Singtall Vocal Align
Tight doubles and backing vocals, cut by hand without the hours. Free for life!
Every stack of vocals has a take that comes in late, holds a note too long, or sings straight through a breath the lead took. The usual fix is to slice each track by hand, slide the pieces onto the lead and fade out the long notes. Singtall Vocal Align does that for you. It matches every vocal to the lead syllable by syllable, cuts it in the quiet spots before each note, slides the pieces into place and fades the held notes out where the lead stops. The audio is never stretched.
Reaper 6 or newer · no registration required
The double's late note is slid onto the lead, and its long last note fades out exactly where the lead stops.
Name your tracks first
The track names tell the script who's who. Takes of the same part share a name and get a number; different parts get different names:
| Tracks | What they are |
|---|---|
| Lead Vox 1, Lead Vox 2, Lead Vox 3 | the lead and its doubles |
| Backing 1, Backing 2 … Backing 6 | backing vocals |
| High 1, High 2 · Low 1, Low 2 | harmonies, one name per part (best) |
| Rap 1, Rap 2 | a second lead singer |
- Number 1 is the main take of its part. The others line up to it, so put your best take on 1.
- "Lead" (or "Main") in a name marks the lead. Without it, the lead is the track numbered 1, and if several are, the loudest one panned nearest the centre.
- Different names for different parts. If several parts share one name, the script still sorts them out by listening, but separate names are more reliable.
- Muted tracks are never processed. Mute the takes you don't use; they're never used as a reference and never changed, even if they're selected.
- Render tuning or alignment plugins first. The script hears the audio before plugins.
How to use it
- Name the tracks as above, then select all the vocal tracks.
- Run Singtall Vocal Align from the Action List. Reaper pauses for a few seconds while it listens to the whole song.
- Read the report. It names the lead and lists, for every other track, how many notes move and how many held notes are faded. Press OK.
- Listen through the song. One Ctrl+Z puts everything back.
What it does for you
Lines up every note
Each note that starts more than 20 ms off is cut in the quiet just before it and slid onto the lead, with short crossfades. Notes already in time are left alone.
Lets backing vocals sit back
The lead's doubles land dead on it. Backing vocals land 20 ms behind it, so they don't push forward in the mix.
Fixes held notes and breaths
A note held past the lead fades out exactly where the lead stops. Where the lead breaks a note and a double sings straight through, the double gets the same break.
Knows the backing parts
Backing vocals that sing their own part are lined up to their own number 1 instead of the lead. A pair with no number is only trimmed, never guessed at.
Keeps a backup
Before anything changes, plain copies of the tracks go into a muted "Vocal Align originals" folder on the same timeline.
Never stretches
It only cuts, moves and fades the items, like you would by hand, so the voices keep their natural sound.
Install it by hand
- Download
Singtall_Vocal_Align.luausing the button above. - In Reaper, open Actions → Show action list.
- Click New action… → Load ReaScript… and choose the file you downloaded.
- It now appears in the Action List. Add it to a toolbar or give it a shortcut.
Install with ReaPack
With ReaPack installed, you'll get updates automatically. If you already added our repository for the drum scripts, Vocal Align is in it too. Otherwise, go to Extensions → ReaPack → Import repositories… and paste:
https://singtallstudio.com/reapack/index.xml
Then open Extensions → ReaPack → Browse packages, search for Singtall Vocal Align and install it.
Good to know
- It lines vocals up with each other, not with the beat. A take that's off the beat everywhere stays off the beat.
- Timing is all it fixes. It can't fix pitch or tone.
- Cutting leaves the tracks in many pieces. Glue them once you're happy with the result.
- Listen through the whole song afterwards. It saves most of the work, not all of it.
Like it? Try our EQs.
Tight vocals need far less processing to sit in a mix. Singtall EQ Pro is free, and Engineer, Producer and Master are dynamic EQs from the same studio, each with a 14-day free trial and no card required. Compare the editions → or get updates on new free tools.