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Lead Vocal Starter Kit by Chris Tabron (Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj)

Aug 27, 2020 | 18,258 Views

Do you struggle mixing lead vocal tracks? Take your mixing skills to the next level by studying the StudioRack chains of the pros.

In this video we explore the chain preset ‘Fun Vocals’ by producer/mixer Chris Tabron (Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, The Strokes, Mary J. Blige). Featuring a blend of compression, reverb and creative delay macros, this chain can quickly transform any lead vocal in a mix.

'Fun Vocals' is included in the StudioRack plugin chainer as an Artist Preset. Download StudioRack free now, and try it on your next vocal mix.

Chris Tabron about the ‘Fun Vocals’ StudioRack Chain

"When I created my StudioRack presets I wasn't thinking of making these for mix engineers; that's why you won't find the macros in my StudioRack chains labelled in technical language. I wanted my StudioRack presets to help a broader audience of creatives who often feel intimidated by plugins, especially plugins with lots of controls."

"I came up with my set of artist presets when recently mixing some records, finding sounds where I felt, ‘Oh, THIS is a thing: this chain can become a handy starting point not only now, but I can call on it again and again in the future. So think of my presets as a good starting point, a color palette at the ready... it's now time to fling some paint."

“In my presets you'll find macros named Darker, Brighter, Punch, Attack and Lo-fi, which hopefully give you a good sense of what they can offer from a creative standpoint, but at the same time still be useful in addressing technical processing. I also included a few wackier macros in some of my presets, for the sake of having fun while hopefully being a source of inspiration."

“The ‘Fun Vocals’ chain features a collection of my favorite plugin combinations and settings for mixing vocals, including the Q10, CLA-76, H-Delay, H-Reverb, MondoMod, Reel ADT, MetalFlanger and SuperTap plugins."

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"‘Fun Vocals’ is based completely around dry/wet parallel processing, with all the macros set to control rack output levels, like in my other StudioRack preset Drum Loop Stank.”

‘Fun Vocals’ – Macro Controls:

  1. Parallel Comp: Rack 2 output level for Q10 high pass and CLA-76
  2. Wider: Rack 3 output level for CLA Vocals pitch section enabled
  3. Short Delay: Rack 4 output level for H-Delay
  4. Long Delay: Rack 5 output level for H-Delay into MondoMod
  5. Short Verb: Rack 6 output level for H-Reverb
  6. Long Verb: Rack 7 output level for H-Reverb into CLA-76
  7. Fun: Output level for SuperTap, Reel ADT into MetalFlanger
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