Scenario: Two or more voices singing on separate tracks (duet, doubling, multiple harmonies, etc.). They are not perfectly together at the time of recording. I would like to tweak them a bit so they are right together.

When you have multiple takes or several parts, it is very hard for a singer to keep a good feel while focusing on singing the same part over and over to get the timing perfectly aligned to the other parts, or to another singer who sounds good but may have sung the part somewhat freely.

Problem: Quantize is possible, however, some songs need to be a little more free, and quantizing does not always sound right (and sometimes makes things worse). I try to move notes but since the voices are on different tracks it is a very tedious process of trial-and-error and requires flipping back and forth between multiple Melodyne views for various tracks. It also seems every time I move one note, the timing of the previous or subsequent note sounds even more off.

Singing is not like a MIDI piano roll where the notes are tightly aligned to the timing grid: sung notes usually have a start up and a decay phase.

Any ideas, tips, or tricks for tightening things up? Thanks.

See, that's the benefit of Melodyne Studio with its multiple tracks, an editing window where you can see all the blobs from different voices layered (i.e. good visual control), or the function to quantize to a reference track instead of the grid. Check it out!

Sounds like a job for SuperMan... ahem... VocALign: http://www.synchroarts.com/index.php?PAGEID=products&ID=vocalign

Thanks very much, but want to be sure I understand. I know Studio will handle polyphonic material, but will it allow me to work on multiple tracks in a DAW at once? That is actually more of what I need.

And, Christo, that other product looks cool. I would need to know more about it and its ability to work in Sonar X1, but it could be a handy tool since I seldom do a track without doubling and multiple harmonies.

Yes, it will. And this has nothing to do with polyphonic material.

In Melodyne Studio, while you edit a track, you can see the blobs of another track in the background. Makes it very easy to adjust the timing.

Furthermore, the quantize macro lets you select a reference track. So if for example, you want to quantize Track 2 to Track 1, you open the macro on Track 2 and select Track 1 as your reference track. As simple as that.

All this can be done in conjunction with another DAW, too, since the Melodyne Bridge only takes care of the routing and transport control, while Melodyne is still running as a standalone program next to your host. So the workflow is actually the same, no matter if you are working in a DAW or not.

Thanks, Gudmunder! I will consider an upgrade to Studio.

Someone recommended VocAlign, but I am not sure I want to do that. I am happy with the Melodyne interface and sound quality.