Vocal Processing Week

June 21, 2022

Vocal processing is a vital part of music production – and vocal production goes way beyond talent and proper recording techniques. Multiple forms and combinations of processing can add, subtract, and balance vocal qualities to create the perfect mix. Harmonics and distortion. Pitch-shifting. EQ and compression. Amplification. Reverb. Echo and delay. Modulation. Automation. The list goes on.

Simply put: pro-quality vocal processing isn’t exactly easy. Getting that vocal to sit well in your mix, have a unique character, or achieve a specific sound or quality can all be challenging. And since the human voice is the ultimate instrument, we know this is a hot topic.

With that in mind, we curated some content focused on vocal processing with some of the best tools around – Soundtoys (yes, we’re extremely biased). Keep scrolling for artist inspiration, free presets and video guides using Soundtoys to get your vocal to feel natural in a mix, twist it into something completely new, or achieve a sweeter, fuller, richer, or fatter vocal sound.

 

Pop Vocals | Breathy Vocals | Natural Vocal Harmonies | Funky Vocoder FX | 5 Creative Tips | Artist Inspiration & Presets

 


Pop Vocal Production with Soundtoys 5

Soundtoys 5 has been used on countless Billboard hits and has influenced the way radio pop vocals evolved. Watch Tony Ni explain how to use some of our favorite plug-ins to get your vocal sound radio-pop polished. In this video, Tony uses Decapitator, Sie-Q, MicroShift, Little Plate, and EchoBoy within Effect Rack / Soundtoys 5.


Breathy Vocals

Watch Mitch share some tips on how to accentuate or enhance a breathy vocal using Little AlterBoy, LittlePlate, Effect Rack, Devil-Loc Deluxe, Sie-Q, and PhaseMistress.


Natural Vocal Harmonies

Mitch shows you how to create a more natural sound vocal harmony with Little AlterBoy in Transpose mode.


Funky Vocal FX

Watch Mitch create a fat vocoder-like vocal effect with two Little AlterBoys and MicroShift in Effect Rack.


5 Creative Ways to Process Vocals (ft. Soundtoys)

Want to give pop vocals some extra spice, life and polish? Charles Hoffman of Sonic Scoop has you covered with 5 techniques every producer and mixer should know.

 


Artist Inspiration & (FREE) Presets

Glass Animals

I can safely say that Soundtoys Little Alterboy was hugely important to getting some of the tweaked vocal sounds across the last Glass Animals album, including the pitch-shifted opening words. – Dave Bayley (Glass Animals)

Download Glass Animals’ Intro Vocals preset from “Heatwaves” (Little AlterBoy)

MicroShift and Decapitator are constantly used to add a bit of character and width to anything from vocals to guitars to cymbals. Certainly go-to plug-ins for me as they are all massively musical and creative. You can hear this combination of vocal distortion and chorus that I used across the main vocal bus in our song “Heatwaves.” – Dave Bayley (Glass Animals)

Download Glass Animals’ Vocal Bus preset (Effect Rack, Decapitator, MicroShift)


Ryan “Skinny” Shanahan (Alesso, The Naked and Famous)

For the Alesso song “Midnight” feat. Liam Payne, I used one of my go to vocal delays: EchoBoy Jr. This is a pretty straight forward 1/4 delay with both a high cut and low cut with a little saturation. It’s being used at 100% on a send with multiple vocals feeding it. – Ryan “Skinny” Shanahan

Download Skinny’s Alesso Vocal Delay preset (EchoBoy Jr./EchoBoy)

I use EchoBoy a lot when it comes to vocal FX delays. Using the different Styles allows you to come up with a variety of cool effects. I especially like using it for filtered slap delays and more creative weird things. In this mix, I used this widener preset on the “I look around” adlib to give it an ultra stereo effect. The FX Slap preset I used on a low oct layer of the “I Said” vocal stack, making the stack thicker and more interesting. – Ryan “Skinny” Shanahan

Download Vocal Widener and FX Slap presets from The Naked And Famous’s “Blinding Lights Remix” (EchoBoy)

Little Microshift. LETS GO! Love this plug-in, although I’ve been using the full version of MicroShift more recently because I can dial it in a little more precisely. This is really a secret weapon for those who know about it. I mainly use it because it sounds super close to the old Eventide H3000 setting used by so many engineers on hit records. Great for both lead and background vocals, I usually use it on a send at 100% to add to the stereo image and make a vocal thicker. In this Alesso song, it’s used on the lead vocal. – Ryan “Skinny” Shanahan

