3 Types of Vocal Editing Must-Do’s

Kimera Morrell

For a polished, radio-ready sound before you even get to the mixing stage, proper vocal editing is essential. Here are three editing MUSTS if you want to compete with industry standards:

1. Tuning

The tuning conversation is prevalent among up-and-coming songwriters, producers, and vocalists.
Don’t take it personally! Even if you sound fantastic without autotune or manual tuning, today’s audience expects perfection.
In the last 10+ years, perfect pitch has become the industry standard. Untuned vocals can sound low quality, even to an untrained ear.
Acceptable Genres for Untuned Vocals: Jazz, opera, and Broadway—though performers in these genres are typically very precise.

✦ My Go-To Tuning Plugins:

Antares Autotune Pro: A top choice for precise pitch correction.

Celemony’s Melodyne: Excellent for detailed pitch editing.

Waves Tune Sound Shifter: Useful for shifting pitch without altering timing.

Waves Tune Live: Helps with live vocal tuning.

2. Timing

Perfectly aligned vocal stacks sound clean, tight, and professional.
Gang Vocal Sound: For a large crowd effect, you may avoid aligning stacks and use multiple layers.
Manual Alignment:
- For those who excel at editing, manually aligning vocals with precise fades and crossfades results in a natural sound.
- It requires patience and skill.

My Go-To Time Aligning Plugin:

Vocalign by Synchro Arts

Deep Dive:

Check out this guide on using Vocalign Ultra for advanced techniques and tips.

3. Fading

Basic Necessities:
- Fade in at the beginning of every audio file.
- Fade out at the end of every audio file.
- Crossfade where two audio waves meet.
My Habit:
- I regularly fade things while recording, a process I call “cleaning my room.”
Why It Matters:
- Bad edits can be audible, so proper fading prevents diminishing the quality of your song.
Additional Tip:
- Delete dead space in audio files to avoid capturing unwanted sounds like headphone bleed, chair squeaks, or mouth noises.