Figure Nip

Jul 30

Published by admin at 6:48 am under comic book heroes

Figure Nip

10 years ago the standard way to correct pitch in vocals wasÂ Antares Autotune. To correct bits manually, you'd have to use graphical mode. It was very fiddly, you'd have to load in a few seconds of vocal and then nip in to an inch square box and move the audio up or down to correct the pitch then bounce down. It didn't sound great either. Then came Celemony'sÂ Melodyne; the quality of its central pitch/time manipulation engine generated a real sense of excitement amongst Producers and Engineers on account of the new possibilities and user friendliness. It was not only easy to use but sounded pretty good too.

Then in 2009 came Melodyne DNA (Direct Note Access). It promised what some called impossible: to select and manipulate individual notes within a polyphonic audio file. I was certainly skeptical, but seeing a few videos on youtube last year blew me away so I couldn't wait to crack it open myself. It works as a stand alone or in a DAW like Logic, Cubase or Pro Tools software.

When I did, I loaded in a stereo mix of All Saints' 'Never Ever'. The reason I chose this record is because I knew the arrangement inside out and wanted to compare the intro with just the vocal and piano, and the middle of the song when all the 'bells and whistles' are in. Although the mix feels full throughout, there're not too many musical elements going on at any one time.

I found it easy to nip in and change the individual notes in the piano chords throughout the song. Impressively, change the pitch of all the instruments without effecting anything else playing at the same point. Even instruments which were relatively close to each other in pitch. Unfortunately, I struggled to 'lift' the lead vocal in any part of the song. Even the intro where it's only the LV (lead vocal) and piano in the mix. The method here would obviously be deleting everything you see which isn't the LV part. It just didn't sound good enough. Not even with a bit of 'splosh' (Lexican reverb or Space Designer and Delay Designer)

Q: What use is this groundbreaking software to me? A: Unfortunately, I can't think of any.

Â• The old Melodyne is fine for me to tuneÂ monophonic vocal tracks. (To be honest, I don't know if DNA sounds any better using it monophonically)

Â• Acapella's 'lifted' off of mixes are unusable.

Â• I don't need to nick other people's musical elements or chords in the form of MIDI *

Â• I will never spend money on session musicians or orchestras before knowing 100% how the chords and melody are going to go.

So, it is undoubtedly the most incredible software I've every come across and great fun to play with. But, I can't for the life of me think where itÂ would be useful to me!

I did this with my Songwriting students: if you like a chord progression and would like to know what the chords are, you figure out the root note for each chord and write it down. You can easily do with my ear but it may take some longer than others to do. In a nutshell, the note that sounds most like the chord should be the root note. Now figure out if it's major or minor by listening to it and experimenting; now (specially if it's jazzy or bluesy) roughly figure out any extensions. Write all this down and play through again and again tweaking until it sounds good. I think you'll find that (particularly if you're playing a guitar and recorded instrument is keyboard based) you are already playing different inversions before you tweak some more to make those chords 'your own'.

I have been around for years now and have been lucky enough to be trained in the most prestigious recording studios in the world, working without the very highest profile artists, producers and writers. Check the links for more info:

Dave Garnish's tips and tricks ***
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Why does it look like my Figure-8 Puffer is losing his color?

I have a 10 gallon tank with five Puffer fry.. letting them grow in there until it's time to split them up into more tanks. I made the mistake of letting them hang out with a Gyrinocheilus, not realizing that once they got two inches long, they'd become incredibly aggressive. Gyrino has since been moved into his own tank. Anyway, I'm not sure if this is from stress or from getting attacked, but my smallest and second to the smallest Figure 8s look as if they've lost color on their backs. My theory is that Mr Gyrino attacked them and those are wounds. There's no black or red, however, and no nipped fins. The area doesn't appear to be raised either, so I doubt it's ich. I just want to be sure of what's wrong before I treat and if it is injury, what's the best thing to do for light brackish water Puffers?

First I would check to see if they are in fact wounds. If it looks raw and rubbed on then they probably are. Try natural medicines to add directly into the water to treat them.

Also, if you are feeding them anything with addidives and chemicals then that could cause pigmentaion and color loss. Go with 100% natural.

As long as the fry seem to be active, eating well, and as long as it isn't the other three fry that are beating them up then they should be fine. Check your water quality to be sure too.

If the fry have any holes they like to hide in or places they like to squeeze behind, then it could be scraping their backs. If they were determined to escape the gyrino then this is a possibility.

Hope this helps.

Moo-Moo loves the 'nip.