainier and murkier and noisier as they repeat, like the music is dissolving or breaking apart, and that gives the music a haunting quality. The loop is constantly evolving, new notes are added, and the earlier notes become more ghostly as they lose their definition, similar to multiple generations on tape.”

Tape has played a central role in your music-making process. What’s the appeal of working with tape for you?

“Depends on what I’m aiming for, because the sound of tape can be a wide spectrum of choice, e.g. ¼” tape running at 15 inches per second on my Nagra is very clean, compared to a dictaphone or a cassette recorder. For the warbly saturated tape sound I’ve used cassette and microcassette a lot over the years, as well as reel-to-reel at different speeds.

“In more recent years if I've wanted a warbly saturated sound I often use a tape echo: by sending a stem from Logic through the tape echo but with the repeats turned to 0, I can then take the off-tape output back into Logic and realign it so it’s in sync with the project. The great thing about using a tape echo for this is that they usually have a speed control, such as on Roland Space Echo machines. The speed control can be manipulated in real time to make pitch bends, or you can simply use it as an interesting tone control, as slower speeds will have a narrower bandwidth and sound darker and more warbly, and faster speeds have a wider bandwidth and are a bit cleaner, so you can 'tune in' the right amount of tapey-ness.

“But to answer your question - the appeal is that it makes it more impressionistic, less like reality, more dreamlike and in some cases - more emotional. I think certain instruments just sound gorgeous on tape, especially guitar, piano and flute.”

There’s an instantly recognisable quality to the guitars in your recordings. What do you think it is that contributes to that?

“I have a lot of guitars, so it’s definitely not a specific guitar that gives me the recognisable sound you mentioned, it’s a combination of things, and one of those of course is the way I play. It might sound obvious, but a lot of the tone comes from the fingers and the fingernails and the way you use them. Then I suppose it’s selecting guitars you think have a nice tone, which is a matter of taste. I generally prefer older strings on acoustics, I don’t like recording them when the strings are too fresh and metallic sounding.

"For electric guitars, the amps are really important; it’s a huge percentage of the sound. I mostly use two Audio Kitchen Little Choppers into two 2 x 12 Zilla cabs"

“For electric guitars the amps are really important; it’s a huge percentage of the sound, I mostly use two Audio Kitchen Little Choppers into two 2 x 12 Zilla cabs, which I run in stereo and mic up with two AEA R44CE ribbon mics. But this amp set-up is what I’ve been using for the past 10 years or so, I went through various amps before these.

“Ambivalence Avenue, for example, was a single Fender Blues Jr and an 80s Hofner archtop, a Fender Jaguar and a Squier P Bass (which I still have and use). So I always try to get a sound I like with whatever I’ve got, and I guess it tends to sound like me because it comes down to my tastes and how I want my guitars to sound. Tone is very important to me, and I’m still learning, refining and expanding on what I like about guitars and guitar tone.”

Can you talk us through the recording techniques used on early albums like Fi and Hand Cranked?

“The secret sampler I mentioned was key, and the secret delay pedal was used on Poplar Avenue. Microcassette was used a fair bit on Fi, and I didn’t have any synths back then so the synth tracks were made in SuperCollider 2, which was a text-based programming language for sound synthesis and processing. I made some patches that generated strings of notes that could be manipulated to some degree with the mouse pointer. They sounded too clean for the general vibe of the album, so they were transferred to cassette or microcassette.

“Hand Cranked was homing in more on the mechanical toy vibe, and the early looped tracks I made when I got my first sampler reminded me of mechanical toys, partly because of the lack of quantisation and the lo-fi sound I discovered was so full of imperfections, they made me think of wind-up music boxes and fairground organs, so the sampler got used a lot on Hand Cranked. I remember transferring tracks from the computer to cassette and back to the computer and back onto cassette lots of times to exaggerate the tape sound, making multiple generations like a bad VHS pirate copy.”

You mentioned in an interview with Rupert Neve Designs that the music that paid for your 5088 console was mixed on a “£150 desk in a tiny bedroom”. Was this Lovers' Carvings? Could you talk us through the set-up you were working with back then?

“Yes, that track has been good to me. [laughs] It has been used in TV, film and advertising a lot, which boosted its popularity. In 2003 I finished university and moved out of London back to my girlfriend’s parents’ house in Wolverhampton, they had a small spare bedroom which I took over with a few bits of kit. I had a £150 Behringer mixer, an iMac, and whenever I earned any money from music - which was very little back then - I’d buy a new piece of kit. I also worked part time in a pub and later as a lecturer at Stafford College.

"I had a £150 Behringer mixer, an iMac, and whenever I earned any money from music - which was very little back then - I’d buy a new piece of kit"

“Eventually I had a few guitars, a bass, a Yamaha CS-10, a few mics, an MPC, and various tape machines. I made most of the album Ambivalence Avenue in that room. It was a long time ago, so I can’t remember it too well, but Lovers’ Carvings started out as two separate songs. It was all recorded with a 1988 Hofner archtop, which I purchased for £350 from a second hand music shop in Wolverhampton, the amp was a Fender Blues Jr. I had a Drawmer Tubestation 2 compressor around that time, I used to put stems and mixes through it multiple times as it got grainier and grainier with each generation - that compressor was definitely part of my sound back then.”

You’ve talked before about a relationship between lo-fi recording techniques, dreams and memory. Could you elaborate on that connection and how it figures in your own work?

“When you take the edge off things, when you lose some of the detail, they start to resemble dreams. This is true of pictures as well as sounds. Dreams and memories are massively incomplete, they are like vignettes or very faded images, or like you’re looking through a glass bottle. The detail that we observe in the present moment is not available to us in dreams and memories, so a pristine and wide-bandwidth recording of something feels more real, whereas a lo-fi recording (or photograph) that has blurred edges, smeared details, faded colour or covered in grain, is less like reality, and that can be a very powerful thing.

“Of course, painters like Monet were experimenting with this with painting techniques, and I often find myself wishing my photographs were more like a Monet painting. I think an equivalent exists in audio too - certain artifacts in recording have similar qualities, as they can smudge the subject that’s been recorded, so you’re left with more of an impression of it, rather than something that is very true to life. I’m fascinated with this, but I think high fidelity has its place too, and since Ambivalence Avenue I’ve been trying to somehow merge both worlds.”

You’ve also spoken about wanting to “fuse lo-fi and hi-fi” in your music, balancing the warmth and character of lo-fi music with the clarity of professional recording. How do you bring these worlds together?

“Yes, those are the two worlds I’ve been trying to merge. There are different approaches to this. One is just like people have been doing for decades; going back to Portishead for example, they were combining lush, warm, filmic and grainy samples with crisp, heavy drum sounds and intimate and clear vocals, so it’s not like the whole sound is lo-fi; there are elements of lo-fi in there, but the overall sound is also weighty and punchy and cinematic. But it’s a case of making that range of fidelities work together, sometimes they can juxtapose nicely, other times they can clash.

"What I try to do is make sure the more polished parts still have some of the texture and reality taken off, but retain a certain amount of sharpness and weight"

“I suppose what I try to do is make sure the more polished parts still have some of the texture and reality taken off, but retain a certain amount of sharpness and weight. It’s why I generally use ribbon mics, because they tend to roll off that very top 'air' band, which can be a bit ugly, or a bit too hyper-real. It’s not like they’re lo-fi sounding, it’s more that they sound flattering and less like a forensic microscope for the voice.”

Could you pick out three instruments from your studio you’d keep if you had to get rid of absolutely everything else and tell us why?

“Oof, that’s a tricky one. It’d have to be an electric guitar, bass guitar and an acoustic guitar. Obviously I’d need something to record onto, but as long as I have a computer and those three instruments, then I can make music. As for specific guitars - Martin D18 for the acoustic, maybe a Fender Telecaster and a Fender Jazz Bass.”

How about three pieces of gear?

“Well it’d have to be one of my secret delay pedals, my Nagra IV-S, and if a microphone is a given - an Akai MPC 2500. The delay pedals are crucial to certain types of music I make, both compositionally and tonally, and I need tape - the Nagra can do three speeds so it can do very clean down to not so clean. I haven’t used my MPC a lot in recent years, and partly because it’s in an awkward space in my studio, when I build my next studio I’m going to try and make it more central again, as using an MPC in the past has really let my creativity flow.”

How often are you experimenting with new gear and instruments? Is there anything on your wish-list at the moment?

“As I mentioned before, I’ve been selling gear and I’ve been laying off purchasing gear for the last year or so. This was mostly triggered by preparing to move to Wales. I wanted to lighten the load and use it as an opportunity to rethink what I actually use and need. Maybe if I have enough space at my next studio, I might get an EMT stereo plate reverb. One thing I am going to purchase after the move is a harp, I'm really looking forward to using it with the delay pedals in the same way I've been using piano on Phantom Brickworks tracks. I’m most excited about that to be honest!”

(Image credit: Richard Roberts)

You said in an interview with The Creative Independent: “You’ve got to choose your way of learning. For me, it’s always been this hybrid approach of music and production as one.” Writing music and producing music are often painted as two separate disciplines. Could you elaborate on this idea that for you, they’re part of the same practice?

“I think for a lot of people now they are merged into one. Electronic music, for example, is really a combination of music composition and music production, and a lot of modern music is electronic to some extent. For decades there's been an expectation on new music that, not only will it be musically different, but it will have new sounds and have evolved sonically or in terms of fidelity.

“Obviously the quest for clarity and loudness can only go so far, so I think that's partly what brings about this desire to include elements of the past, whether it's sampling and repurposing old records or whether it's incorporating vintage recording gear and techniques - sounds of the past seem to become more exotic in a new light; for me, nostalgia is a modern perspective. It’s about how the past looks and sounds from where we are now, it’s not about going back to that time.

"A lot of good music is being made by people who aren't musicians in the traditional sense, but they have a good musical ear and imagination"

“A lot of good music is being made by people who aren't musicians in the traditional sense, but they have a good musical ear and imagination and general feel for music and sound, so if they can make good music with a computer - then that makes them a musician in my books, not just a producer. Traditionally the producer was someone who took a musician or band's songs and thought of a way to develop them into a record, similar to how a director might take a story or a book and dream up a way of developing it into pictures.

“But now we are decades into the age of the bedroom producer and technology has empowered those who might not have had a chance at making it the traditional way - e.g. having made a convincing demo, impressed a record label boss who will then pay for you to go and make an album. It's the opposite now, you get signed to a label because you've made an album. That's how it was for me when I signed to Warp!”

Listening back to a track like Cherry Blossom Road, I was struck by a resemblance to some of the new Phantom Brickworks material; in a sense you’ve come full circle, but experimented with so many different sounds in the process. Musically, what would you like to explore that you haven’t yet tried?

“The last track on Fi, Poplar Avenue, was made with the same delay pedal and technique as I use for Phantom Brickworks, to me it’s a gift that keeps on giving. As well as getting a harp, I'd like to work with church organs and MIDI-controllable fairground organs. I also would like to experiment with recording instruments and sounds over vast distances, like playing drones through a big guitar amp in a quarry and recording it from a mile away.”

Phantom Brickworks (LP II) is out now on Warp Records.

“I was totally floored!”: Myles Kennedy hails the “genius” of his touring buddy Devin Townsend

Amit Sharma — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 16:30:01 +0000

Myles Kennedy and Devin Townsend team up for a UK and Ireland tour this month - beginning in Glasgow on 24 November and ending in Dublin on 6 December. And ahead of the tour, they got together with MusicRadar to talk about their mutual admiration and their approach to songwriting.

Myles is performing on these dates with his regular solo band, while Devin will be doing a solo acoustic set.

Devin: “Having the opportunity to strip back to a single guitar, an echo unit and my voice is fun. If the composition is sound unto itself, then in theory it should work regardless how it’s delivered.”

Myles: “Like Devin says, a good song will transcend. You can just play it on piano or an acoustic guitar, and it shouldn’t be difficult to reimagine in that sense. If you have the right chord progression and melody, it shouldn’t be hard. It’s all about the marriage of melody, what’s going on harmonically underneath and, of course, the lyrics. If it works stripped down, I don’t think it should be difficult, just go with it.”

Devin: “A lot of how I write in general is just me and a guitar. I often use echo to imply orchestration. For years I’ve used echo with a huge amount of feedback, something like 80 or 90 per cent repeat with a 420-millisecond delay. As a result of that, when you’re playing, you will hear how the section you are working on interacts with the past. Harmonically, the collisions that occur in the echoes is where I find a lot of the orchestral ideas.”

Myles: “That’s precisely what I love about Devin! There’s the magic. You take the twists and turns, and it’s the unpredictability that I love. You have a certain sense of humour in your performances, and in your songs at times, but what’s beautiful is that you can back it up with this genius level of talent. You can do this country thing and then go into this crazy heavy middle section that has blastbeats, or whatever the kids call it. That’s what makes me go ‘This is awesome!’ because I really didn’t expect it.”

Devin: “It’s funny, because I first heard of Myles when somebody directed me to a performance of him playing acoustic and singing. I remember thinking how rare it was to find a musician who could effortlessly project everything so well. His voice and ability to articulate through the guitar is special. It’s hard to put into words, but it’s the kind of thing that makes me feel: that guy is a legitimately natural musician and I believe him!”

Myles: “I discovered Devin’s Lightwork record and I was totally floored! For a long time, it was my go-to. It was a perfect combination, where it spoke to me but I also felt like I could learn things.”

Devin: “I was listening to Myles’ new album [The Art Of Letting Go] recently, and there’s an effortlessness to your songwriting, vocals and guitar work that resonates with who you are as a human being. There’s a connection there that’s exceptionally rare. The thing that I found so alluring about it is how real and true it is. That’s what I’m looking for when I’m participating with music. Is this person coming from a place of authenticity? In Myles’ case, yes! His stuff is shockingly connected. I’m in awe of it because I don’t sense that in my own music – so much of it comes from force of will and just effort...”

Myles: “Well, I gotta tell you that I fooled you royally because I’ve worked very hard to pull it off like that. But the goal has always been to make it sound effortless or at least more natural.”

Devin: “When I hear each part in your songs, I’m sat there thinking ‘That’s exactly how it should go!’ The way the pre-chorus works into the chorus is always perfect. You must have some musical Feng Shui going on there! It’s like the obstructions don’t exist. When I get into the flow, it’s the opposite. I struggle with linear passages – as in making each section flow and make sense. Instead, I have 17 different ideas and put them into the dryer. By the end it’s this weird amalgamation of it all. I have to be careful in the state of flow, because it very rarely leads to logic.”

“A good vocal is one that doesn’t sound like it has been recorded in the garage (even if it was)”: New to recording vocals? Start here

Daniel Griffiths — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 15:00:10 +0000

RECORDING WEEK 2024: If you’ve followed our recent guides to getting started with MIDI, and establishing your studio space, then you might have started comfortably working with your DAW, virtual instruments and tightly-linked external devices and instruments. Right now, you’re essentially working a perfect controllable bubble where - software crashes permitting - nothing can ever go wrong.

