Antares Harmony Engine user manual
Have a look at the manual Antares Harmony Engine user manual online for free. It’s possible to download the document as PDF or print. UserManuals.tech offer 31 Antares manuals and user’s guides for free. Share the user manual or guide on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
5 Chapter 2: Introducing Harmony Engine What’s It Got? With four independent harmony voices, a variety of powerful harmony generating modes, humanization features for natural sounding performances, and a flexible real-time preset system for harmony and vocal type, Harmony Engine provides incredibly easy-to - use tools to quickly and easily produce virtually any vocal arrangement you can imagine. Key Harmony Engine Features Include: • Four high-quality, formant-corrected harmony voices with independent vocal character, vibrato, and pan settings • Antares Throat Modeling technology that lets you process each harmony voice through a physical model of the human vocal tract • A variety of innovative Harmony Control modes, from fully automatic to individual control of every note: What the Heck is This Thing? Harmony Engine is a real-time harmony generating plug-in that puts professional-quality vocal harmony arrangements within reach of any songwriter, producer, musician or engineer. Traditionally, harmony tools have offered two basic operating modes: One option was fully automatic modes based on either parallel or “smart” scale-based intervals. These were relatively easy to set up, but offered very little in the way of creative control. A second option was MIDI modes that provided control of each individual note of each individual harmony voice. While this technique offered absolute control, it also demanded that you be skilled in the intricacies of vocal arranging (as well as having the time and patience to enter every note into a MIDI track, hardly a trivial undertaking). With Harmony Engine, we set ourselves the task of creating a tool that would let anyone who could hear the harmonies they wanted in their mind, quickly and easily create those harmonies in a song or other project. While Harmony Engine offers all of the traditional harmony generation methods, it adds a variety of new operating paradigms that allow you to approach the harmony generation process from a purely musical point of view. Fixed or Scale Intervals: Simply set the key and harmony voice intervals and let Harmony Engine do the rest Chord Degrees or Chord Name: Define your harmony chord-by- chord, complete with inversions and variable vocal ranges Chord by MIDI: Define your harmony in real time via a MIDI controller or pre- recorded MIDI track MIDI Omni: Directly “play” the four harmony voices as if they were voices of a synth or sampler MIDI Channel: Use four separate MIDI channels for absolute control over each note of your vocal arrangement • Spread and Register controls that allow you to quickly and intuitively set the pitch range and harmony style of your vocal arrangement
6 • Humanize functions that provide selectable amounts of variation to each harmony voice for realistic, natural sounding results • A Freeze function that allows a unique variety of backup vocal effects by letting you instantly freeze pitch and/or formant articulation • A Harmony Preset matrix that lets you create up to 15 complete harmony settings and instantaneously recall them, in real time or via automation • A Voice Parameter Preset matrix that lets you create and instantly recall up to 6 different “vocal groups” • Five-channel output capability (host dependent) that lets you assign or export the original input and each of the four harmony voices to their own channels for further processing Whether you’re an experienced vocal arranger, a songwriter looking for that perfect backup vocal, or a composer experimenting with unique vocal effects, Harmony Engine gives you entirely new ways to create the harmony parts you hear in your head. In fact, experimenting with different harmonies is so easy (and, dare we suggest, fun), you may find yourself using Harmony Engine to explore harmonic alternatives you may have never otherwise considered. Harmony Engine is, quite simply, the quickest, easiest tool for flexible, realistic harmony creation.
