Talented and prolific producer Jafunk has returned to the Producertech community to give another masterclass on an area of his expertise, namely vocal production. In this set of tutorials, he’ll take you through all the techniques involved in going from raw recordings to polished and perfectly mixed vocals, using his recent track ‘You Got Me’.

Beginning with a number of suggestions for how to go about achieving a high-quality recording, Jafunk then dives straight into the project, initially looking at corrective procedures for improving the timing and pitch of vocal takes, by manually editing and using the 3rd-party plugin Melodyne. He then moves onto setting levels and panning layers, to achieve a strong but pleasantly spread vocal.

After all, parts are sufficiently synchronised, tuned and sounding as one, he moves onto vocal enhancement, working through each of the plugins used to add the polish and professional touches that elevate the vocal in the mix. Signals are compressed and saturated, sibilance is removed and width and depth are applied with delay and reverb. Once Nick’s voice has been treated, Jafunk shows how similar processing can be applied to Dana’s voice so that both vocalists are made to inhabit the same space and the track has a unified sound.

In addition to the streamed tutorials, signing up to the course provides MB of bonus vocal samples, giving you additional sounds for your own library and materials to practice your newly-acquired techniques with.

Sample Module - Adding Brightness, Delay and Reverb to a Vocal - Jafunk Pro Vocal Tips

Course Breakdown

Module 1 - Course Intro and General Tips

Jafunk introduces the course and gives some pointers for how to achieve high-quality vocal recordings.

• 07.55

Module 2 - Timing and Pitch

A guide to the corrective processes Jafunk carries out to ensure the timing and pitch of vocals is spot on. Manual audio editing is carried out along with melody adjustment within Melodyne.

• Lesson 1 - Vocal Timing Correction - 14.25
• Lesson 2 - Vocal Pitch Correction - 15.26  

Module 3 - Nick’s Vocal

Once all the correction is done, Jafunk moves onto the setting of levels and positioning in the stereo field, followed by enhancement using a number of 3rd-party audio effects. Devices include compressors, EQ, saturators, de-essers, delay and reverb.

• Lesson 1 - Vocal Levels and Panning - 9.34
• Lesson 2 - Vocal Effects - 14.44

Module 4 - Dana’s Vocal

Jafunk works through Dana’s vocal and the remaining layers, showing the treatment necessary to improve the quality and help the two vocalists fit together as a cohesive whole in the track.

• 17.15