iZotope Nectar 3 Plus

If singing is important to your songs and
recordings then there are plenty of
software plugins available to assist your
recording and editing endeavours. Vocal
processing plugins are many and varied
and can be used to help make great vocal
recordings, or turn bad takes into
recordings that can be used in any mix.
Vocal processing plugins include
general mix plugins for adding EQ solidity
and sparkle to male or female vocals, or
classic, colourful compression for a vintage
vibe. For vocalists with tuning issues or the
contemporary ‘Auto-tune’ efect, there are
automatic tuning plugins to help your
vocalist hit the right notes or recreate the
classic Cher-like jumping efect. Finally
there are more esoteric and bespoke vocal
processors that focus on speciic tasks like
de-essing or double-tracking.
In this roundup we’ll be covering the
best vocal processing plugins we’ve
reviewed. There’s more vocal advice – plus
walkthroughs to go with some of these
plugins – in our main feature from p16.
It’s our vocals special, so if you want that Auto-Tune efect, or need to
make a bad vocal great, then these vocal processing plugins will help
turn bad singing into perfect vocals, whatever music you make
74 / COMPUTER MUSIC / August 2022
> reviews / vocal plugins roundup
Best vocal processing plugins
When it comes to buying a plugin
speciically for vocals, you need to
decide what your needs are from
the many issues vocalists have. It
might well be that a simple EQ is
all you require, just to bolster
certain frequencies to give your
vocal more body, or remove mid
and high frequencies to reduce
overall harshness.
More likely than not, you will
have tuning issues from time to
time. Even the best vocalists will
have an of day in the studio
sometimes and you might be left
with the odd note to put in place
or simply need software to help
‘guide’ your vocalist as they sing.
With all such tuning issues, there
are lots of options available, from
software that gets right into a mix
to edit tuning issues (Celemony
Melodyne) to simple plugins like
Little AlterBoy that nudge your
pitch manually.
The Auto-Tune efect is
probably the biggest decider
when it comes to vocal
processing. This is the slightly
synthetic, quantised vocal sound
that’s been a chart staple in many
dance and rap genres since Cher
made the efect famous in the
song Believe in 1998. As arguably
worn out as this efect is, you can’t
deny its continued popularity, and
those predicting its demise have
been many and all mistaken over
the last couple of decades.
With that in mind, an ‘Auto-
Tune’-like plugin is a good tool to
have in your armoury and at least
four of our options deliver it, from
the simple AlterBoy right up to the
one that started it all, the famous
Auto-Tune Pro.
Buyers’ advice
It’s our vocals special, so if you want that Auto-Tune efect, or need to
Best vocal processing plugins
It’s our vocals special, so if you want that Auto-Tune efect, or need to
make a bad vocal great, then these vocal processing plugins will help
Best vocal processing plugins
It’s our vocals special, so if you want that Auto-Tune efect, or need to
Best vocal processing plugins
CMU310.rev_vocal_plugins_roundup.indd 74CMU310.rev_vocal_plugins_roundup.indd 74 27/05/2022 10:2627/05/2022 10:26