I had a request (from Captain Moto) to describe my vocal chain/processing:

Originally Posted By: CaptainMoto
HEY FJ,
A little late getting back on this but.......
I'm interested in your entire vocal recording/processing.

Primarily, what's your tracking set up? Any special mics, preamps processing on the ay in.

Secondly, how are you processing your vocals, are you mixing your own work?
Everything always sounds clear and present.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks
moto



So, I thought I would do that here (in the Recording forum).
Hopefully, others will chime in and describe THEIR chain/processing.
We might all learn something new...


Microphone: AT 4033a
https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/at4033a
I've had it for 27 years. (It costs the same as it did then)

I run that into an Aphex 107 preamp.
That is also 27 years old.
This article was written about then (1995)
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/aphex-107?page=1

Then through a Alesis 3630 compressor.
https://www.alesis.com/products/view/3630-compressor
(again, 27 years old)

The 3630 does a good job of bumping up the volume some on soft passages and squashing down too-loud vocals.
Setting:
Threshold -10
Ratio 4:1
Attack about 1 ms
Release about 100ms
Output 0 dB

The output from the 3630 goes into the line-in on a Focusrite Scarlett 8i6.

I have, at time, run the microphone direct into the Scarlett ,no compressor, letting the software compressors do the work. But I like having the hardware compressor (no "hot" signals) and the Aphex seems slightly "warmer" than the Scarlett. But, the Scarlett does a fine job, too.


Processing:

I process vocals in my DAW (Studio One Professional 5.4, currently).
If I need to de-ess a vocal (which is most of them to some degree), I typically do that manually. By far the best way to do it. I have a number of de-esser plugins and have used them at times, but manual is best.
Everyone should learn how to do that.
Solo the track and zoom in on the vocal track and walk through it finding the "esses" (and tcks and ch's). They look like a elongated football (American) and are very dense (compared to sung words). Cut on both sides of the "ess" and reduce the volume of that clip - about 60-70% (eliminating them completely will sound unnatural). After a while you will recognize the shape easily and can walk through an entire vocal in 15 minutes. It is 15 minutes WELL SPENT.

A typical vocal chain is
Compressor
EQ
Reverb
Delay

I like both a reverb and a delay, but you can use either/or, too.

I often use iZotope Nectar because it provides all of the vocal chain in a sigle processor (and you can learn a lot from trying different presets).

The Nectar chain that I use most often includes:
Saturation
EQ
Compressor
De-ess
Limiter
Reverb
Dealy

The compressor settings are simialr to my settings for the 3630.

The EQ has a small bump (up) at 80, piulled down a bit around 160 and a small bump about 3k.
I often have a cut (complete roll-off) above 10k (sometime sooner - 6k, maybe).
Seems like some people really jack up the high end (trying to get a clear, clean vocal that sits above the mix), but, in my opinion, that is a big mistake. Use a refrence track of a favorite, similar song and "study" the overall sound of the vocal. It might surprise you how "dull" the vocals sound. I would call them "warm" as opposed to "crisp and brittle" - which is what you get if you crank up the high end of the EQ. (Same thing happens with stereo drum tracks - folks try to get a bigger snare and kick by cranking the high EQ and just end up with those crispy, brittle hi-hats. Old ears have that tendency...)

I often turn the saturation off - or way down - because it can muddy a vocal.
(All of this, of course, can change from vocal to vocal)
The de-esser isn't doing much because that was taken care of before (manually).
The limiter is in my go-to preset and I don't pay much attention to it.
The Delay is not in that preset, but I add it in (because I like the sound of reverb + delay).

I don't use a pop filter.
But I do move around a bit as I sing.
I'm typically about 10" away from the microphone and will turn my head so the "thrust" of louder parts "slides to the side" of the mic.
I will move in a bit closer (and sing AT the mic) for things that are at the lowest notes of my range, because those come out a LOT softer (and my low range is creeping a little higher all the time. Particularly during allergy season - which in Florida is from January to December).

I don't know if anyone will find this helpful or not. But the Cap'n asked...

If I think of anything else, I'll add it later.

Hopefully, others will add THEIR setup so there are other opinions.
There are a LOT of different ways to "get it right".

Questions?

150+ Songs produced using BIAB RealTracks
And 50 more...
and some more...