The contents of this manual
Chapter 1: Getting Started The chapter you are reading. Provides information on installing and authorizing Harmony Engine Evo. Chapter 2: Introducing Harmony Engine Evo Provides a brief introduction to what Harmony Engine Evo is all about and gives an overview of Harmony Engine Evos key features. Chapter 3: Harmony Engine Evo Controls This chapter is reference information for every control used in the Harmony Engine Evo interface. Chapter 4: The Factory Presets Descriptions of the factory presets that ship with Harmony Engine Evo. Chapter 5: Tutorial Sessions Describes the complete host sessions provided as hands-on examples of how Harmony Engine Evo is used.
Installing Harmony Engine Evo
Harmony Engine Evo is designed to function as a plug-in in a wide variety of digital audio applications. Please refer to your specific host applications user manual for more information on installing and using plug-ins.

Technical Support

In the unlikely event that you experience a problem using Harmony Engine Evo, try the following: 1.Make sure you have the latest version of the plug-in. You can download and install the latest version of Harmony Engine Evo from the following web page: http://www.antarestech.com/download/ update.shtml 2.If you are having problems authorizing your software, be sure that you have the latest version of the PACE Interlok drivers. You can download and install the latest version for your operating system from the following web page: http://portal.knowledgebase.net/article. asp?article=174703&p=5764 If your problem is not resolved after taking the above actions, try the following: 1.Make another quick scan through this manual. Who knows? You may have stumbled onto some feature that you didnt notice the first time through. 2.Consult our searchable knowledgebase at: http://www.antarestech.com/support/ index.html 3.Check our web page for tips, techniques, or any late-breaking information: http://www.antarestech.com
Authorizing Harmony Engine Evo
Authorization is the process by which Harmony Engine Evo is allowed to run on your computer. Detailed instructions covering the available authorization options will be found in the file Authorization Read Me which is included on the installation CD ROM or with your software download.
NOTE: When initially installed, this software will run for ten days without authorization.
So even if you cant authorize it right away you can still use your software in the meantime. (During this period, click the Continue button whenever you are presented with the Trial Period screen at launch.) But dont procrastinate too long. After those ten days are up you will no longer be able to launch Harmony Engine Evo until its authorized.
Chapter 2: Introducing Harmony Engine Evo
Harmony Engine Evo is the second generation of our Harmony Engine real-time harmony generating plugin. Like its predecessor, Harmony Engine Evo puts professional-quality vocal harmony arrangements within reach of any songwriter, producer, musician or engineer.

Note: If you will be using both
The functions described in this section are used to tell Harmony Engine Evo things about the source audio or otherwise affect the plug-in as a whole. Input Audio For accurate harmony generation and best modeling performance, Harmony Engine Evo needs to be able to detect the pitch of the original performance. To do that, Harmony Engine Evo requires a clean, pitched, monophonic signal. (In this context, clean refers both to lack of noise and lack of processing with effects like chorus, reverb, etc.) must not only be monophonic, but actually a solo voice or instrument (as opposed to a unison section). For example, a group of singers singing the same note will typically not be reliably tracked. You can have problems with certain solo voices and solo instruments as well. Consider, for example, an exceptionally breathy voice, or a track recorded in an unavoidably noisy environment. The added noise is non-periodic and Harmony Engine Evo will have difficulty determining the pitch of the composite
Note: Keep in mind that the input
another track and then mute the original input in Harmony Engine Evo. Five Channel Output Depending on your hosts routing capabilities, you may be able to use Harmony Engine Evo in five channel output mode to send the original input and the four harmony voices to five separate channels for subsequent individual processing. Unfortunately, the ability and method of accomplishing this varies from host to host and typically involves making nonstandard use of a hosts 5.1 capabilities. Check your hosts manual and the Harmony Engine Evo Read Me for details. provide tips in our Knowledgebase on using five channel output in the major hosts that support it, your primary resource should be a detailed knowledge of how routing works in your host. In this case, your hosts manual is your best friend.
Another Note: With the original Harmony Engine, we felt that one of the most useful (and dramatic) reasons to use five channel output was to allow you to use instances of CHOIR or DUO on each of the individual channels. With the integration of CHOIR into Harmony Engine Evo, its no longer necessary to struggle with five channel routing to get those effects, so it may well be that you can just ignore this whole issue. Note: While it is our intention to
To select vocal range, click on the Vocal Range pop-up and then select the appropriate range from the pop-up list. stress this enough. Getting this setting right is critical to getting the best performance from Harmony Engine Evo. Choosing the wrong Vocal Range (or just forgetting to set it at all) will result in compromised performance. Pay attention. Model Glottal The glottal waveform is created by the vibration of a singers vocal chords. While the glottal waveform is largely defined by each singers individual anatomy, it is also affected by the specific singing style of a particular performance. For example, singing softly results in a markedly different glottal waveform than does belting a song with great energy and volume. The Model Glottal control lets you tell Harmony Engine Evo what performance style you would like to model. The options are soft, medium, loud, and intense. (If you want to preserve the stylistic character of the original vocal, start with this control set to Medium.) Despite the value names (soft, loud, etc.), these settings result in only modest change to the actual level of the signal (with the intense setting providing the most gain). Its primary purpose is to model the glottal waveform that would result from the various styles of singing. If you want to further adjust the levels, use the individual Harmony Voice Gain controls described below. affects all of the harmony voices. To define individual vocal characteristics for each voice, use the Throat Length controls described later in this chapter.

Another Note: The Model Glottal control does not affect the Original Input. Note: The Model Glottal control Important Note: We really cant
Set Input Vocal Range As a result of Antares research into the unique characteristics of various types of audio signals, Harmony Engine Evo offers a selection of optimized processing algorithms for the most common types of inputs. Choices include Soprano Voice, Alto/Tenor Voice, Bass/ Baritone Voice and Instrument (a general setting for anything that isnt actually a vocal). Matching the appropriate algorithm to the input results in faster and more accurate pitch detection and more accurate modeling.
control depends a great deal on the characteristics of the original audio. Consequently, in most cases the best approach is to simply try the various settings and pick the one that best fits the style of your particular performance. To select glottal waveform, click on the Model Glottal pop-up and then select the desired stylistic character from the pop-up list. Bypass This control is used to (you guessed it) bypass the plug-in. It has been designed to provided artifact-free bypass switching so that you can use it to seamlessly enable harmony only where desired on a track. Click the Bypass button to toggle its state. When its red, all harmony voices are muted and the original input will be passed to all output channels. This happens seamlessly (i.e., with no click or artifact on activation). the original input will still be passed through with the plug-ins normal processing delay, allowing seamless transitions between harmony and no harmony. De-Noise Engaging the De-Noise function reduces noise that is inherent in the formant correction/shifting process. sometimes give the impression that engaging De-Noise attenuates the highs, it is only the noise (which tends to be high-pitched) that is being attenuated. (This is very much like the effect of turning on and off Dolby NR on a cassette deck back in prehistoric times). The default setting for De-Noise is On. Click the De-Noise button to toggle its state.
Note: While a quick A/B will Note: When Bypass is enabled,
Tip: The actual effect of this

Original Input

Gain The Gain fader controls the gain of the original input whenever the channel is not muted. The default Gain value is -6dB. Option (Mac)/ Control (PC)-clicking the fader returns it to that value. Solo Engaging Solo Mode causes the original input signal to appear at the output and simultaneously mutes all Harmony Voice channels that are not also soloed. When the Solo button is yellow, Solo Mode is engaged. Click the button to toggle its state.

