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How to Make Vocals Stutter

Digital audio workstation programs, such as Pro Tools, Cubase and Logic, enable you to edit your music using a computer. The visual interface of a digital audio workstation allows you to see the audio as well as hear it. The audio is represented as sound wave graphics, with peaks and dips signifying changes in volume. This makes creative editing more intuitive. Stuttered or copped-up vocals create a quirky, percussive sound that adds a point of difference to your song. You can create the stutter effect on your vocal recordings with the trim tool in your digital audio workstation.

Things You'll Need

  • Computer with minimum 2GB RAM
  • Digital audio workstation program
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Instructions

    • 1

      Double click the desktop icon to launch your digital audio workstation. It may take a few seconds for the program to load up fully.

    • 2

      Open the session to be edited. Typically, you select the session from the File menu. For example, in Logic, click “File,” “Open Recent” and select a work in progress from the pull-down menu. This loads all of the audio files in to the digital audio workstation interface.

    • 3

      Click the “S” icon on the vocal channel strip. This solos the vocal, muting everything else so you can hear it in isolation.

    • 4

      Create a new audio track beneath the vocal channel. The method varies slightly between programs but you typically do this from the File menu. If the new audio track loads at the bottom of the channel strip, drag it up so it sits beneath the vocal audio track. Click the “M” icon to mute this track, effectively rendering it as a silent track.

    • 5

      Click “Play” and let the track roll to the part where you want to create the stutter effect. Click “Stop” when you reach the correct point.

    • 6

      Launch the Trim tool. This is typically located in the Tools menu, although in some programs you can access the Trim tool via a button in the main menu. Look for the button with the scissors icon.

    • 7

      Click “View” and select “Zoom.” This expands the audio wave file graphic so you can get a better look at the individual peaks and dips on the wave form.

    • 8

      Click the pointer at the exact point where you want to create the first cut. This separates the audio into two files.

    • 9

      Click the pointer to the right of the first incision to render the selected audio segment as a completely separate file. Use the peaks in the sound wave graphic as a guide for trimming. The largest peak typically represents the start of a vocal phrase.

    • 10

      Drag the separated audio section down to the muted audio track. Since the audio is now on the muted track rather than the solo track, it is inaudible.

    • 11

      Make further trims in the original audio and drag the separated audio files to the mute track. This is preferable to deleting the audio completely, because if you decide to reverse the edits, you can drag the snippets back to their original place.

Recording Music

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