Every input appears on its own discrete channel and can be brought forward in the mix with the level control or sent spinning into the background with delay or reverb. Whatever you can imagine you can probably achieve using the features already built into your DAW.

So working with microphones, where suddenly the real world comes crashing in and causing chaos, can be something of a wake up call…

While there’s no such thing as ‘the right way to do it’ and musicians are constantly encouraged to ‘experiment’ or ‘find your own way’ there’s no denying that when something is badly recorded you can hear it, and if that one thing is the lead vocal then all your work perfecting the rest of the track will be for naught.

The good news is we’re here to help. Here’s how to get a perfect vocal safely into your DAW.

The goal is capture a vocal performance in as clear and unmolested a form as one of your plugins or a direct injected guitar or synth. Vocals are then just another instrument and ingredient in your mix and as tweakable and perfectable as any synth track or drum machine.

While famous studios have famous sounds - Ocean Way Studios live room is legendary, for example - when you’re recording at home the last thing you want is for your vocals to sound like they were recorded in the spare bedroom… Fortunately there are countless ways to ‘remove the room’ from your vocals and most won’t cost a penny.

Why learning basic mic technique is important

First and foremost you need a little microphone technique. It’s surprising how quickly even amateur vocalists can learn the art of ‘charming’ a mic - moving in close for a more intimate sound and then backing off for the peaks and soul-searing highs.

Think you’re listening to a plugin and clever production trickery when you hear your favourite vocalist hit the spot? More likely they’ve simply got their mic technique right, leaving the producer to sit back and take the credit.

(Image credit: Getty/DragonImages)

The basics are simple:

• Firstly, your vocalist needs to warm up their vocal chords with plenty of practice before even attempting a take. While it’s tempting to capture that first take for a stab at spontaneity, it’s more likely that the pressure of making a recording too soon will just upset and offset the vibe and your vocalist’s performance.

Instead let your vocalist flex their muscles and get used to the sound, space and the moment around them. Try and get them comfortable, relaxed and hearing that they sound great in their headphones before thinking about engaging record.

• Your vocalist needs to lean into the mic for those softer intimate verses… And - of course - lean back for the loud bits. Marking when to ‘dig in’ and out again on a lyric sheet is therefore a necessity. Identify the ‘tender moments’ where you want more emotion and the times when they need to back off.

(Image credit: Getty)

But do be aware that the further you get from the mic the more you’ll hear the room (and the more there’ll be a clash between your vocal sound and the rest of the controlled elements of your track). And if you’re using a compressor on the vocal (and you should) with too high a setting this will only ‘helpfully’ bring up the level and the sound of your spare room to make up for it…

Learning how far to move and what works best is a process of experimentation as every track, vocalist and studio will be different.

• Want some more tricks? Try encouraging your vocalist to turn their head ‘off axis’ - turning away from the mic for a moment - to take the edge off loud popping plosive ‘p’s or hissing ‘s’s. The more you can get your vocalist to take on the ‘heavy lifting’ of level management the more your compressor can be used to even out and polish your vocal rather than crashing around on damage limitation.

• Recording backing vocals? Remember that your backing vocals should complement not compete. As such they should be sung in as controlled and measured a way as possible. Try to make your voice ‘thin’. Imagine backing vocals as another instrument in the track rather than a rival to your lead. Keep levels consistent, concentrate on the timing of syllables to match the main vocal and while singing a backing vocal may involve making a curious or contrived sound, when mixed in with your emotion-drenched lead it’ll lock in as the perfect accompaniment.

Take the time to make a great monitor mix

While the finished track that you're working towards might sound great in your head, letting your vocalist in on your plans can only help get the vocal that you’re looking for.

So make a finished track mix that sounds as good as you can. Play it good and loud through your vocalist’s headphones and (if you can) add effects such as delay and reverb to their monitor mix so they ‘sound like a record’ while they’re singing.

(Image credit: Getty/visionchina)

Hearing their vocal loud against the mix will help them immensely for tuning and the better they sound the more confident they’ll be to sing out and deliver the goods.

You may want to swap out your usual headphones for a pair with better sound insulation at this point so ask around, have a few pairs to hand and use whichever keeps the sound in best. You may find that your cheapest/worst headphones do the job best: anything to stop leakage being picked up on the mic. But don’t worry too much if there’s a little bleed coming through.

Set the right pattern and put your vocalist in the right place

In the pursuit of the perfect vocal capture your mic choices can help greatly too. Most professional mics will have a switch to adjust their ‘pattern’ - that is the field of sound that they’ll capture in front of them. It’s therefore possible to choose as narrow a pattern as possible and have your vocalist deliver from that direction. Any sounds ‘off axis’ (such as the rest of your room) simply won’t be picked up by the mic.

(Image credit: Chris Corfield)

Legendary (though affordable) microphones such as Shure’s SM7 and variants are famous for their tight recording axis, making them ideal for recording in noisy or unfriendly spaces as they only pick up what’s directly ahead. No wonder they’re the podcaster’s mic of choice right now.

In short, read your mics manual and take the time to set the switch and experiment with a few trial runs before your vocalist turns up. You may also have a ‘pad’ switch on your mic allowing you to tailor its tone. Work out what you like and have everything set up as much as you can before the vocalist arrives to save stress and time wasting later.

Should you remove the room entirely?

A good vocal recording is one that doesn’t sound like it has been recorded in the garage (even if it was)… And while it’s possible to spend a fortune on studio baffles it’s not hard to devise your own with a mattress propped up against a wall and it's not that hard to construct your own ‘vocal booth’ for an instant pro sound.

(Image credit: Getty Images/Mat Hayward)

In fact, simply hanging sheets from string and mic stands around your vocalist will remove unwanted sound reflections and ‘warm up’ a cold, flat vocal in an instant. Or - as crazy as it sounds - why not have your vocalist record inside your wardrobe? A wardrobe full of clothes will soak up any reflections and deliver a perfect ‘dead’ sound. Or place a duvet over your vocalist’s head and mic (we’re not joking) for an instant, dead, up front sound that’s perfect for reverb treatment later.

Most of all, realise when you’re hearing ‘too much room’ and actively do something about it before recording hours of vocals that you’re going to find impossible to polish up and fit with your track later.

(Image credit: Getty Images/Julia Beverly)

No matter how much you try to train your vocalist to avoid blowing out the mic with popping ‘p’s and ‘b’s, a pop shield - a screen between your mic and your vocalist - is something of an essential. They’re not too expensive and while it’s possible to spend more, even the cheapest model will save you trashing perfectly good takes purely because of a single plosive ‘p’.

Why you should watch your levels

Back in the days of tape, it was important to get a good level onto the tape as turning up a quiet recording only introduced more tape hiss. These days with digital however you’ll find levels far more forgiving with the far greater sin being in turning up your interface’s mic gain far too high, introducing noise at the input stage and opening the door to delivering redline digital distortion in your DAW.

Far better therefore to try and keep your gain at around 50% maximum and those DAW levels only tickling the yellow bars in your virtual VU (sound level) meters. Quiet recordings can be turned up but distorted recordings can never be fixed. So if you’re seeing any red you’re way too high.

During that warm up have your vocalist go for the loudest part of the song's peak and set your levels for that. Then sit back and let the rest of your vocal fall into line behind it.

Don’t be afraid to tackle a song in short controlled bursts rather than expecting your vocalist to deliver a perfect take in one.

Work out where it’s safe to stop and pause and focus on nailing each section in turn. Choruses can be recorded separately from versus. Likewise any bridge. And if there’s a specific line or phrase that you love, take the time to record it many times and pick your favourite take later.

(Image credit: Future)

And if something isn’t working? Move on and try that bit again later when they’re feeling more confident.

It’s no crime to build (aka ‘comp’) a perfect vocal from multiple passes and attempts and your vocalist will appreciate the freedom and lack of pressure. Make ‘let’s have one more try’ a fun challenge rather than a do or die dealbreaker.

That’s it. So do your prep. Warm up. Have fun. And nail it!

“Like having a seasoned engineer in a classic analogue studio”: Universal Audio unveils new vocal production plugin Topline Vocal Suite

matt.mullen@futurenet.com (Matt Mullen) — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 16:00:36 +0000

As part of its Constellations launch event, Universal Audio has announced the release of a several new products, including the next generation of Apollo X interfaces and plugin versions of three of its amp emulation pedals.

That’s not all, though; today UA unveils a new vocal production plugin which it says offers everything you need to create perfect vocal mixes: Topline Vocal Suite.

At the heart of Topline Vocal Suite is its vocal tuner, which can handle everything from transparent pitch correction to robotic hard-tuning. UA tells us that it’s “never been so easy” to dial in vocal tuning: simply identify the key and scale of your track with Topline’s Key Finder, or set manually, and the plugin will take care of the rest.

(Image credit: Universal Audio)

Universal Audio brings a whole world of mic modelling to its Standard Series mics with the Hemisphere plugin

Vocals can be tuned in close to real-time thanks to Topline’s low-latency Live Mode, so you’re able to experiment with pitch correction on-the-fly or even use the plugin for live performance. The plugin is equipped with over 150 presets designed by mix engineers known for working with Beyoncé, The Weeknd, and U2.

Topline Vocal Suite is much more than just a pitch correction plugin, though; UA has kitted it out with a variety of tools for vocal production and additional effects, including emulations of classic analogue hardware.

(Image credit: Universal Audio)

Vintage-inspired mic preamps and tape-style saturation are joined by a handy vocal compressor and an easy-to-use EQ, while a versatile multi-effects section with delay, reverb and modulation can be used to lend your vocals space, depth and character.

In other news, UA has announced that its software emulations of the famed SSL 4000 Series console, SSL 4000 E Channel Strip Collection and SSL 4000 G Bus Compressor Collection, are now available as native plugins.

Topline Vocal Suite is available now for macOS and Windows in VST/VST3/AU/AAAX formats, and priced at an introductory discount of $199.

Find out more on Universal Audio’s website.

“Would you like to speak to my audio engineers?”: Sabrina Carpenter claps back and confirms that she sings “live every show 100%” on her Short n’ Sweet tour

ben.rogerson@futurenet.com (Ben Rogerson) — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 11:25:22 +0000

Attempting to establish how much artists are singing live at their shows - and which parts are being covered by backing tracks - seems to have become a popular pastime among social media ‘sleuths’, who are constantly on the search for that ‘gotcha’ moment.

When TikTok user riiano7 posted a clip of Sabrina Carpenter performing on her current Short n’ Sweet tour, though - and suggested that it demonstrated that the vocals were “30% lip singing [sic], 30% backing track, 40% singing” - they probably didn’t expect the star to hit back in the comments.

Carpenter wasn’t going to leave it alone, though. “I sing live every show 100%,” she replied. “Would you like to speak to my audio engineers?”

To give riiano7 the benefit of the doubt, what they may have been suggesting is that the mix makes it hard to establish which of the parts you can hear is Carpenter’s live vocal. “I would [like to speak to your audio engineers],” came their reply, “Tell them to lower the backtrack voice as its [sic] way too high.”

@riiano7
♬ original sound - ✦ Ri ✦ 💎

The debate around ‘live vs pre-recorded vocals’ seems to rage whenever a major artist performs at a big show or on tour - particularly female singers, it seems. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour vocals have been endlessly dissected online, and Dua Lipa felt compelled to respond to accusations that she lip-synced during her headline set at the Glastonbury festival. “I don’t mime,” she told MailOnline after the performance.

This is almost certainly true, but it’s also the case that many artists do have backing vocal tracks, too, which is often the source of the confusion (particularly if these are high in the mix). There’s no way that one singer can cover every vocal part, though - particularly if the intention is to recreate the sound of a slickly-produced contemporary pop record - so some kind of augmentation (whether that’s backing tracks, backing singers or a mixture of both) is inevitable.

Sabrina Carpenter kicked off her Short n’ Sweet tour on 23 September in Columbus, Ohio, and it’s currently set to run until the end of March 2025. However, she also managed to squeeze in a performance of her mega-hit Espresso on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show: check it out - complete with live vocals - below.

"If you’re into creating interesting vocoder sounds, try feeding a drum machine through the vocoder instead of a vocal": 14 tried and tested vocal effect tips

Computer Music — Wed, 08 May 2024 08:31:28 +0000

We've been taking a deep dive into creative vocal production this month on MusicRadar, covering everything from nailing the classic vocoder sound to modern, Bon Iver-style 'Prismizer' effects.

Here, we run you through 14 tried and tested tips for vocal-focused effects processing.

1. Get a mic

If there is one thing that you will need to get the most out of your electric vocal propositions, it’s a microphone. Strictly speaking, any microphone can do the job, but some microphones are better than others, and it doesn’t always mean that you have to spend a fortune. Vocoders take very kindly to dynamic microphones, whereas condenser microphones will be a better choice for recording into your DAW. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get impressive results.

2. OK computer

For something completely different, consider using the text-to-voice feature on your computer to record and act as the modulatory signal for your vocoder. Bands such as Radiohead have been known to make use of this speech technology, but don’t use something that sounds too realistic. Everybody wants to hear a robot sing, and this could be the perfect way to achieve it.

Daft Punk: perhaps the quintessential vocoder-lovers? (Image credit: Getty Images)

3. Make time for vocoder practice

If you like the idea of playing the vocoder, you may well have to get used to the concept of playing and singing at the same time. We say singing, because with vocoders, the pitch that you sing has no effect on the vocoder’s output and sound. What does make a difference is if you’re over-pronouncing the words that you are saying. Doing this at the same time as playing a keyboard may take some practice, especially if you want to do it live!

(Image credit: Future)

4. Listen to the music

As with any music and production, we can learn plenty from the past masters. Whether you are intending to Prismize your vocal, or play a talkbox live, take time to draw inspiration from artists and tracks that have impressed you in the past. Use analytical ears, to try and learn how to improve your craft.

5. Push the boundaries

The software involved in creating some of the classic effects described in this feature are continually under development. Stay up to date with any software that you own, as there may well be features that could push you in a new direction, and find you creating the next big sound.

6. The headset

If you find yourself vocoding on a regular basis, you may want to consider purchasing a headset microphone. While these forms of microphone picked up a bad rap thanks to questionable pop groups such as Steps, relying on them, it does make the process of vocoding far simpler, as you don’t have to step towards the mic.

Shure SM35 mic headset: not just for Steps (Image credit: Shure)

7. Tweak your formants

Once your vocal is inside your DAW, you can do an incredible amount of editing and vocal destruction or improvement. One fascinating concept is the alteration of the formants found within our vocals. You can create some very strange sounds by adjusting this control in software such as Auto-Tune.

8. One by one

If you are working to a tight budget, but already have some form of pitch correction software, you can get very similar harmonising effects by manually recording one track at a time. This will require some effort, but the results, particularly on a budget, can be quite spectacular!

Waves’ Tune Real-Time pitch correction is as quick as they come (Image credit: Future)

9. Less is more

If you do decide to create a track with shades of Bon Iver, remember that part of the success of his winning sound is the fact that the vocals, with heavy auto-tuning and harmonising, are firmly the centre of attention. Let your sound breathe within your production, and everyone will be talking about it!