Solo Engaging a channels Solo Mode causes that channels signal to appear at the output and simultaneously mutes any other channels (Harmony Voice and/or Input Voice) that are not also soloed. When a channels Solo button is yellow, Solo Mode in engaged on that channel. Click a button to toggle its state.
Note: If both a channels Solo and
is.75 to 1.50. Values above 1.00 represent a lengthening of the throat while values below 1.00 represent a shortening of the throat. The actual values represent the percentage change in the throat length. For example, a value of 1.20 represents a 20% increase in throat length, while a value of 0.80 represents a 20% decrease in throat length. In addition to simply changing vocal timbre, increasing throat length is useful when the original input is female and you want the Harmony Voices that are being shifted down to sound male. Conversely, decreasing throat length is useful when the original input is male and you want the Harmony Voices that are being shifted up to sound female or childlike. ability to radically change the throat length, keep in mind that the variation in the length of human vocal tracts is rarely more than about 20% in either direction. If you are looking for a realistic vocal characteristic, start with modest settings of this control. More extreme settings can produce dramatic results, but probably not what anyone would call realistic. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 1.00. specifically for changing the existing quality of a voice, not for manual formant compensation for pitch shifting. Harmony Engine Evo automatically applies appropriate formant correction when it shifts a channels pitch. Interval The Interval popup sets a Harmony Voices pitch interval relative to the original input in Fixed Interval and Smart Interval modes. In both modes, the range is plus-or-minus two octaves. In Fixed Interval mode, the popup displays half-steps in the range -24 to +24. In Smart Interval mode, the popup displays scale degrees in the range 16va to 16vb.
Important Note: This function is Note: While this control gives you the
Mute buttons are pressed, Solo takes precedence.
Mute Engaging a Harmony Voice channels Mute Mode causes that channels signal to be muted from the output. When a Mute button is blue, that channels Mute Mode in engaged. Click a Mute button to toggle its state.
Note: If both a channels Solo and Mute buttons are pressed, Solo takes precedence. However, if Solo is then disengaged, the channel will then be muted. Another Note: Moving a channels
Gain slider to its minimum setting also results in completely muting its output.
Throat Length This control is used to define the unique vocal quality of a Harmony Voice by actually varying the geometry of the channels model vocal tract. It is used in combination with the Model Glottal control and the various forms of pitch shifting to define gender and/or vocal quality. The Throat Length control allows you to lengthen or shorten its Harmony Voice channels modeled throat. The range of this control

This control is inactive in all Chord Name and MIDI modes.
Note: Harmony Engine Evo remembers the most recent Interval settings for each of the two interval harmony modes. So, if you select Fixed Interval and set a harmony voice to +3 semitones, and then change to Smart Interval and set that same harmony voice to -5th, if you then change back to Fixed Interval, the Interval setting will return to +3 semitones.
Pan These controls set each harmony voices position on the stereo soundstage when the voice is not muted and Harmony Engine Evo is assigned to a stereo output. If Harmony Engine Evo is not assigned to a stereo track, these controls will be disabled. The control range is from -100 (panned full left) to 100 (panned full right). Not surprisingly, a value of 0 represents the center of the soundstage. The default Pan values are different for each Harmony Voice channel as follows: Channel 1: -50 Channel 2: 50 Channel 3: -100 Channel 4: 100 Option (Mac)/Control (PC)-clicking a Pan control returns it to its default value.
Note: See the CHOIR section below for a discussion of how the CHOIR Stereo Spread control interacts with the Harmony Voice Pan controls.
For reference, here are the equivalent scale intervals for each semitone interval: Semitones = Scale Interval 1 = minor 2nd 2 = major 2nd 3 = minor 3rd 4 = major 3rd 5 = perfect 4th 6 = aug 4th/dim 5th 7 = perfect 5th 8 = aug 5th/min 6th 9 = major 6th 10 = minor 7th 11 = major 7th 12 = octave 13 = minor 9th 14 = major 9th 15 = minor 10th 16 = major 10th 17 = perfect 11th 18 = aug 11th 19 = perfect 12th 20 = minor 13th 21 = major 13th 22 = minor 14th (rarely used) 23 = major 14th (rarely used) 24 = 2 octaves
The default Vibrato Rate values are slightly different for each Harmony Voice channel as follows: Channel 1: 6.2 Hz Channel 2: 5.8 Hz Channel 3: 5.4 Hz Channel 4: 5.0 Hz
Option (Mac)/Control (PC)-clicking a fader returns it to its default value. Vibrato Onset Delay This control sets the onset delay of the vibrato for its Harmony Voice. The control reads out in milliseconds such that there is no vibrato for the selected time and then there is a transition to full vibrato over the selected time. Huh? you might be asking. Understandable. Heres an example: If you select 750 (i.e., 750 milliseconds), for the first 750 ms after the onset of a note, there will be no vibrato. Over the next 750 ms, the vibrato will transition from none to the full amounts set in the Amount controls below. Therefore, a setting of 750 results in a total of 1500 ms (i.e., a second and a half) from note onset to full vibrato amounts. The default Onset Delay values are slightly different for each Harmony Voice channel as follows: Channel 1: 20 Channel 2: 30 Channel 3: 40 Channel 4: 50

The Glide function allows you to control the speed at which harmony voices transition from note to note during legato phrasing. Transition Rate This control lets you set a selectable amount of glide (or, for those who grew up with synthesizers, portamento) between overlapping note transitions. The control reads out in
behind the lead singer (in this case, the original input). There are, however, a lot of other really intriguing possibilities (highly dependent on your particular vocal). We encourage you to play around and discover some for yourself.
Note: The Formant Only mode is not available in Fixed Interval or Smart Interval modes. The button is disabled in those modes.
Click the button again to disengage the function and return the channels to normal This is useful for, among other things, having the harmony voices hold a chord while the original input continues with the melody over it. modes, there must be audio present in the original input and harmony sounding in at least one harmony voice at the moment the Freeze function is engaged. If not, all harmony output will be muted until the function is disengaged, giving the impression that Harmony Engine Evo is somehow broken. Be careful.
Important Note: In both Freeze
Formant + Pitch Click the Formant + Pitch button to engage the Formant + Pitch Freeze function. The button will turn blue to indicate that the function is active and both the harmony voices formants and articulation and their current harmony pitches will be frozen at the instant the button is clicked.
Harmony Engine Evo provides five integrated channels of our unique CHOIR Vocal Multiplier. First introduced as part of the AVOX Vocal Toolkit, CHOIR is a unique processor that turns a single monophonic voice into 2, 4, or 8 distinct individual unison voices, each with its own pitch, timing and vibrato variations. The voices can, if desired, be spread across the stereo spectrum. When multiple channels of CHOIR are assigned to the input vocal and/or individual harmony parts, the result is a startlingly realistic large vocal ensemble. With the original Harmony Engine, incorporating CHOIR meant struggling with your hosts five channel output mode (if it had one) and, of course, owning a copy of CHOIR. With Harmony Engine Evo, jaw-droppingly amazing choirs are just a few button presses away.

