Two of the most popular devices in Max for Live are the Convolution Reverb and the Convolution Reverb Pro. The mid/side mode can be particularly useful in shaping the tone of a vocal recording that contains lots of harmonies that are panned to either side. The EQ Eight has three modes – stereo, left/right and mid/side – giving you tonal control over the whole signal or each input channel individually. These filters can be used to shape the tone of a vocal recording to add warmth and air while removing muddiness, sibilance and resonant peaks.

This device is a parametric equalizer that offers up to eight filters per input channel. While this may be considered overkill on a single vocal channel, it is very useful on a vocal bus to have more control over the dynamics of different voices, especially while mixing a choir that has voices ranging from bass to soprano. This beast is a multiband compressor that enables you to compress up to three frequency bands individually. This makes it ideal for use on a vocal bus to bring together two or more vocal harmonies.

While it can be used on individual tracks, like Live’s original compressor, it is actually meant to be used on group tracks or even on the master channel to “glue” multiple signals together. This plugin was designed to emulate an analog compressor that was used on a famous 80’s mixing console. When Live 9 was released, the developers introduced a new compressor called Glue.

The Compressor also has a preset called the “De-esser” which is quite effective in controlling sibilance by compressing a small band of frequencies around 6 kHz. This preset has soft attack, release and ratio settings making it ideal for controlling the dynamics in a vocal performance without completely getting rid of them. When using this device for vocal compression, a good starting point is a preset called “Gentle Squeeze”. It is a transparent digital compressor and the settings on it are accurate down to a hundredth of a millisecond. Best Ableton Effects for Vocals CompressorĪbleton Live’s stock compressor is probably one of the most underrated devices in Live’s arsenal. Incidentally, analogue preamps do add saturation to the recording itself, which is why they are so in demand, despite the advances in digital technology. This may sound strange but small amounts of distortion, particularly saturation, help a great deal by adding warmth and fullness to a vocal recording. Reverbs bring that sense of depth without making the mix sound muddy. The best way to record vocals is in a soundproof vocal booth but the recording itself will sound dry because of it. These devices were made to add a “room” sound to a recording that is done in an acoustically treated environment. This step is necessary to make the recording shine through the mix and sound as realistic as possible.ģ. Tonal balance of a piece of audio is achieved using equalizers. Dynamics processors (aka compressors) are used to control the dynamics of a recording such as when a vocalist gets a little too loud in some parts of the recording. The dynamic range of a piece of audio is the difference in volume between the loudest and softest parts. But before we get into the list, let’s brush up on the basics of mixing and its application to vocals. In this article, we are going to take a look at some of the best Ableton effects for vocal processing. While many producers shun the stock audio effect plugins in Live for more advanced VST plugins for mixing by companies like Waves Audio and Slate Digital, there is still something to be said for the plugins that come with Ableton Live Suite. Although Ableton Live is known mostly as the best tool for producing electronic music, it is also a powerhouse for recording musical performances such as vocals.

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