Silent passages are analyzed and treated as SILENCE. They are muted in their original positions, rather than deleted to shorten the timeline.
Vocal Prep 0.1.8 guide
Speed up preprocessing,
and the work that follows.
A detailed introduction and operation manual for Vocal Prep 0.1.8. It has been tested as an ARA Event FX in Studio One 7 Professional.
Overview
What is Vocal Prep?
Vocal Prep analyzes silence, breaths, singing regions, timing, and input-level differences in vocal material, organizing it for the next stages of production.
The aim is not to decide vocal expression automatically. It is to bring together repetitive mechanical processing, leaving only the exceptions and expressive decisions that need human review.
ARA → Analyze → Proposal → Preview → Correct if needed → Confirm → BounceAnalysis results are treated as proposals you can review, rather than being finalized immediately.
Functions
What it does to the material
It analyzes SILENCE, BREATH, SINGING, and UNKNOWN regions. Automatic classifications are not final: you can review them as a Proposal using Preview and Manual Correction.
Timing is adjusted within the configured range, using Singing attacks as the reference. Related Breath regions follow Singing; the design does not recursively push subsequent regions back.
Instead of compressing the waveform like a compressor, it first evens out input-level differences in the source material and regions.
When no Section is specified, the whole song is treated as Section A. Version 0.1.8 does not yet provide the final UI for manually editing Sections B/C; there is no need to operate beyond what the current UI supports.
Analysis and Preview do not directly rewrite the source material. After reviewing, use Confirm, then Bounce in Studio One to commit the result as audio material.
Downstream impact
Why it also reduces downstream processing
If input-level differences remain when material enters a compressor, how it hits the Threshold and the amount of Gain Reduction vary by region. Adjusting the compressor then changes the response of EQ and Saturation, creating a chain of readjustments.
Vocal Prep organizes input-level differences in the source material and regions before compression. This stabilizes the input to the downstream compressor and reduces the adjustment needed for Threshold and Gain Reduction. EQ and Saturation can also start from more consistent input conditions.
Less preprocessing timeFewer downstream readjustmentsFewer decisions
Basic operation
Basic operation in Studio One 7
- Add Vocal Prep to an Audio Event as an ARA Event FX
Select the vocal Audio Event you want to process and load Vocal Prep as an Event FX. Check that “ARA” appears at the bottom right of the plugin. If it says “Capture”, it has been loaded as a regular Insert.
- Analyze / Generate a Proposal
Analysis runs after ARA acquisition, generating a Proposal with candidates for silence, breath/singing regions, timing, and levels. Press Analyze to analyze again.
- Review the analysis results
Check the waveform and Region display, and the Region / Phrase counts at the bottom right. Gaps between events remain as gaps on the timeline.
- Preview
Turn Preview ON to audition the proposed result without directly changing the source material. Check for timing shifts, clicks, momentary volume drops, and passages that sound doubled.
- Use Manual Correction only where needed
Select a Region and correct only the classification, boundaries, Timing, or Gain that need adjustment. Timing Enabled / Gain Enabled also let you exclude it from either type of processing individually.
- Confirm
Confirm the Proposal you have reviewed in Preview to move the edits into a confirmed state.
- Turn Preview OFF and Bounce
After Confirm, turn Preview OFF and Bounce in Studio One. Check that the confirmed edits are retained in the bounced result before moving to the next stage.
ARA Event FX→Analyze→Proposal→Preview→Correct only where needed→Confirm→Bounce→Melodyne / Mix
Timing
Adjusting Timing Strength
The best Timing Strength varies with the material. Stable operation was confirmed around 30% with the material used for hands-on testing of 0.1.8, but this is not a fixed recommended value.
Higher Strength can cause clicks at Region boundaries, depending on the material. Always use Preview as you adjust each piece of material, including Grid, Max move, and Preserve pickup.
Fallback capture
Using a regular Insert
When loaded as a regular VST3 Insert, the bottom right displays “Capture”. In this mode, capture playback audio before using Analyze / Preview. In Studio One 7, ARA Event FX operation is recommended because it can acquire the whole track directly.
To capture again, use Clear to reset Capture, Preview, and Session before reacquiring the audio.
Exceptions
When automatic processing does not fit
Analysis results are a Proposal. If Preview reveals something that differs from your intention, change just that part with Manual Correction. You do not need to redo all of the material manually from scratch.
The design does not directly destroy the original audio material. The intended workflow is to review with Preview and make any necessary corrections before Confirm.
Scope
Processing Vocal Prep does not handle
Pitch correctionFormant shapingEQ that defines the toneSaturation that creates textureSpatial effectsFinal expressive decisions
After preprocessing, these are decisions for people to make according to the material and the work. Vocal Prep prepares stable material from which to begin those decisions.
With Formant Preamp
How the two tools divide the work
Organize the source material itself.
Bring the organized material toward a working standard that makes downstream processing easier.
Recorded material→Vocal Prep→Confirm / Bounce→Formant Preamp→Melodyne→Comp / EQ if needed→Saturation→Spatial effects
ShushuLab philosophy
Remove manual work that is not art,
leaving expressive decisions to people.
Vocal Prep is not a tool that uses automation to take away your decision-making authority. Let machines handle bulk processing, while people focus on exceptions and expressive decisions. This is the preprocessing environment it provides.