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Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 4:36 pm
by bigfootspartan
Nope not a joke. I've been really interested in cutting up vocals lately. Whatever I try sounds pretty lame, but I'm starting to get there through pitch shiftin and reverb. Anyways, I'm curious what some of you hear in the vocal line in Scary monsters. So far all I hear is some pitch shifting and reverb, but it seems like no matter what i try it sounds quite lame. Maybe a vocoder or something?

For what it's worth i was thinking maybe we could share some tips. So far all i can say is I've found it easiest to load up audacity instead of chopping in Logic, the Audacity pitch shifter seems easier to use to me. That's about as far as I've gotten.

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 4:57 pm
by GrouchDub
haven't got it at the mo, but i've heard Dblue Glitch is pretty good for this kind of stuff. Worth looking in to

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 4:57 pm
by rinseballs21
he also uses time-stretching and a multiplier it sounds like also he also puts some heavy distortion and tubes on the vocals to get them to sound harder

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 5:02 pm
by bigfootspartan
rinseballs21 wrote:he also uses time-stretching and a multiplier it sounds like also he also puts some heavy distortion and tubes on the vocals to get them to sound harder
Hmm that's interesting, now that you mention it I think there are subtle amounts of distortion for body. Sorry to be daft but what is a multiplier?

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 5:13 pm
by locket
ye what is a multiplier, im interested also

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 5:18 pm
by sixth sense
try messing about with short delays, reverb, and some chorus

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 6:07 pm
by thefrim
ive done many things like that in years past, dblue glitch will not get you that sound.
it sounds like manually chopping up the vocal chorus at the end of the song and re arranging it to make a new melody.

i'm sure Skrillex was just immitating the masters though :D


Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 7:20 pm
by Phase Down
yeh to get that kind of sound its just about chopping the right vocal up and making a new melody out of it, ofcourse other effects like chorus will make it sound more lush

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 7:29 pm
by sketchyderek
Converting an audio file to midi is always fun.

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 7:50 pm
by DJ Crackle
Phase Down wrote:yeh to get that kind of sound its just about chopping the right vocal up and making a new melody out of it
one of the main things i've always loved about fidget :)

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:08 pm
by bigfootspartan
thefrim wrote:ive done many things like that in years past, dblue glitch will not get you that sound.
it sounds like manually chopping up the vocal chorus at the end of the song and re arranging it to make a new melody.

i'm sure Skrillex was just immitating the masters though :D
]
Is that a SebastiAn track? Can't check since im in lecture at the moment, but big ups if it is, I've always been jealous of his sample cutting abilities! I haven't used the sample to midi function yet... Is it similar to ReCycle? I never thought of that but it'd probably sound pretty wicked!

Edit: I think I answered my own question. This should do the trick for quick and easy sample chopping for logic users. http://www.cratekings.com/forum/beat-ma ... pping.html

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:51 pm
by Recessive Trait
use the Fruity Skrillexizer.

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:58 pm
by rinseballs21
locket wrote:ye what is a multiplier, im interested also

don't quote me on this, but from my understanding, a multiplier is basically a wave multiplier. but the wave multiplier that skrillex is most likely using is in relation to the time stretching and pitch modulation

meaning, he is multiplying the wave that his sound is producing and quantifying it with his time stretching and pitch, i believe this gives the effect of having two identical vocals playing over each other while in reality you only have one sound playing, but once you apply the time stretching and pitch effects and multiplier you create a sort of trailing effect, where one vocal sounds like its lagging behind the other or being sped up and leading the other vocal.

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:41 am
by th@-pu$$y
Recessive Trait wrote:use the Fruity Skrillexizer.
-w- -w- -w- -w- :h:

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:43 am
by sefs
autotune.

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:55 am
by Subject 1
Its all about finding the right Vocal samples and make sure you know what key the vocal is in so you can use that key in conjuncture with your track...i usually find nice vocal bits from old Disco Songs and cutting them down in Ableton which in my opinion is best for cutting down and Editing vocals...what you hear the most in vocal cuts are the Vowels which is usually the A E I O U, you want to look for the Ahh's, Uh, E, A, Ih, Oh, or a word/Phrase from the song you might like and incorporate it with the vowels, when you have your samples load them into a sampler or Drum rack in ableton (i know its crazy but thats how i do it because each sounds has its own simpler and you can manipulate it) Lay out a pattern you like and then mess with the Transposing but stay in key or use your ears to see if it sounds good if you dont have much music theory knowledge, add some effects like reverb, small delays, tape delay..... another good trick is to include the breaths if the sample you have has some rev it and alot of reverb and use it as a response to another vocal cut its also good to stack the cuts and transpose one by one active or filter it differently to the other to get interesting results...it also helps if you shorten the sound or stretch it i usually keep my Vocal A E I O U the same and Down stretch the Phrases... a basic patter usually goes like Uh oh a a(+1) a(+2) ta ta Uh ahh with short reversed breaths underneath btw the (+1) thing means transpose but yeah man experiment and have fun..also a nice little pluggin that helps is Melodyne

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 7:21 am
by Grime Syndicate
thefrim wrote:ive done many things like that in years past, dblue glitch will not get you that sound.
it sounds like manually chopping up the vocal chorus at the end of the song and re arranging it to make a new melody.

i'm sure Skrillex was just immitating the masters though :D






:6:

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 7:41 am
by Atac
th@-pu$$y wrote:
Recessive Trait wrote:use the Fruity Skrillexizer.
-w- -w- -w- -w- :h:

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:11 am
by FreshDrips
i had some luck with doing this in ultrabeat, chopped up a loop of Imogen Heap Hide and Seek into 16ths, saved in a file and loaded into ultra, then the step sequencer made keeping it in key/making a nice riff easy, you've then got the multi output option of modulation

Re: Skrillex, aka Vocals Processing and Chopping

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 6:43 pm
by DJ Crackle
Subject 1 wrote:Melodyne
w00p w00p