How Disclosure gets "RADIO READY" Vocals

[@SolStateMusic]

Track ID - "Watch Your Step" by Disclosure: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fX6VoIJ7oqmIadk 👀WATCH NEXT 1) How Diclosure Makes a Remix/Edit (Stuck? Copy This) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/oISco6ZvrpiefNU 2) Disclosure: Easy Way To Make Your DAW Sound Analog - kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6fEl4N6odZ4Y5Y

[@RayAndre]

Average producer/mixer: STOP over compressing! Pro producer/mixer: Yeah I compressed this vocal 239 times

[@SolStateMusic]

😂😂

[@crapadopalese]

Matter of genre; disclosure are going for that Katie Perry super compressed pop radio vibe. If you are mixing a soul track you're gonna let the vocals breath.

[@BloodSavedMe]

With 8 OTTs

[@odumabekah4000]

🤣🤣🤣 Yes!!

[@Zaflon]

small amounts every time though

[@underdog61]

all these plugins making a great vocal CPU level: i'm about the end this mans whole career

[@slowestjabroni]

Wallet: I'm about to end this man's marriage

[@underdog61]

John S facts! Couldn’t be me right now

[@MysteryPancake]

For people without Surfer EQ, the effect at 1:52 can also be achieved in Melodyne by lowering the first harmonic in the "Harmonics" tab

[@JuanJacinto]

Thank you!

[@BenCaesar]

Good look in what edition is this , Studio and Editor only ?

[@MysteryPancake]

@@BenCaesar It seems like studio only :(

[@ijeshwardhillon4927]

what gives a better quality?

[@Zaflon]

I just think it's mad how the best boys in the business are straight-up sharing this hard

[@SolStateMusic]

It's amazing, very generous of them!

[@samsam2235]

You're blessed when you get to record vocals like this. That singer sounds absolutely awesome and it would take some skill to ruin the recording.

[@superlunary2015]

Those aren’t her raw vocals. It’s already been processed and mixed before they started.

[@DixieWreck69]

fuck me this might be the best channel I’ve ever accidentally stumbled across on KZbin

[@SolStateMusic]

Bless thy KZbin gods. Also thanks!

[@dontaskwhatkindofmusic]

KZbin algorithm: "am I a joke to you?"

[@rudyfagiolo5312]

True that!

[@jaydekaytv]

No thank you.

[@JoseMiguel-yi5ur]

bruh my laptop would explode with half of these lol

[@ts4gv]

bounce

[@JoseMiguel-yi5ur]

@@ts4gv yeah I often do, but it kinda kills the mixing workflow

[@addiston9496]

if you’re serious about music then save and buy a new one, it’s an investment

[@arthurverlaine6434]

Actually for the vocal it's not even needed to be in the mix project (especially if the computer doesn't keep up), you can export the master as you please, then work your vocal on a different project and open all the plug-ins you want and need cos you're only working on vocals (and not everything at the same time)

[@Zydepoint]

@@arthurverlaine6434 but for the end product you would then put all vocals and vocalchains back in the original project and render there, no?

[@jonwatte4293]

TBF, when the original take sounds so good, all the additional treatment is candy :-)

[@Pyrohawk]

Your videos are incredibly useful. Huge shout out to every artist that teaches others their tricks. They are the force that drives the industry forward.

[@andrewkp678]

These vids are so unbelievably useful. Thank you!

[@SolStateMusic]

Great to hear, thanks! More coming 🚀

[@Eagleface69]

love how you organized between bus and track processing. Thank you!

[@SolStateMusic]

Thank you!

[@JuanJacinto]

SOL ROCKS

[@fromtheashbandofficial]

Glad I'm not the only one who uses 100 plug-ins to get a megaphone sound. If only somebody made a megaphone plugin...

[@BenCaesar]

This reminds me that the mic and the room is also an instrument , love that.