7 Chapter 3: Harmony Engine Controls This chapter is a reference for all of the controls used in the Harmony Engine interface. and move the cursor to the right to turn the knob clockwise or to the left to turn the knob counterclockwise. The current value of the knob’s parameter appears in its associated numeric display. For faders, simply click on the “thumb” of the fader and move it to the desired setting. Option (Mac)/Control (PC)- clicking a knob or fader returns it to its default value. NOTE : The specific modifier key may vary from host to host (Steinberg hosts on the Mac, for example, use the Command (Apple) key instead of the Option key). Refer to the Harmony Engine Read Me for details (or just try a few until you find the one that works). Continuous Controls Continuous controls in Harmony Engine are represented by virtual knobs or faders. Knobs can be controlled by either vertical or horizontal mouse movement: VERTICAL: Position the cursor over a knob, press and hold the left mouse button (or the only mouse button, if you’re using a one-button mouse) and move the cursor up to turn the knob clockwise or down to turn the knob counterclockwise. The current value of the knob’s parameter appears in its associated numeric display. HORIZONTAL: Position the cursor over a knob, press and hold the left mouse button
8 Routing Harmony Engine should typically be instantiated as an insert effect on the track that will supply the source audio. Harmony Engine can be instantiated on a mono or stereo track, but since it processes only a single channel of audio, if you instantiate it on a stereo track, the two channels will be mixed together before being processed. Harmony Engine’s output can be mono or stereo (or, in some circumstances, five channels — see below). Unless you have some overriding reason for using a mono output, we highly recommend using it in stereo output mode, since in mono mode, all panning controls are disabled. This prevents you from positioning the harmony voices across the stereo soundstage and dramatically impacts (in a not-so -swell way) the overall effect. Five Channel Output Depending on your particular host’s routing capabilities, you may be able to use Harmony Engine in five channel output mode to send or export the original input and the four harmony voices to five separate channels for subsequent individual processing. Unfortunately, the ability and method of accomplishing this (if it exists at all) varies from host to host and typically involves making non- standard use of a host’s 5.1 capabilities. Check your host’s manual for details. NOTE : While it is our intention to provide tips in our Knowledgebase on using five channel output in the major hosts that support it, your primary resource should be a detailed knowledge of how routing works in your host. In this case, your host’s manual is your best friend. Tip: If your host supports five channel output mode, try processing each output with an instance of AVOX CHOIR. Instant giant choral group! Effects The cleaner the input signal, the easier Harmony Engine’s task of reliably detecting its pitch. For this reason, effects designed to improve the quality of the input Setup The functions described in this section are used to tell Harmony Engine things about the source audio or otherwise affect the plugin as a whole. Input Audio For accurate harmony generation and best modeling performance, Harmony Engine needs to be able to detect the pitch of the original performance. To do that, Harmony Engine requires a clean, pitched, monophonic signal. (In this context, “clean” refers both to lack of noise and lack of processing with effects like chorus, reverb, etc.) N OTE : Keep in mind that the input must not only be monophonic, but actually a solo voice or instrument (as opposed to a unison section). For example, a group of singers singing the same note will typically not be reliably tracked. You can have problems with certain solo voices and solo instruments as well. Consider, for example, an exceptionally breathy voice, or a track recorded in an unavoidably noisy environment. The added noise is non-periodic and Harmony Engine will have difficulty determining the pitch of the composite (voice + noise) sound. Luckily, there is a control (the Tracking control, discussed in Chapter 3) that will let Harmony Engine be a bit more casual about what it considers “periodic.” Experimenting with this setting will often allow Harmony Engine to track even moderately noisy signals.
9 (e.g., de-essing, noise reduction, etc.) should be applied to the audio before it is input to Harmony Engine. NOTE : If you will using both de-essing and compression on your vocal track, it has been our experience that using the de-esser before the compressor provides improved results in Harmony Engine. As mentioned above, effects like chorus or reverb can negatively affect Harmony Engine’s ability to reliably detect the pitch of the input audio. As a result, you should not apply these effects to the input audio before it is routed into Harmony Engine. Either apply them to the Harmony Engine output or, if you only want them on the original audio, apply them to a copy of the original audio on another track and then mute the original input in Harmony Engine. Set Input Vocal Range As a result of Antares research into the unique characteristics of various types of audio signals, Harmony Engine offers a selection of optimized processing algorithms for the most common types of inputs. Choices include Soprano Voice, Alto/ Tenor Voice, Bass/ Baritone Voice and Instrument (a general setting for anything that isn’t actually a vocal). Matching the appropriate algorithm to the input results in faster and more accurate pitch detection and more accurate modeling. To select vocal range, click on the Vocal Range pop -up and then select the appropriate range from the pop-up list. i mp OrTa NT N OTE: We really can’t stress this enough. Getting this setting right is key to getting the best performance from Harmony Engine. Choosing the wrong Vocal Range (or just forgetting to set it at all) will result in compromised performance. Pay attention. Model Glottal The glottal waveform is created by the vibration of a singer’s vocal chords. While the glottal waveform is largely defined by each singer’s individual anatomy, it is also affected by the specific singing style of a particular performance. For example, singing softly results in a markedly different glottal waveform than does belting a song with great energy and volume. The Model Glottal control lets you tell Harmony Engine what performance style you would like to model. The options are soft, medium, loud, and intense. (If you want to preserve the stylistic character of the original vocal, start with this control set to Medium.) Despite the value names (soft, loud, etc.), these settings result in only modest change to the actual level of the signal (with the “intense” setting providing the most gain). Its primary purpose is to model the glottal waveform that would result from the various styles of singing. If you want to further adjust the levels, use the individual Harmony Voice Gain controls described below. N OTE : The Model Glottal control affects all of the harmony voices. To define individual vocal characteristics for each voice, use the Throat Length controls described later in this chapter. aNOT hEr N OTE : The Model Glottal control does not affect the Original Input. Tip: The actual effect of this control depends a great deal on the characteristics of the original audio. Consequently, in most cases the best approach is to simply try the various settings and pick the one that best fits the style of your particular performance. To select glottal waveform, click on the Model Glottal pop -up and then select the desired stylistic character from the pop -up list.