Download the Vocal Widening preset used on Alesso’s “Midnight” (Little MicroShift/MicroShift)


Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Nick Hakim)

On Big Thief’s “Two Hands”, we quickly threw the EchoBoy on the lead vocal to mimic my Space Echo and it stuck! The slap back on the lead vocal is the EchoBoy in all its glory.  – Andrew Sarlo

Download Andrew Sarlo’s Damn That’s the Big Thief Slap Back preset (EchoBoy)

For Nick Hakim’s “Qadir” the ending vocal cacophony pans from left to right thanks to the Effect Rack and PanMan being placed in that for extra psychedelic ooze! – Andrew Sarlo

Download Andrew Sarlo’s Damn That’s the Weird Panning in Qadir preset (Effect Rack / Soundtoys 5)

Inspired? As always, share your own vocal processing tips with us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

More News

Don’t Stop Giving

Announcements

Don’t Stop Giving
December 13, 2024

100% of each Radiator purchase will be donated to not-for-profit organizations as a way for Soundtoys users to give to people in need.

Transforming Drums with PhaseMistress
Soundtoys 5.4.3 Update

Announcements

Soundtoys 5.4.3 Update
June 20, 2024

We're excited to announce Soundtoys version 5.4.3. This update will apply fixes and improvements to all Soundtoys version 5 or later plug-ins.

SuperPlate Explained: Plates, Preamps & Auto-Decay
Creative Vocal Processing
Effect Rack for Vocal Dimension
Making Good On Our Pledge

Announcements

Making Good On Our Pledge
November 14, 2023

We are proud to announce that, together with our customers, we raised $53,640 for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), whose mission is to help civilians whose lives are shattered by conflict and disaster in more than 50 countries around the world.

Vermont Flood Relief Efforts

Announcements

Vermont Flood Relief Efforts
August 15, 2023

Extreme weather events in July 2023 put entire Vermont towns under water, forced residents to evacuate from their homes, washed out roads and bridges, destroyed crops, and threatened aging dams. 100% of sales from August 2 & 3 were donated to nonprofit organizations mobilizing clean up efforts and recovery support for flood victims. 

New! SuperPlate and Soundtoys 5.4

Announcements

New! SuperPlate and Soundtoys 5.4
May 24, 2023

Meet SuperPlate. This incredibly powerful reverb is now available for sale both as a standalone plug-in and as part of Soundtoys V5.4 bundle, which adds SuperPlate to Effect Rack.

World Class Reverb, Now In Effect Rack
Soundtoys for VST3 Is Here!
Apple Silicon Compatibility
Beat Loop Manipulation Week

Announcements

Beat Loop Manipulation Week
April 4, 2023

Bop along as we dive into a week of beat loop manipulation using Soundtoys effects and get inspired to contribute to the ever-evolving sound of contemporary music.

Live Mix: MPC into Effect Rack

Videos

Live Mix: MPC into Effect Rack
April 7, 2023

Live from The Soundtoys Cave! Watch as producer Es-K performs a beat using his MPC Live and a MIDI controller mapped to Effect Rack.

Dub Effects Masterclass with Tippy I
Pete Cannon’s Jungle Beat Mix Tips
2 Quick Tips for Beat Loop Manipulation
Making a Beat from Scratch with Matt Lange
Effect Rack for Beats

Videos

Effect Rack for Beats
April 4, 2023

Watch how Effect Rack's versatile suite of factory presets can kickstart countless rhythmic patterns and develop more dynamic beats, with just one click of your mouse.

Creative Guitar Processing Week

Announcements

Creative Guitar Processing Week
March 7, 2023

This week we’re obsessed with guitar, which might be one of the most popular, most versatile, and most important instruments in contemporary music. Over the decades, guitars have shaped a multitude of hits, transcended genres, and become distinctive sounds within popular music.

Demo: Guitar Effects for Modern Hip-Hop Production
Creating a Track with Electric Guitar and Effect Rack
Pro Tip: Making a Preset from Presets in Effect Rack
Two Flavors of Steel Guitar + Effect Rack

Videos

Two Flavors of Steel Guitar + Effect Rack
March 7, 2023

We spent a day in the studio with fellow musician and steel guitar aficionado Trevor Sohnen, aka @cosmicthecowboy,  jamming to the smooth, cool sound of pedal steel and lap steel guitars.

