Tips and recipes

Starting points for the sounds people ask for most. Set them up from the Welcome preset, then tweak by ear.

Recipes

Sound	Settings
Natural, invisible tuning	Tune Amount 25–40 %, Retune 30 ms, Humanize 0. Lead vs. Voices all the way left if you don’t want harmonies.
Modern pop vocal	Tune Amount 70–85 %, Retune 15–25 ms, master EQ Air, Glue 25 %.
Hard tune / robot	Tune Amount 100 %, Retune 0–5 ms, scale set correctly (this effect shows every wrong key).
Softer hard tune	As above, plus Humanize 10–15 ct.
Instant backing vocals	Intervals Thirds Up, Voice Type SILK, Spread 80–100 %, Lead vs. Voices around 40 % voices, Formant +1 to +2 st.
Dark doubled lead	Intervals Unison, Spread 100 %, Formant −1 st, Lead vs. Voices near the middle.
Monster voice	Intervals Octaves Down or Deep, Voice Type GRIT, Formant −4 st or lower, Lead vs. Voices to the right.
Chipmunk / helium	Re-Pitch +12 st, or Intervals Octaves Up with Formant +5 st and Lead vs. Voices all the way right.
Gospel choir	Intervals Full Stack, Brigade Mix 50 %, Layout Rows, Room Hall, master EQ Big.
Gang vocals	Intervals Unison, Brigade Mix 70 %, Layout Front, Room Room, Glue 40 %.
Telephone / radio	Master EQ Radio, Lead vs. Voices all the way left.

Fixing common problems

• The tuning goes to wrong notes. Check the key and scale. Look at KEY FIT: if it is low, the key is probably wrong. If a single note keeps jumping, turn that note off on the piano, or freeze the right note in the Lead Editor.
• The tuning sounds too obvious. Lower Tune Amount below 50 % and raise Retune toward 30 ms.
• The harmonies sound like a copy of the lead. Move Formant a few semitones, switch the Voice Type, raise Spread, or bring in a little Brigade.
• The harmonies clash with the chords. Set the right key, or place chords in the Harmony Editor so the harmonies follow the real chord changes.
• The harmonies make the low end muddy. Use CUT on the Voices card EQ to take out the lows of the harmonies, or switch away from the Octaves Down set.
• Breathy vocals sound grainy in the harmonies. Switch Voice Type to SILK.
• The mix gets too loud with the harmonies. Bring down OUT, or move Lead vs. Voices toward the lead.

Workflow tips

• Print the harmonies to their own track: duplicate the vocal, set Lead vs. Voices all the way right on the copy and all the way left on the original. Now you can mix them separately.
• Export the lead as MIDI from the Lead Editor and double it with a synth.
• Save your favorite starting points as presets and tag them. SUGGEST can propose the tags.

Next: Automation & MIDI control