CHOIR Controls

CHOIR Bypass This control is used to bypass the entire CHOIR section. Click the CHOIR Bypass button to toggle its state. When its red, all CHOIR functionality is disabled. CHOIR On Buttons The Input Voice and each of the the four Harmony Voices have their own individual CHOIR On buttons. When a button is green, CHOIR is active on the associated voice. Clicking the button will toggle its state.

Stereo Spread is only available in Stereo or Mono->Stereo modes. Timing The Timing control lets you select the range of the random variation in timing applied to each generated voice. Each voice is individually Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 100.
Some CHOIR Tips Experiment with different combinations of the Pitch and Timing controls. They can create dramatically different vocal ensembles. With Timing at its minimum and substantial Pitch Variation, you have a choir thats rhythmically tight but a bit loose with intonation. Conversely, reversing those settings gives you a group thats solidly in tune, but rhythmically loose. And there are of course many variations in between. Match the performance style to the style of your music.
Keep in mind that the more channels of CHOIR active and the larger the Choir Size, the greater the CPU usage. Watch your CPU Usage Meter. If you are running out of cycles, try reducing Choir Size. Along those same lines, even if you have tons of CPU power, more is not always better. Match the Choir Size to the style of your music. Not every song needs the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Harmony Control

The controls in this section allow you to choose the method by which Harmony Engine Evo decides which harmony notes are assigned to each harmony voice. These controls, in combination with the Freeze controls and the Harmony and Voice Parameter Preset sections described below, is where the truly unique power of Harmony Engine Evo lies. While Harmony Engine Evo offers the usual extremes of automatic fixed and smart scale interval modes on one hand (very easy to use, but with little creative control) and the ability to completely specify every note of each harmony voice via MIDI on the other (ultimate control, but requiring solid expertise in note-by-note vocal arranging), its the powerful new options in the middle that we believe will provide you with innovative (and downright entertaining) ways of creating the harmony arrangements you hear in your mind.
The desired harmony mode is selected with the Harmony Source popup menu. Depending on which mode you select, various of the other controls in this section will be either activated or disabled as necessary. Rather than discuss each control separately, well look at all of the controls that function in each mode. Heres how they all work: Fixed Interval Mode When Fixed Interval mode is selected, the Interval popups in the individual harmony voice channels are enabled and all of the other controls in the Harmony Control section are disabled. In this mode, each enabled harmony voice tracks the original input at the interval defined by the number of semi-tones up or down selected in the voices Interval popup. Since no allowance is made for diatonic scale tones, using this mode in conventional diatonic harmony with any intervals aside from octaves will almost certainly result is dissonant, out-ofscale notes. As a result, this mode is best for drones, chants and other applications where absolutely parallel harmony is desired. all of the input audios pitch gestures are followed regardless of the Naturalize setting. Increasing the Naturalize setting above 0 will actually expand the range of those gestures.

Important Note: In MIDI Omni
About Routing MIDI to Harmony Engine Evo In order to use the MIDI Harmony Control modes described above, you must be able to route MIDI data to Harmony Engine Evo. The method of routing MIDI to a plug-in varies pretty dramatically (both in technique and ease) among various hosts. If you are unsure how to do it in your particular host, you should refer to your hosts manual for instructions. In addition, check the Read Me that accompanies Harmony Engine Evo for a guide to a few of the more obscure routing schemes. Finally, you can open one of the Tutorial Sessions described in Chapter 5 and simply observe how it is done.
In normal operation, a button with a preset assigned to it is blue and displays the first five or six characters of the presets name. A button with no preset assigned to it is gray and displays no text.
Note: If you assign a preset to a button without entering a name for it in the Name field, youll end up with a blue button (indicating that it has an assigned preset) that displays no text (since it has no name). In general, unless you have a really good memory, this is a bad idea. Dont do it.
When you click a button with a preset assigned, the presets full name will appear in the Harmony Preset Name field and the various harmony controls will be set to their preset values.

Harmony Presets

The Harmony Preset system allows you to assign combinations of harmony control settings to each of 15 buttons for instant recall, either manually or via automation. It is a powerful tool, both for ease of creating vocal arrangements and as a creative tool for quickly and easily experimenting with a variety of harmonic approaches. Particularly in Chord Degrees or Chord Names modes, assign a variety of chords to the preset buttons and, with just a few clicks, audition your vocal with an almost limitless combination of harmonic structures. Heres how it works: Harmony Presets store the value of the following controls: Harmony Source Inversion Key/Root Register Scale Spread Chord MIDI Velocity Sensitivity Harmony Channel Intervals Note that not all of the above controls are available in every mode. When assigning a Harmony Preset to a button, only those controls that are active in the selected Harmony Mode are remembered.

Cool Chords 2

In this preset, weve provided five chords, each in a low, medium and high voicing. The Voice Parameter Presets provide a No Variation version, along with Low, Medium, and High settings that are optimized for those voicing ranges. Things to try: Create harmonizations that are entirely in the Low, Medium or High registers. Select various Voice Parameter Presets, both matching and non-matching ranges.

Cool Chords 3

Same as Cool Chords 2, but with a different set of chords.
This preset uses Scale Interval Mode to provide one harmony voice at a variety of intervals. (Dont forget to change the presets buttons Key and Scale settings to match your track.) Choices include: 5th up or down 4th up or down 3rd up or down Octave up or down Harmony Channel 1 is used for all presets. The other channels are muted. The Voice Parameter Presets provide a No Variation version, along with Low and High versions, which add Humanization and Throat Length modifications that accentuate the formant changes associated with shifting up or down. Things to try: Add vibrato to the harmony voice. Try different values of Glide. Unmute one or more of the other channels and experiment with different intervals.
This preset demonstrates how the Harmony Presets and the Voice Parameter Presets can be used together to create variously-sized vocal groups. Using Scale Interval mode (dont forget to change the Key and Scale popups to match your track), this preset provides four variations of four harmony voices and two variations of two harmony voices. Up1, Down1, Up2 and Down2 are the four voice presets and are designed to be used with the Voice Parameter presets No Variation, Up and Down. The Harmony Presets TrioUp and TrioDown are designed to be used with the Voice Parameter presets TrioUp and TrioDown. The Harmony Presets define the proper intervals, while the Voice Parameter presets define the Trio by muting harmony channel 3 and 4.

Humanize Fun

This preset is designed to demonstrate the variety of effects available from the Humanize functions, as well show how different Harmony Control modes can be combined in a single preset. The Voice Parameter presets include one preset with no Humanize functions and five additional presets with various combinations of the three Humanize functions (their names make their settings pretty obvious, but you can also just watch the controls as you select each preset). Up in the Harmony Presets section, you will see that four different harmony modes are represented. The top three buttons are chords in Chord Name mode. The next 6 are chords in Chord Degrees mode (be sure to set the Key and Scale as necessary). Finally there is a preset in Scale Interval mode (again, set the Key and Scale) and another in Fixed Interval mode.

