In case you aren’t already familiar with it, the ADX Vocal Volume Control plug-in automatically separates the main vocal or lead melody line from a mono or stereo mix, then allows you to adjust vocal volume and pan position – all without requiring the original multi-track session! Gone are the days of a ‘locked’ mix.

VVC 3, the latest release of this ground breaking plug-in achieves up to +/- 12dB of gain control over the separated melody – this means even more powerful volume automation and adjustments than ever before. Users can also pan the separated vocal or melody line up to 60% to the left and right within the stereo field.

In addition, VVC 3 features two new separation modes: Vocal and Melody. With ‘Vocal’ mode selected, VVC uses an advanced algorithm to identify and separate only vocal content. With ‘Melody’ mode selected, ADX algorithms extract the main melodic content, enabling control over monophonic melodies from instruments such as guitar, saxophone, synth lead and more.

VVC 3 is a free upgrade for all VVC owners, so head on over to your account page to get started, or read on for step-by-step download and activation instructions.

ADX VVC 3 Features
Volume control of melodic content up to +/- 12 dB
Improved vocal detection algorithm
Melody and Vocal Separation Modes
Works with stereo and mono sources
Supports AAX, AU, VST, Mac and Windows

 

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ADX VVC 3: Step by Step

Note: The VVC plugin interfaces with your DAW, so be sure to familiarize yourself with the proper plugin format for your system, and check to make sure your system and DAW are both compatible with VVC before you get started.

1. Getting Started

So how do you use VVC? Well, for one you can read all about it in the ADX VVC User Guide, watch this in-depth tutorial video, or read on for a step-by-step walkthrough of the process, including installation and activation.

2. Downloading ADX VVC 3

To begin, download the VVC package from your Audionamix account page. Once downloaded, unzip the folder and take a moment to view the README, where you’ll find specific installation instructions and a link to the full user guide.

3. Next, launch the appropriate installer for your system.

4. We’re now ready to launch our DAW and activate VVC. Either open a session that you’re working on to add VVC to a pre-existing track, or begin with a blank session and import your file onto a new track.

5. Now that we’ve got our new track, we’ll insert the VVC plugin onto our target track. You’ll find the VVC plugin listed under the ‘Other’ category.

6. To activate VVC for the first time, click on the Preferences button to the lower left of the VVC interface, then copy and paste your Username and API key from your Audionamix account page. Click Okay and VVC is ready to use!

7. Now before you can separate, you’ll have to acquire the audio that you would like to target. You can choose to work on the entire song, or a selection within a song. You can just click play to cycle through the audio in real time and send it to VVC, or you can run an offline bounce to disk for faster acquisition. In this example we’re going to process the entire song, so I’ll select the clip, then take advantage of the offline bounce feature to quickly acquire the selection into VVC.

8. Once audio has been acquired, the Acquire button will turn blue and the status will read ‘data acquired…choose separation options and press separate”.  Selecting separation options tailored to your particular mix can help improve the quality of your separation.

Separation Modes

With Vocal mode selected, VVC uses an advanced algorithm to detect where a singing voice is present and will extract melodic content only during those sections. When no vocal is present, the original mix will remain unaffected.

With Melody mode selected, ADX algorithms extract melodic content for the entire duration of the selection. It can be useful when trying to control the volume of a monophonic instrument such as Guitar, Sax, or likewise.

Pitch Range

If you happen to know the vocal range of the performance in your particular track, fine tuning the high and low pitch range values will assist VVC’s ability to target the proper melody line. To change these values, double-click in the box and enter a specific note. You can view the relation between notes and frequencies in the user guide.

Separation Options

High Quality: To use an alternative algorithm that can help reduce drum bleed in your separation, turn on the High Quality option, but please note that this will take a substantially longer amount of processing time.
Reverb: To have VVC include the reverb in the vocal separation to maintain the wet/dry balance, turn on the Reverb option. This means less vocal, less reverb. More vocal, more reverb. As we pan the separated vocal, the reverb will move along with the new vocal positioning .

Consonants: Turn on the Consonants boost feature to focus on noisy consonants along with the separated tonal melody. Applying the consonants target with the Reverb algorithm is recommended, since noisy consonants can get lost during reverb processing.
9. With your Separation Options selected, click Separate to send the data to the ADX servers for processing.

10. After the separation process is complete, use the Volume Control Slider to raise and lower the level of the main melody within the mix by plus or minus 12 decibels. Use the pan slider to move the vocal 60% to the left and right within the stereo field of the mix. To return a slider to 0, Option-click or Right-click it.

And that’s it, you can now adjust and automate the level of the separated melody and continue working in your session to create your final masterpiece!

If you have any questions, comments or issues, please reach out to support@audionamix.com.

Thank you for reading, and enjoy ADX VVC 3!