Hi Everyone - I’m having an issue when doubling the lead vocal in the chorus of a song and panning those tracks left and right. So there is a lead vocal that is centered, which I copy to a new track and pan left, then copy and paste the lead again to a third track and pan right. The strange thing is that half way through the chorus the sound changes, suddenly getting “wider” like the original centered lead vocal drops out of the mix. If I listen to each track individually they sound fine. Listening to the Lead and the left-panned track together is fine. But when I add the third right-panned track to the mix the issue arises. I’ve gone over every setting and they are all the same, so I am really stuck as to what the issue is with the third track. Anyone experience this type of issue and have advice?
Odd certainly that it occurs “halfway through the chorus” - but you CAN get some odd effects when you do things like this - with instruments, too. All I’ve got is something you might do to address the issue if you can’t figure out an overall solution.
When I did something similar, I found a few places where I needed to adjust the “blend” of the copies - so I split the track into smaller “Groups” and then could adjust the volume of just part of it - without needing to do anything different in my DAW.
Something else to consider if you haven’t - when you COPY a track WITHIN Synthesizer V (as opposed to copying the track in your DAW) - they kind of remain LINKED (like a change to one copy impacts the other). Not sure if this has anything to do with your issue…
Thanks for your thoughts, Mike, they’re very helpful. I’m going to try splitting into groups. I was also not aware of the multiple voices feature, where you can add more iterations of the same voice on the main track rather than copying to separate tracks. I think you’re spot on with the linking when copying. Even though I use the “copy unlinked” option, I think it’s buggy and doesn’t always work right. I’m going to play around with the smaller grouping idea tomorrow and will let you know how it goes. Thanks again!
Dave
For Mike or anyone following this topic, I did change over to using the multiple voices feature and it works great, I no longer have the panning issue. What I ended up doing was creating a second track with an even number of “people” (voices) - either two or four works well. I spread them at about 120, this way the first lead vocalist track sits in the middle and I can control volume and other parameters so it stands out a little from the chorus track. I’m really happy with the results and appreciate the advice.
A separate track in your DAW, or a separate track within Sythesizer V?
Because I am doing this and having an issue (unresolved open support ticket) - in case you have, too.
I’m using Synthesizer V as a plug in. And I have a vocal track - single voice, then a second track inside Synth V that I’ve set to two voices. And every time a open up the song - that 2-voice track plays a single voice, even though it’s still set just like it should be. I have to change it to 1 or 3, then back again - forcing it to re-render. Then it’s fine for the duration of that session. And worse - I have to do this for every “Group” in the track individually. It’s a pain in the butt.
I may just run a full separate DAW track just for that vocal, but I though perhaps it was more efficient (computer-wise) to have 1 instance of Synth V run more than a single track…but it’s sure not workflow efficient if the setting won’t stick…
When you copy the vocals for doubling..you are remembering to unlink.
I have in the past copied vocals to use for harmonies etc only to find that I’ve edited the original as well as the copy because I haven’t unlinked.
I used a separate track in Synth V, which I’m using as a VST3 plugin in my DAW, Mixcraft. I’m leveraging the “combined tracks” option, which creates a corresponding subtrack in the DAW for each track added in Synth V. Like Mr Hehon mentioned, when copying the original vocal track to the new Synth V track I chose the copy without linking option so I can edit each independently without impacting the other. So far I haven’t had the issue you’re describing with the voices in the harmony track.
As for the idea of setting up a second complete track in your DAW, the issue I’d have with that is the amount of memory Synth V consumes. A second instance of Synth V running in the project would likely max out my memory, which is 16GB on my laptop. I have about 40 tracks in the project I’m working on now, and have to freeze the ones I’m not actively working on to save memory. And the playback still isn’t very smooth, which means I make the changes, then export a .wav file to listen to for the next set of changes. Cumbersome, but better than having to buy another laptop as my current one can’t be upgraded any further.
Thanks - I think that “create a corresponding subtrack in the DAW” is something I’m missing! I have two tracks in Synth V feeding into one DAW track - and it’s one of those that’s misbehaving. I do ALSO have another track - and another instance of Synth V running - but that’s working OK. I was trying to avoid having a 3rd, for the memory… It’s a new laptop, 32Gb, and runs smooth (except for when Windows 11 decides it wants to download some crap in the background without telling me).
I don’t know if this is even related to your issue or if anyone has suggested this. But any time you duplicate a track that is singing a doubled part always select the notes in the second track’s group and generate an a new AI take. If you don’t, all your doing is making the same take louder and you won’t get proper stereo. Sometimes I even go in an manual add minor pitch deviations and timing so it’s just that more “real” with the doubling
Oh, that’s really brilliant! I hadn’t thought of that, and you’re right. My doubled tracks are simply the exact same as the lead track, it just gets louder. That’s different than when I do a chorus and duplicate the lead track, then move the notes to a third or a fifth, which sound much fuller. This was great insight, thanks so much!
You’re so welcome 
also, don’t sleep on the unison feature (I forget the name) as well. You can add lots n lots of “singers” on one track, and I can hear the pitch deviations and timing in that. But it’s just a different feel. It still feels like an FX rather than two or more singingrs the same way copying tracks with new AI takes sound. But it’s a fantastic sound regardless. And the fact that each clip on a track is it’s own canvas…meaning you can change the parameters and even vocal bank…means you can do cool things like have them sing in a normal mono track but the use the unison feature for just one phrase or one word even. And man that POPs when you do that
That’s all great info, thanks again! One little trick I noticed with the Unison feature is that if you use an odd number of voices, and spread them out to say 120 or so, you’re lead singer sounds centered while surrounded with the additional voices panned more left and right. You can get some really filled effects that sound great emphasizing a specific phrase that doesn’t end up sounding like a chorus. And using the Room Sound feature under fx can really give the voices some interesting spaciality (if that’s a word 
). Your advice is really great, by adding in some “differences” you’ll end up with a unique sound that still blends perfectly. Thanks for your thoughts!
Ha! See and I didn’t realize that about the odd numbers with the wide spread! That rules. And yeah, I completely forgot that there’s FX in synthV now. And no I remembered that they sound really good too, so I’ll play with that room FX more