Role in the mix
In rock the vocal has to compete with a wall of distorted guitars and powerful drums: it must be made dense, aggressive and readable in the mids. In metal and metalcore several "voices" coexist: clean singing (treated like the pop vocal but more saturated), screams (fry, high scream), growls (low, guttural) and gang vocals/backing choruses. Screams have very little tonal information and a lot of noise energy between 1 and 6 kHz: they must be intelligible as rhythm and presence, not as a note. The main problem is harshness (2–5 kHz), which heavy compression exaggerates, and the competition with the guitars in the same mids.
Recording and preparation
- Dynamic (SM7B, SM58, RE20) or a sturdy condenser; for screams at 5–15 cm with a pop filter, lower gain (violent peaks).
- Doubles and triples of the screams: two or three overlapping takes (one in the center, two at the sides, or all in the center) give wall and consistency. Andy Sneap, on Judas Priest, has the choruses and harmonies doubled and corrects pitch by ear, using VocAlign mainly for backing vocals and timing (not Melodyne on aggressive vocals).
- Editing: alignment of the doubles, breaths, noises.
Gain staging
Peaks −10/−6 dBFS after clip gain; screams have little dynamics, clean singing a lot: separate tracks for the two styles.
Corrective EQ
- HP 100–150 Hz (screams), 80–120 Hz (clean); for growl 60–80 Hz.
- Mud/proximity 200–400 Hz: −2/−4 dB.
- Boxiness 500–900 Hz: −1/−3 dB.
- Harshness 2–5 kHz: dynamic EQ (Nail The Mix, Left To Suffer: dynamic EQ to tame harshness without removing aggression) or Soothe2; only a light static cut.
- LP 12–14 kHz on screams if the hiss is excessive.
Creative EQ
- Presence +2/+3 dB at 1–2 kHz to make it stand out from the wall of guitars (the guitars are often scooped at 2–4 kHz in sidechain from the vocal).
- Bite at 3–4 kHz (Nail The Mix, Memphis May Fire: boost around 4 kHz and cut around 5 kHz on compressed harmonies).
- Body +1/+2 dB at 150–250 Hz on the growl.
Compression
- Aggressive and serial: FET (1176 4:1–8:1, all-buttons on the harshest parts), then opto or VCA, then a limiter: 8–15 dB in total on screams.
- Nail The Mix (Memphis May Fire): on harmonies and backing vocals, a 1176 in all-buttons followed by a limiter and by Soothe for the harshness that compression exaggerates.
- Parallel: send to a very compressed bus (very fast attack, fast release), with an EQ beforehand that lowers the area around 1.3 kHz, blended under the vocal.
- Clean rock vocals: FET + opto 5–8 dB.
De-esser
Lighter than in pop on screams (few tonal sibilants); normal on clean vocals (5–8 kHz).
Saturation and distortion (central)
- Saturation on the main vocal (Decapitator, Saturn 2, Distructor): Nail The Mix shows Machine using Decapitator to thicken the Lamb of God vocal.
- Distortion on the doubles (Nail The Mix, Chelsea Grin) for width and aggression, together with MicroShift.
- "Air send": saturate only the band above 10 kHz (Saturn 2 multiband) and blend it in for the scream's "spit" (Memphis May Fire).
- In FL: Fruity Blood Overdrive, Fast Dist, Distructor in parallel with EQ before and after.
Delay
- Mono 1/8 slap filtered (low and high cut, "telephone" tone) on screams for rhythmic bounce without crowding the mix (Nail The Mix, Memphis May Fire).
- Throw at 1/4 on the phrase endings of the clean vocal.
- Returns ducked by the vocal.
Reverb
- Screams: short room/plate or a brief "slap" reverb on the doubles for blend; hall to push back backing vocals and some yells.
- Clean rock vocals: plate 1.5–2 s, pre-delay 40–80 ms, low level.
- HP 300 Hz on the return.
Modulation and pitch
- Tight doubler (Soundtoys MicroShift with minimal detune) on vocals for width; filtered return.
- "Fake low": Little AlterBoy an octave down with lowered formant and filtered highs, blended in the choruses (Nail The Mix): in FL, Pitcher/Pitch Shifter in parallel.
- Harmonizer for deeper growls.
Stereo and panning
- Lead (clean or scream) in the center.
- Scream doubles: center (stack) or ±20–60.
- Alternating growl and scream (dual vocalists): same center, separated by different EQ and saturation, or slightly panned.