10. Keep your signal dry

Another part of the success of the Prismizer concept is that the sound is relatively dry in the mix. Don’t be tempted to make up for lack of quality in the initial recording by adding copious amounts of reverb. This will just make it sound like you recorded in a swimming pool.

Why not try a hardware synthesizer when experimenting with different forms of carrier waves? (Image credit: Future)

11. Get percussive

If you’re into creating interesting vocoder sounds, try feeding a drum part or drum machine through the vocoder instead of a vocal. You can get some amazing sounds this way, which can sound very contemporary in the right setting.

Cherry Audio’s Cherry Rhythm CR-78 is a great plugin for feeding a drum part into a vocoder (Image credit: Future)

12. Carrying the wave

If you are working with software vocoders, experiment with different forms of carrier wave, possibly from an external synthesizer. You may find that some form of third-party carrier wave sounds better than the carrier provided by the plugin itself. If you are lucky enough to own a hardware synthesizer, try that.

13. Use your phone

We know it sounds weird, but did you know that you can get talkbox apps for your phone? Check out your phone’s app store and you’ll be surprised what you can do by pointing your phone’s speaker to your mouth! It’s a cheap alternative with limitations, but it could provide all of the character you need for your track.

Pocket Talkbox Lite is just one example of a talkbox app you can install onto your phone (Image credit: Future)

14. Mind your teeth!

There’s nothing quite like the sound of a vocoder, but the talkbox – being only available in a hardware form – can sound organic and authentic, especially for R&B. But be forewarned! All those loud musical frequencies rattling around your mouth can cause dental issues, so limit your exposure! Otherwise, you’ll need a crown or two, and they’ll obviously have to be ‘24K!’ (…to quote Bruno Mars).

Classic vocal effects, explained: "Contrary to many people’s assumptions, the vocoder itself is not actually a synthesizer"

Roland Schmidt — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 11:32:57 +0000

Can you remember the first time you heard a voice on a track which employed a sound that felt like it was a mixture of real vocals and a synthesizer? The chances are, you were listening to an instrument known as a vocoder, which combines synthesis and vocals to create that classic robot voice.

This is the beginning of a production story that has influenced the style of many artists, both vintage and contemporary. It’s now something we can achieve with modern software, taking the old concept into our 21st century productions…

Unbelievable as it might seem, the concept behind the vocoder was developed back in the 1930s. The technology was adopted as a method of broadcasting audio messages in a state of encryption, which was put to use during World War II. It didn’t take very long for musicians to realise the potential of vocoding technology.

Apart from a number of novelty songs and tracks, such as the legendary Sparky’s Magic Piano, vocoders became synonymous with electronic music, through artists such as Kraftwerk and Wendy Carlos. Even jazz-funk pioneers got in on the vocoder action, as demonstrated by the likes of Earth, Wind & Fire and Herbie Hancock.

(Image credit: Johnny Nunez/WireImage/Getty Images)

5 songs that use Roland's classic VP-330 Vocoder Plus

But why should keyboard players have all the fun? Guitarists wanted to get in on the action, too, and a device known as the talkbox provided a similar sound for our string-based cousins, although it didn’t stop artists such as Roger Troutman (Zapp) and Daft Punk liberating the talkbox back into the keyboard domain.

While these devices were always predominantly hardware-based, the rise of software has allowed us to access these effects readily within our DAW. With the march of technological development, so comes new production effects, and now we find hard-tuning and harmonizers playing an equally important role in production sound, delivering a similar but highly-contemporary version of the vocoding concept. Just ask Bon Iver, now the biggest exponent of the highly-processed Prismizer effect.

If the subtleties of these different elements has eluded you until now, don’t panic! The robots aren’t coming over the hill just yet, but we are here to assist you, not artificially, but intelligently!

Vocoders and talkboxes are easily confused, not least of all because they sound incredibly similar. Because of their sonic similarities, you can arguably substitute one for the other, which, as we will discover, may not be such a bad idea – if you want to hang on to your teeth!

Carrying vocoders

Roland’s Vocoder VP-03 is a boutique-shaped remake of their classic VP-330 (Image credit: Future)

Contrary to many people’s assumptions, the vocoder itself is not actually a synthesizer, although it is quite usual to find a synthesis element within a vocoder, especially in plugin form. The vocoder component joins together two elements, both of which are required to make the classic sound.

Firstly, we need a carrier wave, which is most commonly some form of synthesizer or inbuilt synth circuit. In the software realm, this is usually included as part of the plugin, and can be controlled by either setting a specific note or single chord, or using a keyboard to play notes in order to follow the chord progression of a song.

The second component that is required is a modulating signal. For a classic robot voice, this would need to be some kind of vocal, although it is not uncommon to use other instruments, particularly ones that are percussive in nature. Artists as diverse as Stevie Wonder and Röyksopp have been known to send drums in the direction of a vocoder, while playing chords that follow the song.

Smart plugins

Softube’s reinvention of the original Roland Vocoder in plugin form (Image credit: Softube)

If we consider original vocoding hardware for a moment, some of the best vocoders ever produced shipped in the form of a box with no synthesizer attached. The Sennheiser VSM-201, EMS 2000 and Roland SVC-350 are all fine examples, but all requiring an external synthesizer, as well as a microphone input.

Roland realised that it could place this technology in a keyboard, and include a carrier circuit, in the shape of string and choir sounds. Hence the SVC-350 was somewhat better known as the infamous Roland VP-330, which Roland still produces today, but now in the guise of their boutique-shaped VP-03.

If this classic Roland sound is the sort of vocoder that interests you, then help is at hand in the software domain, too. Softube has beautifully engineered a reincarnation of the VP-330, as a software plugin. Moreover, it has a built-in carrier wave generator, so you won’t need to fiddle around with a separate synthesizer in order to get your vocoder to work.

Got a mic?

All software vocoders will allow recorded audio tracks to be routed toward the plugin. This means that if you have a lead vocal already, you could employ this as your modulating signal. Playing chords alongside this vocal will provide the effect of beautiful electrified backing vocals.

Vocoders can, however, be a little fussy about the modulating input. As we have already mentioned, percussive sounds work very well, so it won’t come as a surprise to learn that the more percussive and articulated a vocal sound, the better the vocoded effect will be. For this reason, die-hard vocodists tend to prefer a vocal input via a dynamic microphone.

There are plenty to choose from, with classic choices being the Shure SM57/58, Shure SM7B or the Sennheiser MD-421, which is well known in the recording industry as a perfect mic for recording toms on a drum kit. Therefore, you might find it better to record a separate vocal track, specifically for the purpose of using with your vocoder plugin.

Squashed and compressed

Like the vast majority of recorded vocals, compression can play a major role, whether deployed at the input or the output stage. Vocoder circuits will behave better if they have a steady and reliable compressed signal for the purposes of modulation. Whether you are vocoding vocals, drums, or anything else, compress your signal, as your vocoder will thank you by providing better results.

Talking of boxes…

Vocoders can often be confused with a different technology, called a talkbox. Unlike vocoders, the talkbox can only exist in the hardware domain, although there are plugins available that try to mimic the characteristic sound.

Talkboxes operate in a very simplistic way, but can be difficult to use

Talkboxes operate in a very simplistic way, but can be difficult to use. As they were originally designed as guitar pedals, you will find many talkbox examples available as guitar stompboxes. In essence, a signal from either a guitar or synthesizer is fed into the effects pedal, before it becomes amplified, to a relatively loud volume.

The signal then heads to a speaker, which is enclosed, except for the attachment of a plastic tube, where the sound is literally funnelled. The user then puts the tube in their mouth, before mouthing lyrics or vowels, back into a microphone for the purposes of either live performance or recording.

Think of the opening riff to Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer and you will recognise a fine guitar-based example. This is also incredibly popular in the synthesizer domain, on classics such as the opening of Bruno Mars’s 24K and many Daft Punk tunes.

The only problem is, as the sound is so heavily amplified, all those high-volume frequencies swirling around your mouth can cause problems for your teeth! Don’t believe us? Ask Peter Frampton, who became well known for using the talkbox with his guitar, and has been a denture wearer for many years!

Getting zapped

The ever-secretive Roger Troutman: “You talkin’ to me?” (Image credit: Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

One of the most prolific artists who made extensive use of the talkbox sound was singer and keyboard player Roger Troutman. During his tenure as the frontman for the American band Zapp, he became known as one of the world’s finest exponents of the art of the talkbox. Though his innate musical talent brought much to his playing, the technology behind his talkbox was a closely guarded secret.

It was reported by many artists who booked him to play on their tracks that he would keep his talkbox tech away from prying eyes, almost to protect the idea of it. Even so, what we do know is that he originally used a Minimoog with his talkbox, which was later replaced by one of the cheapest synthesizers from the mid-’80s Yamaha lineup.

The DX-100, with its mini keys and reduced synthesis capabilities, became his weapon of choice, now copied by the current talkbox generation. Even the patch that Troutman used and designed to act as the carrier signal for his sound was a secret at the time, but it’s now one that can now be discovered easily enough thanks to the internet.

New Waves plugin promises to create instant eight-part harmonies from a single voice

ben.rogerson@futurenet.com (Ben Rogerson) — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 14:58:56 +0000

Waves is promising “instant vocal harmonies” from its new Harmony plugin, which can generate up to eight additional voices when given just one.

You can adjust the pitch, formant, panning, delay, filtering and modulation (via drag-and-drop) for each voice individually, so it’s possible to have both ‘male’ and ‘female’ backup simultaneously.

There are also Quick-harmony chord presets; designed for people who don’t know music theory, these can help you generate voicings that you might not otherwise have considered.

Harmony is also billed as a time-saver when you’re working on complete vocal arrangements - voices can simply be drawn in and automated snapshots can move with the song.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that Harmony is designed to be used in real-time, so it could potentially be employed to create backing vocals when you’re performing live.

The plugin works in three modes: Automatic will instantly create harmonies based on your choice of chord preset; Playable MIDI enables you to create harmonies by playing notes or chords in real-time on your MIDI keyboard (set the key and scale and the pitching should never go awry); and Graphical mode can be called on when you want to draw and tweak harmonies on the visual display.

Beyond harmony creation, Harmony can also be used as a creative effect for doubling, layering and more.

Harmony runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats and is available now for the introductory price of $40 (regular price will be $149). Find out more and download a demo on the Waves website.

You can also check out the video below, in which Waves show you how to use Harmony to create five vocal effects in no time at all.

The beginner's guide to vocal processing

Computer Music — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 14:26:07 +0000

Yesterday, we showed you how to approach the challenge of fixing an out-of-tune or messy vocal performance. Though it's an achievable aim, tuning is not always the central issue with vocals - sometimes all you need is a dash of processing to add sonic interest and character to a flat and uninspiring vocal take.

Pitch-correcting and Auto-Tune software can help to massage and sculpt a duff performance into something that shines. But that’s not necessarily something that every track calls for. It’s become a truism that vocal manipulation – be it formant shifting, stuttering/glitching, extreme compression, distortion or rigidly aggressive use of Auto-Tune to replicate a sort of vocoding effect – is so ubiquitous in today’s pop landscape that it’s more unusual to find a track that doesn’t exhibit it in some degree.

Creative vocal effects can lift certain moments of a track, bolstering not just the impact of a vocal performance. Effects and treatment can add dirt, space-age surreality, transform the character of the singer entirely, scaling between a sinister-voiced demon or a high-registered chipmunk, or re-imagine the vocal as bendable instrument, leaping into ranges that no natural human voice could.

Ghost note rider

Aside from these extreme swings, it’s common practice, irrespective of genre, to rely on subtler automation of volume, gain, and for spatial effects like delay and reverb. Harnessing automation to scale with the dynamics of the mix allows for your vocal characteristics to sonically adjust to peaks and troughs.

Harnessing automation to scale with the dynamics of the mix allows for your vocal characteristics to sonically adjust

While now managed by your DAW, this principle stems back to the hands-on days of fader riding, whereby a recording engineer would manually scale the gain of a vocal recording live. As the singer delivered a take, the engineer would adjust the gain level of the input signal, responding to the volume of the vocal. You can still control your gain this way today, in software, by using the likes of Waves Vocal Rider or TB Pro Audio GainRider 3.

In terms of wider vocal mix automation, such as applying filter sweeps, delay, reverb levels and more, most of today’s DAWs offer the means to latch your movements across multiple plugins as the track plays back, recording your setting tweaks and repeating those steps as you go. You can also create auxiliary channels containing the required effects, sending the volume from them at certain predetermined points.

Mouth monster

Now we’ve got a handle on how we can manage our vocal’s broader characteristics from a mix management point of view, and before we take a walk on the wild side and explore some particularly gnarly vocal effects, let’s take a look at some calculated use of EQ filters. Using high-pass filters in dramatic ways can impart a radio-type, low-frequency quality to your vocal which you probably don’t need for the whole take, but can colour certain areas of your mix.

(Image credit: Avid Pro Tools)

4 ways to create atmosphere and texture with processed vocals

While your basic vocal EQ should be attenuated to eliminate anything below 100Hz, by increasing the attenuation to nothing but the highest frequencies of your vocal, you can conjure a thin-sounding, razor sharp vocal effect that periodically emerges at key points of your track. The reverse is true of automating a murky low pass filter at a certain point.

While extreme mixing is one thing, there’s also a slew of products that deliver a huge range of colourful vocal effects instantly. Waves OVox is one particular plugin effect with the power to contort your vocal dramatically. “OVox is literally playing a synth into your vocal envelopes, and both the synth and the envelopes can be further tweaked and modified.” Waves’ Or Weisinger explains.

“You can add special effects and orchestrate the entire plugin using the different modulators. You can also replace the built-in synth carrier by any other audio and experiment with uncharted territories. The results are usually everything other than a polished vocal!” Check out our buyer’s guide for our choice of vocal-mangling tools.

Stabs and stutters

Beyond the shaking up of that lead vocal, what about using additional vocal recordings as a flexible, tone-shifting supplemental instrument? These kinds of sounds are often the foundation of trap, house and techno arrangements.

It’s easy to find vocal stab samples around the web - just head over to SampleRadar to browse our extensive collection of over 75,000 free music samples, which includes a number of sample packs dedicated to vocals.

(Image credit: Ableton)

How to create bassline house style vocal chops

Using these raw samples as a starting point, you can use your DAW’s sample editor, such as Logic’s Quick Sampler, Cubase’s Sample Editor or just Ableton Live’s main sample/resample-oriented workflow to map the vocal onto your controller, allowing you to glide between pitch-adjusted variants, playing and performing the vocal stabs as if they were a synth patch.

You can adjust the legato (smoothness of note transition) between keys and which note plays which pitch. Once you’re ready to go, you can begin dabbling in using your vocal samples to create harsh stabs, morphing and winding vocal backings, chords and – if your Glide is set to a harsh cut-off – sharper rhythmic stabs and stutters.

