advice on tuning harmonies?

[lucky]

hello, long time no see! apologies if this has been asked before, but i couldn't really find what i was looking for

so! i'm nearly done with this utau cover (it'll be the first complete one i'll be uploading online... ) but i'm stumped on just one thing: tuning the harmony track.

what are some suggestions you can offer? anything can help since this would actually be my first time messing with harmonies. i do have some questions, though!

• how do you decide what voicebank to use for harmonies? do you think it depends on the kind of song you're covering?

• more specifically as well, i'm looking for advice on how i should go about editing pitchbends on the harmony track. as far as i'm aware, you aren't really supposed to go ham on it like you would with a main vocal track, right?

• at what volume should you put the harmony track when mixing?

• i noticed when mixing my main track + harmony track with the instrumental just to see how everything sounded so far, both vocal tracks were really... off. they weren't lined up at all, i had to keep splitting the harmony track and trying to match it with the main vocal LOL
  do you think this is something on my end? maybe i did something wrong, because i was tweaking it a little bit so that end breaths wouldn't sound too weird
  or could it just be how the person did the USTs, and that it was meant to be like this?

thanks guys!!

 

[Kiyoteru]

how do you decide what voicebank to use for harmonies? do you think it depends on the kind of song you're covering?

The purpose of harmonies in vocal arrangements for most songs is to make the vocals sound more thick and full. Use the same voicebank as the main vocals. You'd only change the voicebank if the song was meant to have multiple singers in the first place, or if you already have a specific reason for wanting an additional character to sing the song.

more specifically as well, i'm looking for advice on how i should go about editing pitchbends on the harmony track. as far as i'm aware, you aren't really supposed to go ham on it like you would with a main vocal track, right?

I'm in the camp of not doing any pitchbends or just using AutoPitchWriter, because I'm lazy :P You really aren't going to notice tuned harmonies at all. However, if the main vocals have very noticeable pitch changes, like one syllable across two notes, you will want to at least have those pitchbends in the harmonies as well so that the actual notes being sung still harmonize with each other.

at what volume should you put the harmony track when mixing?

This depends on the song. Listen to the original song for reference, and if you like the way that sounds, you can copy it. In general, if the harmonies are there just to enhance the main vocals, you'll want them loud enough to be noticeable, but quiet enough that they don't overpower the main vocals and can blend in. Just adjust the level while you're listening. (This is why you don't want to be using Audacity. You can't make any edits while the audio is playing. Check the first section of this resource for other programs you can use: https://utaforum.net/resources/songwriting-resources.181/ )

i noticed when mixing my main track + harmony track with the instrumental just to see how everything sounded so far, both vocal tracks were really... off. they weren't lined up at all, i had to keep splitting the harmony track and trying to match it with the main vocal LOL
do you think this is something on my end? maybe i did something wrong, because i was tweaking it a little bit so that end breaths wouldn't sound too weird
or could it just be how the person did the USTs, and that it was meant to be like this?

Sounds like you might've accidentally edited the tempo. Check to make sure that it's the same between all of the song's USTs.

 

[lucky]

ahhh, this is all super helpful! thanks so much for answering my questions!!! i've learned a lot just from this response haha

 

[Lyouuv]

I agree with a lot of what Kiyoteru said!! Though one thing I feel about using a different voicebank for the harmonies than the voicebank used in the main vocals is... imo this is still okay? Sometimes at least.

As long as the vocals go well with each other, I think it's interesting to hear the two different voicebanks. Again my opinion nobody slam me pls ;; I probably wouldn't have Tei on main and Teto's Sakebi on harm because the difference in power / tone are just too different. There's been a few covers I've heard where a different UTAU than the main vocal is being used in the harmony and it's kind of fun to hear the two harmonize and also thinking like "wait, is that Ritsu in the harmony?!" etc etc

Though usually, I tend to use the same UTAU character for both main and harmony. That seems like the best choice in most cases too. One thing I do like is using a whisper / softer voicebank of the same UTAU in the harmony that I used for the main vocals. Especially if the harmony is a high harmony I love using falsetto voicebanks because they sound nice with the normal voicebank I'm using in the main vocals.

 

[lucky]

oh yeah, i wanted to ask about that too earlier! i actually only use one utau and he has a lot of different voicebanks that it's a little daunting for a total newbie like me-
but i was thinking about using one of his softer ones for the harmonies. it's not a high harmony though, it's actually a low one lol
i'm not really sure how i feel about it after a few mixes though. guess i still gotta try out more of his voice banks?

 

[Lyouuv]

Honestly if you still want to use a different voicebank for the harmony and it's not too overwhelming, that's the first thing I'd do. You could try downloading one or two voicebanks that sound interesting and do a quick render of the harmony with them and see if you like the way they sound together.

And it's not like you have to use a different voicebank, using the same voicebank you used in the main vocals in the harmonies would probably take the stress out of worrying about what voicebanks go well together. As a beginner maybe that's the best place to start?

I know mixing also plays a part in how well harmonies sit with the song but I know very little about mixing so I can't even begin to give advice there... (I'm more of a person who tunes in UTAU and then leaves anyway lol)

 

[Kiyoteru]

Though usually, I tend to use the same UTAU character for both main and harmony. That seems like the best choice in most cases too. One thing I do like is using a whisper / softer voicebank of the same UTAU in the harmony that I used for the main vocals. Especially if the harmony is a high harmony I love using falsetto voicebanks because they sound nice with the normal voicebank I'm using in the main vocals.

I agree with this. You're essentially replicating the sound of having a single vocalist sing the same part multiple times, which can actually result in more realistic vocals overall. You could even render the main UST multiple times with different voicebanks and layer them together during parts of the song. For example, the verses could have a single track, and the choruses could have double tracks.

Other techniques you may want to try while mixing are panning tracks left/right to make harmonies sound wider, or using a chorus effect on the harmonies so that they're more washed out. This is in addition to the usual standard compression/equalization/reverb/delay. If you want more ideas and advice for mixing, you should search Youtube for vocal mixing tutorials, or (genre name) vocal mixing tutorials. Even if it's not specifically using UTAU or another singing synth, even if it's human vocals, there's still a lot you can learn! Audio engineers have been out there mixing vocals for a LONG time, so we can rely on their expertise.