The Bottom Line
Antares Audio Technologies is known around the world for their Auto-Tune product, the pitch-correction product used on virtually every major-label record produced today. Taking Auto-Tune's virtuosity even further is Harmony Engine, Antares' new product that allows you to produce several-part harmonies from one single vocal take with accuracy and ease. It's surprisingly easy and sounds phenomenal. Harmony Engine is available now, priced at $345.
Pros
- Beautiful Sound Quality
- Moderately Easy to Use
Cons
- Requires iLok
- Requires Some Music Theory
- Requires Some Finer Adjustments
Description
- Synthesizes multi-part harmonies for vocals and other instruments.
- Available in free, time-limited demo form from www.antarestech.com.
- Requires iLok for full operation. iLok not required for trial download.
Guide Review - Antares Technologies Harmony Engine
I'm usually not a huge fan of using pitch correction, despite the fact that I end up using it on every single project I mix. Many vocalists need some help when recording; fortunately, there's Auto-Tune from Antares Audio Technologies, the salvation of many a troubled vocalist. Now, Antares has released Harmony Engine -- a plug-in processing software for vocal harmonies.It's easy: insert Harmony Engine on a track, select your voicings, and you're ready to go with beautiful vocal harmonies. The sound quality is superb -- take a listen for yourself!
Here's the song with just a simple three-part harmony. There's two singers singing harmony against the lead singer. Doesn't sound bad, does it? Now, let's take a listen to just the two harmony singers. They're sounding really good, thanks to a little bit of time-alignment. Now, let's take that a step further by adding Harmony Engine.
I duplicated the tracks and inserted Harmony Engine; here's what the new tracks sound like. Pretty easy, and they sound really good. I compressed these harmonies separately, and blended them underneath the original vocals -- take a listen! Remarkably easy, and the sound quality can't be beat.
Of course, it's not without some drawbacks. You'll need to know some music theory, or else the finer adjustments you'll need to make won't make a whole lot of sense. In my case, I used the software with the above harmonies, but needed to cut some octaves and adjust others to get a really good sound that wasn't artificial. Another small point to remember is that you'll need an iLok key to use the software; it's quickly becoming the industry anti-piracy standard, but it's still a $40 expense on top of the software itself. Otherwise? A great software package, incredibly useful -- the results speak for themselves!