10 Bypass This control is used to (you guessed it) bypass the plug- in. It has been designed to provide artifact-free bypass switching so that you can use it to seamlessly enable harmony only where desired on a track. Click the Bypass button to toggle its state. When it’s red, all harmony voices are muted and the original input will be passed to all output channels. This happens seamlessly (i.e., with no click or artifact on activation). N OTE : When Bypass is enabled, the original input will still be passed through with the plug-in’s normal processing delay, allowing seamless transitions between harmony and no harmony. De-Noise Engaging the De-Noise function reduces noise that is inherent in the formant correction/shifting process. NOTE : While a quick A/B will sometimes give the impression that engaging De- Noise attenuates the highs, it is only the noise (which tends to be high-pitched) that is being attenuated. (This is very much like the effect of turning on and off Dolby® NR on a cassette deck back in prehistoric times). The default setting for De- Noise is “On.” Click the De- Noise button to toggle its state. Original Input Gain The Gain fader controls the gain of the original input whenever the channel is not muted. The default Gain value is - 6dB. Option (Mac)/ Control (PC)-clicking the fader returns it to that value. Solo Engaging Solo mode causes the original input signal to appear at the output and simultaneously mutes all Harmony Voice channels that are not also soloed. When the Solo button is yellow, Solo mode is engaged. Click the button to toggle its state.
11 Mute Engaging Mute mode causes the original input signal to be muted from the output. When the Mute button is blue, Mute mode in engaged. Click the button to toggle its state. N OTE : If both the Input Channel’s Solo and Mute buttons are pressed, Solo takes precedence. However, if Solo is then disengaged, the original input will then be muted. aNOT hEr N OTE : Moving a channel’s Gain slider to its minimum setting also results in completely muting its output. Pan Sets the original input’s location in the stereo spectrum when its output is not muted and Harmony Engine is assigned to a stereo output. If Harmony Engine is not assigned to a stereo track, this control will be disabled. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 0 (center). Tracking As previously mentioned, for best performance, Harmony Engine requires a clean, pitched monophonic signal. Specifically, in order to accurately identify the pitch of the input, Harmony Engine requires a periodically repeating waveform, characteristic of a voice or solo instrument. The Tracking control determines how much variation is allowed in the incoming waveform for Harmony Engine to still consider it periodic. If you are working with a clean, well-isolated solo signal you can typically set the Tracking control to 25 and forget it (hence, that’s the default value). If, on the other hand, your signal is noisy or not well-isolated (as might be more common in a live performance situation or a track with headphone bleed) or you are dealing with a particularly breathy or guttural voice, it may be necessary to adjust the tracking for best performance. Interestingly (to us, anyway), during the development of Harmony Engine we discovered that (unlike Auto -Tune®, where we can usually predict with pretty fair accuracy what kind of Tracking adjustments a signal will require) it was almost impossible to predict, just from listening, what setting would work best. This led to our choice of labels for the extremes of the control’s range. As the labels imply, there is no hard and fast rule for what settings will work well with what kinds of input. If you’re having a problem (such as octave errors or loss of pitch tracking), experiment until you get the best result. a Tip: One of the things that can cause tracking problems is excessive sibilance and/or other unpitched articulations. De-essing (prior to compression) can often alleviate these problems. i mp OrTa NT N OTE: Like the Vocal Range setting, getting this setting right is critical for best performance. If you are experiencing problems, these are the controls to adjust. (Even, if in the case of the Vocal Range, it means trying a “wrong” one. Whatever works.)
12 Harmony Voices 1-4 Each of the four Harmony Voice channels are functionally identical and contain identical controls. It may be useful to think of the four Harmony Voices as being similar to the voices of a four- voice synthesizer. Each voice has independent controls for setting its timbre, vibrato, pan and level. The method by which pitches are assigned to voices varies with the Harmony modes selected in the Harmony Control section. In this section, we’ll describe the Harmony Voice controls. The Harmony modes will be discussed later in this chapter. NOTE : As mentioned below in the Harmony Control section, harmony notes will be assigned to the various harmony channels such that the lowest pitched note will be assigned to the highest numbered active channel and the progressively higher pitched notes will be assigned in order to the progressively lowered numbered active channels. For example, for a four note chord, the lowest note will be assigned to harmony channel 4, the next higher to channel 3, the next higher to channel 2 and the highest to channel 1. Gain Each Gain fader controls the gain of its Harmony Voice channel whenever that channel is not muted. In the various MIDI Harmony modes, the Gain control sets the maximum gain level for its channel (i.e., the gain at MIDI velocity value 127). The default Gain value is -6dB. Option (Mac)/Control (PC)-clicking a fader returns it to that value.