6 of the best vocal multi-effect plugins

1. iZotope Vocal Synth 2

(Image credit: iZotope)

Platforms: Mac/PC | Price: £150 | Buy

With five bendable, infinitely manipulable modules, Vocal Synth 2 presents one of the most focused ways to re-shape a vocal into something colossal. Its advanced spectral display responds to the characteristics of vowels, and reacts to your effect choices. It’s a sure-fire route to instant vocal splendour, or ragged edge.

2. Soundtoys Little AlterBoy

(Image credit: Soundtoys)

Platforms: Mac/PC | Price: £75 | Buy

Garnering huge respect for their exemplary plugin range, Soundtoys are dab hands when it comes to vocal adjustment. Specialising in formant shifting, pitch adjustment and melodic tweaking, Little AlterBoy is a one-box pathway to a range of cool new vocal worlds, you can even use it as a hard-tuner, and layer your track with authentic saturation.

3. Klanghelm SDRR

(Image credit: Klanghelm)

Platforms: Mac/PC | Price: £20 | Buy

If you want your vocal to ripple with the burning fire of classic tube saturation, you’re going to want to invest in something like Klanghelm’s SDRR. Harnessing its four different modes based on vintage outboard gear, you can create complex, rich saturation and deep stereo width enhancements, leading to a hardy vocal character.

4. Antares Mutator

(Image credit: Antares)

Platforms: Mac/PC | Price: £55 | Buy

Leaning more into the ‘I want to sound like an alien’ approach, Antares’ Mutator is a sound design tool that can carve your voice or vocal into a modulated, pitch-mutated extraterrestrial. Deep automation effects allow you to get more nuanced while real time processing gives direct feedback. It’s a versatile addition to any vocal tweaking arsenal.

5. Acon Digital Multiply Chorus

(Image credit: Acon)

Platforms: Mac/PC | Price: Free | Buy

You can’t really go wrong with free swag, and for no outlay, Acon’s Digital Multiply Chorus can pay dividends for your vocal. Processing your voice with a phase randomising filter, it can simulate the effect of multiple vocalists playing the same tone simultaneously. There’s a heap of scalability controls, too.

6. Waves Ovox

(Image credit: Waves )

Platforms: Mac/PC | Price: £40 | Buy

A vocal-twisting powerhouse, Ovox goes beyond a conventional vocoder to result in a multihued software voice-shifting synth like no other. With its classic talkbox, and artist-tailored presets, Ovox’s dual high-resolution engines grant a huge scope to totally transform your voice, all rooted in the built-in 8-voice polyphonic synthesiser.

Try Singdaptive's online vocal coaching to enhance your singing and songwriting with a free trial today

Sponsored — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 08:00:53 +0000

Taking the right steps to develop and improve as a vocalist can be challenging, but Singdaptive's online one-to-one coaching can empower you to identify and achieve your goals more effectively. And it's now offering a free trial to show you, along with giveaways to win great prizes.

Singdaptive can help singers and songwriters at any level with its personal teaching. The no obligation free trial includes three exchanges where vocalists will benefit from hearing personally from professional instructors on the Singdaptive team.

And until the end of August its Sing, Hear Back & Win contest offers singers the chance to win up to $5,000 in prizes.

A new approach to vocal and songwriting coaching

(Image credit: Singdaptive)

Singdaptive’s instructors can assist with vocal delivery and even educate on vocal health too

Singdaptive enables vocalists to gain access to a wealth of resources and access to a vocal coach in a one-on-one asynchronous platform.

This means singers can work on improving their skills by submitting their vocals at times that suit them. The coaches can then provide guidance and expert advice to help vocalists take their performances to the next level. Singdaptive’s instructors can assist with vocal delivery and even educate on vocal health too.

(Image credit: Singdaptive)

The expert instructors have coached thousands of singers with Singdaptive's approach to convenient personal exchanges, and joining includes access to over 400 on-demand learning videos from coaches, engineers, songwriters and more.

Sing, Hear Back & Win

(Image credit: Singdaptive)

Singers can submit personal exchanges with Singdaptive’s instructors for a chance to win great prizes up until 31 August, 2022 with its Sing, Hear Back & Win competition.

By signing up for personal coaching with Singdaptive, and submitting a vocal performance (this can be an original song or cover), you can win from $5,000 of prizes for singers with weekly draw prizes too. And any singer can enter using the Singdaptive free trial.

Prizes include a co-writing session with acclaimed Nashville songwriters and performing duo Johnny & Heidi, Universal Audio SD-1 Standard Dynamic Microphone, Roland VT-4 voice processor, Rubix 22 USB Audio Interface, V-Moda headphones, Singdaptive subscriptions and credits, Lamose Insulated Hydration bottles and more!

Visit singdaptive.com/contest for more info and to read the terms and conditions head to singdaptive.com/contest-terms.

Try Singdaptive today

(Image credit: Singdaptive)

Sign up today for a no-commitment free Singdaptive trial. You then have the option to continue with a monthly subscription that can be paused, upgraded or downgraded at any time with no commitments.

Your free trial includes three exchanges with the Singdaptive instructor team and discount offers for starting a subscription. Prices range from $24.99 to $99 USD / £21.99 to £89 GBP / €24.99 to €99 EUR.

(Image credit: Singdaptive)

And there's lots to look forward to this summer as Singdaptive welcomes new expert instructors from different genres and facets of the music industry to meet the needs of singers.

In June, Singdaptive added award-winning Nashville songwriters Johnny & Heidi along with vocalist / topline hit-writer Katherine Ellis. They will be featured in webinars over the summer.

Learn more and start improving today at singdaptive.com

What are the best online singing lessons? Our expert pick of remote tuition platforms for aspiring vocalists

Imogen Storey — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 16:49:55 +0000

You’re probably here because you want to learn how to sing, or you want to give your vocals a polish. One of the best ways of doing this is to employ the help of one of the best online singing lessons platforms. For me, learning how to sing is an activity that involves energy, patience and time – all while learning about strengthening muscles, stamina, and the necessary tools to keep your voice in good health.

I know all too well that this can be a daunting task, especially if you’re attempting to do it all alone. Fortunately, though, there are so many resources available online that can simplify this process and lead you to success on your journey as a vocalist. The internet, however, can be a total minefield of false advertisements and confusing, unstructured information, so I’ve done the hard work for you and selected my pick of the best online singing lesson platforms for you to choose from.

So, what makes me qualified to give singing lesson advice? Well, let me introduce myself. I'm Imogen, and I front the alt-rock band Novustory. I'm an RNCM-trained singer who co-runs one of the North-West’s leading recording studios – Esche Haus Audio.

I've used my years of experience in the industry to come up with what I believe to be the best lesson platforms available right now, and if you need more guidance on choosing the right service for you, head to the end of this guide for my in-depth buying advice.

MusicRadar’s Choice

Best overall

1. 30 Day Singer

Our number one pick for the best online singing tuition platforms has to be 30 Day Singer. From its extremely user-friendly interface to its plethora of informative content, high definition videos and cost effective payment plan, it really is a fantastic quality platform for aspiring vocalists.

OFFER: Enjoy your first month of 30 Day Singer for a single dollar at this link and start improving your playing for less than you'd pay for a cup of coffee.

> Read more below

Best budget

2. Singeo

Singeo is another online vocal coaching platform that’s really well populated with high-definition video content and a community-focused approach to learning to sing – for a super affordable price. Between this and 30-Day Singer, you need look no further for online singing lessons. However, if you do fancy learning a little more about the different sites available to you before you choose one, keep reading!

> Read more below

Best audio-only

3. Singorama

Australian singer/songwriter and TV personality Melanie Alexander’s Singorama comes in at number three due to its combination of super-fun and informative content, beautifully formatted website and great price. Singorama provides users with a downloadable workbook along with audio files that you can sing along to, and software to use alongside the resources.

> Read more below

Best overall

1. 30 Day Singer

The best for understanding the fundamentals of being a vocalist

Price: $29.95 per month, $129 per year | Key features: Super user-friendly interface, huge (and unrivalled) selection of content, multitude of tutors with a large variety of lesson plans to choose from

Well structured programme

Emphasis on singing in a healthy and sustainable way

Accessible to all levels

Downloadable audio files

High-quality, clear video tutorials

Community Support

No personalised feedback without expensive upgrade

Lacking in genre-specific content

Unmoderated community forum

30 Day Singer is not only aimed at beginners, it also provides vocalists at all stages of their singing journey with the skills to understand their voice, how to control it and how to look after it.

Whether you’re just starting out or you’re looking to brush up on your warm-ups and breathing exercises, 30 Day Singer provides learners with a platform that not only teaches, but nurtures the voice.

With a large selection of vocalists, most of whom have featured on popular television shows, the site is populated with lessons taught in a variety of styles, so no matter what your individual learning style is, as a vocalist there will be lessons on this site that really resonate with you.

If you're hoping for overall improvement across a large variety of the skills necessary to become a competent vocalist, then 30 Day Singer really is one of if not the best online singing lesson platforms.

OFFER: Enjoy your first month of 30 Day Singer for a single dollar at this link and start improving your playing for less than you'd pay for a cup of coffee.

Best on a budget

2. Singeo

The best for affordability and quality

Price: One-off payment yearly sub (monthly subs are available) $127/£93.76 | Key features: Forum for artists and coaches to open discussions, live Q&A sessions and live lessons, high quality video recordings

Well populated with high quality content

User-friendly navigation

Affordable

Very specific teaching style

Sing-along videos essentially karaoke?

Requires self discipline

The lessons on Singeo, which form the bulk of the content, are very well structured and allow users to easily determine which sessions they have completed and which they are yet to tick off.

Singeo.com, if nothing else, is a great platform for vocalists to access easy to follow tips and tricks, whilst also being a networking tool with a strong sense of community.

Singeo also does a great job of combining interactive lessons and content with tip videos, so one day you could be partaking in a live Q&A with one of its many tutors, and the next you might not feel like singing so you could just sit back and watch some informative content.

Lisa Witt, the main vocal coach you’ll observe on the content that populates the site, appears to be a super fun, friendly and personable human. She draws you in and keeps you engaged with her quirky and authentic approach to vocal tuition. This sets the platform up to be great for everyone, from total beginners who are learning for the first time to seasoned vocalists who are just looking to brush up on their warm-up skills.

You could argue though that her approach isn’t for for everyone, as some of the tasks can feel a little cringe-worthy (like having to sing Happy Birthday with her), but, ultimately, the videos have high production value, are super interactive, and encourage you to try new things.

Best audio-only

3. Singorama

A fun and informative introduction to what it takes to learn to sing

Price: One-off fee - $67/£49.49/€58.52 (sale price) | Key features: Downloadable content, several free extras, guided meditation

Fantastic materials and resources

Very reasonably priced

Good introduction to singing

Overwhelming amount of resources to download

Audio only (no video)

Number of lessons is fairly limited

Singorama provides users with a downloadable workbook along with audio files that you can sing along to, and software to use alongside the resources. Being able to access the resources offline is a massive plus and the content of the actual lessons appears to be fantastic. The course generally spans six weeks, with a 60 day money back guarantee policy, but if you get as far as downloading the resources, you’re unlikely to request a refund given the in-depth and arguably essential content.

Singorama requires only 15 minutes of practice a day, with a confident 60-day money-back guarantee. At such a low price, it is also one of the most affordable online singing courses with a healthy amount of content included.

Singorama would have gained a much higher spot if it weren’t for the issues we had actually finding the site. If you type ‘Singorama’ into Google, like most people surely would if they were recommended it by a friend or saw it advertised somewhere, the first search result is actually Singorama’s sister site - Singorama 2, which isn’t as good a platform.

Best genre-specific

4. Roger Love Singing Academy

The perfect platform for those committed to jump-starting their singing journey

Price: One-off fee - Basic Level: $197/£145.52; Mid Level: $297/£219.39; Top Level: $497/£367.12 | Key features: 14 week programme, in-depth video lessons, professional vocal tutor who’s worked with some of the world’s biggest stars

Genre specific guidance

Well laid out – 3 levels

Can purchase one level at a time

Level 3 doesn’t have many actual lessons

Aimed mainly at beginners and not seasoned performers

Roger Love’s Singing Academy maintains a huge focus on commitment, which is highly motivating if you’re that way inclined. For your more casual learner, it may feel a little too intense and take some of the fun out of it. The programme is split into three main courses that make up a 14 week programme, and comprises video lessons with in-depth knowledge and advice from an industry professional who has worked with the likes of Eminem, Gwen Stefani, and a whole host of other renowned successful artists.

Roger Love’s training system encourages you to explore more than just the fundamentals of learning how to sing. Whilst he gives you this information in the form of inspiring and encouraging videos, he also focuses on connecting with an audience, confidence on stage and dealing with performance anxiety. There’s a large focus on controlling the different elements of your vocals, breathing, vibrato, and generally just a real in-depth all-round understanding of the elements that make up the voice.

It is suitable for all skill levels, but at such a high price, you are likely paying for the name as much as the content.

Best for pros

5. The Vocalist Studio

An in-depth, knowledgeable and theory-focused approach to expanding your current vocal skills

Price: One-off fee – $199/£147 | Key features: Regularly updated content, live chats with tutors, free copy of Robert Lunte’s book, The Four Pillars Of Singing

Extremely in-depth information

Highly skilled tutor

Private lessons available

The content isn’t super beginner friendly

No specific songs or styles

Difficult to navigate

Robert Lunte’s The Vocalist Studio combines the art of singing with science, in that his methods focus on a very technical (but perhaps a little complex) approach to learning to sing. If this style of teaching resonates with you, then prepare yourself for really in-depth and specialised online singing lessons.

Purchasing The Vocalist Studio course will provide you with lifetime access to every single lesson, plus a copy of Robert Lunte’s book – The Four Pillars Of Singing. His guidance, whilst technical, is very clear and engaging, and the course material comprises not only a large selection of lessons and activities, but regular articles, new lessons and webinars too.

You can live chat with tutors, quiz yourself on your knowledge, and organise your own practice schedule (with their recommended guidelines of half-an-hour to 2-hour sessions, multiple times a week, depending on your individual needs and preferences).

Best for performance

6. Christina Aguilera’s Masterclass

Perfect for singers who are ready to learn more about performance, confidence and the power of finding yourself as an artist

Price: Yearly Subscription – $227.44/£168 | Key features: Guidance from a world class vocalist, downloadable PDF workbook, inspiring and motivational teaching style

Amazing production values

Learn Christina Aguilera’s songs

Excellent user interface

Doesn’t really “teach” you how to sing

Not many lessons

Not worth the cost of the platform if you’re only buying it for this course

When a celebrity branches out into offering subscription based services, it’s understandable that some would question their qualifications to be providing such a service. With Christina Aguilera, a world famous pop star, you could be thinking, "She’s a great singer, but does that mean she can teach?" Our answer? Yes. A big, strong yes.

