Vocal Distortion Effects Plugin & Software for Rock using Antares Tube

It is a common music production technique in rock music to have vocals distorted. So how are you going to do this nicely in your multi-track mix? This tutorial is using Adobe Audition DAW software and Antares Tube plug-in to accomplish this objective. This is a pretty simple technique that can also be applied with any DAW such as REAPER, etc. This assumes that you already completed tracking the vocals.

Note: If you are not using Antares Tube plugin, there are lots of similar plugins that you can use. As long as it provides slight distortion (not heavy metal type of distortion), any types of plugin would work even the free ones. Reaper DAW includes so many open source plugins that you can use in your mixing projects. These are the Reaplus VST plugin in REAPER. If you are using that software, try installing those plugins and see how it works.

Installing the Antares Tube Distortion Plugin

1.) First, you need to secure the Antares Tube distortion plug-in; you can use either a VST or Direct X type. You can download it here. If you encounter downloading and installation issues, please contact Antares support here.

2.) You need to install the plug-in to your recording/mixing software. If you are using Adobe Audition, you can read these following tutorials:

a.) Install DirectX plug-in to Adobe Audition
b.) Install VST Plug-in to Adobe Audition

For those that are using REAPER, you can read this tutorial.

3.) Once successfully installed, confirm if the plug-in is working. Launch your software, load up your multi-track session project and then check if you can see Antares Tube as one of the VST/DirectX effects. In Adobe Audition multitrack view, you can see it by right clicking “FX” tab, and then click “Rack Setup”, so you can see it under “Installed Real-time effects.

In Reaper, this is also available in its effects/ FX tab.

Implementing the FX

Now it’s time to actually apply this effect in your multi-track, you have three options in applying this effect to your vocal tracks and it depends on the music style being mixed:

First option: This option is recommended if you are mixing music for pop-rock style where the vocals needs to be distorted very slightly just to get that “scratchy” and “throat” effect while maintaining clarity. To do this, just add the Antares Tube effect as the first effect in your “Effects Rack” (before the vocal compressor or any EQ effects).

Adjust the settings as follows for the Antares Tube:

OmniTube= Off
Mode= Little Angel
Drive= +3.0 db (minimum), +6.0dB (max)

This is how the vocals sound like if applied with the distortion settings above:

Second option: This option is recommended for heavy rock distorted vocals. Antares Tube has two modes of distortion, the “Little Angel” which is the blue one and the “Little Devil” which has orange color in the tube. You can get the “Little Devil” mode by clicking red/fork symbol. Recommended Antares Tube settings:

Drive= +3.0dB to +6.0dB
Omnitube= Off
Mode= Little Devil

This is how the settings would look like in the plug-in. Take note that the color of the tube changes to orange because “Little Devil” mode is enabled.

This is the sample vocals applied with the effect settings above:

Third option: To get a much distorted vocals typically for some specialized genre in music. You can use the following settings:

Drive= +3.0dB to +6.0dB
Omnitube= On
Mode= Little Devil

Additional Tip: You can get a more dense/heavy vocal type which you will usually hear in alternative, pop and rock music. To do this, simply double the vocal tracks in your multi-track mix. Then apply only one vocal track with distortion. I usually panned this additional vocal track at right +15 units (or 15%).

In the multi-track screenshot above, the vocal tracks are doubled – one for lead vocal and the other one for the backup. The lead vocal is applied with very slight distortion for the entire vocal tracks. At the selected section of the track (example in the chorus section of the song), the backup vocal tracks have been added, doubling up the vocals and making it heavier by adding distortion effects. Do not overdo distortion; it depends on the tempo and genre of the music. Sometimes when you add distortion effects to vocals, make sure to double check that you can still understand the lyrics of the song, unless you decide that lyrics are not important in your production.

Other Creative Tips

Aside from distortion, you can use other FX such as chorus and flanger to add more taste to the vocals. The following are the important rules when applying these FX in vocals:

1.) Clarity should be emphasized more than FX. Sometimes if you increase the FX level (regardless of whether it’s a distortion, chorus, flanger, etc.), it tends to drown the vocals and the clarity would be severely affected.

2.) Use panning and double vocals. This will make it sound thick and rich.
3.) Use only for specific part of the vocals. Sometimes vocal distortion is creatively applied in some parts of the song where it fits. This can be the chorus or bridge or ending of the song. Using this for the entire vocal tracks is not recommended.

4.) Match with the tempo, vocal distortion works best in fast or mid tempo song.
5.) Match with the instrumentation, this effect works best when having a dense background (such as heavy guitars or bass). Of course, it will sound weird if you apply distortion to the vocals in an acoustic song 🙂

Content last updated on August 21, 2012