Vocals effect processing best practices

Let’s discuss some best practices to process your vocals.

It’s best to record dry vocals without any effects. You can always add in and swap out effects later. If you need to hear how an effect will sound for reference while recording (such as when using an autotune or vocoder tool), record the dry vocals at the same time as the effected vocals on two separate channels so that you end up with access to the dry vocals, in addition to any effected vocals.

When applying effects on vocals, there’s an order that’s usually followed. The following order is a suggestion, not a mandatory rule. This order is here to help you get a natural sounding vocal where each effect helps to build on the previous one rather than interfere. If you find any of the following terms confusing regarding compressing or EQ, revisit Chapter 6, Compression, Sidechaining, Limiting, and Equalization.

Here’s a suggested order to...