[RWP] How could I do this?

[Simon Jaeger (Laptop)]

I normally don't ask questions out here because, quite honestly, I like to figure things out myself. But this one has me stumped.

I'm trying to mix down an audio project with some fairly standard effects: low pass filter to get rid of a hum, gate, an autotune plugin called gSnap, a compresser, slight chorus to get a better stereo image, and a free reverb plugin. My problem is this. At a few points, the vocalist uses some nonstandard notes that don't fall into the normal scale, which in this case happens to be b minor. My thought was that I could somehow use automation to fix this. In sonar, I know that turning automation write on and adjusting controls while the song is playing can allow for realtime, automated volume / parameter changes. Since it's kind of difficult to be precise when changing parameters involves clicking a button with NVDA flat review, I stopped the track and tried it that way. Sadly, it didn't work. The scale change affected the entire track from start to finish. So did the change back to the original scale.
I even tried bypassing the effect in automation and leaving that note, which was perfect anyway, not autotuned. No go. Anything I changed affected all tracks.

I found through some experimentation that adding an effect to a given item puts it before track effects in the chain. That is to say, if I added an autotune effect to a specific item, it would go before anything else. This would work, in theory. But what if I want it gated first, with a high pass filter? What if I don't want autotune first in the chain.

I tried pasting separate instances of all the effects on separate items, splitting at the points where there were notes which didn't work under the circumstances. That worked, but I could hear an obvious slight fade where the effects kicked out and back in, and it didn't at all sound professional.

So I guess what I'm looking for is a way to decide where the item effects fall in the chain. Either that, or a way to properly control automation. I'm not saying this isn't possible, simply that I have no idea how to do it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


Simon
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