Melodyne tips and tricks from production duo NOHC
There is no shortage of resources online to help producers learn new tips and tricks for perfecting their mix. One crucial aspect that isn’t discussed enough is ensuring that vocals sit perfectly within a production.
As a part of NOHC, crafting tight productions is only part of what we do as producers. Suzanne Real’s powerful vocal performances are a major part of our releases. Despite her near-pitch-perfect singing, Melodyne helps ensure her vocals sit within the mix and elevate the track. While many tools and plugins help with pitch and tuning, Melodyne is truly unique with its ability to make precise edits and even craft new harmonies and melodies within the program. Whether for our productions or collaborations alongside Au5, Cloudy Parallels, MaRLo, Tensteps, and more, a tight vocal is crucial to every track. Here we walk through some of the most useful components of Melodyne while analyzing the vocals for our latest single with Cloudy Parallels, Love Me (Not).
Pitch Modulation Tool
The pitch modulation tool is great for keeping the vocals more streamlined and smooth. This feature is excellent for curbing over-extended vibrato and ensuring that a note maintains a consistency of tonality and pitch. This tool is especially helpful when it comes to tuning dance tracks since most producers tend to operate with a more linear vocal style, devoid of excessive note fluctuations. Pitch modulation also comes in handy in navigating the spaces between two notes, as there can be inflections that carry through from one word or phrase into the other. In this circumstance, it is helpful to use pitch modulation to ensure that each word is hitting exactly on the desired note without allowing the pitch of one word to spill over into another. Conversely, this is a great way to bend the note you may have currently recorded to achieve an entirely different key or nuance.
Time Tool
Perhaps for more than any other style of music, timing is essential to delivering a powerful vocal in dance music. Phrasing can be adjusted in Melodyne by using the time tool, allowing the user to edit and quantize words and phrases. Since everything lies within a grid, it is easy to see where the timing of a word may be off and can be adjusted within more aesthetic parameters. If a more unique phrased performance is desirable, this feature allows you to elongate and shorter a selection to unique specifications that can truly change the style and emotion of any vocal.
Pitch Drift
Subtle adjustments to the pitch drift can majorly impact a vocal and the way it contributes to the overall production. By adjusting the drift, you can refine the pitch at the beginning and end of a note. This feature differs slightly from pitch modulation, as it affects the polarity of a word, independent of another word or phrase. Pitch drift comes in handy when you want to achieve resonance from a word. It will allow you to keep the ending of a phrase strong and avoid any sharp or flat conclusions.
These are just a few of the many great features included with Melodyne by Celemony. Check out the official website to learn more and stream the single Love Me (Not) now via Circus Electric. For more production tips and tricks, be sure to follow the official We Rave You Tech Instagram page.
Tags: Melodyne, NOHC, vocals, producer
Kali Audio LP-UNF Giveaway
1 Winner will get Kali Audio LP-UNF speakers. All you need to is enter your first name, last name and email address.
- Tech It Deep / Sem Vox: Cover Story
- Top 100 Tracks of 2024
- Top Labels of 2024
- Best Albums of 2024