2 user reviews on Waves Vocal Rider. If you are looking for the perfect plugin, it's really hard. A Rider Fader, positioned at the center of the plug-in, automatically makes level adjustments to the vocal track based on the settings of surrounding controls. Visually, Vocal Rider is fairly straightforward. Visit our corporate site. Really cool idea! Check out MAutoPitch Review. Hi, I’m looking for an alternative to the Waves Vocal Rider. Prices starting at $39 average price: $64. Then adjust a Music Sensitivity control to determine how much the plug-in adapts to changing levels in the accompanying tracks. © 2021 MIX is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Bypass. This is an essential plugin for every level audio engineer, well worth the $$, plus it works wonders on signals other than vocals. The first step is to add Vocal Rider to the track you want to automate. Sweetwater's Sales Engineers are regarded as the most experienced and knowledgeable professionals in the music industry, with extensive music backgrounds and intense training on the latest products and technologies. It's not perfect, but it works - thank you Waves for saving me time making music. Not all DAWs support this functionality—check Waves’ Website for compatibility with your DAW. Get it! Here, the last fader move has been edited to provide additional gain boost to a swallowed lyric. Vocal Rider’s controls are novel enough that reading the operating manual is a must. Vocal Rider is the first of Waves pioneering new series of Mix tools. If you're not a professional sound mixer and just want to create a decent enough mix for your music recordings then this plug-in will do wonders for your vocal track's volume control and overall mix. size 2.53 MB VOCRIDER is a sidechain automatic level rider for vocal tracks. I'm definitely way late to the game on this Vocal Rider plugin. Up until now, for me, leveling vocals has been done with compression. Vocal Rider is the first of Waves pioneering new series of Mix tools. Quite pleased with the purchase. This plugin has exceeded my expectations. Vocal Rider automatically rides the gain of a vocal track during mixdown. Earthworks’ SR Series of microphones is intended for sound reinforcement applications, though the subject of this review—the SR314 handheld vocal condenser mic—is equally suited for use on stage or in the studio. They are available to offer you personalized product advice any time you need it. Ride enhance knob. In Write mode, Vocal Rider can write its vocal fader moves to your DAW’s automation lane. Now, let me do something like turn up a compressor. It fills the spot between other plugins perfectly,though. It has a nice selection of presets, so you can start using it right away. Input, processing, ride and sidechain meters. This made the start of these phrases sound better than they did when the plug-in arbitrarily rode them (as fader riding is an inherently lagging action). That could be my music isn't mixed properly. I had that issue with a project of mine and using CLA Mixhub with this plugin as an insert, I was able to fully tame and even out the volume. Thank you for your request. Vocal Rider imposed very negligible drain on my Mac Pro. The key for me is each stage of compression is only doing a little bit of work unless occasionally I smash a rock vocal at the mix stage. Having purchased at a nice discount didn't hurt either. And unlike compression, Vocal Rider adds absolutely no coloring to the vocal track. I really love this plug-in. Questions about the Waves Vocal Rider Plug-in. User review from Hatsubai about Waves Vocal Rider : Level rider for vocals ... Vocal Rider, Other software dynamics processor from Waves. For vocal tracks that presented both problems, I usually slapped a compressor on the track to tame peaks and used Vocal Rider’s slow attack setting to automatically boost low-level tidbits. And sometimes it figures out the vocals were pushed too loud a little too late. This one does it automatically and does it quite well with minimal sound artifacts if any. Also there's a vocal and music sensitivity setting. The obvious answer is … Saves time getting the exact right sound/effect. The Vocal Rider does just what its name implies: It takes incoming signal and adjusts it to stay inside a certain decibel range. I love this little guy. Vocal Rider is the first of Waves pioneering new series of Mix tools. I found that an indiscriminately low setting of this slider also negatively affects quiet phrases, riding them not as high as they might need to be boosted. Even if you did do that, it simply would not be as accurate as Vocal Rider delivers. 