[@awkwardfellow6912]

So much work they put into it... i'm gonna take some of this and put it into my own stuff for sure.

[@speedcrawlmusic]

Love to see these vocal chains, and I will certainly be experimenting with them, but the biggest take away for me was hearing Guy say all together they only add 10%, and the main thing is to have a sick tune to begin with!

[@vincenternst190]

Bro mix engineers are just shaking their heads lmao. But tbh if it sounds fire who tf cares how they got there. Do you need all those plugins? hell no. Is it more fun with them? yes

[@tylerdengler6960]

You wouldn’t need them, but I think it’s smart where none of the plug-ins are being overworked and overdone.

[@------YeahOK------]

He squeezed every bit of goodness from that vocal, which was already amazing sounding. Great channel. 👍

[@cinematiccrisis]

Records with a M49 mic, then distorts until it sounds like recorded with some old headphone :) Still good tips here!

[@cackjorbett4420]

THANK YOU. These videos are so very helpful. Appreciate what you do Sol State! And thank you Disclosure and every other artist on here that shares such valuable information.

[@SolStateMusic]

Thanks Jack! I'm also very grateful artists are willing to share such amazing info.

[@katide9161]

“Get the idea right first” - forreal!

[@nowherewithyou]

help! i think i'm getting addicted to your uploads

[@SolStateMusic]

Close your eyes 😳 ?

[@tilda140]

Clean and super useful stuff as usual brudda

[@venox314]

Thanks for making these compilations of streams. So dope!

[@melsoro7311]

hey sol, MJ Cole has videos of his music streams on youtube maybe you should use those for a video? he's a big uk garage producer that inspired disclosure

[@SolStateMusic]

Hey! MJ Cole is dope! I didn't even know he was streaming, thanks for sharing! If I can find some helpful info in his streams, I'll try to make a video.

[@ewan8528]

Howard looks like he's just escaped from prison

[@SolStateMusic]

haha he got released early for good behavior 😉

[@BenCaesar]

Daaaaam forgot about surfer Eq , needs that. Mind I’m sure I can automate that in Ableton 🤔

[@SolStateMusic]

You can def automate Ableton EQ, Surfer EQ is just faster.

[@ryancarr7739]

This channel is nothing but gold.

[@SolStateMusic]

Thanks! Signal not noise. That's the goal.

[@Jamieamusic]

My sm58 certainly ain’t no M49 ,but shove enough of these plugins, some elements of the chorus vocal chain in there for good measure and it ain’t half bad? Aha . Another ace breakdown mate. I’m running out of things to say!

[@Iamdanybazz]

You done pop vocals with an sm58?? I've always wanted to get one for the fun of it. Any tips?

[@Jamieamusic]

@@Iamdanybazz Hey matey. Yeah, I've tried my best to. Not a plug but if you want some examples you can find them on my Soundcloud with the same name. Basically just add more high end, with GEM DOPAMINE or what I use, Fresh Air (its free) and a worry a little more about the proximity effect. Find using Guy's dynamic pro q + a low mid MB helps to control that a lot. Hope that helps! But do ask Sol. The man probably knows more than me now, from doing these breakdowns all the time!

[@cedriccarballo658]

@@Iamdanybazz Sm58/57 sound great but they need a very good preamp. Stock audio interface preamps don't make them soound so good.

[@SolStateMusic]

Thanks for all your support mate!

[@Jamieamusic]

@@SolStateMusic My pleasure pal!

[@MrAdrianloera]

This was bad ass thankssss 🙏🏼

[@bluematrix5001]

These Vocals have character, but really because of that he can get away with so much boxiness in the vocal sound

[@ijeshwardhillon4927]

you guys are brothers wow didnt know

[@gunluv96]

Greetings, this is an amazing video!!! You just earned a sub! This is the first video I've ever seen with you guys, but it was simply amazing and straightforward. Noticed that you used a ton of plugins, during a time when people say less is better.

[@SolStateMusic]

Welcome aboard!

