Three tips for Getting That Modern Pop Vocal Sound

Looking for a way to get that pure, modern pop sound on your vocals? Guestblogger and home studio coach, Ben van Essen shares three tips to help you gain radio-ready sound.

What would Max Martin do?

When talking about modern pop vocals, you can’t get away without mentioning the production work of the world-renowned (and current king) of pop writing and production Max Martin. Even if you’ve never heard that name before, you’ve definitely heard one of the hundreds of hits he’s churned out since the nineties. Back then he was writing for the likes of the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, but 25 years on, he’s still getting hits into the top 40, including songs performed by Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake and even Coldplay. For me, his sound is synonymous with the modern pop vocal sound, but first of all, why is that? And second of all, how do you go about producing that same quality of sound yourself?

#1. Triple the Vocals

You definitely don’t have to be a world-renowned popstar with enough capital to pay someone else to do the job, and the secret doesn’t even lie in using some specialised and expensive plugin. As long as you start with the arrangement, you will be able to create exactly the same sound as Max. By ‘arrangement’ I mean the way the vocal tracks are placed and layered i.e. where do the backing vocals come in? Where should you put the choir? Basically, it’s essential that your vocal arrangement sounds interesting and dynamic.

One of the techniques that Max Martin uses a lot is doubling (or tripling) the lead vocal. This is how it works: record the same vocal part three times over and then pan one take all the way to the left, the another take all the way to the right and stick the third take right in the middle. When performing these vocal lines, they need to be as similar to one another as possible and, what you’ll get in return is really big and impressive vocal sound. This works a treat on the chorus. Have a listen to ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling’ from Justin Timberlake (produced by Max Martin) and you’ll get the idea. To give a final bonus tip on this one: using the VocAlign Pro plugin, you can make sure that your three vocal tracks are sounding super tight.

#2. Modern = Pure

Have you ever heard any song released in the last few years where the singer sounded just a tiny wee bit out of tune? It’s very highly unlikely. Any self-respecting modern pop vocalist makes absolutely sure that their vocals are ‘tuned up’, so that not a single note sounds even slightly off pitch. This is something you can do yourself using a fully automatic pitch-correction plugin (like Antares AutoTune), but it’s better to go through every note manually, so that your vocals sound 100% in tune but don’t sound unnatural. A really popular plugin for helping with that is Melodyne, but my personal favourite is Waves Tune. The beauty of plugins like these is that you can control how much of the natural sound you can hear, so the vocals aren’t in danger of sounding too synthetic and still have their original character. In any case, whether in tune or not, the vocals also need to sound clear, so they don’t distract from the song. Just to clarify: we’re only talking about that really well-used and well-known modern pop sound. You can also make incredible music without using any autotune at all, but then you won’t get the modern pop sound that you’re after.

#3. Three Polishing Effects

You might think that all of the hits you hear on the radio are mixed with special plugins, but you’d be wrong! Just using nothing but the standard-issue plugins that came included with your DAW you’ll be able to achieve the same sound, just as long as you understand the idea behind it. Usually, I just use three different kinds of effects to give the vocals the final modern touches.

First of all, add a simple reverb. I often use a plate reverb with the reverb time set to around 2 seconds (depending on the tempo of the song). This will make the vocals sound bigger and less dry. From there, you can add a ping-pong delay set to a quarter-note (again, depending on the tempo). This kind of delay shifts from right to left in the stereo image, giving the track a lot of energy. And, as the final cherry on top, it can really work to add a modulation effect to give the mono vocals a more stereo edge. This will give the track more breadth and help the vocals to sit nicely in the mix. Bonus tip: try switching between different effects. For example, keep the vocals really dry in the verse and then layer on the effects and make them sound really big for the chorus. This will boost the dynamics of your song and keep your listener’s attention.

I’m curious: which of these methods had you never heard of and which one are you going to try?

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Guestblogger Ben van Essen (Next Level Producer)

Ben van Essen is a virtual home studio coach at Next Level Producer and helps home producers and musicians from all over to make better recordings. His YouTube vlog has reached over 100,000 viewers, where he posts weekly tips & tricks about recording at home. He also works as a freelance product-specialist.

Download the free DIY Producer Checklist from the Next Level Producer site and give yourself a solid head start.

Photo: Beate Vieth/BeetjeHome