Fixed Intervals

This preset lets you explore the effect of using various parallel intervals in Fixed Interval mode. Other than unison and octaves, this is not something you would typically use in conventional diatonic music, but as this preset will show, it can be useful as an effect in sound design. Things to try: Explore other combinations of parallel intervals.

Chapter 5: Tutorial Sessions
As mentioned in Chapter 1, the composers who produced some of the Harmony Engine Evo demo compositions have been kind enough to allow us to include the actual sessions for you to load into your host and experiment with. In each case, weve provided versions of each demo for a number of the most popular host applications. To keep the sessions to manageable size, all accompaniment tracks have been mixed to a single stereo track. Any pre-processing of the vocal tracks (compression, EQ, etc.) was pre-rendered to the tracks. For any post-processing of the vocal track and/or Harmony Engine Evo output (delay, chorus, reverb, etc.), we asked the composers to limit themselves to generic effects that came standard with their hosts (so that they could be easily replicated in other hosts).
The method of routing MIDI to a plug-in differs pretty dramatically (both in technique and ease) among the various hosts. For that reason, the sessions that use Harmony Engine Evos MIDI modes are supplied with all MIDI routings in place. Just press Play and everything should just work.
Note: If you plan to use Harmony Engines MIDI modes, but youre not familiar with your hosts MIDI routing scheme, examining the sessions that use MIDI can be instructive. Even easier, you can use those sessions as templates. Simply make a copy of a session, delete the existing audio and MIDI data and replace them with your own.
Stay By Me (Paloma Ramos and Jason Poyner; produced by Brian English)
This pop ballad consists of a lead vocal track by singer/songwriter Paloma Ramos with piano accompaniment by co-writer Jason Poyner. Producer Brian English generated MIDI data from Jasons original keyboard performance and edited it for use as harmony control input to a single instance of Harmony Engine Evo. Brian used two of Harmony Engine Evos MIDI modes for different harmony voicing effects. In some sections, he used MIDI Omni mode, which created harmony voices at the exact pitches and ranges of the MIDI data. In other sections, he used Chord via MIDI mode, defining the harmony notes by the MIDI data but controlling the range and voicing of the harmony voices with the Register and Spread controls. In addition, Brian automated Harmony Engine Evos Formant Only Freeze function at various points in the arrangement to turn the harmony voices into wordless backup parts. Things to try: Open Harmony Engine Evo and watch its response to automation as the song plays. Note where its using MIDI Omni mode and where its using Chord via MIDI mode. Listen for the different harmony voicing effects. Note the use of Formant Only Freeze and listen to its effect. Create alternate harmony voicings by modifying the Register and Spread controls in the Chord via MIDI sections. Try using the Freeze functions in other parts of the song. Set Choir Size to 2 voices and engage it on the Input Voice for automatic doubling of the lead vocal. Experiment with the various Choir settings to hear their effects. Try completely reharmonizing the song: Mute the piano part. In Harmony Engine Evo, call up one of the Chord Degrees or Cool Chords presets. Play the song and use the Harmony Preset buttons to experiment with different chord progressions. To get really wacky, mute the original input in Harmony Engine Evo and go crazy with the chords.

Lift Us Away (gerry bassermann)
This country-tinged song features two vocalists, a male and a female, each processed with an instance of Harmony Engine Evo. Between the two parts, gerry uses three different Harmony Control modes as follows: Male Singer The male singers performance is split into three distinct sections: In the first section, the harmonic structure is relatively simple, allowing four harmony voices to be generated using Scale Interval mode in G Major. The selected intervals are 8vb, -4th, +3rd, and 8va. not stored in the Harmony Presets when using Scale Interval mode (see Chapter 3 for the explanation of why it works that way), in addition to automating the Scale Interval Harmony Preset, gerry also uses automation to set the Key and Scale popups to G Major at the beginning of the song.
Note: Because the Key and Scale are
Leading into the second section, gerry automates Harmony Engine Evos Bypass function to make the lead-in a solo. Since the second section consists of a more complex harmonic progression than the first, gerry automates a change to Chord Name mode and uses automated Harmony Presets to follow the progression with the Register and Spread controls set to a mid-range voicing. The third section returns once again to Scale Interval mode and the Key of G Major. Female Singer All harmonies for the female singer are generated using MIDI Channel mode. (In most hosts you should be able to examine the MIDI tracks in edit view.)
Notice how the number of female harmony voices changes at various places in the song. In MIDI Channel mode, a harmony voice is only active when MIDI data is present on its channel, so its easy to have a duet in one section and four part harmony in the next (or even from note to note). Things to try: Select different intervals in the male singers Scale Intervals sections. Try different Register and Spread settings during the males Chord Name section. Set Choir Size to 4 voices and engage it on all of the Harmony Voices. Experiment with the various Choir settings to hear their effects. For textural contrast, use the CHOIR Bypass control to add the CHOIR effect only to selected phrases of the song. Experiment with the Freeze functions. Try Formant Only during the male singers second section. Try Formant Only or Formant + Pitch at various places in the females sections. Modify the MIDI data and listen to the result.

Antares Audio Technologies ii Antares Software Updates 44 Auto-Tune Vocal Effect 37 Original Input 10 Setup 8 Vibrato 15 Voice Parameter Presets 31 Harmony Control 20 Chord Degrees Mode 24 Chord Degrees vs. Chord Names 26 Chord Names Mode 25 Chord via MIDI Mode 26 Fixed Interval Mode 21 MIDI Channels Mode 28 MIDI Omni Mode 27 Register 23 Register and Spread 23 Scale Interval Mode 21 Spread 23 Harmony Presets 29 assign a new preset to a button 29 create a new preset based on an existing preset 30 delete an existing preset 30 edit an existing preset 30 Harmony Voices Gain 12 Interval 13 Mute 13 Pan 14 Solo 13 Throat Length 13 Humanization 16 Humanize Fun 36 Pitch Variation 16 Timing Variation 17

De-Noise 10

Bypass 10
CHOIR 18 Tips 20 CHOIR Bypass 18 CHOIR Controls 18 CHOIR Bypass 18 CHOIR On Buttons 18 Choir Size 19 Pitch 19 Stereo Spread 19 Timing 19 Vibrato 19 CHOIR On Buttons 18 Choir Size 19 Chord Degrees Mode 24 Chord Degrees vs. Chord Names 26 Chord Names Mode 25 Chord via MIDI Mode 26 Controls 7 CHOIR 18 Continuous 7 Freeze 17 Glide 17 Harmony 20 Harmony Presets 29 Harmony Voices Humanization 16
Effects 8 Equivalent scale intervals 14
Factory Presets 33 Five Channel Output 9 Fixed Interval Mode 21 Formant Only 17 Formant + Pitch 18 Freeze 17 Formant Only 17 Formant + Pitch 18
Gain 10, 12 Getting Started 3 Authorizing 4 How to use this manual 3 Installing 4 Technical Support 4 The contents of this manual 3 Glide 17 Transition Rate 17
Input Audio 8 Interval 13
Key features 6 knowledgebase 4
Register 23 Register and Spread 23 Routing 8