Through high quality video content that you can download from her Masterclass, alongside a PDF workbook, she shares her personal experiences and passes on what is obviously years of fantastic vocal coaching, practice and training. The course requires commitment and dedication, and the workbook and videos are recommended to be utilised over the course of six weeks.

Christina applies a hands on, extensive approach with a huge focus on vocal health and artist development. Her teaching style is super artist-focused, in that she regularly encourages you to delve into what motivates you and inspires you as a vocalist, and encourages you to explore the parts of your voice and style that make you unique. This well-rounded course is mainly aimed at beginners (I’m sensing a trend here…) but for advanced singers who sing on stage, the motivation factor could be so useful for any vocalists who've found themselves in a bit of a slump with their voice.

Best for phones

7. Yousician

A highly customisable and game-like application, aimed at beginners but fun for users of all skill levels

Price: Yearly subscription (monthly subs are available) – Basic: $134.02/£99; Mid: $162.44/£119.99; Top: $243.67/£179.99 | Key features: Can be used on your phone, high levels of customisability to match your abilities, game-like app structure makes it super easy to engage those just starting their learning journey

You don’t need a computer

Fantastic for beginners

Transposition feature

Lacks the human touch

Could be difficult for certain vocal types (for instance, vocalists who bend their voice a lot)

Yousician is a fun, interactive and user-friendly app that encourages quick and easy learning.

The app can be used easily on your phone, without the need to download any extra content or purchase any equipment. It has a fantastic feature that enables you to sing into your device, and gives feedback on the accuracy of your pitch and the timing of your vocal.

Its straightforward and almost game-like app structure makes it perfect for those just starting out, and the engaging and interactive tutorials make for a fun and easy to use experience.

It gains some serious brownie points for its transposition feature, as it enables users to alter the key of their track to suit their individual voice. Despite the lack of the human touch you get from platforms that are run by vocal coaches, Yousician is fantastic at keeping users engaged by providing warm-ups, exercising, ear training, breath support, pitch control and knowledge sections in a neat and simple format. The customisability of this app gains it marks too, as you can slow songs down, adjust pitch, and set your skill level so you’re only offered songs that match your current abilities.

Best for feedback

8. Artistworks Vocal School

Receive personalised and direct feedback from a range of award-winning musicians/tutors

Price: 3 months – $105/£77.56; 6 months – $179/£132.22; 12 months – $279/£206.09 | Key features: Strong focus on music theory education, high level of personalisation, step by step approach to the fundamentals of learning

Unlimited Access

Personalised feedback & chat feature

Great for beginners

Not great for established vocalists

Pricing structure could be confusing for some – you have to pre-select genres

Jeannie Deva’s Artistworks Vocal School platform offers unlimited access to video lessons and a music theory workshop. With a variety of professional vocal coaches you can chat with and send videos to, as well as receive personalised feedback from, this site maintains a level of personalisation that other, similar sites lack. Artistworks provides an all-inclusive musical education platform that doesn’t just focus on singers and, like Singeo, has a strong sense of community whereby you can request feedback and interact with other like-minded musicians.

The step-by-step approach to lessons is perfect for beginners, and the site offers a huge focus on the fundamentals of education regarding all things vocal – breathing, control, practising, classical singing, contemporary singing, auditions, performance, equipment… you name it, Artistworks covers it. You’d think this level of variety would result in a ‘jack of all trades’ effect, but the wealth of knowledge is surprisingly rich and expansive, especially if you’re just starting your singing journey.

Jeannie Deva’s programme can promote effective learning for all ages, experience levels or vocal abilities, but keep in mind if you’re already a professional vocalist, this site will merely brush over the surface of what you most likely already know, rather than offer you anything new to consider.

Best for technique

(Image credit: Getty/Oana Szekely)

9. Elite Singing Techniques

Step by step online singing lessons with a focus on developing great technique and mastering the voice

Price: $135.44/£99.99 | Key features: 9 easy to understand modules, train your voice alongside developing an understanding of technical terminology, lots of extra exercises and secondary lessons

Simple and well organised

Detailed discussions

Affordable price

One-time payment, lifetime access

Main tutor seems uncomfortable on camera

Low quality audio recording

Elite Singing Techniques(via popular online learning site Udemy) hosts a wide variety of lectures, exercises, videos and a workbook, making it an incredibly well organised and easy to follow online vocal tuition service. Aimed mainly at beginners, the lessons are well grouped, begin at the very basics of learning how to sing, and gradually increase in difficulty, helping you to improve your technical abilities and enhance your understanding of music theory related terminology.

With a strong focus on nipping bad habits in the bud, this course has the capacity to take total beginners to the next level with its regimented yet super comprehensible platform. The course’s lessons are run by Eric Arceneaux, who, following 20 years of experience, rose to fame after appearing as a guest instructor on Brett Manning’s Singing Success television program.

The course proves to be a very competitive platform in an industry that’s fast become saturated with knock-off programmes and confusing information. Eric Arceneaux unfortunately appears to be a little uneasy on camera, which detracts from the lessons somewhat. Whilst the quality of the videos is great, the audio is lacking and Eric Arceneaux’s camera presence could make it difficult for some learners to relax and work to the best of their ability.

Arceneaux’s lessons are also extremely detailed, with several videos produced for a single lesson to ensure that students fully understand everything there is to know about a specific topic before moving forward.

Best mid-priced

10. Superior Singing Method

A modest and reasonably priced selection of tips and tricks for singers at the start of their journey

Price: 8 week course – one-off payment of $97/£71.56 | Key features: Weekly modules for structured learning, short and engaging sessions, supplementary mini-courses, options to upgrade to more advanced plans

Step by step approached

Broken into weekly modules

Lots of content for a reasonable price

User interface is lacking compared to other, similar sites.

Videos need updating

Only really useful for total beginners

Superior Singing Method provides a very linear, step-by-step approach to vocal tuition, with eight modules to choose from covering a large variety of techniques and advice, short sessions and simple to understand exercises. The course provides a great starting point for beginners to grasp the understanding of the fundamentals of their own voice.

Performer Aaron Anastasi offers the course at a much lower cost than other online singing platforms, but this price decrease reflects the perhaps underdeveloped nature of the site.

Despite offering a free workbook, finishing each module with a quiz, and offering opportunities for one-on-one feedback from Aaron himself, the site is still lacking in terms of user friendliness and overall accessibility. For the price though, the content is still accessible for beginners, so Superior Singing Method definitely deserves a slot in our top 10.

The course offers its basic package, while also providing bonus modules, supplementary mini-courses and the option to upgrade to a more advanced plan. Whilst still seeming to be in the earlier stages of development compared to its competitors, this site still offers valuable advice, tips, tricks and, most importantly, feedback. Having your vocals critiqued by a professional is an invaluable part of learning to sing and the fact that this site is so comparably low priced yet offers this service deems it worthy of a top 10 slot.

Buying advice

(Image credit: Getty)

How to choose the best online singing lessons for you

If you’re hoping to sign up to an online singing lesson course, it’s imperative that the course complements your learning style, unique goals and current skill level.

With this in mind, have a read about each of the programmes’ content and ask yourself a few questions to really find the best online singing lessons for you. Does it sound like it’ll suit your experience level? If you already know a little about singing, then you’ll want to look for something that offers advice beyond the absolute basics.

Does its vision for artists line up with your aspirations as a vocalist? Having goals when learning how to sing can really help you progress, so making sure that the goals you have line up nicely with those given by the online singing lessons can help with this.

Does it include lessons that feature genres/music styles that you actually enjoy singing? If you don’t like the stuff you’re learning, then you probably won’t get as much from them, so enjoying the kind of music that’s taught is pretty key when looking for the best online singing lessons.

These are super-important points to consider when comparing the sites yourself, but hopefully this guide will make the task a little less daunting for you!

Whether you’re endeavouring to pursue a career in music or hoping to impress your mates at your local karaoke, online singing lessons are definitely an easy and fun way to improve your vocal abilities.

How much do online singing lessons cost

Most of the best online singing lessons services in this guide offer a free trial (from 7 days upwards) or a small sample of free content. This gives you the opportunity to try a few before you commit.

Beyond this, once you start paying, online lessons start from around $15 per month. You can make savings if you sign up for longer periods, such as a full year. Some services even offer up lifetime subscriptions. These might seem expensive initially, but if you plan on using the content consistently and over a long period of time, could be worth considering.

How we choose the best online singing lessons

(Image credit: Getty)

Here at MusicRadar, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing, creating and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything music gear related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products and services in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting entries for our guides.

When choosing what we believe to be the best online singing lessons available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and testimonies and engage in lengthy discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top services in any given category.

First and foremost, we are musicians, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set and ease of use to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best online singing lessons on the market right now.

Find out more about how we test music gear and services at MusicRadar.

Why trust us

(Image credit: Future)

☑️ Established 2007
☑️ 2.9 million monthly users globally
☑️ 9,500+ reviews on-site

With more than 17 years of experience, MusicRadar is the premier music-making website in the world. Run by musicians for musicians, we offer expertly written gear round-ups and high-quality, authoritative reviews by an extensive team of highly experienced industry professionals.

We also interview world-renowned musicians and stars about their creative processes and the nuts and bolts of their gear and technique. This gives fans an insight into the actual craft of music-making that no other music website can.

But that's not all. We also provide excellent tuition, from bite-sized tips to advanced techniques and guidance from recognised musicians.

As well as delivering high-quality written reviews and features, we also produce a wealth of video content on YouTube. MusicRadarTV is where you'll find all of our access-all-areas interviews, hot gear demos and exclusive video lessons.

How hearing loss almost silenced Paw Patrol vocalist Scott Simons: "Admitting you have hearing loss is the first step"

MusicRadar — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 08:55:05 +0000

Today is World Hearing Day, an annual event dedicated to raising awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss. There are few for whom this day is more important than professional musicians, with scientific studies suggesting that they’re almost four times more likely to develop noise-induced hearing loss than the general public.

As a musician or producer, your ears are everything. Losing your hearing can be as traumatic as losing a limb, and it can not only cause prolonged distress and discomfort, but also bring your career to an abrupt and unfortunate end.

To hear more about the issue, we’ve spoken to musician and composer Scott Simons, who’s best known as the voice behind one of children’s television’s most recognisable theme tunes: Paw Patrol. Scott has spent much of his life suffering from gradual and genetic hearing loss that once severely threatened his ability to write, record and perform.

Thankfully, through the use of sophisticated hearing aids, he’s overcome these challenges to find success, and in addition to his work on Paw Patrol, has joined the production team at America’s Got Talent, working with contestants to support, arrange, produce their performances.

Scott joined us for World Hearing Day to speak about his experiences with hearing loss and offer advice to musicians and producers concerned about hearing health.

Read more: 5 essential tips to beat ear fatigue and protect your hearing

Could you give us some background on yourself and your work in the music industry?

“My passion for music started in school band, growing up in West Virginia. When I was 15, my dad started to put me in cover bands, where we’d play in bars all around our local area. That’s really where I cut my teeth performing in front of live audiences. From there, I moved on to West Virginia University and majored in Music Composition. I always knew I wanted to write my own music, and my degree reflected that.

“After college, I started a band called The Argument. We were together for ten years, touring 25 states and running four 15-passenger vans into the ground. We showcased for major labels and had a good amount of success but never got that major record deal. After breaking up, I used the contacts I made over the years to begin writing and pitching songs for other artists, which was really what I always wanted. That led me to Los Angeles, where I’ve been for the last 13 and a half years.

It’s a cartoon about dogs. How popular can that be?

“In my first few years in LA, I was just trying to stay afloat with piano bar gigs and any writing session I could get involved with. Then I got a call to be a rehearsal pianist for contestants on a competition show. When I got there, I found out it was for the American version of The X-Factor. I worked on the show for three seasons assisting producers, playing live and coaching acts.

“When that show ended, I was brought over to America’s Got Talent, another Simon Cowell show. I’m now in my tenth year consulting with acts, helping them find the right song and working on their arrangements. Sometimes, I even play on stage with those auditioning.”

How did you get involved with Paw Patrol?

“It was just a random gig that popped up for me. I was hired to do a vocal demo for a children’s TV show theme. A friend of mine had already written the song, and I thought my voice would only be used in a demo to show Nickelodeon executives. Not only did they like the song, but they also wanted to keep me as the vocalist.

“I don’t think anyone knew the show would become as massive as it is today. I just saw it as another job, and I’d go back to my everyday life after the session. It’s a cartoon about dogs. How popular can that be?

As musicians we have to take our hearing health into our own hands - admitting you have hearing loss is the first step

“The show wasn’t an instant hit. They didn’t even have merchandise at first. But then I was at a friend’s house, and his four-year-old was playing with a Paw Patrol fire truck, and I thought how cool it was that they had merch. Suddenly, he pushed a button, and out came my voice singing the song.

“It exploded from there. I started getting messages from people I went to college with saying that they watched me play years ago, and now their kids hear me every day. Cameo reached out to me a few years ago asking if I’d like to do videos for kids. Now I do them for people all over the world. It’s a super rewarding experience, and the kids love it.

How long did it take you to nail the theme song?

“The recording session was only about an hour. I remember having no idea what the show was about. I didn’t see any drawings or plot synopsis. I didn’t know anything. I just saw lyrics on a page. What you hear in the song is not actually how my voice sounds. It’s the opening of a kid show, so I decided to put on this super excited, energetic voice in hopes of creating a good template for someone else to use. I never thought it would actually be my voice. I guess we must’ve gotten it pretty good on the demo.”

Tell us about your experience working on America’s Got Talent.

“The best part about the job is that no day is the same. No other show has the variety that AGT does. We have music, magic, dance, comedy, daredevils and so much more. The singers alone vary greatly. Some want to be pop stars, but we get everything from country to R&B to opera and musical theater singers.

You don’t really know the impact of hearing loss until you hear what you were missing

“I also really enjoy being able to use my degree and full breadth of my skill set. Some days it’s preparing people to perform in front of a live audience, which some have never done. Other days it’s finding the right key or cutting the song down to fit TV time constraints. So many things can come up when getting live performers ready, which really keeps me on my toes.”

Your bio mentions you’ve been sampled by Wiz Khalifa, how did that come about?

“I’m in a band now called Teammate, and we used to be signed to the same record label (Rostrum) that discovered Wiz Khalifa. Wiz was working on the O.N.I.F.C album when he and his producer were looking for a sample to use for the introduction of the record.

"They wanted something really vocal-heavy. We had this Beach Boys-esque vocal segment in one of our songs that our label thought would be perfect. They submitted it but we didn’t actually know if Wiz used it until the record came out. It’s a great thing to have on the resume.”

(Image credit: Widex)

When did you first discover that you suffered from hearing loss?

“I first discovered it in kindergarten when my teacher thought I either couldn't hear or was ignoring her. That set off a few alarm bells in my family because both my mother and maternal grandfather had hearing loss. They tested my hearing, and sure enough, I followed in their footsteps.

“Fortunately, we caught it early enough that it didn't negatively affect my development. But, as I grew older and class sizes got larger, it became harder and harder to hear. Right before college, I got one hearing aid, even though I knew I needed one for both ears. It was pure vanity.”

