Metatune is good. It seems to create a natural tuning. I use Waves Tune in graphical mode and get great results. This would be a nice change once you get the tweaking figured out.
I just used it on BGV's yesterday and used "groups" to do 8 tracks all at once. Fortunately all sung tight enough, so timing was no issue. Metatune performed perfectly, fast, boom, done. The doubler is also awesome and I don't know why because usually I don't like synthetic doubles.
BTW, I love Dylan. So I love when a phrase like "I get so lost sometimes" goes sharp on "lost" for the emotion of it, drifts off on "sometimes". Its better, the emotion is better. More real. Sensual. Imperfect is perfect, and perfect is sterile. But isn't today's music such a byproduct of the times, germ free mixes.
That is a superb tuner. It definitely gives you the ability to preserve the life of the original vocals. It looks very user friendly. Thank you for including Reaper in these videos, as a relative newcomer to this world, working with Reaper I appreciate it a lot. My college course doesn't support Reaper in the college material, so I have to work out most things by myself.
I've said this before, Warren, when you sing it's very much like Brian May's vocal tone, and pleasant to listen to. And I think Meta Tune is pretty good and powerful. That doubler will sound awesome on choruses.
Warren you’re always so hard on yourself as a singer. I like the tone in your voice… very listenable & above all human! I reckon notes are like circles, sometimes you want to hit dead centre, but it’s that mixed with hitting the outer edges of the circle that give it feeling. I love Katie’s voice as technically brilliant as she is, she also manages to have feeling & sound great… but I like yours too. Depends on the song & singer & I dislike the cookie cutter tuned to perfection vocals that sound like every other singer as it gets really boring! I like hearing a real human performance… but others might like no rough edges at all.
I agree!... Warren, your voice is fantastic!... I'm sure it's not uncommon for vocalists to be their own worst critic!... Except maybe Axl Rose... I mean, I'm sure he "thinks" he sounds good lol...
I literally just finished a tracking session using this thing, and that low-latency switch is soooooo useful when you’re trying to go back through and do last minute overdubs
It did a pretty good job, and I imagine if you sat down with this track and had time to put automation on metatune's parameters, such as tweaking the mix knob from phrase to phrase or word to word, it would do a "perfect" job.
Interesting. Like you, and others below, I think the doubler will be a hit. Tuning's a funny thing, as you don't want to lose character. handy on BV's. PLUS - this looks as easy as it gets. Thanks for the in-depth review. Love your work
I just used this on my bands vocal track and it's incredible especially when you throw in a bit of doubling. I found I had to automate it on and off at some point though because I couldn't get it to sound natural for some faster note shifts.
Interesting to observe how it works. A good singer already does the sort of micro-tuning on the fly, so when you slap an automated tuner on top, that ends up exaggerating what the singer does and sounds absolutely bonkers. Maybe that is why you prefer working with something graphical, where you can just hit the clear mistakes (like melodyne, I presume). Still, when applied carefully, it seems to be pretty usable. I wouldn't lose sleep if I was Slate though, this will sell on the doubler alone, that thing sounds really great! Thanks for the detailed review, having a good variety of examples really helped 👍
All technologies like this have to be used with maximum taste! Unless of course your genre uses that heavily tuned sound. Personally I don't but others do
I would be using this frequently in the type of productions I like to produce… would still be handy in organic ones at times… melodyne still used in the same way you spoke of… because I like a bit of human even in pop style… leaving a word raw when saying something very human and raw… letting the person through the mix not just the words
Hey Mr Huart I have think your vocals are pretty good. Who was it that said about playing / singing a wrong note with passion was ok, but playing a wrong note with no passion is unforgivable. Sometimes the vocal can change with a little change in the music. As always great video, I have Anteres Auto-tune, it is handy for sure. Dont think I would use it on your fine voice . ha ha
Glad to see you're still using the Earthworks Icon Pro! I just ordered mine today, and I thought I'd come to your channel to see if you still like it since the comparison to the SM7 🙌
@@Producelikeapro Just received mine today, and as soon as the raw sound came in my headphones, I immediately knew this was the mic for me. Suits my voice perfectly, captures all the high frequency clarity, but without a sibilance problem like I have with most other mics. It's amazing!
I've been using Melodyne for years and don't think this would replace it, but the folks at Slate do make some great sounding plugins for sure. Thanks for this excellent demo!
@@Producelikeapro otherwise it looks really easy to use. I struggle using Melodyne with Studio One so may just have to give this a try! Thanks again for this and for all your excellent reviews! Cheers!
