Any "go to" death vocal plugins/chains?

MetalWorks

MetalWorks

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Apr 19, 2007
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Sacramento, CA
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Are there any magical plugins/vocal chains that suit death vocals?

Everybody seems to have all of these cheating tactics to get great sounds out of low budget studio setups.

We have amp and cab simulators for guitars and basses, sound replacers and drum programs to fix or replace drummers.

Whats out there to really compliment death vocals?

In the past I have used a combination of Digi 7 Band EQ and a Digi Dynamic Compressor/Limiter to Squash and overdrive Vocals giving a bit of distortion and smoothen out death vocals. While I struggle to make that work sometimes it seems there are recording engineers making all kinds of vocalists sound 10x better than they really are.

I feel like theres got to be some way better options out there that I am just not finding yet.

Any staple plugins available for protools to help in this arena?

Theres gotta be something that takes a guy from sounding like a dog thats had his voice box removed to sounding like White Chapel in one click.

Any tips in vocal chain, bussing, parallel compressions or whatever is a staple for great death vocal results would be greatly appreciated.

I use an AT4060 and SM7B mics, ADL600 and Focusrite Red1 Pre's, PTHD7.3, waves plugs, figure I have all the basic essentials.

I have heard people use Disstressors on vocals and I would love to get one for many other reasons asside from that, but wondering if theres any reasonable plugins or chains that will get me where I want to be.
 
Are there any magical plugins/vocal chains that suit death vocals?
Click to expand...

No

Everybody seems to have all of these cheating tactics to get great sounds out of low budget studio setups.
Click to expand...

Its not cheating, its experience gained from years of work

We have amp and cab simulators for guitars and basses, sound replacers and drum programs to fix or replace drummers.
Click to expand...

Sounds about right

In the past I have used a combination of Digi 7 Band EQ and a Digi Dynamic Compressor/Limiter to Squash and overdrive Vocals giving a bit of distortion and smoothen out death vocals.
Click to expand...

Thats a great EQ. The compressor is ok. You have the right idea with squashing to vox. Maybe try some saturation to thicken them up if they're not doubled (or even if they are)

Theres gotta be something that takes a guy from sounding like a dog thats had his voice box removed to sounding like White Chapel in one click.
Click to expand...

There is ... get the singer from White Chapel

Other than that, no ... you're fucked. There is no such thing as "magic / one click"

Any tips in vocal chain, bussing, parallel compressions or whatever is a staple for great death vocal results would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Compress to hell, EQ low rumble, sit doubles about 6 db lower than main vox, try bussing them together with some saturation or even a little distortion, some delay on main vox using a send to an aux, reverb only on doubles with a send to an aux, adjust to taste

Oh yeah, use the search function cause this topic has been discussed to death a billion fucking times with a billion different tips provided

I use an AT4060 and SM7B mics, ADL600 and Focusrite Red1 Pre's, PTHD7.3, waves plugs, figure I have all the basic essentials.
Click to expand...

facepalm.gif
 
Prepare.. I'm going to troll in the next line. Just a heads up.
I know a really awesome chain for vocals: good vocalist > any decent mic/pre's > comp to hell > saturationzz

Now, I'll be cereal.
You can't make just any vocalist sound like what you and the majority of people think is "good."
That mindset makes it so vocalists are shy about having a unique sound.. which leads to a LOT of vocals sounding a lot alike, when you're looking at screamed vocals in general.

Also, some vocalists just suck dick.
You can't change their voice so try to get them to hustle when recording. Have them record a couple takes for everything, make sure it's all tight, automate a LOT, have the vocal processing be more like a progression to make things interesting, etc.. Having good vocal production with a "crappy" vocalist would even things out.

The plugs I find to be really awesome-ifyingfor vocals are stuff like:
Voxformer: most of the vocal processing tools in one plug. the preset "in your face vocals" is a dope starting point for an aggressive sound
AVOX Harmony Engine: Go ahead, download it, load it onto any vocal track, DON'T PRESS PLAY YET. Select the "dissonance" preset and then play the vocals track and watch as it sounds more like Satan and less like shit. Then delete the plugin and buy it. It's like $250 or something so you'll have to save up for it :}
CLA Effects: You said you have Waves plugs so I'm just gonna assume you have this. There's a preset that makes an awesome effect. Under the plug, go to "all wet" > "screaming cat" or something involving a cat.
Also, if you have some nigga doing high screams and they just aren't sounding that great.. pitch shift them. 1 semitone is enough to make them sound cooler. No big deal. I won't tell anyone if you won't.
Same works for lows if you want them sounding moar brootz... except you don't shift 1 semitone up because THAT WOULD BE WEIRD.
You gotta go down for the lows. :>
 
Skinny Viking said:
Compress to hell, EQ low rumble, sit doubles about 6 db lower than main vox, try bussing them together with some saturation or even a little distortion, some delay on main vox using a send to an aux, reverb only on doubles with a send to an aux, adjust to taste
Click to expand...

What this guy said......
 
I don't really deal with death metal shit, but I do like to experiment and like messing with bit crushing vocals and sliding that track in there somewhere. I've mentioned this before, it can sound like the vocals from the game ALTERED BEAST (Sega CD).

How about triggering shit to emphasize vocal parts? I'm thinking about triggering low freqs or white/pink noise or something. Mess with vocoding? Could be interesting in a DM context.
 
Josh you should know by now it's like winning the lottery finding a good vocalist here in Sac- and if they are here- they're recording with Bob... And Bob sounds like- well... Bob.

Glad to see you're still alive. Got a place at Godlike now- would be cool to have you drop by when I start moving everything in (if you're ever in the Natomas area)
 
its funny you compare it to Whitechapels vocals. Have you heard what the raw takes sound like?



The dude is literally a fucking demon
 
Last edited by a moderator:
+1 to the 1176

but really, vocals are just one of things you will never be able to change in post production. it will ALWAYS resemble the source. you can enhance it sure, and remove the crap, but there isn't much room to change the sound.

vocalist > room > mic > preamp. this is the chain that will ultimately determine the end result. anything after is just icing, you can't re-bake the cake!
 
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