Need Recommendations for a Vocal Processor

[JamPro]

Hello.  I'm looking for a VST vocal processor that includes pitch correction, harmonization, and a vocorder.  EQ and reverb would be nice, but not required.  Your suggestions.....? 

[Anderton]

Just curious...do you need a single plugin "multieffects," or are you willing to do it a la carte for the various functions you want?

[JamPro]

24 minutes ago, Anderton said:

Just curious...do you need a single plugin "multieffects," or are you willing to do it a la carte for the various functions you want?

I should have clarified.  It would be cool if I could find one app to do it all, but I'm starting to think there isn't any VST that combines pitch correction, harmonizing, and a vocorder all in one.  I would prefer one, but may have to content myself with multiple apps.  Price guideline: under $250.

[KuruPrionz]

Due to the reality of vocal music, a pitch "correction" device could make a human voice somewhat robotic. Glissando is very common in human singing, even if it is subtle. 

It would probably be better to just sing the flat or sharp part again with the same set up. 

I would further recommend that you track some of the harmony parts live as well. Harmonizers also sound robotic. If that's what you are wanting then you are certainly on the right track. 

[David Emm]

I missed the VST part and wrote about pedals and tabletop units. Its been a very subtractive day.  🤨

[KuruPrionz]

On 5/6/2024 at 5:26 PM, David Emm said:

I missed the VST part and wrote about pedals and tabletop units. Its been a very subtractive day.  🤨

Among my many observations, there are so many VSTs that it is virtually impossible to parse even a fraction of them. 

 

I'm certain that we all find our own preferences and some of those are pedals and tabletop units. Despite all the wonderful VSTs I've tried, I still prefer running a Focusrite ISA Two as a mic pre into 2 of the 4 mic inputs in my MOTU M6. The MOTU pres are very good on their own too. I get a good variety of mic tones that way.

 

There are also 2 TRS Line In channels on a MOTU M6 and those have a Tech 21 Q-Strip in one (my favorite EQ and fantastic on bass guitar) and a Tech 21 Para Driver DI in the other, which has a huge range of distortion levels, a Blend knob so you can meld clean and distortion tones together, a semi-parametric midrange, Air and a Rumble Filter. 

Analog tweaky-deaky, good stuff. If you can get good sounds going in then you don't have to work too hard to bring up a mix. 

 

Gotta give kudos the the Mic-Parts T-67 kit that I built, bang for the buck is off the charts, a great mic by any standard. I also use a Shure KSM8 dynamic, a Heil PR40 and a Blue Encore 300 (small diaphragm condenser mic). I also have and use a Rode M3 small diaphragm mic, an MXL 990 with with a Mic-Parts upgrade kit (capsule and circuit board) and an MXL 1006 with another Mic-Parts kit. I got all three capsules sold by Mic-Parts, the T-67 mic has the T-67 capsule and one of the MXL mics has the T-47, the other has the T-12 capsule - so 2 Neumann clone capsules and one AKG clone. All 3 mics have transformer / JFet circuits and all of them sound lovely. 

 

We are lucky to have such high quality gear available at low prices. Last but not least by any means, I would highly recommend a Furman P-8 PRO C power strip to run your audio goodies. Very clean, quiet power, 8 AC outlets in back and one in front. Rack mount but I set it under my monitor screen. 

 

There's a bit more to it than that but maybe in another post or another thread. 

[Anderton]

Getting back to plugins...

 

Which DAW do you have? In many ways, vocal EQ is not particularly demanding, because you can change EQ with the mic and mic positioning. For my voice, anything with a high shelf, low cut, and a couple parametric stages will solve any problem I throw at it. I can't think of a DAW that doesn't offer those options.

 

Compression is a little dicier, so please read Why I Don't Use Compressors Anymore. DSP and some limiting does 90% of what I need. I hardly ever use compression on voice. Listen to the vocals on my YouTube channel to hear what my (mostly) compression-less vocals sound like. As with EQ, if you're not relying on "designer compressors," whatever is in your DAW will do what you need. Sure, maybe an LA-2 would be nice, but there are inexpensive and even free versions if you really want that particular vocal effect.

