User Manual

8
NOTE: Keep in mind that the input
must not only be monophonic, but
actually a solo voice or instrument
(as opposed to a unison section). For example,
a group of singers singing the same note will
typically not be reliably tracked.
Although even true solo voices can sometimes
be challenging (for example, exceptionally
breathy voices, or tracks recorded in
unavoidably noisy environments), Harmony
EFX’s Tracking control, described later in this
chapter, can typically deal even with those.
Routing
Harmony EFX should typically be instantiated
as an insert effect on the track that will
supply the source vocal. Harmony EFX can
be instantiated on a mono or stereo track, but
since it processes only a single channel of
audio, if you instantiate it on a stereo track, the
two channels will be mixed together before
being processed.
Harmony EFX’s output can be mono or stereo.
Unless you have some overriding reason for
using a mono output, we highly recommend
using it in stereo output mode, since in mono
mode, all panning controls are disabled. This
prevents you from positioning the harmony
voices across the stereo soundstage and
dramatically impacts (in a not-so-swell way) the
overall effect.
Effects
The cleaner the input signal, the easier
Harmony EFX’s task of reliably detecting its
pitch. For this reason, effects designed to
improve the quality of the input (e.g., de-essing,
noise reduction, etc.) should be applied to the
audio before it is input to Harmony EFX.
NOTE: If you will be using both
de-essing and compression on
your vocal track, it has been our
experience that using the de-esser before
the compressor provides improved results in
Harmony EFX.
Effects like chorus or reverb can negatively
affect Harmony EFX’s ability to reliably detect
the pitch of the input audio. As a result, you
should not apply these effects to the input
audio before it is routed into Harmony EFX.
Either apply them to the Harmony EFX output
or, if you only want them on the original audio,
apply them to a copy of the original audio on
another track and then mute the original input in
Harmony EFX.
Set Input Vocal Range
In order to do its magic, Harmony EFX needs
to figure out exactly what pitches are being
sung. It will do its best job of pitch detection if it
knows the general range of the vocal part. You
can help it out by clicking on the Set Input Vocal
Range popup menu and selecting your track’s
vocal type. The choices are:
•
Soprano Voice
•
Alto/Tenor Voice
•
Baritone/Bass Voice
•
Instrument (anything that isn’t actually a
voice)
IMPORTANT NOTE: We really can’t
stress this enough. Getting this
setting right is key in getting the best
performance from Harmony EFX. Choosing the
wrong Vocal Range (or just forgetting to set it at
all) will result in compromised performance. Pay
attention.