Modern Metal Vocal Editing FAQs: Tuning, Timing & More

Modern metal vocals aren't just one thing anymore. One minute you’ve got a perfectly pitched, pop-style clean chorus, the next it’s a guttural, layered scream, and then maybe a weird, processed, hyperpop-inspired bridge. With production standards at an all-time high, getting those vocals to sound polished, powerful, and intentional is non-negotiable.

You can’t just throw a compressor on a raw take and call it a day. The secret to vocals that punch through a dense wall of low-tuned guitars and sample-replaced drums is all in the editing. Let’s dive into the most common questions producers have about wrestling metal vocals into submission.

How much pitch correction is too much? (And what plugins to use?)

This is the big one. The goal of pitch correction in metal isn't to fake a good performance; it's to elevate a great performance to the level of perfection that modern listeners expect.

The Tools for the Job

Your DAW’s stock tuner probably isn’t going to cut it for detailed work. The industry standards are:

• Celemony Melodyne: This is the undisputed king for surgical, transparent pitch editing. It gives you note-by-note control over pitch center, drift, and vibrato, making it ideal for crafting natural-sounding clean vocals.
• Antares Auto-Tune Pro: While famous for the hard-tuned "T-Pain effect," its graphical mode is a powerful Melodyne alternative. For a more transparent touch, set a slower Retune Speed (around 20-40) to gently guide notes into place without sounding robotic. The hard-tune effect, however, is a killer creative tool for those Falling In Reverse-style genre-bending moments.
• Waves Tune Real-Time: Excellent for getting quick, solid results and for use in tracking to give the vocalist confidence.

How Much Is Too Much?

If you can hear the pitch correction working on a clean vocal meant to sound natural, you’ve probably gone too far.

• Actionable Tip: In Melodyne, instead of just snapping every note to 100% on the grid, use the Pitch Modulation and Pitch Drift tools. Gently reigning in wobbly notes or slightly off-center pitches is key. Leave some of the human element in. A performance that’s too perfect sounds sterile.
• For Effect: Sometimes, you want that unnatural, processed sound. Don't be afraid to crank the Retune Speed on Auto-Tune for a specific vocal double or ad-lib to create ear candy and texture. It’s all about intent.

What’s the best way to tighten vocal timing?

In a genre defined by rhythmic precision, loose vocal timing can kill the impact of a track. Every consonant needs to lock in with the snare and the guitar chugs.

Manual Editing vs. Automatic Alignment

• Manual Editing (The "Old School" Way): This involves going through your DAW’s timeline, slicing up the vocal track at the start of words or syllables, and manually nudging them into perfect alignment with the grid or a reference track (like the lead vocal). It’s time-consuming but offers total control. Focus on locking the hard consonants (T, K, P, B) to the beat—that's what our ears perceive as "tight."
• Automatic Alignment (The Modern Way): A plugin like Synchro Arts VocAlign Ultra is a complete game-changer. You designate a "Guide" track (your main vocal) and a "Dub" track (a double or harmony), and it automatically stretches and compresses the Dub to match the Guide's timing perfectly. For stacking huge gang vocals or tight harmonies, this can save you hours of tedious work.

For most modern metal workflows, a combination is best. Use VocAlign for the bulk of the doubles and harmonies, then do a quick manual pass to fix any small artifacts or make creative timing choices.

How do I deal with breaths and sibilance?

Harsh "ess" sounds (sibilance) and out-of-control breaths can make a vocal sound amateurish and painful to listen to, especially after heavy compression.

Taming Sibilance

A de-esser is your best friend here. It’s essentially a targeted compressor that only clamps down on a specific, harsh frequency range when it gets too loud.

• Plugin Power: FabFilter Pro-DS and Waves Sibilance are excellent choices.
• Actionable Tip: Set your de-esser to target the harsh frequency, usually somewhere between 5kHz and 8kHz. Don't set the threshold so low that it completely removes the "s." You just want to tame it so it doesn't drill a hole in the listener's eardrum. A reduction of 4-6 dB on the loudest sibilant parts is a good starting point. For ultimate control, you can automate the clip gain on individual "ess" sounds before you even hit your plugins.

Handling Breaths

Don't just delete all the breaths! They add a human feel and energy to the performance. The key is to control them.

• Instead of deleting a breath between phrases, use clip gain or volume automation to turn it down by 6-12 dB. This way, you still feel the energy and anticipation of the next line, but the breath isn't a distracting gasp of air.
• For screams, loud and aggressive breaths can actually enhance the performance, so you might want to leave those in or even turn them up.

Should I edit clean and screaming vocals differently?

Absolutely. They serve different purposes and have different sonic characteristics.

• Cleans: Pitch and smooth transitions are the priority. This is where you’ll spend the most time in Melodyne, ensuring every note is perfectly centered and the connections between notes (the legato) feel natural.
• Screams: The raw aggression and rhythmic delivery are more important than the specific pitch. You'll spend less time tuning and more time on timing edits, ensuring the start and end of every word is perfectly locked to the rhythm section. Heavy compression is key to making them sit right. Don't try to force a scream onto a specific note unless it's creating a weird harmonic clash with the guitars. Focus on the power, not the pitch.

What's a good vocal editing workflow?

Having a consistent order of operations saves time and prevents you from having to redo work. A pro-level workflow generally looks like this:

1. Comping: Listen to all your takes and create one "master take" by choosing the best phrases, words, or even syllables from each one.
2. Cleanup: Remove any mouth clicks, pops, headphone bleed, or unwanted background noise between phrases. This is best done with clip gain or by deleting the silence.
3. Timing & Alignment: Use VocAlign or manual editing to lock all your doubles and harmonies to the comped lead vocal.
4. Pitch Correction: Now that your timing is perfect and you have your final vocal parts, open Melodyne or Auto-Tune and start the pitch editing process.
5. Gain Staging/Pre-Mix Prep: Go through and use clip gain to even out the volume of the entire performance. Tame any super loud words and boost quiet ones. This prepares the vocal for a smoother, more consistent response from your compressor.

How do I get those modern processed vocal sounds?

Modern metal often incorporates vocal effects that go way beyond reverb and delay. This is a huge part of the genre-blending sound of bands like Spiritbox or Bring Me The Horizon.

• Formant Shifting: Use a plugin like Soundtoys Little AlterBoy to shift the formant (the resonant frequency of the voice) up or down without changing the pitch. This can create everything from demonic, low-pitched layers to high-pitched, glitchy effects.
• Vocoders & Synths: Plugins like iZotope VocalSynth 2 are incredible for creating robotic vocoder sounds, talk box effects, or blending synth layers underneath a vocal for added texture.
• Extreme EQ: Don't be afraid to get creative with EQ. A "telephone" effect using a steep high-pass and low-pass filter is a classic trick.
• Automation is Key: The secret is to automate these effects to pop in and out for specific words or phrases to create dynamics and ear candy, rather than leaving them on for the entire song.

Learn from the Pros Who Paved the Way

Mastering these vocal editing techniques is a huge step toward professional-sounding mixes. It’s the meticulous, behind-the-scenes work that makes modern metal vocals hit so hard.

But imagine watching the very producers who mixed albums for bands like Gojira, Periphery, and Architects do this stuff in real-time. On Nail The Mix, you get to be a fly on the wall for exactly that. Each month, we give you the full multitracks from a legendary metal song, and you get to watch the original producer mix it from scratch in a live, 8-hour class, explaining every single move they make—from surgical vocal editing to final master bus processing.

Check out our full catalog of sessions and see how world-class instructors turn great performances into legendary recordings.