How did this impact you as a musician and performer?

“You don’t really know the impact of hearing loss until you hear what you were missing. For the longest time, I was performing and making music to the best of my ability. I could get by hearing the rhythms and beats, and I could find my pitch well enough. However, when I got older, and my career began to develop, I started producing more.

“That forced me to pay attention to frequency ranges, and it was there that I noticed I couldn’t hear higher frequencies well. Plus, so much of producing is the collaboration amongst artists. When you’re in a writing or producing session, a lot of important information is being said, and you need to be able to pick up on it. If you can’t fully understand what everyone is saying, you’re doing them and yourself a disservice.”

How did finding the right hearing aids change your life?

“For me, treating my hearing with the Widex Moment hearing aids made me a better collaborator. In between the music, I can fully engage in the conversation and participate in the back and forth. To me, that's one of the best things about regaining your hearing.

“Without hearing aids, you tend to withdraw from conversation for fear of embarrassment and give up on the interaction that's so important to both our personal and professional lives. It comes off to others like you're not paying attention or sloppy with details because you missed something. In reality, you just couldn't hear them, but you didn't want to stop the flow of conversation.

“The Moments have also made it easier to understand where sound is coming from. Separation of sounds in a busy environment was always challenging. For example, in a restaurant, I can easily focus on the conversation while also hearing everything else around me.

Admitting you have hearing loss is the first step. Many people are in denial or don’t want to deal with it

“Listening to music is much more pleasurable, as well. With my old hearing aid brand, I used to take them out whenever I turned on the radio because they just didn't do the songs justice. Widex Moment allows me to hear the music without any distortion. It's as close to natural hearing as you can get. The compatible Widex Moment app also has a music setting that I can turn on to help with equalization and give me the most accurate picture of what the music sounds like.

“That said, I need to give a big shout-out to Dr. Julie Glick of Musicians Hearing Solutions in Beverly Hills. She suggested I try Widex Moment after learning about my lifestyle and desired features. Without her, I would’ve never experienced the natural, smooth and clear sound that only Widex Moment can deliver.”

How can musicians and producers protect their hearing to prevent hearing loss?

“Musicians are more likely to have hearing loss than our non-musical counterparts. We play and listen to music for hours every day, and it’s essential to do it safely. Almost any instrument can harm hearing, if played loud enough and over a long enough period.

“That’s why we have to take our hearing health into our own hands. If you’re a performer, your top priority is to put on an entertaining show. But if you’re not wearing the correct earplugs or even the cheap ones you can buy at the drugstore, you’re doing yourself a massive disservice.

“Stage positioning is also important. Sound is louder when someone stands directly in front of or behind a speaker. Musicians should always angle the speakers away from them. Plus, frequent listening breaks can give your ears a rest.”

What advice do you have for others suffering from the condition?

“A lot of friends do ask me for advice. Admitting you have hearing loss is the first step. Many people are in denial or don’t want to deal with it. The second step is to stay calm about your situation. Hearing loss is extremely common, and there are concrete things you can do to help yourself.

Musicians are more likely to have hearing loss than our non-musical counterparts. We play and listen to music for hours every day, and it’s essential to do it safely

“That’s why I always advise getting your hearing tested. A certified hearing care professional can tell you your loss level and what’s needed to address it. Oftentimes, that’s hearing aids, which made a tremendous difference for me. My audiologist, Dr. Julie Glick, has been practicing for 25 years and works only with the industry’s top-of-the-line manufacturers. This allows her to choose which company will deliver the best results based on each patient’s unique hearing needs. There are professionals like her all around the world eager to assist.

“We all need to do a better job of debunking the stigma around wearing hearing devices. I understand that stigma. I never wanted to be the guy that walked into writing rooms or going on dates with two bulky hearing aids.

“But my Widex Moments are so small that most people don’t notice them, and the technology has improved astronomically over the last twenty years. The benefits that the devices provide should far outweigh any concerns about how you look.”

Find out more about World Hearing Day on the World Health Organization's website.

Visit Widex’s website to find out more about their hearing aids.

512 Audio Skylight

Jon Musgrave — Sat, 01 Jan 2022 09:40:47 +0000

512 Audio Skylight: What is it?

512 Audio is a new venture from Texan gear manufacturers Warm Audio. So far the product line includes two mics, a dynamic (Limelight) and a condenser (Skylight), and it’s the latter we have on the bench for review.

Skylight is a keenly priced phantom-powered cardioid condenser with a large 34mm gold-plated capsule. The package includes the mic, a C-shaped suspension cradle and a clip-on dual layer pop shield. The microphone has its own pouch and it all comes packaged in a foam-lined box that is ideal for storage.

Although the overall design is reasonably low-key, Skylight looks really stylish and has a pretty striking headstock with shiny vertical strips over a two-layer grille. The mic is also reasonably large and pretty heavy (600g), and when you hook up the cradle and pop shield you’re looking at just over 1kg, which means you’ll need a reliable mic stand.

512 Audio Skylight: Performance and verdict

Like many budget mics, Skylight doesn’t include any on-body, low-cut or level-cut options, which is always a bit of a shame. Nevertheless, the overall spec is good, including maximum SPL at 144dB and reasonable sensitivity at 8 mV/Pa. There’s no quoted noise figure, although on listening with high gain there was nothing obviously afoot.

Skylight is designed primarily for speech and vocals, and is suitably tuned with a high end boost from around 5kHz. Even so, the mic does not sound overhyped, and our first impressions are that the sound is pretty warm and smooth.

(Image credit: Future)

Getting up close

The pop shield has an elastic clip and simply slips over the headstock so is quick and easy to install. It also sits pretty close to the grille (about 15mm). You might think this would render it not very helpful, but it actually works incredibly well, and it removed pretty much all the plosives we threw at it. Factor in the C-shaped cradle, which lets you get right in close to the headstock, and intimate vocal sounds are easily achievable.

That being said, without the pop shield it’s a very different story and it’s quite easy to get it to pop, even from about a foot away. Skylight does exhibit some proximity effect, but this only becomes obvious when you’re quite close, and it’s never overbearing. Even so, it’s fair to say it does contribute to the rather rich and pleasing sound that you get when right in close.

The smooth top end is particularly welcome for anything with complex highs

Despite being designed for vocals, we found Skylight’s sound worked pretty well with other instruments. The smooth top end is particularly welcome for anything with complex highs, and although it’s not as revealing or open-sounding as my more expensive mics, it’s certainly workable for many applications beyond the obvious ones of vocals and speech.

Skylight’s target market is podcasters, streamers, gamers and vocalists and they’ve done a good job of getting a sound that suits those users. In the UK you can buy the mic for £190 online and this offers good value for a mic that sounds good and really does look the part.

MusicRadar verdict: Want an affordable large capsule condenser primarily for voice? Skylight definitely fits the bill. It also looks rather fabulous.

512 Audio Skylight: The web says

"The Skylight is a lovely-sounding mic for the price and regardless of 512’s focus on voice – the mic capably captures a range of sounds."
MusicTech

512 Audio Skylight: Hands-on demos

512 Audio

Podcastage

Obscure Mics

512 Audio Skylight: Specifications

CAPSULE: 34mm gold plated large diaphragm
POLAR PATTERN: Cardioid
FREQUENCY RANGE: 20Hz - 20kHz
SENSITIVITY: -42dB +3dB (0dB =1V/Pa at 1kHz)
AMX SPL: 144dB
WEIGHT: 1.03kg (including cradle and pop filter)
DIMENSIONS: 202 x 55.5mm
CONTACT: 512 Audio

Waves’s Vocal Production bundle slashed by $1,100 to just $99.99 - 24 hours only

Chris Barnes — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 18:23:33 +0000

Vocals are usually the thing that really makes a track. A killer vocal can elevate a mediocre groove or synth line, but a poor vocal can scupper an otherwise great track. If your vocals usually fall into the second bracket, it’s possible you simply don’t have the right tools for the job. Wave’s Vocal Production bundle could be the answer - and right now it’s been discounted by 92% down to just $99.99. But you’ll need to hustle as this is a 24 hour flash sale with only a matter of hours left.

The Vocal Production bundle comprises 15 essential plugins for production and mixing of your vocal tracks. In the package you’ll find everything you need to tune, bend, synthesize and fix your vocals and give them that professional sheen. Some of these plugins are the very same used to make the vocals of artists such as Billie Eilish and Beyonce shine (Renaissance Vox, we’re looking at you). We also rate some of these tools in our guide to the best Waves plugins, too.

Bundles are a brilliant way to make significant savings. Taking into account Waves' other savings across the site, currently buying these plugins individually would cost you $450. But drop $99.99 now and each plugin will cost you just $6.66.

Waves Vocal Production bundle: ~~$1,350~~, now $99.99
Bring your vocal A-game with $1,100 off Waves' fully-loaded Vocal Production package. Roll out the 15 essential tools in this bundle and your vocals will go from zero to hero.View Deal

Waves Cyber Sale: All plugins $29.99
You’ll find everything from reverbs and delays, to compressors and virtual instruments in this sale, and all for just $29.99 apiece. There’s even a few discounted bundles tucked away amongst the sale items. What's more, load up your basket with 2 plugins and get another 2 for free!View Deal

But it doesn’t stop there. Make this purchase and you’ll receive a code that bags you $20 off your next purchase from Waves. Or if you have other products on your list, all Waves plugins are currently just $29.99, with the opportunity to bag 2 freebies for every 2 you pay for.

Here’s that Vocal Production plugins list in full:

Waves Tune Real-Time
OVox Vocal ReSynthesis
Vocal Bender
Vocal Rider
R-Vox
Waves Tune
Sibilance
Renaissance DeEsser
DeBreath
Doubler
TrueVerb
SuperTap
Renaissance Vox
Renaissance Channel
Renaissance Axx

Sknote’s MetaVocals puts automatic tuning, harmonising and vocoding in a $30 plugin

Ben Rogerson — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 16:55:29 +0000

Sknote’s MetaVocals is a new, affordable plugin that promises not only to automatically tune your vocals, but also to double, harmonise and vocode them.

The interface has been kept intentionally simple, and the tuning engine works in real-time, detecting the incoming signal’s pitch and - assuming you want it to - correcting the intonation “in a smooth and natural way”. Presumably, you can push the effect to more extreme settings if you wish.

As a further bonus, you can output the whole track as MIDI events that you can then edit in your DAW, and there’s MIDI In, too. Instance grouping is designed to make it easy to work on a whole song.

You can generate up to two more voices on top of your main track, giving you doubling and harmonising opportunities. You can set these tracks’ relative positions as semitones and dynamically control them with MIDI events if you wish.

If you want to get even more creative, try the synthesizer mode, in which the incoming signal is converted into a synth sound that’s controlled by the vocal’s parameters. There’s also the vocoder mode; here, the overall spectrum of vocals controls the timbre of the synthesized sound and the doubling/harmonies.

You can pre-order MetaVocals now for the reduced price of $30 (regular price will be $50). It runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats.

Find out more on the Sknote website.

Play to your strengths with these key tips for taking electronic music onstage

Future Music — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 22:59:59 +0000

BACK TO LIVE: In many ways, performing live can be a far more complicated affair for electronic musicians than a traditional band.

While a rock outfit might have decisions to make about what amps, drum kit or pedal setup to take on stage, for electronic solo acts or groups, you effectively have to devise the whole concept of your live set from the ground up.

You might have created some killer club tracks or a gorgeous ambient album in the studio, but how do you translate that live? What are you actually going to do on stage? And what gear will you do it with?

There’s no right or wrong way to answer this. It ultimately comes down to what you want to achieve and what your skills and resources will allow. Treat these tips as something to bear in mind as you plan...

1. Start small

Whether you’re performing live for the first time or building up a new setup, be careful not to overdo things too quickly. It might be tempting to load up with as much cool gear as possible - the latest synths, multiple drum machines, a stack of sequencers and controllers - but bear in mind your own limitations.

Even working in a group, you only have a certain amount of hands, and managing multiple hardware devices will make your performance exponentially more complex, with more to go wrong.

At least at first, it’s best to pick one or two instruments that you can really get familiar with, and practise creating cool performances with a limited setup - even if that means relying on a computer backing track or CDJs to play back some elements.

2. Play to your strengths

It might sound obvious, but focus your live setup around what you’re actually good at.

Make sure you’re engaging with the software in an expressive way - one that’s interesting for your audience

In the studio, electronic producers tend to do everything - from inputting beats and melodies to creating out-there FX, and it might be tempting to try and prove you can do all of that live too. But realistically, if you’re not some virtuosic keyboard player, do you really need to be playing that eight-bar-chord part live, when a sequencer could handle it fine?

Instead, lean into the things that make you unique as a musician. Are you a talented drummer? Grab some percussion pads and get creative with MIDI triggering. More of a tweaker than a player? Then let the sequencers handle the patterns and get creative with filters and effects. Is someone in your group a great guitarist, vocalist, sax player, etc? Find a way to incorporate that into your live show.

3. Embrace the computer…

Laptop-based live shows often get a bad rap, which is understandable to an extent. At their worst, laptop focussed electronic performances can be dull and sterile - like watching someone check their email onstage while tracks play back with little audible human input. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Realistically, if you’re looking to perform full electronic tracks as a solo artist or duo, DAWs such as Ableton Live, Bitwig Studio, Studio One, Apple Mainstage or FL Studio offer an invaluable set of tools that would be difficult and expensive to replicate with individual instruments.

The key is to make sure you’re engaging with the software in an expressive way, and one that’s interesting for your audience. Make use of controllers to play and trigger sounds, and turn parameter adjustments into something tactile and physical. And where possible, keep your focus off the screen and in the room.

4. …but don’t be afraid to step out-of-the-box

If you’re using more than one or two instruments, you may want some form of mixer onstage

All that being said, there are many benefits to taking a computer-free approach to live performance, or at least de-emphasising the laptop. For one thing, it will inevitably be more interactive, and may well look more visually interesting for your audience too.

Moreover, the restrictions of working away from the endless possibilities of a DAW can inspire you to structure your set in interesting ways, whether that involves using an analogue sequencer to trigger and manipulate patterns, or building up a lattice of overdubs using a looper pedal.

There’s also the reliability factor: if you’re not fully synced to a single digital clock source, there’s less risk of your entire performance grinding to a halt if you have a crash.

5. Consider your outputs

If you’re using more than one or two instruments, you may also want some form of mixer onstage; something that will allow you to blend, balance and mute different elements.

Consider what you’re sending to the venue’s PA/front of house desk. Summing everything down to a stereo master output on stage will give you more control, but will limit what a front of house engineer can do to adjust any wayward levels.

It’s worth having some kind of monitoring solution of your own, so you can hear what’s coming out of your master outputs and monitor elements of your setup without the audience hearing them, to cue up patterns or audition sounds.

