ooh!

one initial question: how much vocal processing is allowed? absolutely none? compression/reverb? distortion/pitch shifting/granular synthesis to the point where it's unrecognizable? it's probably a good idea to set some base expectations here.

humanism, vocality, a capellaness, singing, voice in pants

I second petet's question. Are we allowed to use FX / processing to enhance our vocals in any way or does it have to be as raw as possible?

Also, in terms of using other human voices, what's the standing on using say like acapellas or isolated vocals from songs?

Either way, this is a fun idea and I'm looking forward to making something for this :)

I wish I was human

me too

.

my guess (emphasis: it's a guess, not official) is that post-processing is allowed as long as it's still recognisable as voice. what's "recognisable as voice" can vary from person to person, so it's up for the voter to determine whether an entry is valid or not, and vote accordingly.
though if there's recognisable vocals somewhere, then it's probably good; so you can have a mix of recognisable and unrecognisable vocals, if you wish.

as for using existing voice clips, be careful with copyright stuff - my assumption is that anything not protected by copyright is good, but imo that kinda goes against the spirit of the compo; if you have good ideas but don't want to use your own voice, just collab with someone else :-)

again though, this is just my 2c. i assume that, in the end, a good part of it will be up to the voter to decide anyways

o yea
(also i feel the compo description implies that all vocals should be recognizable, but that limited processing is acceptable, as that's how a capella itself is)

you're telling me this hole in my face can eat cereal AND make music?!?!

oh boy

these are great questions!

yes the cereal hole can make whole sounds!! WOWOWOWOW

I'll say this: I'd rather hear someone recorded themselves 3-10 times to create a chorus rather than someone applying a chorus effect to their voice.... tracks shouldn't be afraid to polish with eq/compression/panning, but that's kind of where I draw the line. I guess some slight, natural-sounding reverb is fine.... but really the recording (especially for this battle) should be all about featuring original human voice and that only...
the new vocal format, however, is meant to force the inclusion of human voice with whatever accompaniment in an allgear situation (but don't forget this major is a capella WOW!)

Would autotune be allowed for the vocal format and the A Capella major?

i guess so :shrug:

i def agree its fine with the general use of the format

is this where the beatboxing contest is

oh hell yeah

I appreciate having a form of autotune / harmonizer accepted because my singing skills are not at peak performance.

Also time to start practicing my boots and cats

Autotune is an abomination and if you use it you're A Bad Person and will burn in hell on turbo setting.

Jokes aside though, I actually get physically sick from listening to autotuned vocals. So you can probably guess what my vote on tracks using autotune will be. If you can't sing on tune then please... simply don't. There's a ton more you can do with your voice other than just singing. And aside from that I'm totally fine with out-of-tune singing ;)

kurt cobain, lou reed, thurston moore, daniel johnston etc. can't or couldn't sing. put enough spirit in your music and you won't need autotune (let alone excuses for using it).

read: i'll most probably downvote autotunagisms.

_{(should i vote)}

edit: didn't i just forget that smiley fucker? this comment sounded rude, however right!

:)

Ooooh fun fun fun!

most commercial music nowadays has pitch correction on vocals in a way that is hard to detect. that said, the spirit of a capella is live chorus performances, and heavy autotune as an effect a la T-Pain seems like overly heavy processing to align with the intent of the compo.

Could we set an existing published poem to music and sing it, or do any lyrics we use have to be original works as well?

This should be interesting

If Bob Dylan could win Grammies for puffing mouth farts and a wee bit of soul onto wax, BotBrs can win my votes (and heart) without Auto-Tune™!

sing out of tune a bunch of times and you've got yourself a very wide chorus effect

i dislike slight autotune as much as obvious autotune. i find it uncanny when a singer is too much in tune.

me @ Michael Buble's perfect pitch
he's definitely a lizard person

I was programm d for this BateL

I got one, but idk i can't submit this

Its a nice day put even tbough its cold. *Star Trek S2E1 thats where im at

"Have the transporter room stand by to beam up the landing party."

karang

So only voice is allowed? No other sounds?

Is whistling allowed?

I'm interpreting this as allowing "all and only sounds you can make with your mouth and no equipment", but it sounds like it's cool to make prudent use of tasteful amounts of reverb added in post-production.

idk, i think there's something to enjoy about the uncanny-ness from the perfect-pitch-ness brought to the human voice whether through Mad Dog talent/training or "auto-tune".
In the same way that there is something to enjoy about the not-quite-there-ness of digital music and chiptune.

In a similarly powerful yet opposite way there is something to enjoy about the natural out of tune-ness of the human voice in other certain contexts, much like many instruments.

Tho, i do hope pitch-correction is not relied upon and takes away from the strengths of someone's voice.

Hm, autotune? The idea I was considering doesn't involve singing melodies at all. :P

Voting seems broken, I can only see the numbers

voting cats are missing, will be fixed soon

Average Score: 23.489

I WON THIS MAJOR, BY ALOT!

we shouldve stopped the vote when all the all7 votes on ur entry were in, right..

Just wanted to say I really enjoyed this battle. Fantastic entries all around. I hope we do this again some time.

lalalallalalaaaAA you know what time it is? hope you do cuz i wont tell

>:oooooooo nooooo tell meeeeee