I do it similar to Pat, but I start with a midi file from the net. I will usually download two or three versions and see which I like the best.

Then process the midi tracks with Sampletank and TTS, and a few little note adjustments until I am happy with the overall sound.

Next remove any tracks I just can't stand the sound of, i.e. the bends and stuff sound horrible.

Add one or two RTs to give it a fresh sound.

Record any tracks I think I can play myself

Either sing in the recorded background tracks, or setup a midi track to fire the TC Helicon Voiceworks.

Mix the sound three ways, 1. on headphones to hear the little nuances, 2. on my studio monitors to get a solid baseline, and 3. on my PA speakers to hear what an audience will hear.

One trick i learned recently is when i buy a song on like karaoke-version and i open it in RB i also import a .kar midi file of the same song first, and set the tempo the same as the audio karaoke song, then bump the lyrics track around until the words are as close as possible, then delete all the music midi tracks, and leave only the lyrics track and the karaoke-version MP3 tracks. Waa Laa chords, lyrics and music pretty nice setup.3

Another cool thing i discovered recently is that in Sampletank they ahve a rather decent vocal sample collection. Nice sounding Ohhs and Ahhs. That is if you do not have a ton of not changes in the track for that. Some midi songs already have a vocal track that is firing some vocalish sample in TTS that sound stupid, so i pick a nice sounding sample fro ST, and listen. What I have found is that the notes start and end abruptly making it sound cheesey. If you open the piano roll and drag the notes until the over lap a tad it smooths them out. Plus if there are two three or even four notes "sang" then make thm all slighly different lengths so it sounds more human like. Lastly if there is a nice very simple strings track clone that and send that to the Ohhs and Ahhs it will sound great in the background. erase all but maybe two notes running at a time and it will sound like two backup singers. A couple songs sound so real now it is scary. At the party the other day one person asked who sang my backup tracks. It was Sampletank.


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