2 user reviews. The bottom Range slider and top Range slider help define the overall dynamic range that you are riding in with relation to the target setting. It helps a lot when combining takes during the editing process and when your vocalist doesn't address the microphone consistently (when reading lyrics while tracking. contributing editor Michael Cooper is the owner of Michael Cooper Recording in Sisters, Ore. Visit him at www.myspace.com/michaelcooperrecording. The GLD has excellent built in effects but it doesn't have anything like Vocal Rider. It looks like a simple plug-in but I had to fidget with it quite a bit to reach a good level. The vst 3 in reaper works great. Vocal Rider is designed to simply match your vocal tracks to the rest of the mix, maintaining a relative volume throughout the song. The automation is easy to adjust if there are some tweaks you want to make after the rider does it's thing. Once Vocal Rider gets you most of the way there, you can then apply compression in a musical way, and not so much in a utilitarian way. Switching to the fast Attack setting, Vocal Rider successfully attenuated loud starts to vocal phrases but also often failed to raise very quiet sections. Most other Mac DAWs support AU plug-ins. Vocal Rider also has a Live component with an exclusive Spill control to differentiate the vocal from background instrumentation and noise, for better tracking and performance. Users can automate the plug-in to modify its action, phrase by phrase. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Later, you can edit the automation curve to tweak Vocal Rider’s performance dynamically on playback. On the other hand, the top Range slider increases the maximum amount of boost that Vocal Rider applies to low-level phrases. I'm diggin it. Vocal Rider is a big time saver for mixing. Get Directions | Simply put, Vocal Rider rides the levels of vocal tracks, automatically. Auto input/sidechain detectors. As is the case with all exacting engineering, the final tweaks are up to you. . After getting this plug, I started running past vocal recordings through it. This is my first Waves Plug-in, and I'm loving it. Exclusive deals, delivered straight to your inbox. Easy to use and play around with. All you do is instantiate it on your vocal track, bus a summed instrumental mix to the side-chain, and hit play. It's not a compressor. Simply put, Vocal Rider rides the levels of vocal tracks automatically. I might not have that set right. Ever had a guitar solo that consisted of octave jumping? Waves Vocal Rider Review. Especially at the sale price, but even regular price, this thing works way better than expected. You accomplish this by routing the accompanying tracks to a common bus and setting the Vocal Rider’s sidechain input to the same bus via a drop-down menu. In Studio One, just drag a mono Vocal Rider over to the Insert section of your track (if your track is in stereo, use the stereo version of Vocal Rider). Auto-tune is every vocal mixer's must-have. It balances your vocals so when vocals are high, vocal rider lowers it and etc. Simply put, Vocal Rider rides the levels of vocal tracks, automatically. With some thoughtful routing and side chaining, track by track, I was able to build the best mix I had ever done. Simply put, Vocal Rider rides the levels of vocal tracks, automatically. Simply put, Vocal Rider rides the levels of vocal tracks, automatically. I don't mind comping and editing gain structure on every clip,but sometimes too much is too much--what I dig most about the Waves Vocal Rider is that it adds a human feel and vibe to tracks that no other plugin duplicates. I tested the AU plug in Digital Performer 6.02 using an 8-core Mac Pro running Mac OS 10.5.4. Vocal Rider is quick and dead accurate, especially when used with the sidechain (always use this with the sidechain!). Still, without automating the plug-in, Vocal Rider couldn’t smooth out all the fluctuations on a wildly dynamic vocal track. A Sweetwater Sales Engineer will get back to you shortly. Once these controls are dialed in and Rider Fader behaves the way you want, an Output fader trims levels while preserving all Rider Fader adjustments. I"m sure there are still times where a compressor will give you the sound that you prefer, but, for my money this does everything I want, because it keeps your vocal heard without compressing anything. Tight budgets or deadlines don’t always allow for the manual line-by-line tweaking of fader levels on a vocal track to perfection at mixdown. Properly leveling a vocal with compression generally introduces other issues, like excessive sibilance, which then require more plugins to fix. Just like someone riding the vocal, except they can predict the future. Minor tweaks can easily and quickly be done manually after you write the automation. As its name implies, it automatically rides vocal track levels. Waves and Sweetwater do it again. Output level knob. Two Range sliders also govern the Rider Fader’s action by defining its dynamic range. Here, a very low setting will decrease noise—such as breath sounds—but can also cause more drastic adjustments when the vocal comes back in, potentially making the track sound jerky. The name says it all! You can't get this effect with any