License Agreement iii

MIDI 28, 39 Routing MIDI to Harmony Engine Evo 28 MIDI Channels Mode 28 MIDI Omni Mode 27 Model Glottal 9 Mute 11, 13
Original Input 10 Gain 10 Mute 11 Pan 11 Solo 10 Tracking 11
Scale Interval Mode 21 semitone interval 14 Setup 8 Bypass 10 De-Noise 10 Effects 8 Five Channel Output 9 Input Audio 8 Model Glottal 9 Routing 8 Set Input Vocal Range 9 Software Updates 44 Solo 10, 13 Spread 23 Stereo Spread 19
Vibrato 19 special effects 37 Vibrato Amplitude Amount 15 Vibrato Controls 15 Vibrato Amplitude Amount 15 Vibrato Onset Delay 15 Vibrato Pitch Amount 15 Vibrato Rate 15 Vibrato Onset Delay 15 Vibrato Pitch Amount 15 Vibrato Rate 15 Voice Parameter Presets 31 assign a new preset to a button 31 create a new preset based on an existing preset 32 delete an existing preset 32 edit an existing preset 32

Pan 11, 14 Pitch 19 Pitch Variation 16 Presets 33
Technical Support 4 Throat Length 13 Timing 19 Timing Variation 17 Tracking 11 Transition Rate 17 Tutorial Sessions 39 Let You Know 43 Lift Us Away 41 Stay By Me 40
Welcome 1 Whats it do? 5 Whats it got? 5 Whats new? 5

3: Harmony Engine Evo

Vocal Modeling Harmony Generator
If youve purchased a boxed copy of AVOX Evo, you will have noticed that it includes a separate manual for Harmony Engine Evo. And if youve downloaded AVOX Evo, youll find the Harmony Engine Evo PDF manual included with the plug-in. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, Harmony Engine Evo is by far the deepest plug-in in the AVOX Evo bundle, so there is a lot to say about getting the most out of it. And, from a more practical perspective, since Harmony Engine Evo is also sold as a stand-alone product, weve already done the work of formatting the manual and then printing a whole bunch of them, so its just a lot more efficient to include one of them here. Bottom line, read the Harmony Engine Evo manual, try out the factory presets, and play with the included tutorial sessions.

4: THROAT Evo

Physical Modeling Vocal Designer
THROAT Evo is a revolutionary vocal tool that lets you process a vocal through a meticulously crafted physical model of the human vocal tract. THROAT Evo begins by neutralizing the effect of the original singers vocal tract and then gives you the ability to specify the characteristics of the modeled vocal tract. THROAT Evos controls allow you to modify the voices glottal waveform as well as globally stretch, shorten, widen or constrict the modeled vocal tract. For even more detailed control, THROAT Evos graphical Throat Shaping display allows you to individually adjust the position and width of five points in the vocal tract model, from the vocal chords, through the throat, mouth
and out to the lips. THROAT Evos Breathiness controls let you add variable frequency noise to the model, resulting in a range of vocal effects from subtle breathiness, to raspiness, to a full whisper. Finally, THROAT Evo allows you to shift the original pitch of your vocal up or down a full octave in semitone intervals. While THROAT Evo has been designed to allow subtle modifications to a voices vocal quality, the range of the controls also allows the creation of vocal tract models well beyond the limits of physical human anatomy, offering the possibility of vocal characteristics that are simply unattainable by any other means. In order to understand what THROAT Evo is doing and how
you can use it to process your vocal tracks, it helps to know how our throats actually work to create what we perceive as unique vocal qualities. Vocal production starts with the vocal chords. Air from our lungs is forced through the vocal chords, causing them to vibrate. The contour of this vibration is the glottal waveform. The actual shape of the waveform is affected by each individuals anatomy as well as the pressure applied to the vocal chords. From there, the voice is propagated through the throat, the mouth and out through the lips. It is the shape of these structures, both their length and width, that create the resonant characteristics that combine with the glottal waveform to define a unique vocal identity. With THROAT Evo, for the first time, you have individual control over each of the elements that go into creating a distinct vocal character. Whether you are a producer or engineer looking to subtly enhance a in pursuit of a totally new vocal effect, THROAT Evo will give you creative capabilities that have simply never before existed.

Controls

Settings
In order for THROAT Evo to do the best possible job of modeling, it needs to know some basic things about the source audio. The following three controls are used to characterize the vocal that you will be processing:

Source Glottal Waveform

The glottal waveform is the waveform produced by the vibration of the vocal chords. The range of an individuals possible waveforms is defined by their particular anatomy. Within that range, the waveform can change pretty dramatically depending on the performers singing style. Imagine, for example, the progression from a breathy whisper, to a straight-ahead pop vocal, to hard rock or full-on operatic aria. A lot of subtle factors influence the glottal waveform, but for ease of setting, we have characterized the choices as loudness. Typically, as loudness increases, so does the pressure applied to the vocal chords and with that change in pressure a corresponding change in glottal waveform. When setting this control, select the loudness level (soft, medium, loud, intense) that most closely matches the performance you are processing. If youre not sure where your performance lies on this scale, dont worry. There is no need to obsess over subtle distinctions. If in doubt, just pick one. Once you have set up a model, you can always come back and try another setting and see if it makes a (positive) difference.

Vocal Range

Use this control to select the range of the track you will be processing. Choices include Soprano Voice, Alto/Tenor Voice, Bass/Baritone Voice and Instrument (a general setting for anything that isnt actually a vocal). Matching the appropriate algorithm to the input results in faster and more accurate pitch detection and more accurate modeling. To select vocal range, click on the Vocal Range pop-up and then select the desired range from the pop-up list.
Note: Choosing the wrong Vocal
Range (or just forgetting to set it at all) can result in compromised performance. Pay attention.
To select vocal type, click on the Vocal Type popup and then select the closest stylistic character of the vocal performance from the pop-up list.

Source Throat Precision

If youve already been poking around the THROAT Evo interface, you might be asking yourself, What the heck is throat precision? And a good question it is. As it happens, this control works a bit differently than the previous two. Here, youre not being asked to tell THROAT Evo something about the input, but instead to tell THROAT Evo how precise to be in its attempt to calculate the characteristics of the input based on the type of modeling you intend doing (the choices being subtle, medium, or extreme). So why not always leave it at subtle? Another good question. The answer is that THROAT Evos most precise analysis results in extremely accurate characterization of the source throat, which works well for models that are within the general range of human anatomy (i.e. subtle modifications). However, for more extreme models, the subtle setting can in some cases result in artifacts most often a sort of whistling. In those cases, such artifacts can often be reduced or eliminated by choosing a different setting for this control. As a result, the strategy for this control should be to always start with subtle (which is the default) and, if a particular model results in artifacts (and you dont actually like those artifacts), change the precision one step at a time (i.e. to medium and then extreme) until you get the desired effect. To select throat precision, click on the Source Throat Precision pop-up and then select the appropriate model type from the pop-up list.