This is why i use melodyne, to make the tuning invisible. barely requires any work either. just pull up the pitch center slider a bit and then listen for any remaining problems and just fix those manually. and easily increase or decrease the natural vibrato if necessary.
It has the sound of GarageBand’s tuner with some extra features on some things. I’m sure spending more time with it would produce a better result. The vocal doubler definitely adds some value for sure. I really love melodyne. This is very gimmicky and seems to be a neat extra tool to have, but I’d definitely keep melodyne in your toolbox.
Warren, I’ve followed you for years. Thrilled at how your channel has grown - well deserved because you’ve obviously put in some serious work. I owe you big for the things I’ve learned from you over the years. I think you should revisit this plugin though. I think you should try again with much lower ms attack times. I find that more in the 40 ms or more times, the note get corrected naturally and any off-pitch part sounds more like vibrato. I think 28 ms may be as slow as you went which is still in the haas effect range. When set slower , Metatune is magic. Thanks for all you’ve done for us over the years!
I would like the doubler, but I have a feeling it would drive me up the wall trying to use the auto tune part. It sounds like the removal of some part in maybe like an unwanted scoop could be maybe easy enough, through a straight forward menu, but the automated nudging part seems as though it needs a lot of quick visual acuity to operate the interface. I may be wrong about that, on experimentation. Heard the guy say it worked in Reaper. It sounds like a jillion different places would need to be scripted and tabbed through over and over again with screenreader jabbering away. I would, probably default to re-record, if it really seemed very necessary, just because that's what I'm comfortable with. The keyboard command shortcuts make me think of my friend who played that video game Defender really well. She was also a very good drummer. :) Now I'm just thinking of using precision silicone tipped chopsticks on some kind of touchscreen with a mini chicken wire overlay.
If you’re a mixer and you’re given files to mix and don’t have access to have the singer resing it then it is different set of issues. I find have many tools and skills gets me out of trouble all the time! Thanks
@25:44 I live on this page. Envelopes on Reaper are so easy to use, and though a few versions ago they were resource iffy, they are no weight on the system now. Love the plugin, wonder if it is part of their everything bundle with mixrack?
I'll stick with Melodyne where I can correct what needs correcting and not correct was does not. With ARA support the integration in Studio One is perfect.
I genuinely think the option of manual fine adjustment in vocal tuning is indispensable tbh… for me is a hard no over autotune as I’m mostly working in rock genre not necessarily with the best singers all the time… besides, I’d never buy a car with automatic transmission…
Yes, typically I work only in graphically just catching one or two notes where necessary. I appreciate what Slate has done here, they've created something very straightforward to use that mean you can use your ears more than your eyes!
I find that "in/Out heatmaps" could be very useful. I also miss the option to turn on/off notes in different octaves separately (Waves Tune real time), instead of trusting a scale setting
Do the graphical thing (Melodyne ARA in Studio One) for commercial releases, but have never been happy with auto options for demos and such. Waves Tune Real Time is close, but really struggles to find pitch on male rock vocals that have lots of overtones. Jumps all over the place trying to find the fundamental. I have the Slate All Access, so I'm hoping this will stand in the gap. Adam's video is giving me hope...
Cubase vari-audio (built-in), melodyne (assitsant) , and waves tune real time. It's important to remember that the Voice is an Un-tempered instrument and, so it can hit the "right" note as opposed to the enharmonic equivalent. A word about enharmonic equivalents: F# and Gb are not the same frequency in all keys (believe it or not, check it out). This has simply been made to happen on tempered instruments, like the piano (google on the "well -tempered clavier" by Bach). There is no choice between F and G but the black key in between on a keyboard. But this is a kludge done so the instrument can modulate without getting too out of tune. Fourths are usually tuned a little sharp and fifths a little flat on a piano. The thing on our tuners makes all half steps 100 cents, but the Pythagorean ratios don't actually work out that way. So we should back off from "perfect". A sung note that may not appear exactly centered between the lines may actually be "correct" by the ratios and the ears. This is way deep in physics and there's lots to know - before we get to Eastern music, blue notes, and all those quarter tones !
On your vocals it sounded robotic even when you used conservative settings. Not so convinced by auto tuners in general and not sure this one is better than others. I think I will stick with manual correction where needed, the results are much more natural in my opinion. I saw also Plugin Alliance making one, I would love to see/hear how it compares.
Warren never really went that conservative with the settings on his own voice. I tried the Plugin Alliance tuner and wasn’t impressed. MetaTune gave much better results. But you’re right, manual correction is still the way to go if you want to take the time to get it right (and you’re not looking for that autotune sound).