Sidechain
- Dynamic EQ on the guitars at 2–4 kHz in sidechain from the vocal: indispensable in metal.
- Ducked returns.
Automation
- Phrase-by-phrase ride (screams "get lost" in long phrases).
- Delay throws, telephone/megaphone effects (bandpass) in intros and breakdowns.
Differences by genre
| Genre | Approach |
|---|---|
| Classic rock / hard rock | FET + opto, plate, slap, 2 kHz presence |
| Grunge / alternative | saturation, doubles, room |
| Punk | doubles, little processing, slap |
| Classic metal | powerful clean vocals, hall/plate, harmonies |
| Metalcore | scream + clean, 1/8 slap, parallels, MicroShift, fake low |
| Death / black metal | growls and screams with dynamic EQ, heavily compressed, reverb |
| Post-hardcore / emo | double-tracked screams, distortion on the doubles |
Common mistakes
- Heavy compression without managing harshness: a vocal that "scratches" at 3 kHz.
- Vocal buried by the wall of guitars: fix it with dynamic EQ on the guitars, not just by raising the vocal.
- Too much reverb on screams: they lose punch.
- Unaligned doubles.
Starting settings
| Parameter | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Channel peak | −10/−6 dBFS | Headroom. |
| HP | 100–150 Hz (scream) | Space for guitars and bass. |
| Total scream compression | 8–15 dB (FET + opto + limiter) | Constant density. |
| FET all-buttons | On harmonies and harsh parts | Aggression. |
| Parallel | Very fast attack, fast release, dip at 1.3 kHz | Density under the lead. |
| Harshness dynamic EQ | −2/−5 dB at 2–5 kHz | Aggression without scratch. |
| Mono 1/8 slap | Lows and highs cut | Rhythmic bounce. |
| Doubler | MicroShift minimal detune | Width. |
| Fake low | −12 semitones, formant down, LP | Weight in the choruses. |
| Clean-vocal plate | 1.5–2 s, pre-delay 40–80 ms | Controlled space. |
| Guitar dynamic EQ | From the vocal, 2–4 kHz | The vocal gets over the wall. |
Frequencies to watch
| Range | What to do |
|---|---|
| below 80–150 Hz | HP: scream 100–150 Hz, clean 80–120 Hz, growl 60–80 Hz. |
| 150–250 Hz | Growl body: +1/+2 dB. |
| 200–400 Hz | Mud/proximity: −2/−4 dB. |
| 500–900 Hz | Boxiness: −1/−3 dB. |
| 1–2 kHz | Presence above the wall of guitars: +2/+3 dB. |
| ~1.3 kHz | Dip before the parallel (Nail The Mix) so the mids aren't exaggerated. |
| 2–5 kHz | Harshness: dynamic EQ / Soothe2; boost ~4 kHz and cut ~5 kHz on compressed harmonies. |
| above 10 kHz | Saturated 'air send' for the scream's spit; LP 12–14 kHz if there is hiss. |
Example chain
| Step | Tool | Settings | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Editing | Playlist / Edison / VocAlign | Aligned doubles, clip gain | Precision. |
| Corrective EQ | Fruity Parametric EQ 2 / Pro-Q 3–4 | HP 120 Hz; −3 dB at 300 Hz | Cleanup. |
| FET compression | Fruity Limiter COMP / CLA-76 | 8:1, 6 dB | Peaks. |
| Harshness control | Pro-Q 3–4 dynamic / Soothe2 / Maximus | 2–5 kHz | Scratch. |
| Opto/limiter compression | Fruity Compressor / CLA-2A / Fruity Limiter | 3–4 dB + 1–2 dB | Stability. |
| Saturation | Distructor / Decapitator / Saturn 2 | Mix 30–50% | Density. |
| Parallel | Bus + aggressive Fruity Limiter COMP | Dip at 1.3 kHz first | Body. |
| Doubler / fake low | Pitcher / Pitch Shifter / MicroShift / Little AlterBoy | In parallel, filtered | Width and weight. |
| Sends | Fruity Delay 3 / LuxeVerb / EchoBoy | Filtered 1/8 slap; short plate | Space. |
| Sidechain on the guitars | Pro-Q 3–4 / Trackspacer | From the vocal | Intelligibility. |
How to check the result
- Vocal short-term LUFS constant (±2 dB) in the screamed sections.
- No narrow resonance above +6 dB between 2 and 5 kHz.
- The vocal stays readable with the wall of guitars at chorus level.
- Vocal bus correlation > +0.5 with doubles and doubler.
- Doubles aligned within 10–20 ms.