Is the Waves CLA Vocals Plugin Good for Metal Mixes?

You’ve seen it in dozens of tutorials. You’ve heard the hype. The Waves CLA Vocals plugin is one of those tools that seems like a magic button for getting a “finished” vocal sound, fast. Created in collaboration with legendary rock mixer Chris Lord-Alge, it promises to give you his entire vocal chain in one simple interface.

But for metal producers, the question isn’t just "does it work?" It’s "does it work for us?" We’re dealing with everything from guttural lows to piercing shrieks and aggressive, melodic singing. Can a single plugin handle all that?

The short answer is yes, it can be a beast. But the longer, more useful answer is that it depends entirely on how you use it. Let’s break down where this plugin shines for heavy music, where its limits are, and how to fit it into a professional metal workflow.

What Actually IS the CLA Vocals Plugin?

At its core, CLA Vocals is a multi-effect channel strip. Instead of loading up five or six separate plugins, you get Chris Lord-Alge’s go-to processors bundled together with simplified controls.

It’s broken down into six main sections, each with a fader and a few selector buttons:

• Bass: Controls low-frequency EQ.
• Treble: Controls high-frequency EQ.
• Compress: A one-knob compressor with three distinct flavors.
• Reverb: Three different reverb styles.
• Delay: A simple syncable delay with a feedback control.
• Pitch: A stereo spreader/doubler effect.

This isn’t about surgical tweaking. It’s a broad-strokes tool designed for speed and vibe, modeled after the workflow of one of the best in the business. Chris Lord-Alge has mixed iconic records for bands like Green Day, My Chemical Romance, and Avenged Sevenfold, so he knows a thing or two about aggressive, punchy vocals that cut through dense rock mixes. He’s just one example of the a-list talent you can learn from in our roster of Nail The Mix instructors.

Where CLA Vocals Shines for Heavy Music

For metal, this plugin has a few tricks up its sleeve that make it incredibly useful, especially when you need to move quickly and get a powerful sound without endless tweaking.

The In-Your-Face Compression

This is arguably the most valuable part of the plugin for metal vocals. The compressor has three modes: “Push,” “Spank,” and “Wall.” While the exact circuit isn’t public, the aggressive nature of these modes is reminiscent of classic FET compressors like the legendary 1176, a CLA favorite.

• Push: A more traditional, smooth compression. Great for melodic singing or gluing a vocal performance together.
• Spank: A much more aggressive, faster compression that brings the vocal right to the front of the speakers. This is perfect for modern metalcore screams and aggressive singing that needs to stay in your face.
• Wall: This is basically a brick wall limiter. It absolutely smashes the vocal, making it sound huge and controlling wild dynamics. It’s perfect for guttural death metal vocals or for use in parallel to add insane energy to a track.

The beauty here is speed. You can get 90% of the way to a killer metal vocal compression sound in seconds, just by pushing up the fader and picking the right mode. If you want to dive deeper into the nuts and bolts of what’s happening here, our guide to compression basics for vocals is a great place to start.

Instant Ambience and Width

Mixing screaming vocals can sometimes feel dry and one-dimensional. The built-in Reverb, Delay, and Pitch sections are fantastic for adding instant depth and space.

• The "Tight" reverb setting is a plate-style verb that adds presence without washing out the vocal, a classic trick for rock and metal.
• The slap delay can give a vocal a bit of rhythmic energy and help it sit in the mix.
• The Pitch Spreader is a fantastic tool for creating width. It creates a subtle stereo doubling effect that can make a mono vocal track feel huge, saving you the hassle of routing to stereo bus effects or using more complex plugins like the Soundtoys MicroShift.

The Downsides: Don't Let It Be a Crutch

So, if it’s so good, why doesn’t everyone just use this and call it a day? Because with simplicity comes a lack of control, and that’s where skills matter more than tools.

The "Black Box" Problem

The controls on CLA Vocals are intentionally simple. The "Treble" fader doesn't just boost a single frequency; it applies a complex EQ curve that CLA himself would dial in. This is great for getting his sound, but it doesn't teach you why that sound works.

What happens when your vocalist has a nasty resonant frequency around 4kHz? The "Treble" fader might make it worse. You can’t use CLA Vocals to do the surgical cutting needed to clean up a problematic recording. For that, you’ll still need a detailed parametric EQ like FabFilter Pro-Q 3 or even your DAW’s stock EQ. This is the difference between a broad-strokes tool like a classic SSL channel strip and a surgical tool for precise problem-solving.

Skills > Plugins, Every Time

This is the most important takeaway. The Waves CLA Vocals plugin will not magically give you a pro-level vocal mix. A great mixer could get a killer vocal sound with nothing but stock plugins because they understand the fundamentals of compression, EQ, and ambience.

Relying too heavily on a plugin like this can create bad habits. It can stop you from learning how to truly hear frequencies, understand compressor attack and release times, or set up a delay that’s perfectly timed to your track. It's a fantastic tool, but it's a supplement to your skills, not a replacement for them.

A Practical Pro Workflow Using CLA Vocals

So how do the pros integrate something like this? It's all about using it for what it's good at—character and speed—and pairing it with other tools for precision.

1. Correct First, Enhance Second: Always start your vocal chain with corrective processing. Before you even think about tone and vibe, you need a clean, solid foundation. That means getting your takes tight with tools like VocAlign for vocal alignment and making sure everything is pitched perfectly using a modern vocal tuning workflow. After that, use a surgical EQ to notch out any ringing frequencies, boxiness, or harshness. Get the raw vocal track clean and tight before you start adding character.
2. Add CLA for the Vibe: Once the vocal is clean, insert CLA Vocals. Dial in the compression using the “Spank” or “Wall” mode to get that aggressive metal character. Use the Bass and Treble faders to quickly shape the overall tone. Add a touch of the Tight reverb and Spreader to give it space and width.
3. Follow Up with Automation & Finesse: Your vocal might sound great in the loud sections, but what about the quiet parts? This is where you’ll use volume automation to make sure every word is intelligible. You might also want to automate a separate, more lush reverb or a longer delay for specific moments.
4. Try it in Parallel: Don’t be afraid to use CLA Vocals on a parallel bus. Send your main vocal to an aux track, insert CLA Vocals, and absolutely smash it with the "Wall" compressor. Then, blend that crushed signal back in underneath the main vocal for added body and aggression without losing all your dynamics. This is a classic parallel compression trick, and you can take it a step further by using parallel distortion for even more intensity on screams.

Ultimately, the Waves CLA Vocals plugin is a fantastic tool to have in your arsenal. It excels at delivering a radio-ready, aggressive vocal sound quickly and intuitively. But it’s not a magic bullet.

The best mixes come from understanding the why behind every move. Learning when to reach for a simple tool like CLA Vocals and when to get surgical with a separate EQ or compressor is what separates the amateurs from the pros. If you want to see exactly how world-class producers build these vocal chains from scratch on real-world sessions, explaining every plugin and every decision, check out the full Nail The Mix sessions catalog.