I'm not a fan of tuning vocals. Personally, I find that the pitch imperfections are where the emotional impact resides. (Provided that it isn't horrendously out of key; but then the song would need to be transposed to a different key.) The doubler, on the other hand, would be very useful for time/voice saving practices. Basically to add some thickness in a hurry.
The doubler is great! As a mixer and not a producer tuning can be a saviour! Of course as a Producer you can go in and track the vocals until they are the best they can be! Given time and budget of course!
@@Producelikeapro Agreed, especially in places where there is a single note that is just horribly wrong and don't have the time to G.I.R.A.T.S. I can see where it is useful. But on a song like "In Your Eyes" those little voice cracks really boost the emotional feel8ng of someone pour their heart to someone, as they're longing to keep someone close to them both physically and emotionally. So when you added it to Katie's vocal, I could hear and feel the trade-off that was occurring in favour of sonic perfection. That's just how I heard it. If auto-tuning the shnizzle out of your vocal, or even making little corrections, gets you the sound you want, then go for it. I won't tell anyone they can't or shouldn't do it; I just feel it takes a lot of, if not all, of the humanity out of the performance.
@@brettmarlar4154 I don't disagree! Katie is one of my favourite singers and we are blessed to be able to record her! The comp was exactly what I wanted and I didn't have to tune a note on her! I did use her vocal in the demo just to show people what the plug in can do and of course my dreadful vocal really needs it! Haha
Does anyone know if any of these plug ins can listen to the vocal and write it out on a music staff? I would totally use that. I can do it by ear obviously, but it takes time and I'd like to be able to put down scratch ideas with just vocals and build them up and dissect the melody to build harmonies and chord progressions behind them.
Hi Warren, I'm probably in the minority these days? But, I still like a natural, un-corrected vocal especially when it sounds as nice as what Katie did here... It just sounds great as it is. That kind of talent doesn't need "crutches." I think the "human-ness" captured in a good take is an asset to the track.
You are definitely NOT in the minority! Katie vocal didn't have any tuning on it in the mix, nor did my vocal (believe it or not! Haha). I only used for demonstration purposes!
@@timn5008 it wasn't tuned on the version we used! The video for that song came out a few days before and there is NO tuning on it and I also say that in the video! It's demo, not an endorsement of a way of working! Haha
Definitely wouldn't say graphic editors are "overkill". Nice simple UI and great on the subtle settings however. But surgical tweaking for me is still worth the time going manually.
Hi Wolfgang! Thanks for your comment! Definitely didn't say they were overkill! haha I use graphical every day, just tuning the one note I need. This tool will be great for many up and comers and the doubler is the best I've heard!
WOW! I went to purchase this (mainly for the doubler), only to be informed that Slate Audio refuse to sell this outside the USA! (According to Sweetwater). What a numbnuts policy. Any chance you vet this sort of thing Warren? Or as you're a man of influence, perhaps you could inform them that folk outside of their continent create music. Most disappointing
If automatic tuning is actually something you need, try a demo yourself. In my opinion metatune works SO much better than bx_crispytuner. It wasn’t even close.
OK, five minutes into the video i can tell this works great on a well trained voice. Question is, how is this going to help my ugly voice come across as anything musical? Cause i'm a bedroom punk, not some fancy sound engineer.
@@Producelikeapro Ah, missed that part, let's check it out. ...Ouch, it's awful! This plugin sucks, sorry. I think even VariAudio sounded better when it first came out. Lots of audible corners. Your voice has plenty of tiny nuances (a good thing!), vibratos etc, and almost every one of them is crushed into corners by this thing. Funny, now your putting that vocalist woman back in - and i can hear same kind of artifacts in her as well. Who of us got their ears soaped up? OK, here comes the Reaper guy. Ok, he sounds alright, maybe it's about which settings you use after all. P.S. Your voice sounds like the guy from Amplifier!
Yes it I just don’t like it it always sounded better without. It was just nice vocal to begin with. When I hear it bite in it’s just irritating. Maybe useful for backing vox where the singers might be band members with weaker voice control. Perhaps.. then again they could just practice more
@Frank Lee yes, most of the guys and girls I know in LA etc use graphical mode. However, Melodyne is great software when you want great quick results as the interface allows snapping to grid very easily. I find a lot of non musicians love it's simplicity
Hi, from my side to be honest I would appreciate litttle more open living vocals. Please do not press all through that autotune like sausage machine. It hurts my heart! Thanks and best regards!