[@jaime5649]

that raw vocal is insanely good

[@SolStateMusic]

Yea, that's Kelis for ya!

[@estebanb7166]

It's not exactly a demanding vocal line.

[@jaime5649]

@@estebanb7166 can you do better?

[@estebanb7166]

@@jaime5649 What is "better"? I didn't suggest that she sang the melody poorly. I simply pointed out what an exaggeration it is to call this "insanely good".

[@KristoferProphet]

Yeah it’s already running through an expensive mic preamp and compressor lol

[@hannahbackward]

What are your 105 must have plugins?

[@SolStateMusic]

😂😂😂

[@lens8933]

amazing. thanks for sharing !!!

[@mattbondcomposer]

Sounds amazing. I guess the real question is, is it all worth £20,000 of sound? Most of us can't afford that. Law of diminishing returns and all that! What are your thoughts?

[@ranbirbhalla9956]

Thanks a tonne bro!!

[@adem_gun]

How long does it take you to make one of these videos? I'm imagining you have to comb through a fair ammount of livestream footage to get the good parts?

[@SolStateMusic]

Basically forever.

[@FluxriderTV]

“All this breakbeats”... plays a straight four on the floor.

[@dequince38]

Thank you for this!!!!Sorry im new what Daw are you using?

[@SolStateMusic]

It's Logic

[@dequince38]

@@SolStateMusic thank you sir!

[@scopow22]

What music programme are they using?

[@lonelybeats4384]

My pc be screaming

[@1pelillos1]

Was missing some disclosure content ! ;)

[@SolStateMusic]

Me too man! Guy's a master

[@antonioe.2396]

another great video from the best channel

[@SolStateMusic]

Cheers!

[@bladedaboi15iscrazyyy]

9:43 Why does the screen turn gray every time it says the vocals

[@skullbonk1081]

I feel like i don’t hear people talk about surfer EQ much and there don’t seem to be any plugins trying to something similar, how good is it? Is it worth it?

[@SolStateMusic]

Fab filter ProQ3, Soothe, or any dynamic EQ is pretty similar. Surfer seems useful if you have extra cash, but you might get more use cases out of the similar options.

[@Skrenja]

TDR Nova. Nuff said.

[@JForJack]

I love Disclosures streams but the only problem is that you have to be spending hundreds, maybe thousands on all these plugins to follow 😅

[@SolStateMusic]

You don''t have to copy the exact plugins, the idea of plugin stacking is the key

[@TraxtasyMedia]

"Plugins don't make your songs better, they only enhance and expand your ideas" - SolState

[@FdUpNews]

What is he sidechaining into the vocal bus? It seems like the kick, but why?

[@jaybrown9370]

Hi it’s probably been asked but what studio speakers are you using ?cheers

[@SolStateMusic]

Guy from Disclosure changes rooms so often, I think it's more about his ears. I don't know the actual speaker model

[@korne222]

Insane content...😳

[@HuttyTheKid]

No shit I have used that mic in the studio for my harmonica

[@Dimasta.13]

thanks for amazing content man

[@Musicbypinge]

amazing! i cant find what the track is called thought?

[@SolStateMusic]

Watch your step - disclosure & kelis

[@Kerfuffledj]

Perfect information. Now I only need to not sound like a dying cat.

[@SolStateMusic]

Hahah I would say autotune, but then you'd just be an autotuned cat.

[@robertsimpson5801]

It sounds like the vocal was already processed before your plug-in chain.

[@SolStateMusic]

Prob just good singer, good mic, good pre-amp

[@cre8view]

logic has that some pop sounds compare to Ableton

[@J77199]

Smh. This has been debunked a billion times. 🙄

[@letsbefrnds1217]

What DAW? awesome tutorial

[@SolStateMusic]

DAW = Logic

[@ericktellez7632]

“Nothing too crazy” right out of the gate the setting on that compressor is crazy, such a slow attack and an really fast release, seems to be letting the transients of the vocal but the body that is being compressed is immediately let go because of the fast release, really weird unorthodox usage for vocal compression

[@bf4lvr]

I thought slow attack fast release on an 1176 was very common for modern vocals?