 

So now that I've saved you all that money, you can think about a vocoder. Arturia's Vocoder V is $149, Antares vocoder collection is $179. I think Waves Morphoder is horribly underrated--I've used it a lot, even over expensive plugins. It's a little harder to figure out at first, but for $30, it's a steal. However, you don't even need to spend that, because  there are a bunch of freebies that are quite good.

 

Okay! You found a good, free vocoder, and now you have $250 left in your budget - so blow it on Melodyne Assistant. Yes, it's $240 (but if you have a copy of Melodyne Essential that came as a freebie add on to a DAW or interface you can upgrade for $150). Here's the deal. Basic pitch correction sounds bad and annoying. Melodyne Assistant has tools that let you make subtle, natural-sounding changes to vocals where, once you learn how to use the program, people won't even know you corrected pitch. This is especially true if you follow Anderton's Law of Pitch Correction ("correct only notes that actually sound wrong"). Melodyne Assistant is a precision tool and the price reflects that. But think of all the money you saved with the other plugins...

 

Just remember: Plugins will NOT make your voice sound good. How well you know how to use your plugins and do mic placement will make your voice sound good

 

Follow-up questions are welcome!

[JamPro]

I am interested in making the vocals take on a robotic character - hence the search for those tools.  I have basic tools to make a vocal tract sound normal and natural.  But - sometimes the song calls for a more robotic vocal.

 

Thanks to everyone who wrote in.

[Anderton]

Oh, robotic character - that's more specific. Still, there are a lot of robotic options - vocoder voices, voice alterations, ring modulators if you want to get extreme, delay lines with high resonance, choppers, envelope followers...can you be more specific about what kind of effect you want to achieve? Do you still want people to be able to detect melodies, or be more like effects, or...?

[Mighty Motif Max]

iZotope Nectar is good, or if you really want more robotic type stuff, VocalSynth 2 is fantastic.

[JamPro]

"....can you be more specific about what kind of effect you want to achieve? Do you still want people to be able to detect melodies, or be more like effects, or...?"

 

Ideally, I would like ALL the options: everything from a normal vocal part with an slight sheen to complete robotic destruction of any melody, rhythm, and intelligible words.

 

The project I am working on right now will have both normal sung vocal phrases interspersed with more characterful mangled sung phrases, or choruses wherein normal vocals sing harmony to a robotic lead (or maybe vice versa).

 

But mostly right now I want to experiment.  To that end, I appreciate Anderton's suggestions about various available options.

 

izotope VocalSynth and Nectar are both in the ballpark.  As I understand it: VS has pitch correction and robotic FXs, and Nectar has pitch correction and harmonization.  I would need to buy both to get pitch correction, robotic FX, and harmonization - lol clever marketing on izotope's part!

[Anderton]

Consider Line 6 Helix Native. Seriously! It has a 15-day free trial, and is sometimes available on special for $99. Although in theory it's for guitars, there's a huge numbers of effects that can warp voice in amazing ways. Distortion (of course), but also harmonizing resonators, pitched delays, harmony generators, ring modulation, crazy filters, modulated reverbs, etc. etc.  You  may be shocked at just how much it can do with voice.  Between that and the Waves Morphoder, I think you'd be set.

[Greg Mein]

In our duo setup I have Waves Tune Real Time on our vocal channels. It has all the necessary settings for pitch, speed, tolerance, etc.. and has worked great for me. I don't have much problem with pitch so it's very transparent and the most noticeable thing is an occasional chorus type effect that actually thickens up my vocal and sounds great!

[Anderton]

12 minutes ago, Greg Mein said:

In our duo setup I have Waves Tune Real Time on our vocal channels.

 

And speaking of Waves Tune Real Time...I recently found out what it can do with "hard" pitch correction on guitar solos. It's wild! And heavy vibrato gives you amazing trills. With slide guitar, you can specify a scale so as you slide up and down the string, you hit all the right notes. The fact that it doesn't recognize polyphony means you can play chords without having it glitch out, and use the quantization only on single-note solos. It's a pretty amazing processor.

[RABid]

I really like the Roland Aira Compact E-4 for this stuff. Here is a YouTube video on how to replicate those effects with free software. The E-4 section starts at the 8:15 mark.