ULTIMATE GUIDE

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Copyright 2022 | Raytown Productions | All Rights Reserved

 TRUSTED BY

Hey it's Bobby Balow. I'm a scientist by training and the mixing &
mastering engineer at Raytown Productions. I wanted to thank you for
downloading this free guide on vocal delay techniques! I hope you find these
tricks helpful and inspire you to make some incredible sounding music.

If you are looking for a fun community to ask audio questions you have or
to meet and network with other music creators, I would recommend you
check out the Home Studio Fast Track Facebook Group:

https://bit.ly/hsftgroup

Cheers to better sounding music!

-Bobby

Copyright 2022 | www.RaytownProductions.com | All Rights Reserved

Getting started with vocal delays

Let's quickly go over some basics of vocal delays.

We can use delays two ways:

Use delay as an insert directly on our vocal track (not recommended)
Set up the delay on it's own auxiliary tracks (also known as Send FX) and
send the vocal to the delay (recommended)

I recommend setting up delays on their own aux FX send track instead of

using them as an insert directly on our vocal tracks.

Why? Not only does it make using delays much more convenient and lower CPU
usage if you share the delay across multiple channels, but having a delay as an
insert on a vocal track limits our ability to process JUST the sound of the delay.

Using a delay as an insert will also alter the sound of the vocal track itself.

For example, if we wanted a lo-fi delay sound, we would probably filter off lots
of low and high frequencies and add some distortion, but these effects will also
be applied to the vocal track as well. But if we filter and distort just the delay
plugins on their own channels, we can completely separate the vocals from the
vocal delay and thus ONLY make the delay lo-fi.

This is really powerful, because now we can implement other processing tricks
like side-chaining, compression, saturation or other effects like reverb to
change the feel of JUST the delay.

Be sure that the Dry/Wet setting on the delay is set to 100% WET if you
are using an aux FX send.

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Vocal Delay Technique 1: Use both mono and stereo delays

Mono delays can add focus and length to a vocal to make it sound more lush.
Stereo delays like a ping pong delay can give the vocal a sense of incredible
space, but too much can make the vocal positioning confusing or distracting.

Typically I use 3 different delays on pretty much every lead vocal.

Delay 1: Mono 1/4 or 1/2 note delay to add length and depth.
Recommended plugins: Stock delay plugins, Waves H-Delay, SoundToys Echoboy

Delay 2: 1/8 or 1/16 note ping-pong delay to add width.

Recommended plugins: Waves H-Delay, SoundToys Echoboy

Delay 3: A short slap delay to add thickness/body.

Recommended plugins: SoundToys PrimalTap, Waves H-Delay

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Vocal Delay Technique 1: Use both mono and stereo delays cont.

To dial in the right amount of delay, increase the vocal send until you can
just barely hear the delay with the music playing. Then back the amount down
a little bit more.

The reason why it's good to pull the delay back more is that during
mastering, our delay and reverbs tend to become louder.

You can get an idea how much the delays will increase during mastering by
putting a compressor or limiter on your master bus and increasing the loudness
to a competitive level. You don't need to be analytical about this, but it should
be about as loud as a similar song in the same genre.

Don't worry about how the song sounds with the compressor or limiter on your
song, just focus on the level of the delay.

If the delays become too obvious after getting the song to a competitive
loudness, then you know you should lower the amount of delay more.

Once you dial in a good amount of delay, remove the compressor or limiter
from your master bus and you will have a perfectly set amount of delay!

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Vocal Delay Technique 2: Filter delays to reduce mud and
increase focus

It's VERY important to filter unwanted frequencies from our delays so they only
occupy certain spaces of the frequency spectrum to keep our vocal sound tight
and clean.

Because delays can last for a long time in our songs with if they have multiple
repeats, the frequency range that they occupy will quickly build up.

For every single delay that I use, I will almost always remove all low-
frequencies below about 300 Hz (and sometimes go higher light 500 Hz if I
want a more lo-fi sound).

I also remove lots of the high frequencies as well - pretty much everything
above 1.5 -2 kHz.

Why should you do this? It helps to "hide" the delays.

Consonant sounds like T's, S's, P's, C's, etc. tend to "jump out" of the mix. And
this gets amplified when we use delays. This is especially bad if these sounds
are on a stereo ping-pong delay channel, because we will hear those sharp
sounds bounce back and forth between the speakers, which is really distracting!

By removing most of the high frequencies using a low pass filter, we keep our
attention focused on the main vocal and not the delay. At the same time,
the vocals will also feel larger than life thanks to the ping-pong delay.

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Vocal Delay Technique 3: Use a De-Esser plugin before the delay

Recommended plugins: Waves De-Esser, Techivation T-De-Esser (Free)

Just like filtering the delay, we can help keep the delay sounding smooth by
putting a de-esser before the delay on our FX channel.

