Izotope Nectar

[Peter C]

Thought I'd download the trial, tried it out on a female vocal I'm currently working on. Used the AI assistant to get started.....and in less than a minute it produced at least as good a result (to my ears) as what I had spent hours on tweaking and twisting the different elements.  What really impressed me was the EQ analysis which performed subtractive editing on identified resonant frequencies and then with a second eq smoothed out those results and gave the vocal a subtle 'lift'.

What was also quite reassuring for me really was how my labours with all the separate elements with Waves and other plugins did eventually yield a result pretty close to the AI. 

Amazing really but...but....but......is there a  danger that if we all start using AI as the easy way out - which I guess it is - that all our vocal tracks will start to have that horrible vocal similarity which (IMHO) afflicts many current chart hits????  

I would also be interested to hear about  other experiences of Nectar. 

[Glenn Stanton]

On 11/4/2020 at 9:44 AM, Peter C said:

Amazing really but...but....but......is there a  danger that if we all start using AI as the easy way out - which I guess it is - that all our vocal tracks will start to have that horrible vocal similarity which (IMHO) afflicts many current chart hits????  

 

too late ? all your vocal tracks are belong to us! you will be assimilated!

[Kevin Walsh]

I use nectar too, but the assistant puts a sheen on the track that just kills the human element. That's great if thats what you're going for (modern pop, I'm looking at you) but not for more roots-oriented stuff or blues or classic rock styles (imho!)

Like you said, it does do a great job of finding resonant frequencies, so its a good starting point but I almost never use what it suggests without a lot of changes.

Have you tried Neutron? Same kind of thing for all the othe instruments. We live in wondrous days.

[DeeringAmps]

I’m seeing the same things as Kevin. I would describe the nectar results as “harsh” or  too bright. (same thing, different adverb). 
tom

[noynekker]

The newest version of Nectar (3) is brilliant because of the reverb and delay frequency roll off controls. The compressor and de-esser visual displays are also great and intuitive to use. Though, I must agree with others here . . . it seems the AI wants to always boost the speech recognition ranges far too much. Sure, it stands out in the mix . . . but unless you have a really high quality mic, it's over the top, too much . . . especially if you are the mix engineer of your own recorded voice, and have a budget mic . . . ouch !

AI machines are programmed to seek out and eliminate mud . . . they are not yet sensitive enough to appreciate or recognize warmth.

[Peter C]

17 hours ago, Glenn Stanton said:

too late ? all your vocal tracks are belong to us! you will be assimilated!

Y-e-e-e-e-s.......at my age that may be no bad thing!

Thanks everyone for the contributions, that's interesting.  The singer I'm working with at the moment has a great voice but used a  sm57a mic which apparently is noted for its boxy sound on recorded vocals with harsh sibilants. That essentially is what I've got to work with  . I used the AI to  reference the backing track and it  certainly warmed things up and really embedded the vocal within the whole track - too much for my liking so I did pull it back up. And it wasn't so good at toning down the sibilants although that's always a fine line and usually involves me going through the vocal take with some volume automation.  So in a way it did the opposite to what's been described. But this is a classical-style track.

Kevin, I haven't tried Neutron,  I find mixing instrumental tracks a lot easier than vocals.....it's always the vocals.......... However I'll look that too. Thanks for the suggestion.

I also take  noynekker's   point about  it providing a starting point.