User manual ANTARES AVOX

[. . . ] Certified Isinglass-freeTM All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Antares Audio Technologies 231 Technology Circle, Scotts Valley, California 95066 USA web: www. antarestech. com Printed in USA Rev 1. 0 08/05 PN 35030-0805-M01 The Obligatory Legal Mumbo-Jumbo The AVOX software and this User's Manual are protected by copyright law. Making copies, adaptations, or derivative works without the prior written authorization of Antares Audio Technologies, is prohibited by law and constitutes a punishable violation of the law. Antares Audio Technologies retains all ownership rights to the AVOX software and its documentation. [. . . ] Here are some things to consider when working with the Throat Shaping display: · Point (1), which represents the vocal chords, serves as the anchor of the vocal tract. It can be adjusted for width but not length. · When you move points (2), (3), or (4) horizontally, you are adjusting the relative lengths of the adjacent sections. For example, if you move point (3) to the right, you are lengthening the section between (2) and (3) while shortening the section between (3) and (4). The overall length of the throat model remains the same. · Only by moving point (5) can you change the overall length of the model (apart from using the Throat Length slider, of course). · As we've mentioned, if you're looking for "realistic" vocal characteristics, you would do well to start with relatively small adjustments that result in all control points and plot lines remaining in the central light blue area. · In addition to the plot point positions, watch the contour of the plot lines connecting them. It's possible to place the points in positions relative to each other that cause the plot lines to bow out towards the edges of the display (or even pin against an edge of the display). This will almost always result in artifacts of one sort or another. (Of course, if it's artifacts you're looking for, they may be just what you want. ) · When you have created a custom model contour, the Model Throat Length and Width controls will adjust the overall throat length and width while retaining (and scaling) your custom contour. · Extremely striking effects can be created by moving plot points in realtime. You can do this manually (for one point at a time) or, much more powerfully, you can use your host's automation capabilities to program movements of all five points simultaneously. For the purposes of automation, each point is represented by two parameters, one for horizontal position (length) and one for vertical position (width). In addition to the original and model plots, when THROAT is processing audio the display will also contain real-time representations of the original and modeled throat contours. As with the plots, the blue contour is the original throat and the red contour is the model throat. As you begin to get familiar with the Throat Shaping display, trial-and-error will no doubt be the first order of the day. However, with a little experience, you will soon be able to predict what effect a particular plot adjustment will 13 have. Checking out the factory presets, with a particular eye towards model plot shapes, should help you on your way. Reset Clicking the Reset button cancels any custom contour you have programmed, but retains any global Stretch and Width settings set by the Model Throat Length and Width controls. To reset those controls, Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click them to set them to their default values. Output Gain This control lets you adjust the output level of the modeled vocal over a range of +/- 24 dB. [. . . ] The solution to this problem is to compress only the sibilants, thereby lowering their level relative to the rest of the track. Processing a signal this way is called de-essing. Gain Reduction Meter The Gain Reduction Meter displays the amount of compression taking place. If the frequency and threshold controls are set properly, the meter will display little gain reduction during vowel sounds and soft consonants, and substantial gain reduction during sibilants. For this reason, the meter is a useful tool when setting the other controls. [. . . ]