[@J77199]

​@@bf4lvrit is. Thats why LA2a is so popular on vox. Slow attack times

[@nextl3v3l99]

I wish they could use a vocal recorded with a cheaper mic and just an interface

[@SolStateMusic]

This is just one example. I think they recorded Channel Tres with just an SM57.

[@nextl3v3l99]

@@SolStateMusic but it was mixed professionally by someone else. Also they probably recorded the sm7b paired with an expensive pre amp not a cheap interface

[@Notinserviceij]

@@nextl3v3l99 what do you want to see, you seem to already know what it sounds like...I don't get what you are tryna achieve, you sound like someone tryna discredit these guys because they have access to expensive gear and you don't

[@nextl3v3l99]

@@Notinserviceij not trying to discredit them but, A lot of these major label artist records get recorded professionally in studios with $15k microphones and through $50k pre amps. So it’s obviously way different from a cheap interface and a cheaper mic which would affect the mixing process

[@Notinserviceij]

@@nextl3v3l99 should effect the mixing process at all.....editing process sure People shoot themseleves in the foot by not editing tracks before they start mixing (editing means taken out whistle tone, the do i don't i edit drums to time, edit vocals and bvs and so on) At this stage once you have the perfectly edited song (meaning you have made the decisions and followed through with those, you or producer) then you mix mixing is just making the tracks cohesive taking it from a unclear 2d sound to a clear 3d sound (at least this is my philosphy) Your cheap interface and mic analogy doesn't work here because you can make great cohesive, clear and dare i say it, radio ready sounds with that gear without breaking your cpu with plug ins Sometimes it's just the ngineer not thew gear....but sure if you wanna buy an aliexpress mic and buy the cheapest interface and try to get a full band through that well i mean challenge accepted.... Pretty sure eeven famous bands right now are doing 1 offs with their phones and mixing that together and it sound pretty good for not much work on the mixing end...all im saying the problem may be on your end not the price tag end

[@slowestjabroni]

Casual $5000 vocal chain.

[@SolStateMusic]

Don't even look at the analog mic/preamp/compressor price

[@slowestjabroni]

@@SolStateMusic brutal

[@ronrobins3513]

My question why even use the M49 if you then have to nitpick every frequency within an inch of its life. Isn’t the point of having a high quality vocal chain is to NOT have to do much processing afterwards☺️😔

[@SolStateMusic]

That a good point. I do think good analog gear should allow you to get the result your after easier BUT if a million plugins is what it takes, that's what it takes. IF you know what you want, plugins/hardware are just tools to get you there.

[@Jamusictv]

Them: Make sure you to just gently add eq and compression to taste." My taste RHINO burgers bitch!

[@Z4KMORRISS]

fun fact. Kelis is a trained chef!

[@SolStateMusic]

Fun! Cookin up beats and food!

[@bossmanbossy]

Will the majority of consumers acknowledge the effort tho...

[@Skindred727]

We've all been talking and have agreed its time you quit your life and make these clips full time.

[@SolStateMusic]

Haha thanks.

[@shrugbyofficial]

Love u

[@SolStateMusic]

💚

[@dkxeno]

wait, can someone explain why he pans 49 L and R instead of 50?

[@SolStateMusic]

49s just for fun cause it's Howard's favorite number

[@lionmenmusic6144]

my CPU as left the chat

[@SolStateMusic]

Haha my CPU was too scared to enter

[@spicereynolds]

"feels like" I want on the downbeat in that vocal. interesting choice.

[@D1GItAL_CVTS]

Look mum I have 64 gigs of ram!