The Pitch control is a new addition to THROAT Evo that allows you to shift your entire vocal up or down up to an octave in either direction in semitone increments. In combination with the various modeling functions, this allows the creation of voices that range from tiny creatures (or children) to growling monsters (as well, of course, as more subtle options). In practice, you should typically set your pitch shift range first and then adjust the modeling controls to create your desired vocal timbre. To adjust pitch shift, simply click and hold on the fader and move it to the desired position. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the fader to reset it to its default value of 0. The next two controls allow you to add a variety of breathiness effects to your modeled voice:
ADD Breathiness Breathiness Mix
This control lets you select the amount of breathiness component mixed into your modeled voice. With a setting of 0, there will be no breathiness (apart from what might be in the original vocal). At a setting of 100, the model will be all breathiness, with none of the original vocal characteristic present at all. Intermediate settings will produce mixes of the original vocal and the breathiness component.
throat modeling Model Throat Length
The Throat Length control allows you to globally lengthen or shorten the modeled throat. Values above 1.00 represent a lengthening of the throat while values below 1.00 represent a shortening of the throat. The actual values represent the percentage change in the throat length. For example, a value of 1.20 represents a 20% increase in throat length, while a value of 0.80 represents a 20% decrease in throat length. Changes made to this control are reflected on the Graphic Throat Display described below. If you have used that display to create a custom throat contour, this control will preserve the overall contour while scaling it by the selected amount. ability to radically change the throat length, keep in mind that the variation in the length of human vocal tracts is rarely more than about 25% in either direction. If you are looking for a realistic vocal characteristic, start with modest settings of this control. (As a visual reference, this range is indicated by color on the control scale.) More extreme settings can produce dramatic results, but probably not what anyone would call realistic. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 1.00.

Note: While this control gives you the
The sonic character of the breathiness will depend both on the articulation of the original vocal and, more dramatically, the setting of the Highpass Frequency control described below. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 0.

Highpass Frequency

This control lets you set the high pass frequency of the breathiness component (i.e., the frequency above which the breathiness will be present). This frequency determines the audio range and character of the breathiness effect. At high settings, the effect will be rather whispery and ethereal (depending, of course, on the original vocal and the Mix amount). At lower settings, the effect is more of a raspiness (again, depending on the mix). Experimentation is the best way to become familiar with the possibilities. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 4000 Hz. The remaining controls are used to define the model vocal tract:

Model Throat Width

The Throat Width control allows you to globally widen or constrict the modeled throat. Values above 1.00 represent a widening of the throat while values below 1.00 represent a narrowing of the throat. The actual values represent the percentage change in the throat width. For example, a value of 1.20 represents a 20% increase in throat width, while a value of 0.80 represents a 20% decrease in throat width. Changes made to this control are reflected on the Graphic Throat Display described below. If you have used that display to create a custom throat contour, this control will preserve the overall contour while scaling it by the selected amount. above, this control gives you the ability to radically change the throat width. Again, if you are looking for a realistic vocal characteristic, start with modest settings of this control. (And again, this range is indicated by color on the control scale.) More extreme settings can produce dramatic results, but probably not what anyone would call realistic. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 1.00.
Note: Similar to the Length control

Model Glottal Waveform

The choices here are the same as the choices for the Source Glottal Waveform control (i.e., soft, medium, loud, and intense). If you want to preserve the stylistic character of the original vocal, set this control to the same voice type as you set the Source Glottal Waveform (e.g., if you set Source Glottal Waveform to soft, set this control to soft). As mentioned below, this control interacts with the Glottal Pulse Width control. Each of the Voice Types sets a default Pulse Width that is associated with it. Once a Voice Type is set, the pulse width may then be adjusted separately. (soft, loud, etc.), this control does not necessarily change the actual level of the signal (although the intense setting does sometimes result in some level gain). Its purpose is to model the glottal waveform that would result from the various styles of singing. If you want to adjust the level, use the Output Gain control described below. To select vocal type, click on the Vocal Type popup and then select the desired stylistic character from the pop-up list.

5: DUO Evo

Vocal Modeling Auto-Doubler
The DUO Evo Vocal Modeling Auto-Doubler automatically generates a doubled vocal part from any existing monophonic vocal. Unlike conventional doublers that simply apply pitch and delay variation to the original part, DUO Evo makes use of Antares unique vocal modeling and vibrato processing technologies to create a doubled part that actually sounds like another singer. There is no easier or quicker way to create a realistic doubled vocal part.
Use this control to select the range of the track you will be processing. Choices include Soprano Voice, Alto/Tenor Voice, Bass/Baritone Voice and Instrument (a general setting for anything that isnt actually a vocal). Matching the appropriate algorithm to the input results in faster and more accurate pitch detection. To select the desired Vocal Range, click on the Vocal Range pop-up and then select the desired range from the pop-up list.
Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 0.

Vibrato

The Vibrato control allows you to select the amount of variation in vibrato depth applied to the doubled voice. Selecting a positive value increases the doubled voices vibrato depth relative to the original voice. Selecting a negative value decreases the doubled voices vibrato depth relative to the original voice. vibrato controls on most vocal processors, this function does not simply use an LFO to apply a synthesized vibrato. DUO Evo actually analyses the original vocal part to identify its vibrato and modify its depth. As a result, the modified vibrato will still reflect the overall contour of the original vibrato. As an additional consequence however, the Vibrato control will only have affect if the original vocal contains vibrato. It will not add vibrato to a performance that does not originally have it. The Vibrato control may be used by itself to modify the vibrato of a performance. See the Usage Tips below for details. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 0.

Important Note: Unlike

variation Vocal Timbre
Behind this unassuming knob lies a compact version of the THROAT Evo vocal modeler. When this control is set to 0, the doubled voice will have exactly the same character as the original voice. As you adjust the control in either direction, DUO Evo sends the doubled voice through a progressively more extreme vocal model. I.e., near 0, the timbre is very close to the original voice. As the control approaches.40 or -.40, the vocal timbre undergoes a fairly radical change. As you might imagine, this knob simultaneously controls a number of vocal modeling parameters. Weve linked them together to give you quick and easy access to a range of useful timbres. Although the exact effect of any setting will depend a good deal on the vocal being processed, in general:

Pitch Variation

The Pitch Variation control lets you select the amount of random variation in pitch applied to the doubled voice. The higher the value, the larger the maximum amount of allowable variation. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 10.

Selecting a positive value will result in a lengthening of the vocal tract and hence an older/darker/more male vocal quality. Selecting a negative value will result in a shortening of the vocal tract and hence a younger/brighter/more female vocal quality.

Timing Variation

The Timing Variation control lets you select the amount of random variation in timing applied to the doubled voice. The higher the value, the larger the maximum amount of allowable variation.
DUO Evos timing variation is completely independent of pitch variation. To get a good idea of the effect of timing variation, use the level controls to listen only to the doubled voice. set Vibrato to 0 and Pitch Variation to 10. Set Timing Variation to maximum and process a rhythmic vocal performance. Pretty weird. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 10.

levels Original Level

Sets the level of the original voice. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 0.

Original Pan Position

Sets the original voices location in the stereo spectrum. This control only functions in Stereo or Mono-> Stereo modes. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of -100 (far left).

Double Level

Sets the level of the doubled voice. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 0.

