What's new

Hollywood backup singers note durations

joe.loduca

New Member
Hello all,
Hope this makes sense and some have some recommendations: I've been using Hollywood backup singers quite a lot. Like anything, the more you do it, the better you get at it. MOST of the issues with getting a well articulated vocal part turned out to be a note length/time in the plugin. In other words, I was working on a ballad at tempo 78. At tempo 78, a quarter note would be roughly 760 milliseconds of duration. When I go into word builder and select that word that is supposed to last for that length of time, it often was completely wrong in duration. that same note in word builder might be a total time of 1.53 seconds or something way too short (380 mS). When you fix the lengths to conform with the MIDI note lengths, this app really shines.. is there anyway to educate this plugin to "look ahead" for each note length and put that into wordbuilder?

To basically get around this, I wrote a program that asks for the song tempo. From that it gives me the time lengths of multiple note types: half, quarter, dotted quarter, eight, etc.. then force notebuilder to have the correct duration for every note. Time consuming but the only way I see to get good results..
 
Have you tried using the 'Learn' function with 'Change Speed' on in the syllable menu playing back the melody that you want it to adjust the syllables to? Might get you at least closer to how you want it (though you would have to play back the midi phrase once for it to learn that timing)
 
Have you tried using the 'Learn' function with 'Change Speed' on in the syllable menu playing back the melody that you want it to adjust the syllables to? Might get you at least closer to how you want it (though you would have to play back the midi phrase once for it to learn that timing)
Thanks pluebellify! I saw that for a bit and haven’t used it till this morning. It does get me way closer to a solution for this. I will admit I am a rookie at HBS.
 
I have them too and struggle with the consonant sounds. I don't hear B or T or D - what's up with that? they shine on the oohs and ahs as long as you don't mind the scooping...
 
I have them too and struggle with the consonant sounds. I don't hear B or T or D - what's up with that? they shine on the oohs and ahs as long as you don't mind the scooping...
Would you try making them sing "Ride, Sally, Ride" from Mustang Sally? :grin: I couldn't
 
T is an unpitched consonant, you can double the t in the votox (and edit the time editor to overlap them a little more) to hear it more pronounced - the b and d tend to morph into the next consonant/vowel, but you can use the time editor to fade in the next syllable over time which gives a little more of that b/d consonant sound (for example this makes 'Down' far more audible than if you just do the English -> Votox Translation)
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2023-06-14 at 3.57.15 PM.png
    Screenshot 2023-06-14 at 3.57.15 PM.png
    181.2 KB · Views: 11
T is an unpitched consonant, you can double the t in the votox (and edit the time editor to overlap them a little more) to hear it more pronounced - the b and d tend to morph into the next consonant/vowel, but you can use the time editor to fade in the next syllable over time which gives a little more of that b/d consonant sound (for example this makes 'Down' far more audible than if you just do the English -> Votox Translation)
Tt, bt, pt, indeed all combinations are best to try, although I don't know if it has a base on proper phonetics, Votox just has a mind of its own and better feed it all alternatives hoping to hit the spot, also overlapping notes or not overlapping also makes a difference. Votox is a good idea but tedious and time wasting.

@joe.loduca Don't forget compression and EQ too where you can bump or mild a part, or also consider rendering and editing. But these have been my experiences above.
 
Top Bottom