Unleash the beast (or your inner child) with Accusonus’s easy-to-use Voice Changer plugin

Ben Rogerson — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:32:41 +0000

Accusonus has released Voice Changer, a three-pronged plugin that can be used to transform the sound of your voice into something entirely different, and all with just a few clicks and knob tweaks.

The sonic journey starts in the Character section, where you can select the type of voice you want to create. All the usual suspects are here - alien, robot, gender swapping, dragon, monster, etc - and there are plenty of presets.

Next, it’s on to the Effect section, which lets you choose a voice filter. Example presets include car radios, walkie-talkies, VHS tape and megaphone.

Finally, you can set the space in which your voice exists in the Environment section. Choose from a cave, a crypt, a canyon, a mountain echo and more.

If you’re not happy with the presets, you can combine these three modifiers however you like.

Voice Changer runs on PC and Mac as a VST/AU/AAX plugin and is available on subscription for $9.99 a month or $59.88 a year. There’s also a 14-day free trial option.

Find out more on the Accusonus website.

DeepRemix makes it easy for anyone to separate their MP3s and audio files, then edit each vocal and instrument track

Advertorial feature — Mon, 17 May 2021 09:53:09 +0000

You’ll often hear music software developers talking about their ‘gamechanging’ new products but just how many times can a game be changed and still be the same game, we wonder? Even the most cynical observer would have to concede that Hit ‘n’ Mix’s new RipX: DeepRemix app does something that, up until relatively recently, would have been unthinkable in all but the most expensive, high-end software.

Put simply, it enables you to ‘rip’ apart your stereo MP3s and other audio files. Or, to put it another way, it separates out their individual vocal and instrumental parts so that you can do what you want with them. And, until the end of this month, RipX: DeepRemix can be had for the bargain-basement price of just $69/£55/€60.

You’re probably getting excited thinking about what you could do with this technology already but, in case you’re still wondering, we can tell you that RipX: DeepRemix has massive potential for remixers, DJs and producers who want to re-work mixes of their favourite tracks.

What’s more, you don’t even need any music production experience in order to use it. This is because DeepRemix uses powerful AI isolation algorithms to perform the separation, so it’s all done automatically. It sounds like magic, but it really can isolate a track’s vocals, bass, drum and other layers at the push of a button.

But this is just the start - once your tracks have been separated, you can start manipulating them in all manner of ways, mixing and matching layers right from within the software. You can apply effects, change the tempo, tweak the key, and even make new loops in real-time.

Your audio can be viewed and edited on an intuitive colour-coded display, where you can re-balance tracks by making volume, panning and EQ adjustments. Expect amazing results with minimal effort.

This is the kind of stuff that, not so long ago, would have required a team of experienced audio engineers and a roomful of equipment to make happen, but now it’s all there for you on your desktop.

What’s more, if you need even more power and flexibility, you can add the pro-level DeepAudio module ($250/£220/€254). This includes the Audioshop, which offers tools such as the Unpitched Editor, Harmonic Editor, Clone, Draw Audio and Draw Pitch, along with RipScripts (for creating your own tools) and support for VST/ARA and AAX plug-ins.

Even with the standard version of RipX: DeepRemix, though, you’re getting industry-leading source separation, and for a remarkably low price. That $69/£55/€60 intro offer is only available until the end of May, though, so get in quick if you want to take advantage of it.

‘Find out more and get a free trial on the Hit ‘n’ Mix website.’

There’s more to Audified’s one-knob VocalMint Compressor plugin than meets the eye

ben.rogerson@futurenet.com (Ben Rogerson) — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 09:11:29 +0000

Although it only has one knob on it - and not much else, to be frank - Audified's VocalMint Compressor plugin actually contains three pre-tuned compressors (plus an analogue-style valve stage) that are specifically designed to work on vocals.

Inherently simple to use, VocalMint gives you a “virtual signal chain” that comprises a smash compressor, valve compressor and multi-band compressor. Collectively, these are designed to resolve problems related to the human voice.

The valve circuit adds some subtle EQ shaping, too - not enough to get in the way of your own EQ processing but enough to make the track sound more open, apparently - and you can also open up the interface to gain access to a few more controls.

VocalMint Compressor runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats and costs $79. There’s a demo you can download, too; head to the Audified website for all the details.

Zoom’s V3 vocal processor puts effects, harmonies and pitch correction at your fingertips

Ben Rogerson — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 13:13:26 +0000

Designed not only for use on stage but also when you’re “streaming, recording, or collaborating online,” the V3 is Zoom’s latest hands-on vocal processing box.

As well as effects, this also offers harmonising options and pitch correction, with clearly-labelled buttons on the top enabling you to access each of the 16 processors. Each effect is also tweakable with various parameter knobs, and you can select your key and harmony intervals using dedicated controls, too.

The V3 has a built-in preamp and also offers reverb, delay and compression effects, each of which has its own level control. It can operate as a USB audio interface, too, and hands-free control can be enabled by plugging in a footswitch and expression pedal. Power can come from batteries or the optional AC adapter.

We’re expecting the Zoom V3 to ship in September priced at £240/€254. Find out more on the Zoom website.

Can Singdaptive help you sing better?

James Russell — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 09:46:56 +0000

It’s easy to find guitar tips or songwriting guides online, but vocal training is a lot harder to get right, requiring a very tailored approach based on each person. Singdaptive, a new online learning platform for singers, aims to make it work with new features to keep its users engaged.

A Singdaptive subscription, priced at $24.99/mo or $249/year, gives you access to over 200 lessons, and adds practice tracking, journalling and quizzes to keep you engaged. All this is available on your phone or desktop machine.

Singdaptive has fine-tuned its the curriculum with some professional help, too. “Over 500 singers participated in testing the SingerPathTM survey, helping to ensure that its learning recommendations truly connected with real life singing situations.

A wide-ranging curriculum was then developed, bringing together both academic instructors as well as Music Industry professionals to create new, targeted learning content made by singers, for all musicians.”

You can sign up to Singdaptive and start your free trial from the Singdaptive website.

10 ways to get the best vocal takes

Electronic Musician — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

We’ve all been there. The singer is “singing their butt off” in the vocal booth, but the vocal performance is just not cutting it. The producer says, “Sing with more emotion,” and the singer says, “I am!”

Now begins a train wreck in progress. The singer tries again but doesn’t know what to do to actually get it. The producer tries to get them to sound more emotional with myriad directions about feel but fails. The result is lots of studio time wasted, frayed nerves, and frustration, all because some singers have a disconnect between how they’re singing, and how it actually comes across. The following ten tips will help you light the fire under those vocals.

1. Forget how it feels

Feeling sad and sounding sad are very different. To sound sad, you have to know how to get the right sound and produce it.

2. Use vocal techniques to “feel the Sound”

It’s all about mouth sound in pop singing. This means that different mouth sounds create different feels. If you do them, you will sound a certain way—every time. Think of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful,” and the edgy sound she gets. The technique is called a “creak” or “cry.” You don’t have to feel the emotion—just use the appropriate technique.

3. Connect the emotion to the vocal sound

Here’s the key to all of this. It’s not enough to feel the emotion or just produce it—both elements have to be connected authentically for a performance to sound real. Take the “creak” example. If I’m using it, but my emotion isn’t behind it, I may sound sadder, but end up not giving a convincing performance. Skilled vocalists know how to express their emotion through their technique—not the other way around.

4. Work with a coach

Hey, you wouldn’t play major league basketball without a coach, would you? Michael Jackson had one, and it’s a pretty sure thing that every other vocalist you like does, too.

5. Train the voice

Singers are athletes, and training with a vocal coach is paramount to creating success. Without training, even great natural singers get into problems when they can’t repeat what they did right, much less know what they’re doing wrong.

6. Enunciate

Any singer can get more emotion by enunciating vowels and colouring tone with consonants. This does not mean singing the whole word as you might speak it. To enunciate in singing, you need to break the word down into its phonetics. This adds clarity to the words, and your ear does the rest.

7. Experiment with vowel sounds

Which vowels you sing, and how clearly you produce them impacts the emotional intent. For example, the vowel in the word down is pronounced with the diphthong (ah-oo). So down is sung like “dah –oo” with the “n” sound at the very end. Pop singers add colour in a diphthong by holding the first vowel (dah) longer than the second. If I then add a creak to only the last part of the vowel, it will sound like I’m becoming more pained.

8. Breath control

It’s hard to sound emotional if you can’t control your air, or sustain notes with power and stability. Get a breathing technique and build your stamina.

9. Sing in the shower

If you just want to get into the “groove” of singing, and not worry about communicating effectively, sing in the shower, or the car or your living room before you go onstage or into the studio. Unchained from performance angst, you may discover some parts or phrasing that will ultimately help your “actual” performance communicate the lyrics better and move your listeners.

10. Build a performance on one word

If you practice singing one word over and over in different ways by changing its emphasis, tone, intensity, or melody, you can then emotionally build any song. Check out 30 Seconds to Mars’ frontman Jared Leto’s performance on the end of the song “Modern Myth” from their debut album. He builds a performance on only one word “goodbye” emotionally moving from hurt to frustration to pain and ultimate rage to being over it. When you can do that, you’re golden!

Can you align vocals quicker than Synchro Arts’ VocALign can?

Ben Rogerson — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 13:10:21 +0000

So confident is Synchro Arts in the capabilities of its VocALign plugin that it’s challenging people to beat it in a race to align vocals.

The VocALign Project Challenge has been prompted by Synchro Arts’ decision to hire Michael Costa, an experienced professional Pro Tools user, to see if he could align a 20-second lead vocal and harmony track quicker than VocALign. As you can see in the video above, he couldn’t; in fact, VocALign was almost five times faster.

Now Synchro Arts is challenging you to do better. It wants you to download the vocals and line them up in your DAW, screen capturing your workflow. If you can beat Michael Costa’s time of 7mins 52secs, the company will post your video.

If it turns out that you can’t beat VocALign, the good news is that the Project version of the software is currently available at a 33% discount. Until 31 March, you can buy it for $99/£74 (the regular price is $149/£109). It’s available for PC and Mac.

You can take the VocALign Project challenge on the Synchro Arts website.

Yes, Klevgrand has made a singing Santa plugin… and it’s free!

Ben Rogerson — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 11:16:45 +0000

We’re calling it: it’s officially Christmas silly season. If you need proof, check out Klevgrand’s free Santa Jussi plugin.

A festive version of its Jussi vocal synth, this has no parameters, but it does have an animated Santa on its interface who moves his mouth in time with the music. And, let’s face it: you don’t really need anything else at this time of year.

Santa Jussi runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats, and is available as a free download to anyone who has a Klevgrand account. Find out more on the Klevgrand website, where you can check out the company’s half-price Christmas sale.

Transform your vocals with Old Blood Noise Endeavors' MAW XLR pedal

Jonathan Horsley — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 12:56:33 +0000

Old Blood Noise Endeavors' new MAW XLR pedal is a microphone effects manipulator that can be used for vocal effects or for running effects on any signal that's going through a dynamic microphone.

The bright slime-green and hot-pink enclosure is home to an onboard XLR preamp, three effects engines, each with its own footswitch, while there is an effects loop for running external effects.

Would you need them? Maybe not. The MAW has plenty of effects to play with.

There is a saturation section, with blend, volume and tone controls, and two effects sections. The first, accessible via footswitch A, houses octave, phaser, short delay, and two types of reverb. Footswitch B, meanwhile, accesses an effects section with rotary, flange, long delay and another two types of reverb. You can dial in effects trails to your signal so that reverb and delay decays with each

There is a lot going on with the MAW, and while it was originally designed as a vocal effects unit the pedal could be used in a variety of contexts, live or in the studio. It has XLR and 1/4-inch jack inputs, and wet and dry (post-saturation) outputs, and is powered by 9V DC.

The MAW XLR pedal is available now, priced £249 ($279).
See Old Blood Noise for more details.

The Flash Synth is a 16-voice instrument that's the size of a DIN plug and an audio out jack

James Russell — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 09:10:58 +0000

Are you frustrated with the sheer weight of your hardware synthesizer? Of course not! But wouldn't it be fun to carry one around in your pocket? Probably! That's exactly what you can do with the Flash Synth, a new creation from Tim Alex Jacobs (7'11), via his website, Mixtela.

This tiny synth is capable of 16-voice FM patches, and it's polyphonic too. All this within what is, frankly, a pipe with a MIDI input on one end and a jack output on the other. Oh, and there's some synth electronics housed (uncomfortably, you'd imagine), within that pipe. Here's what they're capable of…

Synthesis Specs (via Mixtela)

Fully polyphonic, meaning 16 voices for the standard patches. More complex patches could also be added at a reduced polyphony, but the main algorithms are aiming for 16.
Full support for pitch bend. This means respecting the full 14-bit value (something most keyboards don't even send) and also working with the RPN pitchbend range adjustment messages. The synth is designed to work perfectly with the Tonal Plexus – Aaron's microtonal MIDI keyboard, which sends a pitchbend range of 1 semitone, to get the most accurate detuning of notes.
Powered by MIDI. Pulling its power parasitically from the plug. This is the real stickler.
High quality sound output. This means stereo and full audio bandwidth: I aimed for the standard samplerate of 44.1kHz.
Produces as many "bleeps and bloops" as possible. Some people criticised my original Smallest MIDI Synth for only producing a square wave with no envelopes or filters. This synth needs to produce a repertoire of sounds big enough to silence such comments.

If you're looking to get your hands on this particular synth, it seems like it'll be possible. Jacobs says that, "This project was built as a commission for Aaron Andrew Hunt. A production run is under way and the finished units will be sold on his site, H-Pi Instruments."

We've covered Tim's Stylophone Business Card in the past, and a glance at Mixtela's list of previous hardware projects shows other ludicrously tiny designs such as the Etch-a-Sketch USB Mouse and Bluetooth Hip Flask, as well as many synth-tastic novelties.

There's also a whopping (ironically) write-up by the man himself, detailing exactly how he made the Flash Synth.

The Flash Synth is due to ship in December, and is available from the H-Pi Instruments website for €130 (that includes a €30 pre-order discount).

AAS’s Ultra Analog VA-3 synth promises two voices of vintage sound in a fast and friendly plugin

Ben Rogerson — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 11:51:05 +0000

Six years on from the release of version 2, Applied Acoustics Systems has released Ultra Analog VA-3. This is described as an “all-new” version of the virtual analogue plugin synth, and is a 2-oscillator instrument that’s designed to produce vintage-style sounds.

Said to strike a balance between “familiarity and flexibility,” this offers a simplified Home view that presents you with just the essential controls you need to tweak your sound (there’s also a deeper editing page). The synth is now 2-voice multitimbral, too - the independent timbres can be stacked or split.

(Image credit: AAS)

Each layer can also have four performance macros that respond to MIDI control - useful for live tweaking - while the new browser is designed to speed up the process of finding the right sound.

Speaking of which, the preset library contains not only more than 800 refined Virtual Analog VA-2 tones, but also 500 new sounds. Oh, and there’s a new ladder filter, too.