Double Pan Position

Sets the doubled voices location in the stereo spectrum. This control only functions in Stereo or Mono-> Stereo modes. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 100 (far right).
DUO Evo is available in mono and stereo versions and, depending on the capabilities of your host program, a mono -> stereo version (which in most cases is the preferred routing). In the case of the stereo version, DUO Evo processes only the left channel. DUO Evo is dramatically more effective with the original and doubled parts panned apart, so if at all possible, try always to use it with stereo output. For best performance, DUO Evo requires a clean, pitched monophonic signal. If DUO Evo can not reliably detect the pitch of the input, either because of a noisy or effected signal or because the input is not a single monophonic voice, it will apply Vocal Timbre and Timing variations only. Experiment with various Pitch and Timing settings. Different combinations can result in distinctly different stylistic effects. DUO Evos Vibrato function can be used by itself to modify the vibrato depth on a recorded track. If you have a track with too deep a vibrato (or too shallow, although thats a much rarer problem), assign DUO Evo to the track and set the mixer so that only the doubled track is heard. Set Vocal Timbre to 0 and Pitch and Timing to their minimum values. While listening to the track, adjust the Vibrato slider to reduce or expand the vibrato depth as desired. Notice that while you are modifying the vibrato depth, the expressive contour of the singers original vibrato is retained.

Along those same lines, even if you have tons of CPU power, more is not always better. Match the choir size to the style of your music. Not every song needs the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Experiment with different combinations of the Pitch and Timing controls. They can create dramatically different vocal ensembles. With Timing at its minimum and substantial Pitch Variation, you have a choir thats rhythmically tight but a bit loose with intonation. Conversely, reversing those settings gives you a group thats solidly in tune, but rhythmically loose. And there are of course many variations in between. Match the performance style to the style of your music. For best performance, CHOIR Evo requires a clean, pitched monophonic signal. If CHOIR Evo can not reliably detect the pitch of the input, either because of a noisy or effected signal or because the input is not a single monophonic voice, it will apply Timing variations only.

7: PUNCH Evo

Vocal Impact Enhancer
PUNCH Evo is a processor that is designed to optimize the level of a vocal track to allow it to cut through a dense mix with power and clarity. It provides a combination of compression, gain, limiting, and overload protection with a user interface designed for speed and simplicity.
This control allows you to increase the gain of your vocal. It will typically be set in combination with the Impact control below. The effect of this control will be reflected on the Output Level display. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 0.0.

Input Level

This meter displays the input level of the signal to be processed. purposes only. None of the following controls affect the input level. The result of all processing will be reflected on the Output Level display described below.
Note: This display is for reference

Impact

This control lets you select the amount of punch that is added to the vocal. As you increase the value of this control, level variations in the vocal performance are equalized and their level raised. The effect of the control will be reflected on the Output Level display. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control to reset it to its default value of 0.

Digital Talk Box
A modern-day version of the venerable talk box, ARTICULATOR Evo lets you extract the formant and amplitude information from a vocal (or other dynamic source) and apply it to any other audio track or to a built-in broadband noise generator. Perfect for talking guitars, singing synths, whispering voices, and a wide range of special effects.
Finally, because different hosts offer different (or no) capabilities for routing multiple tracks to a single plug-in, the version of ARTICULATOR Evo for each plug-in format features a unique Input Routing subsection that is designed for the specific capabilities of that format.

Signal Selection

So whats going on here?
ARTICULATOR Evo is unique among the AVOX Evo plug-ins in a number of basic ways: First, it requires two different audio sources, what we call the Audio Signal and the Control Signal (more about those in a bit). Second, while every other AVOX Evo plug-in is designed to process and affect a vocal track, ARTICULATOR Evo is designed to use a vocal track to control the processing of a second track, ideally a track with broadband harmonic content like a rich synth patch, a processed guitar, or the built-in noise generator (but typically not another vocal track).
As mentioned above, ARTICULATOR Evo requires two audio sources (although the built-in Noise Generator can serve as one of them). They are:
The Control Signal: This signal serves as the
source of the formant and amplitude information that will be applied to the Audio Signal. A good Control Signal will have a lot of variation in both loudness and resonant harmonic content. A voice, whether singing, speaking, or just making weird rhythmic vocal noises makes an ideal Control Signal. The Control Signal will always be mono.
The Audio Signal: This is the signal that
the Control Signals formant and amplitude information is applied to. A good Audio Signal will be rich in harmonic content and sustained
in nature. Examples include synth pads and patches rich in overtones, distortion-rich guitar sounds, or even entire instrumental mixes. The built-in Noise Generator also makes a good Audio Signal, but its character will pretty much always be in the nature of whispering. (It can also be mixed with an external Audio Signal.) The Audio Signal can be mono or stereo, depending on the capabilities of your particular host.

Input Routing Section

As mentioned above, the RTAS, VST and Audio Units versions of ARTICULATOR Evo each include an Input Routing section unique to each formats capabilities. In the case of RTAS and VST, these sections are simply informational in nature, providing an indication of whats going where. In the case of Audio Units, the Input Routing section includes controls that let you select the routing that is supported by your particular host. Details below. RTAS Since Pro Tools supports sidechain routing, setting up the RTAS version is quite straightforward. Simply select the Audio Signal by instantiating ARTICULATOR Evo on the desired mono or stereo audio track and then assign the Control Signal via the sidechain input. The RTAS Input Routing section includes a red LED that lights to confirm that the sidechain input has been enabled in Pro Tools.

Instantiation on a 3 channel FX bus: In this configuration,
Audio Units Some Audio Units hosts support sidechain input and some dont. Consequently, the Input Routing section for the AU version provides controls that allow you to set up ARTICULATOR Evo to take advantage of whichever capabilities your host provides. The Input Routing section will change to reflect each of the two possible options:
Instantiation on a mono track: In this configuration, you
can select either the sidechain input or the audio track itself as the Control Signal. If our host supports sidechain input, you will typically always select it as the Control Signal. If your host does not offer sidechain input, select Audio Track. Depending on your choice, the resulting Audio Signal source will appear in the Audio Signal display as follows:
ARTICULATOR Evo treats the surround channel of the FX bus as the Control Signal and the left and right stereo channels as the Audio Signal.
If you select Sidechain, the Audio Source will be the audio track that ARTICULATOR Evo is instantiated on. If you select Audio Track, ARTICULATOR Evos internal Noise Generator functions as the Audio Signal. (This is useful primarily for whispering and modulated noise effects.)
Instantiation on a stereo track: In this
Again, this will require that you create the FX bus channels by combining the independent tracks you wish to use as Control Signal and Audio Signal (again being careful to ensure that they are hard panned to the appropriate channels). This is the most flexible of the three options, in that it allows you to process a stereo Audio Signal.
configuration, you can select either the sidechain input or the left channel of the audio track or the right channel of the audio track as the Control Signal. If our host supports sidechain input, you will typically always select it as the Control Signal. If your host does not offer sidechain input, select either the left or right channel of the audio track. Depending on your choice, the resulting Audio Signal source will appear in the Audio Signal display as follows:

Note: For the technically curious,

Alienize Section

The Alienize section lets you give your speech the quality of an alien language by chopping it up into small segments and playing each segment in reverse. (The effect is kind of hard to describe in words, so just try it. Youll see.)

Alienize

The Alienize switch lets you activate and deactivate the Alienization process. Click anywhere on the switch to toggle its state between On and Off. It turns blue when Alienization is On and gray when it is Off.

