Originally Posted By: Noel96
Hi ROG,

I did a heap of volume shaping of the vocal line to try and create an emotional contour that sat with how I heard the lyrics and music. (See the image below of the start of the third/last chorus.)





EDIT: P.S. In case forum readers are wondering, the big, square dips on either side of "change" are to tame the "CH" and the "J" sounds at either end of the word. The curvy dip on "-bout" is bring that syllable under control in relation to the surrounding lyrics.


On the above clip... I might have reduced the gain -2db on the word "bout" to see if that worked and perhaps muted the little nub after "change" if it was objectionable. "Don't" may also have gotten a -1 or -2 db cut.... but the rest looked pretty even to my eye. Of course, the ear is the critical factor here and not the eye..... I use both in my edits. Do I hear something that sounds "off normal"? If so, have a look. DO I see it? If yes, and normally I can see the issue..... then I fix it.... eyeballing and listening.

I don't use this level of detail or control on a vocal track. I do use volume envelopes but more as a general overall level adjustment depending on the vocal track and the part of the song it's in.

Now, I will go in and edit carefully if there are objectionable breath noises, lip smacks and other such noises. I generally use the "process audio>mute" in my DAW for that sort of clean up. That way, it totally disappears.

I am not adverse to using the volume envelope to lower a certain sung note or word that seems to stick out too loudly. I also use it to raise the lower volume words on occasion. More often than not, I will use the process audio with gain increase or reduction and play through the part to check it in context as opposed to using the envelope for that. Most of my hard enveloping is on the instrument tracks.

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 12/19/13 08:16 AM.
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