[@notnormalrecords]

That shit microphone is the one Les Claypool uses I believe

[@christdolphin69]

oh, thats how you do it! thousands of dollars worth of professional studio grade analog console gear

[@ExcusesRNS]

all u need is 15k to get radio ready vocals duh why didnt i think of that

[@definty]

LOL the price of 10k for the first 3 bits of kit.

[@kozihoppy]

Super easy, just throw some thousands of dollars worth of plugins, nothing fancy.

[@SolStateMusic]

and then learn why

[@simonaustin1136]

The result is good, but aside from the fx, honestly not much different than the starting point. The vocals were great to begin with, slamming it with a Distressor with distortion on, a little eq and de-essing + soothe would have gotten 90% of the same result in like 10% of the time 😂

[@musicalessence7981]

Remember lads every song is different, what they do here might not be the best thing for your song. Also de essers are ass, change my mind.

[@ixxirecords26]

FabFilter's DS is really good for modern, "over-processed" pop-music. It clips sibilance with coloured distortion that sounds really smooth after being saturated and compressed. I agree 99% though, I like to use utility gain to deal with harsh esses.

[@joeromersa]

ah, so this is what they call "overproduced"

[@arthurl3636]

To record on such an amazing analog chain, then mangle it with all of those plugins. Why? Why would you do that? 😢 the emotion of the vocal was completely gone by the end.

[@violarulez]

all radio/commercial music has to sound like that, otherwise the average listener will perceive it as amateurish (most people hear music like this in a playlist in the background, often on low quality speakers/earbuds, so subtlety is counterproductive and loudness is a must). I'm sure if they were working on a genuinely beautiful composition, they would've treated it differently. clearly their aural skills (in terms of sound design at least) are excellent, regardless.

[@arthurl3636]

@@violarulez I’m not doubting anyones skill of sound design, everything fit “in the box” just fine. I just watched someone beat the life out of a track with a ton of expensive plugins for what purpose? The final product sounds considerably worse than the original. That’s not the goal.

[@MrMikomi]

A great melody sung well on a cheap mic plus stock plugins will beat a mediocre melody on an expensive mic plus a ton of plugins all day long.

[@DariuszBlasi]

..The first part sounds cool, but the second is just too much to be honest.

[@crapadopalese]

Sounds like ass if you ask me. Note name of the vox track - "Lead vox 1 tuned". I assume that refers to Autotune. Some hyper compression, some auto tuning, and you got yourself vocals so cheesey, they need to be brought back to the 2000's to have a duet with Ja Rule.

[@Bryan-bh7cy]

Good content but I don’t like the singer voice ...

[@fiddyfiddy]

that's Kelis bro 😳

[@Kkidzz]

Soooo shrill....horrid.

[@SolStateMusic]

Judge it in the mix!

[@rickmayer4002]

Everything wrong with modern music!

[@rickmayer4002]

@@r3furbish3dbrain12 I feel like the Classical giving into Jazz into blues into rock and roll into Disco, Hair metal into punk and techno into rap and now this digital recorded crap grouchy old Guy.

[@SolStateMusic]

I prefer line noise/hum. That's the best music nowadays.

[@rickmayer4002]

@@SolStateMusic I did a electric guitar track recently using a roebuck pedal , couldn't get rid of the noise but recording loud the noise floor is low couldn't hear it on the track. Digital is the way to go if your by yourself easier workflow I just don't like the sound of the new music. Obvious autotune the kick bass timber sucks it's the choices they make. To me Natural should be the goal.

[@bburdick]

@@rickmayer4002 How many hits have you produced?

[@rickmayer4002]

@@bburdick This generation probably wouldn't like my music but who knows if the media, Disney, Sony and all corporate entertainment promoted it maybe. They manage to get people to buy this computer junk. Would have to get someone to Milli Vanilli for me though someone young and looks good.

[@musicalessence7981]

Idk how i feel about soothe, seems like a big lazy mans plugin

[@SolStateMusic]

there's a demo, try it out!