Demo: Turning Guitars into Synths

Videos

Demo: Turning Guitars into Synths
March 10, 2023

In collaboration with SonicScoop, we asked seasoned producer and YouTuber Matthew Wang to take us through how he transforms four tracks of guitar ideas.

Demo: Creative Mixing Techniques for Electric Guitar
Sound Design Week

Announcements

Sound Design Week
January 30, 2023

This week we’re exploring the use of effects in sound design for creating and altering sounds for film and TV, games, radio or podcasts, character voice creation, synth patches, sample processing, or even live performances and music production.

Panel: Music for Film

Announcements

Panel: Music for Film
February 1, 2023

We gathered Dan Deacon, Jason LaRocca, and Ryan Miller - three sonic producers who started as solo artists or members of bands, but now also work with studios to score and mix for film and games - to discuss the business of creating sound for the picture, differences in approach and creative process, the journey from music production to film scoring and sound design.

Soundscapes
Jason LaRocca: Sound Design for Film Mixing

Expanders

Jason LaRocca: Sound Design for Film Mixing
January 31, 2023

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the sound design techniques of Jason LaRocca with this free expansion pack of custom presets for film scoring and mixing inspired by his work on films and series like Dungeons & Dragons, Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, Morbius, Godfather of Harlem, and Prey for the Devil.

Outer Limits

Expanders

Outer Limits
January 31, 2023

A FREE collection of otherworldly sound design presets, exclusively for the Soundtoys Effect Rack.

Free Effect Rack Presets

Announcements

Free Effect Rack Presets
December 25, 2022

Happy holidays from the Soundtoys crew! As a special gift, we've created an expansion pack of 20 fun and easy presets for Effect Rack.

Soundtoys 5.3.9 Update

Announcements

Soundtoys 5.3.9 Update
December 22, 2022

Soundtoys 5.3.9 fixes an important VST3 window-size issue in some hosts and adds Apple Silicon Support for all AAX Native plug-ins on Mac.

Bass Processing Week – Presets, & Tutorials

Announcements

Bass Processing Week – Presets, & Tutorials
October 18, 2022

Bass is the glue that holds a track together, but getting that low-end to sit right in a mix can take some practice. FilterFreak, EchoBoy, Radiator, PhaseMistress, and Effect Rack chains can unlock secrets hidden within your bass track, and we're here to help you learn how with tutorials, presets, and professional inspiration.

Soundtoys Bass Processing: Filters, Phasers, and Delays
Unlocking Bass Tones with Justin Meldal-Johnsen
FREE Bass Processing Presets for Effect Rack
CARRTOONS Effect Rack Presets for Electric Bass
Matty Amendola’s Bass Mixing Presets
Creative Drum Processing Week

Announcements

Creative Drum Processing Week
September 20, 2022

Whether you want to spice up some TR-808 samples, transform a beat loop, or add analog flair to an acoustic drum kit, Soundtoys has the tools you need.

FREE Drum Processing Presets
Aaron Rubin’s Drum Processing Secrets

Expanders

Aaron Rubin’s Drum Processing Secrets
September 20, 2022

"Sie-Q is definitely a color EQ. Its top end is so nice and open without getting harsh. The mid bands in conjunction with the Drive knob can give you that little push to make things stick out in a non-annoying way."

Creative Drums with EchoBoy: Tips & Tutorials
Trevor Wright fattens his drums with Decapitator
Mike Kuz’s Stereo Drum Techniques
Electronic Music Production Week
Stop The War

Announcements

Stop The War
March 10, 2022

Thank you for your support, generosity, and for taking action – together we raised $111,850! 

Soundtoys 5.3.3 – 5.3.6 Releases
PLUG-IN YOUR VOTE

Announcements

PLUG-IN YOUR VOTE
October 5, 2020

Democracy in the United States is at risk. We at Soundtoys want new leaders in our public offices. We are casting our votes in demand for change and we are calling on YOU to help us protest America’s broken system with your vote.

Jamie Lidell’s Secret Vocal Harmony Trick
Little Plate Nominated for NAMM TEC Award
Version 5.3.0 Update Now Available
Mitch Thomas: Mixing With Creative Effects