Ultra Analog VA-3 runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats, and retails for $199. However, it’s currently on sale for $149, while a special bundle, which also contains 15 additional sound packs, can currently be had for $299 (regular price is $399).

Find out more on the Applied Acoustics Systems website.

How to quickly extract vocals from a song using phase cancellation

Computer Music — Tue, 21 May 2019 07:43:50 +0000

Phase cancellation is generally something to be avoided when working with audio, but it can also be taken advantage of for its ability to isolate differential signals within two otherwise-identical mixes.

In this quick walkthrough, we'll show you to use phase cancellation to cleanly extract a vocal from a full mix.

Step 1: Thanks to the wonders of phase reinforcement and cancellation, we can utilise different mixes of the same song to extract important elements of the track for use in a guerilla remix. First, we import a full vocal mix and instrumental of a house track onto our DAW’s timeline. Next, call up any utility plugin and add it to the instrumental channel.

Step 2: When two identical signals are perfectly in phase and played together, they double in volume as they reinforce each other. If we then flip the phase by 180 degrees, the two signals cancel each other out, resulting in silence. To hear this in effect, hit the Phase flip button on the instrumental utility plugin.

Step 3: With our full mix and instrumental out of phase with each other, the identical parts of each track disappear, leaving us with a completely isolated vocal take that’s an ideal starting point for a remix or bootleg of our own.

Universal Audio Century Tube Channel Strip

Computer Music — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 20:13:00 +0000

Chaining a virtual tube preamp, a three-band ‘sweetening’ EQ and a one-knob optical compressor in a single plugin, UA’s Century Tube Channel Strip for Apollo/Arrow/UAD-2 is an intuitive and immediate recording channel built to get vocals and instruments of all kinds sounding smooth and warm on the way into your DAW.

Of course, it’s also viable for mixing, but as the minimalism and simplicity of the thing imply, this is primarily a tracking strip: set it up on an input channel (guitar, bass, vocal, etc), hit record and commit. Old school.

Catch the tube

First in the chain is the Tube Preamp, which offers Low and High Gain settings for matching to condenser or dynamic microphones; an optional 18dB/octave high-pass filter at 80Hz for getting rid of unwanted low-frequency intrusions; a 20dB Pad function; and a polarity invert switch. The input Level knob piles on more and more valve saturation as it’s raised, from clean through warm, to full-on distorted. Overload indicators show clipping at both the input and output of the preamp.

Next comes the three-band EQ. The most complicated - for want of a better word - of the modules, this one’s covered in Easy EQ below. The Opto Leveler is an LA-2A-style optical limiter emulation comprising a single knob for dialling in the amount of compression applied.

In typical opto fashion, it delivers smooth and transparent peak reduction at low Compression levels, and more characterful dynamics shaping beyond that. At the end of the chain, the Master module is a simple output level control for re-levelling the processed signal.

Easy EQ

While at no point does Century Tube Channel Strip get even vaguely overwhelming in either its concept or controls, obviously the EQ can’t possibly consist of just a more/less knob like the preamp and compressor. Nonetheless, it does still make two of the key decisions for you, with preset high-and low-shelving bands fixed at a generally useful 110Hz and 10kHz respectively, each with up to 12dB of cut or boost, for effortless broad-strokes control of the highs and lows.

It’s with the sweepable semi-parametric +/-12dB mid band that the user does have to get their hands mildly dirty, though. This is an adaptive Q design (ie, the peak filter resonance gets narrower as the gain increases), and with the centre frequency ranging from 300Hz to 7.2kHz, it’s useful for everything from upping the body of an electric bass to bringing out the best in a vocal, reducing acoustic guitar ‘squeak’ or balancing the snare within a mixed drum kit.

Century Tube is also Unison-compatible, adjusting the actual impedance of your Apollo or Arrow interface’s hardware preamps when loaded into their Unison insert points, and enabling hands-on rotary control of the Tube Preamp Low/High switch, and input Level and Output knobs in Gain Stage mode.

Scoring a century

With its stripped-back control set, Century Tube Channel Strip isn’t the most flexible of plugins - but that’s entirely by design. Its foolproof workflow will particularly endear it to musicians (as opposed to producers/engineers) looking to make their own quality recordings without having to learn the engineering ropes; and as long as you pay attention and keep your ears open, it really does make it difficult to go wrong when it comes to setting compression and EQ for vocals, guitars, basses, keys, and even the drums bus.

Indeed, UA describe Century Tube as a “do no harm” channel strip, and while that’s patently only accurate to a point, their summary certainly rings true within the bounds of conventional usage - rarely has finding the sweet spot for corrective EQ and compression been so quick and straightforward.

It’s such a great tool for the recording novice, in fact, that we reckon UA should make it part of their Apollo and Arrow bundles. It could seriously boost the (already considerable) appeal of those interfaces to the singer-songwriters that make up a fair proportion of their target market. Wishful thinking aside, though, this is a fast, focused plugin with a convincingly analogue sound that utterly flattens the channel strip learning curve. What’s not to like?

Accusonus’s Era Voice Leveler plugin lets you smooth out your vocals with a single knob

Ben Rogerson — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 10:15:25 +0000

Accusonus has added a new processor to its Era range of one-knob plugins: the Era Voice Leveler. This automatically detects level differences in vocal and other voice recordings and enables you to correct them in real-time, saving you time that would otherwise have been spent making manual gain adjustments.

As well as enabling you to level out vocals just by turning a knob, the plugin also includes a Tight mode that gives you a more focused sound that makes your vocals stand out from the music. Emphasis mode, meanwhile, detects problems in tonal balance and applies subtle processing to correct them.

The Era Voice Leveler is available now as part of Accusonus’s Era Bundle Standard and Era Bundle Pro. These are currently available for the introductory prices of $119 and $349 respectively, and run on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats. Demos are available, too.

Find out more on the Accusonus website.

Transform the sound of your vocals with Roland’s VT-4

Ben Rogerson — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 07:33:30 +0000

Five years on from the launch of the VT-3, Roland has unveiled its latest Vocal Transformer box, the VT-4. Part of the Aira range, this is designed for adding both classic and futuristic effects to your voice, and offers hands-on control and a MIDI input so that you can ‘play it’ from your MIDI keyboard.

The processing tools cover the likes of harmonisation, vocoding, pitch-shifting, hard tuning and more, all of which can be accessed from the front panel with no menu diving. What’s more, the VT-4 can be powered for up to five hours with batteries, making it truly portable.

The effects offer real-time control, so you can make tweaks as you sing. There are dedicated Pitch and Formant sliders, while the central Auto-Pitch knob enables you to quickly dial-in your desired amount of hard tuning. You can use multiple effects at the same time and save these setups as presets for later recall.

If you plug in a MIDI keyboard you can use it to control the Auto-Pitch, harmony and vocoder engines. So, your voice can be hard-turned to specific notes as you sing, and you can create harmonies with voicings that follow the chords that you play.

The VT-4’s performance-centric workflow means that it’s likely to appeal to live performers, but its USB audio output means that it should also be easy to hook up to your DAW in the studio.

We’re still waiting on a price and release date for the VT-4, but we’ll bring you these when we have them. Find out more on the Roland website.

How to use parallel compression to add power to your vocals

Future Music — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 16:03:56 +0000

Known primarily as a key engineering technique for adding weight to drums and basses, parallel compression combines the punch and impact of a heavily compressed signal with the dynamism of the original recording.

It's not, however, something one generally associates with vocals, but as our walkthrough here demonstrates, it really should be…

For more on vocal processing, check out the May 2018 edition of Future Music.

Step 1: In this verse section of the song, we’ve already got a lead vocal channel strip which is providing a decent balance and tone to the backing track. But the vocal feels a little lacking in strength and body - it would benefit from some reinforcement.

Step 2: We send the lead vocal to a new auxiliary bus, setting up the UAD 1176 Rev E compressor. We set the Input high and Output low, producing a hard compression treatment, with the Ratio set at 8:1. This provides a lot of extra power. This auxiliary’s return level is set at -6dB.

Step 3: We set up a second parallel compression channel using a different version of the UAD 1176 compressor, then set subtly different controls for the compressor to produce an even more flattened response. The subtle variations are crucial, as we hear when we pan the two compressor parallels hard left and right.

Step 4: The 1176 treatments are providing lots of mid-range drive, but we could also use some reinforcement of the higher frequencies. We set up another parallel auxiliary channel using iZotope’s Nectar, and create a high-end, de-essed treatment which offers some slap-back echo and sits ‘on top’ of the lead vocal nicely.

Step 5: We want individual level control over all these parallel treatments, so we route the outputs of all three channels to a new auxiliary. Now we have a single fader controlling them all, and can set up global effects which will have a bearing on all three.

Step 6: We use FabFilter Pro-Q2 to notch out a little unwanted content, and Pro-G to ensure that breaths are gated out on the parallel channels. This tightens things up considerably. In the clip, you can hear the original lead vocal on its own, before it’s joined by the three parallel treatments.

9 vital vocal processing tips

Future Music — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 14:18:50 +0000

Recording, arranging and processing vocals isn't meant to be an easy task, what with them being central to the vast majority of tracks that feature them; but with our guidance, you'll be off to a flying start.

For much more on vocal production, grab the May 2018 edition of Future Music.

1. Build your own harmonies

The notes sung as backing vocals are often at different pitches to the lead. They’re usually ‘harmonising’ notes, which are pitches from the chord playing in the backing track, to increase the impact of the lead.

If you’re new to vocal recording, suggesting harmony parts with a vocalist in the room can be intimidating. Using plugin tools like Melodyne or Auto-Tune to create harmonies can be a great way to melt the ice and take the pressure off. If you don’t like the sound your ‘generated’ harmonies produce, you can always use them as a guide vocal for your singer to replace.

2. Keep an eye out

Check your recorded vocals through a frequency analyser when EQing. You might find that there are bass frequencies present that you just don’t need (in which case, use a low shelf or high-pass filter), or identify exactly which frequencies are producing sibilance. Using your ears is best, but double-check with your eyes too.

3. Go to the extreme

Vocals make great source material for heavily processed textures. Transferring vocal takes into your sampler lets you trigger single notes or phrases a few tones or entire octaves away from the original pitch, for double or half-speed treatments. Timestretching is great, too, either for deliberately sound-designed warps or using settings so extreme that new textures are imagined. Paulstretch is a great programme for this. And if ‘regular’ samplers aren’t mashing up your vocals enough, any plugin that allows for granular resynthesis is good. These break sounds into tiny blocks (‘grains’) before putting them back together in creative and unexpected ways.

4. The natural look

Don't automatically ‘over-tune’ your vocals. We’ve heard extreme, hyper-tuned vocal treatments so many times before, and while there might well be a time and place for them, don’t make them the default choice.

5. Comping vocal takes

When recording, it’s standard practice to capture several takes of all vocal parts. The first may be little more than a warm-up, serving to familiarise your singer with the track and give you a chance to set vocal recording levels. In subsequent takes, however, some parts will be strong, while others won’t be as well delivered, so recording multiple performances allows for a singer to cover the whole track in a number of passes.

The process of comping a vocal refers to taking the strongest phrases and individual notes and consolidating them to create a single performance. The ways in which DAWs handle comping vary, so find time to discover exactly how yours works. If you can become quick at this process, carrying it out while your vocalist is still in the studio or making a cup of tea can be a real benefit, as you can get them to re-record any unsalvageable sections.

6. Words of encouragement

When you’re writing lyrics, take your time and think carefully about what you're saying and the manner in which you're saying it. Make your songs mean something and try to avoid resorting to clichés.

7. Caution, vocal reversing

From secret messages to ‘playing backwards’ effects, there’s a strange appeal in reversing vocal files. Be wary, though, as you may need to do a little admin before you incorporate such sonic trickery into your track. Some DAWs don’t automatically create a new audio file when you copy and paste a section of audio. So, let’s suppose you’ve chopped locators around a phrase or word to be reversed and copied it to create a ‘backwards version’ before the ‘forwards one’. Make sure you save that duplicated region as a new audio file before you reverse it, otherwise the original file will play backwards too.

8. Keep it down

Don't make your vocals too loud. It’s easy to set vocal levels higher than they need to be. Remember: while they might be the most important element in your mix, they’ll often sound better when properly balanced with the backing track.

9. Reversed reverb

As well as the reversed vocals discussed above, reversed reverb can also be fantastic for short ‘one shots’, or as a spacey treatment to accompany a larger section of a vocal track. Here’s a quick guide…

First, duplicate the vocal part and save it as a new audio file. Second, reverse this vocal file. Third, send it to the auxiliary reverb you want to use. Fourth, solo the reverb so that it’s playing alone, with no part of the source file audible. Then, capture this solo reverb as a new audio file. Lastly, drop this new file onto its own audio track and reverse it. Place it so that the reverb ‘anticipates’ the original lead vocal part.

Yamaha Corporation releases VOCALOID5

Advertorial — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 08:08:38 +0000

Yamaha Corporation has released VOCALOID5, a comprehensive solution for virtual vocal production. It is available for purchase from the official Vocaloid Shop.

Yamaha has updated VOCALOID with the largest improvements yet seen, to benefit music creators all around the world.

It’s on sale from 12 July from the VOCALOID website, with prices as follows:

VOCALOID5 Standard (4 voicebanks) - 25,000 yen
VOCALOID5 Premium (8 voicebanks) - 40,000 yen

Over 2,000 preset phrases and audio to drag-and-drop into your song
11 audio effects to use within a single application
Style function for an instant conversion to your favourite singing styles and voices
Attack and Release effects and emotion tools to express your vocal phrases more realistically
3 new parameters to control vocal tension and breath amount
4 voicebanks (male and female, Japanese and English)
VST, AU, external MIDI input improved for external functionality
Compatible with VOCALOID3 & 4 voicebanks
VOCALOID 4.5 Editor for Cubase, included support software

The Style function can easily reflect around 100 kinds of singing styles.

The Emotion tool creates a visualization of the singing style.

Choose and reproduce detailed vocal expressions with attack and release effects.

11 types of audio effects offer comprehensive support for music production.

VOCALOID5 comes with four voicebanks (male and female, Japanese and English) - unique singing voices compatible with every genre.

Amy: Expressive English-language female voicebank, ideal for contemporary singing. The voice boasts natural pronunciation and varied vocal tones, suited to genres from R&B to pop music.
Chris: Authentic R&B English-language male voicebank. Capable of singing over a wide range from delicate, soft bass, to powerful, sustained high tones.
Kaori: Japanese-language female voicebank with a soulful vocal quality. Long vocal sustains make it perfect for powerful singing.
Ken: Sharp, clear Japanese-language male voicebank, with a light vocal quality that’s ideal for singing J-pop.

Four additional voicebanks included in the Premium version!

VOCALOID5 Premium comes bundled with the VY1 Japanese-language female voicebank, VY2 Japanese male voicebank, CYBERSONGMAN II English-language male voicebank, and the CYBER DIVA II English female voicebank. A total of eight singers means a wider range of vocal expression.

Available for purchase from the official Vocaloid shop.

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