Welcome to Sage Audio. Today we’re Creating a Rap Vocal Chain. But first,
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send it to us to receive a free mastered sample of it with the link in the description.
Corrective EQ on Vocal
For this video, I purposefully picked a vocal that
needs a lot of work - but I want to get it balanced with as few steps as possible.
I started with a corrective EQ to attenuate excessive mid-frequencies - in particular,
this vocal has a very nasally tone, so I attenuated any mid-frequency area I found
contributed to this. I cut out unneeded lows, as well as dipped around 250Hz while boosting 3kHz.
Also, If you’re working with free plugins, this MEqualizer should work well.
This should help add some clarity to a vocal that otherwise sounds very muddled.
Let’s take a listen and let me know if this clarifies the vocal.
Needed Resonance Reduction
This vocal needed some resonance reduction to reduce that unwanted nasal tone, so I emphasized
the mid frequencies and centered the bands over nasal resonances to hopefully balance the
mid-range. Ideally, you won’t need this processor unless the performer has this tone to his voice.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a free alternative,
but let’s take a listen and notice how dynamic attenuation to the mids helped add some clarity.
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Split EQ to Control Tone
This SplitEQ by Eventide splits the signal into Tonal and Transient bands - which is helpful on a
vocal like this, in which the tone is nasally, but I want to leave the transients intact to
keep things detailed. I again attenuated areas that contributed to the unwanted nasally tone.
This was the final needed step to remedy the unwanted nasal tones. Notice that I also amplified
high frequencies around 3kHz and above to add some clarity and needed brightness to the vocal.
Let’s take a listen.
De-ess for Future Amplification
I used this de-esser with single vocal and split band settings to achieve a few dB of
attenuation on the sibilance - this way, any additive processing I use later on doesn’t
exacerbate aggressive sibilance. A good free alternative is the T-De-ESSer by Techivation.
Let’s listen and notice how the highs are becoming more balanced,
which sets us up well for future chapters.
Omnipressor or Similar Compression
With this Omnipressor I perform both compression and expansion whenever the vocal goes above or
falls below the threshold respectively. This processor, in particular, is pretty aggressive
so I set a very subtle ratio and set my ranges to low levels of compression and expansion.
This way I control the vocal’s dynamics from the peaks down and noise floor up, resulting
in a very upfront vocal. If you’re using free plugins, this MCompressor is a good alternative.
Let’s listen to how the vocal moves to the front.
Doubler Delay & Modulation
To make the vocal sound thicker, I’m going to use this H949 Dual Harmonizer plugin and
select the doubler preset, before blending in the effect to about 10%. This subtly alters
the timing and the pitch to make it sound like we have 2 layers of vocal performance.
A good free alternative for this plugin is the Valhalla Space Modulator.
Let’s take a listen and notice how the vocal sounds fuller and more impressive.
High-Frequency Bus
I’ll create a bus and auxiliary track on which I’ll first insert a linear phase EQ that isolates
and amplifies the highest vocal frequencies - then I’ll insert a reverb plugin. With it, I’ll set a
moderate decay time, emphasize bright reflections, and keep the mix value at a medium level.
A good free alternative for this plugin is the Valhalla Supermassive.
Lastly, I’ll blend the reverberated high frequencies in with the original vocal. This will
make them sound brighter, slightly more aggressive in the highs, and create a nice stylistic effect.
Let’s take a listen.
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Collective Upward Processing
To end this chain, I’m going to send both my original track and the aux
track from last chapter to a collective bus. On this bus I’ll insert an inflator
or similar upward processor to bring forward quieter details of the vocal,
the effects I used, and to make it generally fuller and more aggressive.
A good free alternative is OTT.
Let’s take a listen to the full A B of the original and processed vocal.
If you have a mix that you need to have mastered, send it to us to receive a free
mastered sample of it with the link in the description. Thank you so much for watching.