Dialect

This control sets the length of the speech segments that are reversed. You can choose one of two Dialect modes, Internal or Tempo Sync.

Mutant Mix

This control allows you to set a mix between the original unprocessed voice and the voice after being processed by the Mutation control. This mix is then sent on to the Alienize section. When this control is set to the extreme Original end of its range, only the original unprocessed voice will be sent. At the extreme Mutated end, only the processed voice will be sent. In the middle of the range, a selectable mix of the two will be sent. To set the Mutant Mix, click on the knob and move the cursor up to turn the knob clockwise, or down to turn it counterclockwise. The numeric display will indicate the percentage of the Mutated signal in the mix. Command (Mac)/Alt (PC) clicking on the knob will reset it to its default value of 100 (all mutated signal).
Internal Mode When using Internal Mode (i.e., when the Temp Sync button is not engaged), the Dialect control sets the length (in time) of the speech segments that are reversed. Low numbers result in short segments, while progressively higher numbers result in progressively longer segments. At very low numbers, the segments are so small that you can still easily understand the original spoken or sung words. At higher numbers intelligibility becomes progressively worse, until at very high numbers, each segment can include one or more entire words. Tempo Sync Mode To engage Tempo Sync Mode, click the Tempo Sync button so that it turns blue. In Tempo Sync Mode, the length of the speech segments are synced to beats or fractional beats relative to your hosts tempo. With the hosts transport running, the Receiving Clock LED will

Tube Selector

WARM includes two different tube models. The Velvet (blue) tube models the subtle effects of a classic high-quality tube preamp. While this model is perfect for adding warmth to vocals, its just as useful for acoustic guitar, horns, strings, synth pads, in fact pretty much anything. The Crunch (red) tube models the deep, warm distortion of an overdriven tube amplifier. Use it in moderation to impart a subtle (or not-sosubtle) effect to almost any track. Or crank it up for that industrial vocal sound, electric guitar, bass, or synths. To select a tube, simply click the appropriate button.

Drive Amount

The amount of tube saturation effect applied to your audio is controlled by the Drive control in combination with the Input Gain control described above. The Drive control determines the amplification factor of the modeled tube pre-amp with the numeric display indicating the amplification in dB. At 0 dB , no distortion occurs, even for full amplitude (+1 or -1) signal levels. These levels represent the rails of the amplifier. As the Drive is increased, the amplification is increased. Any regions of the signal that increase beyond the rails generate saturation distortion. Because the maximum Drive amount is +12 dB, generating the tube effect requires the original signal to be at a level greater than -12 dB. If this is not the case, you should adjust the Input Gain control to increase the level of the sound. (Be certain that Input Gain is not increased so much as to cause clipping.) It may be necessary to go back and forth between Drive and Input Gain a few times to get exactly the effect you want. an exceptionally low level, it may be that even maximum Input Gain and maximum Drive will still not result in a level high enough to generate distortion. In that case, either rerecord your audio at a higher level (if possible) or use your waveform editing program to digitally increase the level (keeping in mind that this may negatively affect the signal quality).
NOTE: If your audio was recorded at
To adjust the Drive amount, click on the fader handle and move it left or right to the desired setting. The numerical display will indicate the amplification factor in dB and the tube graphics will glow will change to provide an additional visual indication (i.e., eye candy). Command (Mac)/Alt (PC) clicking anywhere in the scale will reset the Drive value to 0dB

Output Attenuation

This control applies attenuation to the signal after its passed through the tube model. It is typically used to ensure that no clipping occurs as a result of the gain applied by the Drive control. As a starting point, set the attenuation to 0dB (i.e., no attenuation). If the Clip indicator lights, apply just enough attenuation to avoid the clipping and cause the output level meter needle to spend most of its time in the top two meter segments. (The top of the level meters range is 0dB. To adjust attenuation, click on and move the fader to the desired position. The numeric display will indicate in dBs the exact amount of attenuation applied. Command (Mac)/Alt (PC) clicking anywhere in the fader track will reset the control to its default value of 0dB.

OmniTube

Without OmniTube engaged, WARM functions exactly like a tube preamp, i.e., the regions of the input signal that exceed the clipping level (typically transients) are affected and all other regions are passed with no change. With OmniTube on, all regions of the input signal are subject to tube distortion. To accomplish this, when you engage OmniTube, a compressor is inserted into the signal path after the Input Gain control and before the tube model. The compressor is set to compress the signal and then apply sufficient makeup gain to ensure that the Drive control can drive the entire signal above the clipping level. After the tube effect is applied to the entire signal, an inverse gain function restores the signals original dynamics. The effect of OmniTube is highly dependent on the character of the input signal, which tube is selected, and the setting of the Drive control. Experimentation is the order of the day. To toggle OmniTube on or off, simply click on the OmniTube button. The color of the switch will change to indicate its current state. employs a compressor, it is important to remember that the final output signal is not compressed and that the original dynamics are maintained. If you want to actually compress your signal, youll need a separate compressor somewhere else in the signal chain.
NOTE: Despite the fact that OmniTube
At its most basic level, WARM is designed to add an extremely accurate model of a tube preamps sound to warm your digital tracks. But we have purposely designed WARM to have a range of controls that allow you to push well beyond that model. Here are a few other things to try:

Increase/Reduce

Click the appropriate button to ether Increase or Decrease the amount of aspiration noise. The appropriate controls will become active (and the remaining controls will be disabled). acts on the aspiration noise naturally present in a persons voice. It does not synthesize aspiration noise from scratch. There are people with extremely pure voices that contain virtually no audible aspiration noise. In those relatively rare cases, ASPIRE Evo will have no audible effect.
IMPORTANT NOTE: ASPIRE Evo

Reduction

This control allows you to select the amount of reduction of the aspiration noise. A setting of 0.0 provides no reduction. Maximum reduction is -12.0 dB. The red aspiration noise plot on the graphic display will move to reflect the setting of the control. To adjust Reduction, click on the knob and move the cursor up to turn the knob clockwise, or down to turn it counterclockwise. Command (Mac)/Alt (PC) clicking on the knob will reset it to its default value of -6 dB.
only active in the Increase mode, various combinations of Increase amount, Frequency, Q, and Gain can result in selective shaping of the aspiration noise. Specifically, using negative Gain amounts, you can use this mode to decrease the aspiration noise in a specific frequency range while increasing it (or leaving it unchanged) in another.
Another Note: Although the EQ is
This control selects the frequency of the EQ (i.e., the frequency that will either be increased or decreased via the Gain control). The range is from 0Hz to 4000Hz. To adjust Frequency, click on the knob and move the cursor up to turn the knob clockwise, or down to turn it counterclockwise. Command (Mac)/Alt (PC) clicking on the knob will reset it to its default value of 1500Hz.

Increase

This control allows you to increase the amount of the aspiration noise (although see the section on EQ below for an explanation of how this function can also be used for selective reduction). A setting of 0.0 provides no increase. Maximum increase is 12.0 dB. The red aspiration noise plot on the graphic display will move to reflect the setting of the control. To adjust Increase, click on the knob and move the cursor up to turn the knob clockwise, or down to turn it counterclockwise. Command (Mac)/Alt (PC) clicking on the knob will reset it to its default value of 6 dB.