A de-esser removes any sharp sibilant sounds from the vocals and makes
them silky smooth. This signal then goes to the delay and produces a clean and
soft delay that works great on songs that aren't really dense and have lots of
space like ballads and electronic music.

But don't go overboard! Too much de-essing will make the vocals sound
like they have a lisp - NOT GOOD!

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Vocal Delay Technique 4: Side chain the delays to the vocal to
enhance vocal clarity

Side-chaining a compressor after your delay is a great way to increase the

clarity of your vocals!

Add a compressor that has a side chain feature after your delay plugins on your
delay FX channel. Then send the vocal signal to the side chain of the
compressor. Set it for a fast attack and medium release (100 - 250 ms).

Try the Waves C1 Compressor for side-chaining!

Now, anytime you can hear your vocals, the delay signal gets compressed so it's
quieter in the mix. When the vocals aren't active, the compression stops and
the delay effect becomes louder. This way, the delays don't overwhelm your
lead vocal and automatically increase only when the vocals aren't active.

When done correctly, the delay will "fill in the gaps" during the short vocal
breaks.

I love this trick because it makes the vocals feel like they always have a
beautiful lush delay to them. But in reality, the delays are only really audible
when no vocal is present.

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Vocal Delay Technique 5: EQ your delay

Even though you filtered the lows and high frequencies out of your delay, you
still need to EQ your delay effects to prevent the buildup of unwanted mud
and harsh frequencies.

Add a parametric EQ after your delay plugin and play your song back. Boost a
band and listen for the frequencies where the delay is either really harsh
or starts getting overly muddy. That is where you want to cut some
frequencies from the delay.

This might take some practice, but just a few cuts at the most problematic
frequencies can really make your delays sound super smooth and seamless with
your music. Try not to cut too many frequencies, or your delay will sound
strange!

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Vocal Delay Technique 6: Add reverb or other effects after delay
for ambience and texture

If your delay is still too obvious in the mix and you need to smooth it out some
more, try adding a reverb after the delay plugin.

One great reverb plugin to check out is Waves H-Reverb.

This way instead of obvious, individual echoes, each delay repeat is glued to the
next one with reverb creating an incredibly smooth sounding vocal.

But again, be careful! You can unintentionally add a lots of mud to your
vocal if you don't properly filter and EQ your delay so it fits in the mix.

Follow the suggestions in Vocal Delay Technique #5 above to know what

frequencies to cut from the delay.

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Vocal Delay Technique 7: Set up a "Vocal Throw" channel

Sometimes you just want one word or syllable to echo for a long time. To do
this, you might have automated the delay to change just for that one spot,
which can be a pain!

A really easy trick if you want to accent certain words with longer delays is to
set up a vocal throw channel.

It's really simple - just copy and paste your lead vocal channel and add a delay
as an insert to the bottom of your vocal plugin chain. Set the delay to 100%
wet.

Now, delete all the other audio on that channel that you don't want to echo.
What you will have at the end are just the last words or syllables that you want
to repeat.

Now, you can just adjust the volume of the channel to set the level of of
the echoes.

Super easy right?!?

Copyright 2022 | www.RaytownProductions.com | All Rights Reserved

Final Thoughts

This guide is FILLED with some incredible tricks for you to try on your next
song.

Please don't just start using all these tricks at once! Instead, try them one
at a time to learn what each one sounds like individually.

This way, you will understand what each trick sounds like and what it can do
for your music.

Be sure to experiment and tweak these suggestions to make some incredible

sounding vocal delay effects that are unique to you and your style. That is how
you will take your music to the next level!

The more you experiment, the more tools you will add to your toolbox. So the
next time you start mixing a song, you will know exactly which delay trick to
use to make your music stand out from the crowd.

Copyright 2022 | www.RaytownProductions.com | All Rights Reserved

Additional Resources

Audio Mix Club: https://bit.ly/30q3MeM

If you are looking for a great place to practice mixing music, win monthly
prizes, compete in mix challenges, attend live meetups and Q&A sessions, and
get feedback on songs you are mixing, definitely check out Audio Mix Club.

Raytown Productions Blog: https://www.RaytownProductions.com/blog/

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Raytown Productions: https://www.RaytownProductions.com/

Get your music professionally mixed, mastered, and produced by me! Send a
message to discuss your goals and I'll put together a package to get you there!

Home Studio Fast Track: https://bit.ly/hsftgroup

Connect with me and other incredible music creators in my private Facebook

group. Chat about the latest plugins, tips and tricks, gear and everything else in
the music creation process!

Want to chat? Have Questions? Looking for personalized coaching or help?

Reach out to me and let's chat about how I can help you make better sounding
music.

Email: bobby@raytownproductions.com

Copyright 2022 | www.RaytownProductions.com | All Rights Reserved