What are distorted vocals?
A distorted vocal has grit on it: it can be warm and a little dirty, rough and aggressive, broken and lo-fi or cold and robotic. You hear it all over hyperpop, rage and hip hop, on lead vocals, doubles and adlibs.
The rule: keep a clean vocal under it
The reliable way is parallel: a clean vocal carries the words, and a distorted copy carries the attitude. If you put the distortion straight on the lead, the words fall apart, the sibilance gets sharp and the level jumps. With the copy on a bus of its own you can shape the effect without touching the vocal.
How to make distorted vocals step by step
- Start with a clean, edited vocalCut the noise and the breaths you do not want, and de-ess the sharp S sounds. Distortion makes every problem louder, so fix them first.
- Send a copy to a busSend the vocal to a new mixer track, or use a send. The clean vocal stays on its own track.
- Filter the copyOn the bus, high-pass from around 200 to 300 Hz and lower the harsh top end. The low end of a distorted vocal is only mud.
- Add the distortionStart with saturation, then raise the drive until it bites. Try overdrive or a waveshaper for more edge.
- Blend it under the clean vocalBring up the bus until you hear the grit without losing the words. Compare it with the effect off, at the same level.
- EQ and compress afterCut the harshness in the upper mids, then compress the bus lightly so the effect stays steady.
- Automate itPush the distortion up at the end of a line, in the chorus or on a double, and pull it back where the words matter.
Other distorted vocal sounds
- Lo-fi: a bitcrusher on the copy, lowering the bit depth and the sample rate, and a band-pass filter for a small, telephone-like voice.
- Robotic: a pitch corrector set to the key of the song with the fastest correction speed. Add a little distortion for a harder, colder sound.
- Octave copy: pitch a copy of the vocal down or up an octave, distort it and blend it under the lead for a bigger, darker voice.
- Megaphone: a band-pass filter around the mids, then overdrive. Loud, narrow and punchy; it works well on short phrases and doubles.
- Wall of voices: stack several doubles, pan them wide, and clip or distort the group for a loud, crowded sound in a chorus.
Tools
FL Studio ships with Fruity Waveshaper, Distructor and Fruity Blood Overdrive for distortion, Fruity Squeeze for bitcrushing, Pitcher for tuning and the robotic effect, and Fruity Parametric EQ 2 and Fruity Limiter for the clean-up. Other DAWs have their own. SHROOMDECK VST is a general multi-effect plugin with Distort, Crush and Clipper controls and a mix control, so it can also sit on a vocal bus.
Keep the words clear
- De-ess before the distortion, not after.
- Keep the clean vocal louder than the distorted copy.
- Check the mix on a phone and in mono.
- Take the effect out of the verses if the chorus needs to hit harder.
For the whole chain, from the raw take to the finished vocal, see how to mix vocals. A preset gives you a starting chain with the clean-up already done: Flextrik Vocal Presets ($11) has four FL Studio presets for main vocals, adlibs and a bonus.
Flextrik Vocal Presets
4 FL Studio presets (.fst): main vocals, adlibs, bonus.
Questions
How do I make my vocals sound distorted?
Send a copy of the vocal to its own bus, put a distortion or a saturator on it, filter the lows and the harsh highs, and blend it under the clean vocal. The clean one keeps the words clear and the copy adds the grit.
What do I use for distorted vocals in FL Studio?
Fruity Waveshaper, Distructor or Fruity Blood Overdrive for distortion, Fruity Squeeze for a bitcrushed, lo-fi sound, and Pitcher for a robotic one. A multi-effect plugin such as SHROOMDECK VST can put distortion and a crush on the same bus.
Should I distort the whole vocal?
Usually you should not. A fully distorted lead is hard to understand and tiring to hear. Keep a clean vocal under the effect, or use the distorted one only on the parts that need it, such as the end of a line or a chorus.
How do I make a robotic vocal?
Put a pitch corrector such as Pitcher on the vocal, set the key of the song and turn the correction speed to the fastest. For a harder sound add a little distortion or a crush after it.
Why do my distorted vocals sound harsh?
Distortion boosts everything, including sibilance and noise. De-ess and clean up before it, filter the highs of the distorted copy, and lower the amount until the words are clear again.