Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 28 Oct 2001 12:05 pm |
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I have tha Antares ATR-1 as well as 4 DA-88s in my studio and I have sucessfully tuned up fiddles,saxaphones,upright basses,steel guitars and of course vocals and it turns out there's not too many singers who couldn't benefit from a trip through "the box".And as a producer,it's seductive and addicting to try and make things perfect.Problem: It's a big hassle.
Here's how it works: First of all,one note at a time is all it can deal with - no double stops or chords.Nextly,you must select either the chromatic setting or a specific key/scale - like B minor,for instance - or you can type in your own scale.When you put a track thru the box,it will quantize the incoming notes to the nearest scale tone,so you must be more than half-way to the correct note or it will correct to a neighboring tone.I've had things so out of tune,I had to bounce a track - one clam at a time - to a new track thru the box with a custom made scale consisting of one note - the right note.That way,no matter how stinky the clam,it can only go to the correct note.Then onward to the next clam,write a new one-note-scale,dial in a new automated punch and so on.Also,you can(and this only works if you're not too far off pitch)set the time threshold to wait a split second so as to preserve scoops up to a note and other ornamental nuances before centering the pitch.All in all,I find the gadget useful for fine tuning an almost perfect track.Beyond that,you end up with something that may be in tune - but is so foursquare and emotionless as to be almost robotic sounding.Oh yeah,the ATR-1 is NOT a unity gain device.There's a 2 to 3 DB insertion loss that you have to make up somehow after the box and that's not real handy either.All this and more can also be done w/software on a Pro Tools level but is no less time consuming.
Just like all the other "fix it in the mix" solutions,it's much easier(and cheaper)to just do it right in the first place.If a fiddle player can't play in tune,he's out of my studio - and my rolodex.What ever happened to the good old days...... -MJ- |
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John Macy
From:
Rockport TX/Denver CO
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Posted 28 Oct 2001 8:30 pm
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Michael's right on the money.
I like the TC Intonator a bit better than the Antares for a stand alone box. I own them both, and usually go for the TC. Costs a bit more, but leaves less artifacts to my ears (and also has a great d-esser and active lo cut, too). YMMV |
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