What’s the Best Vocal Effect for Me?

All Vocal Effect Unit Top 10

Sound effects aren’t only designed for guitarists and studio technicians. Vocalists, too, can enhance their singing with a wide range of effects for that all important extra touch of sonic ambience. Until not too long ago, singers often found themselves at the mercy of the sound tech sitting at the mixing console. Fortunately, a lot has changed thanks to the rise of vocal effect units (also known as vocal processors), which not only offer a lot of options but allow vocalists to take control. In this Buyer’s Guide, we’ll be answering the most common questions about vocal effects. If yours isn’t included, feel free to contact us!

1. What’s a Vocal Effect?

A vocal effect is a device that allows you, as a singer, to add effects to your vocals while you practice, rehearse or perform. The effect can be something as simple as compression to balance out the volume, a little reverb, or something more impactful such as a harmonizer or a vocoder designed to completely change up your sound. To set up a vocal effect, all you have to do is connect your microphone to any type of vocal effect and plug in either a pair of headphones or a PA or speaker system so you can hear yourself sing.

Vocal Effects
Microphones
Headphones
Audio Cables
Speakers

2. Should I Get a Stompbox-Style Vocal Effect or Something Different?

If you perform live or frequently practise with a band, a vocal stompbox is the most practical solution. Since these units are generally rather compact, they’re easy to carry and tend to come fitted with rotary controls for intuitive use. Just like guitar-based stompboxes, vocal stompboxes are simply set up at your feet so that any switches are within easy reach.
For more hands-on control, there are also vocal effects available that can be either set up on a desk, hand-held, or mounted on a microphone stand.
If you spend most of your time in a (home) studio and prefer to keep your effects safe and secure in a 19” rack, you’re probably best off with a vocal effect built into a rack-module housing.

Vocal Effects: Stompboxes
Vocal Effects: Rack Modules
Vocal Effects: Alternative Shapes

3. How Can I Get a Solid Foundation Sound for My Vocal Effects?

There are various kinds of vocal effects, which can be roughly divided into two groups. The first group of effects can help you set up a solid foundation sound:

Using a compressor or limiter, you can accurately balance the volume of your vocals in order to reduce any peaks and dips. These effects not only render your vocals more satisfying to listen to, but enhance intelligibility.
Looking for a way to reduce unwanted noise? If you’re dealing with hissing or popping sounds, a de-esser can help out. To emphasize specific frequencies or dampen either the bass, mids or trebles instead, you’ll want an equaliser. Any unwanted noise that pops up in between sung notes can be reduced or perhaps even removed entirely using a gate.
To touch up vocals in terms of pitch, you can use pitch-correction effects (often referred to as ‘auto-tune’).
If you’d rather not ‘cheat’ and would prefer to learn how to sing in tune properly, consider picking up a vocal trainer!

Vocal Effects with Compressor
Vocal Effects with De-Esser
Vocal Effects with Equalizers
Vocal Effects with Gates
Vocal Effects with Pitch Correction
Vocal Trainers

4. How Can I More or Less Completely Change the Sound of My Voice Using a Vocal Effect?

After setting up a vocal foundation sound, there’s a second category of vocal effects you can choose from to alter the sound of your voice:

For an atmospheric touch, you can use various modulation effects such as a chorus, flanger and phaser.
If you want to add an extra dimension to the sound and make it seem as if you’re singing in a bathroom, a long hall or a deep valley, go for a reverb or a delay (echo) effect.
To add one or more additional vocals to your own, a harmoniser is the perfect solution. See Question 5 for more info.
Overdrive can come in handy when you want to roughen up the sound of your voice. If you want to take things a few steps further even, go for a distortion effect.
Want to sound like a robot or maybe just a little quirky? Grab a vocoder or a talkbox!

See Question 5 if you want to learn more about loopers.

Vocal Effects with Modulation
Vocal Effects with Reverb
Vocal Effects with Delay
Vocal Effects with Harmoniser
Vocal Effects with Overdrive
Vocal Effects with Distortion
Vocal Effects with Vocoder
Vocal Effects with Talkbox

5. Can I Perform Solo Using Nothing But My Voice?

Absolutely! First of all, you could use a looper to layer your vocals. This can then be combined with pitch or harmoniser effects for a sound that actually falls outside of your vocal range. This way, you can easily put on a creative and captivating solo show using nothing but your voice.

In addition, there are a lot of vocal effects available today that allow you to create harmonies on the spot with the help of a chord-based instrument such as a guitar or a keyboard. These vocal effects are designed to recognise the chords you play and automatically ‘activate’ a number of virtual background singers that harmonically sing along to your own vocals.

Always make sure to read the product description and specifications of any vocal effect you’re considering picking up. Some harmonisers, for example, only offer pre-loaded harmonies, while others are designed to base the harmonies on the sound of the instrument that you’re playing. The same thing applies to loopers, where some loopers allow you to individually activate and deactivate any loops you’ve recorded, others are only able to stack loops and don’t offer the possibility of changing the loops after they’ve been recorded.

Vocal Effects with Looper
Vocal Effects with Pitch-Correction
Vocal Effects with Harmoniser

Links & More Information

Blogs & Buyer’s Guides

Vocal Microphone Buyer’s Guide
Recording and Amplifying Vocals for Beginners
Speaker Buyer’s Guide
Audio Cable Buyer’s Guide