Help, can I pitch down entire mix for vocal recording?

Cubase
1

Hi.

Can I take an entire mix down 1/2 step to record some vocals and then bring it back up to regular pitch? We recorded a song but the vocals are just out of the range of the vocalist, but a half step down he can do.

Any easy way to do this so the vocalist can sing it?

Thanks
Jason

2

Swift kick to the 'nads might do the trick. :wink: :mrgreen:

3

Thanks, but if you are going make a joke at least offer a solution too with it.

1 Like
4

Yes you “can” but whether “should” is a different question and depends on many things including the singer’s voice and vocal range of the song. Simple answer is “try”. Variaudio maybe a better solution though. :slight_smile:

5

I’d bounce down your mix to a stereo track, then pitch shift it down a half step using one of the pitch shift algorithms in Cubase in the Audio menu. Regardless of the fact that it may sound a bit glitchy, just have him sing to that, then bring your original track back up and use Vari-Audio to pitch him up to your original key. A half step is usually an acceptable tolerance for Vari-Audio.

There’s a cute little program called the Amazing slow Downer (around 30 bucks, I think) that does a pretty good job of transposing entire tracks. It also speeds them up and slows them down very well within a reasonable tolerance, and with both functions, it allows you to hear them in realtime before you export them. Hope this helps.

6

create a transpose track.
set it to the value down or up in semitones that you want.
cubase will instantly transpose the song.
when you’re done recording the vocals, set transpose track to zero. now the vocals will be detuned. you could try vari-audio or cubase pitch shift to bring back into line. the elastique pitch shift in cubase 6 is good.
p.s. i use melodyne editor for lead vocals but am happy to go with vari-audio and elastique for backing vox.
ed

7

yep quickest method is to run off a 2ch stereo mix… import into a new project, use the transpose cell in the infoline to drop it down in pitch, track your vocal, export it back into your new project.
I usually find that elastiqe pro formant is the better choice as the formant preservation helps to keep the timbre of the voice more in tact and helps to avoid the ‘pinky and perky’ effect.

8

I would do the same, but i don’t see a need to import to a new project.

  1. create 2ch stereo mix
  2. select & solo it
  3. transpose down in the info line
  4. track vocal
  5. delete 2ch stereo mix
  6. transpose vocal up in variaudio

Hope that helps

9

yes of course you’re right… also if you don’t have that many tracks within the project you could also just try pitching them down instead of creating a downmix, i don’t use VA to pitch it up though…no need… just do it from the infoline making sure you have switched the time stretch algorithm to ‘elastique-formant’… once you’re happy with the result just bounce it so it is no longer being stretched in real time if you want to save a little system resources.