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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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There is another thread on this topic at the moment, but I felt best to keep my separate not to steal it. But one point was made: If I'm going to work on the vocals, I'll micro edit everything.. Well I do exactly what Dave does. As a result, Unfortunately one potential outcome of this is that my vocals are never done, I just stop working on them until at some point I quit.. Here is an example from this morning with my current project. I throw everything I got at these vocals in the post processing. I am not always successful at gettign a result which I can upload, but if or when I get this far, I generally try to get some feedback from others as a sanity check to determine if I save the work or relagate it to a backup drive never to be heard again. So what say you guys? Any pearls of wisdom regarding what, if any thing can be done? This project is still open in my DAW.  I am pretty realistic regarding my talent or lack thereof, so I have a pretty thick skin so don't go easy on me if you think a good push in any direction is needed. https://soundcloud.com/dan-hoch-784636941/die-with-a-smile-063025Note: Obviously a cover, but if you don't recognize this you have been living under a log for the past year or more.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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A couple of thoughts.
There is a large difference in the apparent sound level between your vocal and the music interlude.
In the first verse the timing of when you start some words don't fit the timing of the background music.
I love how you sing with zest.
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Hi, Dan. Like your arrangement of this song, and your booming chest voice is both quite pleasing and appropriate to the material. Some of the individual words/syllables are not perfectly held and/or pitched. This COULD be fixed in "post processing" with the right tools. My voice isn't so different, and I do this when I need to. Melodyne Studio is my (pricey) go-to for vocal fixes. The trick with Melodyne on vocals is subtlety. Very easy to get the "T-Pain effect" or glitching artifacts, which may not be what you're after. On the other hand, your vocals as-is don't ruin my enjoyment of the song. So there's that. Over time I've realized that (for me) getting the vocals right-as-possible BEFORE processing is far more efficient and musically pleasing than fixing things later. So I sing multiple takes and use a composite vocal. On days when my voice isn't cooperating, I don't record vocals at all. I've got time to wait them out.  Haven't heard "Die With a Smile" before, but then again I wouldn't know Bruno Mars or Lady Gaga if they delivered a pizza to my door. Nice tune though. Back to my cozy log now... Ha!
DC Ron
BiaB Audiophile
Presonus Studio One
ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM
Presonus Faderport 16
Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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A couple of thoughts.
There is a large difference in the apparent sound level between your vocal and the music interlude.
In the first verse the timing of when you start some words don't fit the timing of the background music.
I love how you sing with zest. Jim, I am so appreciative of your comments. Yes, that "interlude" was tough for me to integrate into my arrangement. I generally have only acostic guitar and piano backing me for the vocals, but this instrumental section called for the "whole band". So the "texture" of the backing at that point does seem a bit foreign. Not sure if this is onlyl a volume issue. I will work on it some more. But I am more interested in your comments about timing! Which is something I simply have to fix. Back to the vocal booth. And that thing about zest, is all me. Thank you for noticing.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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OP
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Hi, Dan. Like your arrangement of this song, and your booming chest voice is both quite pleasing and appropriate to the material. Some of the individual words/syllables are not perfectly held and/or pitched. This COULD be fixed in "post processing" with the right tools. My voice isn't so different, and I do this when I need to. Melodyne Studio is my (pricey) go-to for vocal fixes. The trick with Melodyne on vocals is subtlety. Very easy to get the "T-Pain effect" or glitching artifacts, which may not be what you're after. On the other hand, your vocals as-is don't ruin my enjoyment of the song. So there's that. Over time I've realized that (for me) getting the vocals right-as-possible BEFORE processing is far more efficient and musically pleasing than fixing things later. So I sing multiple takes and use a composite vocal. On days when my voice isn't cooperating, I don't record vocals at all. I've got time to wait them out. Haven't heard "Die With a Smile" before, but then again I wouldn't know Bruno Mars or Lady Gaga if they delivered a pizza to my door. Nice tune though. Back to my cozy log now. Ron, thank much guy. Ya, I got melodyne (the expensive one), unfortunately it is failing me with this song. I do hear the pitch and timing problems. And i did the mutiple takes and vocal comping as you suggested. Jim, already has me going back to the vocal booth so I will tighten up all this (or die trying - with a smile). Die with a smile - has a special hook for me. The Bruno lyrics tell my story. When I took the time to hear them I had to do the cover! I removed all the Lady GaGa verses - she just seems to be telling a different story and while her vocalizations are beautiful, my range can't touch them.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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Hi Dan, I can't add to what has already been said but I will add I know exactly what you are going through.
Vocals are the hardest thing for me to do. One reason is that I don't have a golden voice while another is the fact that I don't do it enough to get better.
Good luck.
Love is grand.
Divorce is twenty grand!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Made a correction. I had mentioned that melodyne in Reaper was just not behaving on this project so I was having issues with pitch correction. So I took the vocal track to Melodyn Editor Standalone Application and pitch corrected. This seems to be the fix. I exported back into Reaper and added my vocal FX and here is the updated version. I think you will agree, pitch is better. Also adjusted the fade out ending. There may be a problem with Melodyne in current Reaper since I had not seen this issue in the past. Will have to go over to the forum and poke around... https://soundcloud.com/dan-hoch-784636941/die-with-a-smile-070225
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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There may be a problem with Melodyne in current Reaper since I had not seen this issue in the past. Will have to go over to the forum and poke around... Sure Enuff https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=299583&highlight=melodyne
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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Just wanted to close this tread by thanking all those who contributed. I had reached out here several days ago when I was a bit depressed with my progress. Fact is, music making for me is a very isolated activity. I have no family or friends who I can pull in to help when I get stuck in the process. The encouragement you folks provided with your feedback was exactly what I needed at the time to "keep at it". I hope I can do the same for any of you if you find your self in a similar situration with your music making. I uploaded the final version this morning and updated the soundcloud link above, and am very happy with the final results . I did not re-sing. My issues were fixable in my post processing with Melodyne Editor (timing and pitch correction). Isotope Nectar 4 to smooth things out and my favorite goto Reverb (Rematrix) followed by Ozone 10 presets for final master. Thanks Again, Dan
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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