13 Solo Engaging a channel’s Solo mode causes that channel’s signal to appear at the output and simultaneously mutes any other channels (Harmony Voice and/or Input Voice) that are not also soloed. When a channel’s Solo button is yellow, Solo mode in engaged on that channel. Click a button to toggle its state. N OTE : If both a channel’s Solo and Mute buttons are pressed, Solo takes precedence. Mute Engaging a Harmony Voice channel’s Mute mode causes that channel’s signal to be muted from the output. When a Mute button is blue, that channel’s Mute mode in engaged. Click a Mute button to toggle its state. N OTE : If both a channel’s Solo and Mute buttons are pressed, Solo takes precedence. However, if Solo is then disengaged, the channel will then be muted. aN OT hEr N OTE : Moving a channel’s Gain slider to its minimum setting also results in completely muting its output. Throat Length This control is used to define the unique vocal quality of a Harmony Voice by actually varying the geometry of the channel’s model vocal tract. It is used in combination with the Model Glottal control and the various forms of pitch shifting to define gender and/or vocal quality. The Throat Length control allows you to lengthen or shorten its Harmony Voice channel’s modeled throat. The range of this control is .75 to 1.50. Values above 1.00 represent a lengthening of the throat while values below 1.00 represent a shortening of the throat. The actual values represent the percentage change in the throat length. For example, a value of 1.20 represents a 20% increase in throat length, while a value of 0.80 represents a 20% decrease in throat length. In addition to simply changing vocal timbre, increasing throat length is useful when the original input is female and you want the Harmony Voices that are being shifted down to sound male. Conversely, decreasing throat length is useful when the original input is male and you want the Harmony Voices that are being shifted up to sound female or childlike. N OTE : While this control gives you the ability to radically change the throat length, keep in mind that the variation in the length of human vocal tracts is rarely more than about 20% in either direction. If you are looking for a “realistic” vocal characteristic, start with modest settings of this control. More extreme settings can produce dramatic results, but probably not what anyone would call “realistic.” Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 1.00. i mp OrTa NT N OTE: This function is specifically for changing the existing quality of a voice, not for manual formant compensation for pitch shifting. Harmony Engine automatically applies appropriate formant correction when it shifts a channel’s pitch.
14 Interval The Interval popup sets a Harmony Voice’s pitch interval relative to the original input in Fixed Interval and Smart Interval modes. In both modes, the range is plus-or-minus two octaves. In Fixed Interval mode, the popup displays half-steps in the range -24 to +24. In Smart Interval mode, the popup displays scale degrees in the range 16va to 16vb. This control is inactive in all Chord Name and MIDI modes. N OTE : Harmony Engine remembers the most recent Interval settings for each of the two interval harmony modes. So, if you select Fixed Interval and set a harmony voice to +3 semitones, and then change to Smart Interval and set that same harmony voice to -5th, if you then change back to Fixed Interval, the Interval setting will return to +3 semitones. For reference, here are the equivalent scale intervals for each semitone interval: Semitones = Scale Interval 1 = minor 2nd 2 = major 2nd 3 = minor 3rd 4 = major 3rd 5 = perfect 4th 6 = aug 4th/dim 5th 7 = perfect 5th 8 = aug 5th/min 6th 9 = major 6th 10 = minor 7th 11 = major 7th 12 = octave 13 = minor 9th 14 = major 9th 15 = minor 10th 16 = major 10th 17 = perfect 11th 18 = aug 11th 19 = perfect 12th 20 = minor 13th 21 = major 13th 22 = minor 14th (rarely used) 23 = major 14th (rarely used) 24 = 2 octaves Pan These controls set each harmony voice’s position on the stereo soundstage when the voice is not muted and Harmony Engine is assigned to a stereo output. If Harmony Engine is not assigned to a stereo track, these controls will be disabled. The control range is from -100 (panned full left) to 100 (panned full right). Not surprisingly, a value of 0 represents the center of the soundstage. The default Pan values are different for each Harmony Voice channel as follows: Channel 1: - 50 Channel 2: 50 Channel 3: -100 Channel 4: 100 Option (Mac)/Control (PC)-clicking a Pan control returns it to its default value. Vibrato Controls The following four controls are used to add an independently programmable vibrato to each Harmony Voice. In using these controls, it’s useful to consider the following principles: • If the Input Audio does not contain its own natural vibrato, you can feel free to do pretty much whatever you want with the Vibrato controls.