compressor I've used. Update your browser to view this website correctly. Has vocals sitting beautifully in the mix. Man this is some kind of plug in, it really does what it say, iam glad I found this plug in, Earned a 5 star rating, even though it's not perfect. Meters on/off. Vocal Rider will do the level matching, and look at this. Most software is compatible with both Mac and Windows computers, but check to make sure. Instead of manually riding the physical mixing console fader, or tediously drawing in each individual level change on a Protools track, Vocal Rider does it for you, making it a true timesaver. For example, if this control is set too low, Vocal Rider may interpret a quiet vocal phrase as noise and won’t ride the level higher to make it more audible. Vocal Rider’s automation data can be written to the vocal track’s automation lane in your DAW. … Fine tuning is still needed for a finished mix but this will save you a bunch of time. I find that a little bit of manual leveling in the waveform is still helpful, and a gate before the Rider. Description Vocal Rider is the first of Waves pioneering new series of Mix tools. It also accepts a sidechain input, allowing you to keep the relative level of your main signal to the sidechain signal at constant level, thereby riding your vocal in relation to the rest of your mix. Auto-tune has taken over the music industry in a span of a decade. Instead of manually riding the physical mixing console fader, or tediously drawing in each individual level change on a DAW track, Vocal Rider does it for you, making it a true timesaver. The plug-in’s Vocal Sensitivity control helps Vocal Rider differentiate between vocal signal and superfluous noise. It's not only an incredible time saver, but it also serves up more precision while it's at it. Setting Digital Performer to automate plug-in parameters and putting Vocal Rider’s automation control section into Write mode, I played the track from start to finish. For example, very quiet syllables that followed closely on the heels of loud lyrics usually remained too low after Vocal Rider’s initial adjustments. Vocal Rider rides the levels of vocal tracks, automatically. Works as stated. Sweetwater Sound Jun 29, 2013 Vocal Rider is not a compressor/limiter, it adjusts the gain of the vocal track (automation) automatically, there is no need for riding the fader anymore, there is no limiting/compression involved. With some DAWs (including Digital Performer versions 6.02 through 7.01), you can make Vocal Rider consider the fluctuating levels of accompanying instrumental (and background vocal) tracks when determining how it boosts or attenuates the vocal track from moment to moment. Vocal Rider is the first of Waves pioneering new series of Mix tools. Despite its effectiveness, Vocal Rider isn’t a cure-all for sitting vocals properly in a mix. Free Ride? I was fortunate enough to get this while it was on sale, but I would recommend it to anyone who wants to save hours of time. If you're using Pro Tools, AAX plug-ins (or RTAS for older versions) are what you need. Instead of manually riding the physical mixing console fader, or tediously drawing in each individual level change on a DAW track, Vocal Rider does it for you, making it a true timesaver. Easily my favorite Soundgrid plug-in. What this does for live backing vocals is amazing. Instead of manually riding a mixing console fader, or tediously drawing in every level change on a DAW track, Vocal Rider does it for you, making it a true timesaver. I use it on almost everything. The Vocal Rider is my 1st new addition to the "essential" family in a long while, and it is well deserved. ( 2.53 MB ) This will automatically even out your vocal to whatever degree you want it to, and since it reads the waveform it"s not behind the signal like a compressor. I'm using it on a clients song now, the lead singer was in and out of the Microphone and I didn't want to ride the fader. Find out more about Waves Vocal Rider , It has the familiar fader that moves as you’d expect it to and has a small set of parameters that are used to adjust the plug-in until the vocal sits where it’s wanted. This plugin exceeded my expectations. Instead of manually riding the physical mixing console fader, or tediously drawing in each individual level change on a DAW track, Vocal Rider does it … Had the opportunity to use it at a friend's studio and I loved it. Simply put, Vocal Rider rides the levels of vocal tracks, automatically. Once Vocal Rider gets you most of the way there, you can then apply compression in a musical way, and not so much in a utilitarian way. A Target control adjusts the nominal center point of the range over which the vocal’s level will ride. Like a simple plug-in but I had ever done without coloring the sound compression. 6.02 using an 8-core Mac Pro running Mac OS 10.5.4 my Third hand vocal Rider automatically rides track. 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