Seventeen years ago when I first started using tracker programs, I found it difficult to lay down a note sequence with the timing I wanted just by stepping through and looking at the numbers.



I found it useful to tap out the time first, without the tune, on the computer keyboard, to mark out the timing. Then I'd replace the placeholder notes with the right ones. Much easier than trying to do it all by eye (or relying on a perfect take! ).

Today I tried out a similar technique on an audio file in Ableton Live. I was trying to get some a cappella vocals into a certain rhythm. I usually to find this very frustrating - the shapes of the waves don't really tend to line up with phonemes and I always end up dragging warp markers about for ages and making a big old mess.

Today, I had the idea of singing the vocals with the timing I wanted and then just lining up the real vocals to this.



This was much MUCH easier than trying to do it any other way! You can see here I've been quite loose with it - I am trying to get out of the habit of over-quantising - it sounds good anyway. Next time I get an a cappella I'm gonna do this with the whole lot.

Tags: music tip