Creating Vocal Harmonies with Artificial Intelligence Technology Course

Lesson 1 • Basic Voice-Leading Principles

Introduces smooth motion, contrary motion, and parallel interval avoidance. These rules guide quality evaluation of AI harmony outputs throughout the course.

Lesson 2 • Voice Parts and Ranges

Defines soprano, alto, tenor, and bass ranges and their timbral characteristics. Prepares students to assign AI-generated harmony lines to appropriate vocal registers.

Lesson 3 • Chord Tones and Harmony Basics

Explains triads, seventh chords, and how individual pitches function within a chord. Connects interval knowledge to harmonic context for voice assignment.

Lesson 1 • Categories of AI Vocal Tools

Maps the tool ecosystem: pitch suggestion, harmony generation, voice synthesis, and style transfer. Students identify which tool category fits each creative task.

Lesson 2 • Evaluating AI Tool Output Quality

Establishes criteria for assessing pitch accuracy, timing, and tonal naturalness of AI results. Links evaluation skills to the voice-leading principles from Chapter 1.

Lesson 3 • Setting Up a Working Environment

Guides students through DAW integration, plug-in installation, and audio routing for AI tools. A functional session template is the practical outcome.

Lesson 1 • Organising Vocal Sessions for Efficiency

Structures track naming, colour coding, and folder grouping for multi-harmony projects. Organised sessions reduce errors when managing multiple AI-generated vocal layers.

Lesson 2 • Microphone Technique for AI Input

Covers mic placement, room acoustics, and gain staging to capture a clean signal. Clean input directly improves AI pitch detection and harmony accuracy.

Lesson 3 • Pitch Correction Before Harmony Generation

Applies transparent pitch correction to the lead vocal prior to AI harmony processing. Corrected pitch data reduces errors in AI-generated harmony lines.

Lesson 4 • Timing and Groove Alignment

Aligns lead vocal timing to the grid or groove template before harmony generation. Tight timing prevents rhythmic drift in AI-generated harmony parts.

Lesson 1 • Selecting Harmony Intervals

Guides interval selection—thirds, sixths, and fourths—based on genre and emotional intent. Builds directly on interval knowledge from Chapter 1 in a practical context.

Lesson 2 • Handling Chromatic and Modal Passages

Addresses AI behaviour on chromatic runs, modal sections, and key changes. Students learn override techniques to correct AI errors in non-diatonic contexts.

Lesson 3 • Editing and Refining AI Harmony Output

Covers note-by-note editing, pitch nudging, and timing correction of generated harmony. Refinement transforms raw AI output into a professional-quality vocal part.

Lesson 1 • Managing Voice Independence

Focuses on keeping each voice rhythmically and melodically distinct to avoid muddiness. Students audit AI output for parallel motion and voice crossing errors.

Lesson 2 • Full-Section Arrangement Practice

Applies all four-part skills to a complete verse-chorus section as a guided project. Students deliver a rendered four-voice harmony arrangement for peer review.

Lesson 3 • Three-Part Harmony Structures

Introduces close, open, and mixed voicing for three voices. Students apply voice-leading rules from Chapter 1 to evaluate and correct AI three-part output.

Lesson 4 • Stacking AI Layers Efficiently

Demonstrates workflow for generating multiple harmony passes without session clutter. Efficient stacking reduces CPU load and keeps editing manageable.

Lesson 1 • Reverb and Space for Cohesion

Uses shared reverb sends to place all voices in the same acoustic environment. Consistent spatial treatment unifies AI-generated and recorded vocal layers.

Lesson 2 • Level Balancing and Gain Staging

Sets relative levels so harmonies support without masking the lead vocal. Proper gain staging prevents clipping and preserves dynamic headroom.

Lesson 3 • Compression and Dynamic Control

Applies compression to glue harmony layers and control dynamic inconsistencies from AI output. Students set attack, release, and ratio for natural-sounding vocal compression.

Lesson 4 • EQ for Vocal Blend

Applies frequency carving to separate lead and harmony voices in the mix. Each voice occupies a defined spectral space for clarity and blend.

Lesson 1 • Jazz Vocal Harmony

Introduces extended chord tones—ninths, elevenths, thirteenths—and chromatic approach notes for jazz. Students override AI diatonic defaults to achieve jazz-appropriate voicings.

Lesson 2 • Choral and Classical Vocal Harmony

Applies strict four-part SATB rules, dynamic shaping, and blend priorities of choral tradition. AI output is refined to meet the precision standards of classical choral writing.

Lesson 3 • Country and Americana Harmony

Focuses on high-lonesome thirds, pedal steel-inspired lines, and tight two-part country harmony. Students match AI output to the dry, close-mic aesthetic of the genre.

Lesson 4 • Pop and Contemporary Harmony

Examines tight thirds, octave doubles, and layered stacks common in modern pop production. Students configure AI tools to replicate contemporary pop vocal aesthetics.

Lesson 1 • Automating Harmony Parameters Over Time

Uses DAW automation to shift harmony intervals, voice ranges, and blend dynamically within a song. Automation creates evolving harmonic texture that static settings cannot achieve.

Lesson 2 • Harmony for Non-Standard Tuning Systems

Addresses microtonal scales, just intonation, and non-Western tuning systems in AI harmony tools. Students configure custom scale maps to generate harmonies outside equal temperament.

Lesson 3 • MIDI-Driven Harmony Control

Explains how MIDI note input can override AI pitch selection for precise harmonic control. Students build MIDI harmony maps that trigger specific chord voicings in real time.

Lesson 4 • Hybrid Human-AI Vocal Stacks

Combines recorded human harmony takes with AI-generated layers for a richer, more natural result. Students learn when to use each source and how to blend them seamlessly.