XXXTentacion's unique vocal style made him stand out in the music industry in a short period. His ability to switch between melodic singing and aggressive screaming created a distinctive sound many artists try replicating. His music career was cut short due to his untimely death, but he has left an indelible mark in his genre. Here is the process of mixing vocals like XXXTentacion.
Understand XXXTentacion's Vocal Style
XXXTentacion used two main vocal styles in his songs: melodic singing and aggressive screaming. The melodic parts are soft and emotional with light effects. He contrasted them with distorted, heavily processed vocals.
You can use a quality microphone to capture your vocals. Record the mild part with a sensitive microphone. Add a filter to reduce the chance of sibilance for aggressive parts—record in a treated room or quiet space. Maintain proper microphone technique. Record multiple takes for the best performance. Once you are satisfied with the vocal recording, you can start mixing.
Mixing the Melodic Vocal Parts
Set up your preferred DAW and import the recording of the melodic section. Create a new mixer track for your vocals and route your vocal track to the mixer. You can now start mixing the melodic vocals of the track. Here are the steps you can follow to make it sound right!
Equalizer
Start cleaning up your vocal track: Cut low frequencies to remove rumble. Check the sound for any muddiness. Remove those troubling frequencies. Boost the mix slightly for clarity. A gentle high-shelf boost can bring air into the mix.
Compression
Apply compression to control the dynamics of the mix. Play around with the ratio until you like what you hear. Check the threshold for gain reduction. Trust your ears! If it sounds right to you, then it is. Use a fast attack and medium release.
De-essing
Remove any harsh sibilance that might have escaped the filters. You can use a de-esser plugin. You can find the troublesome frequencies and cut them from the mix if you want to do it manually. Apply a gentle reduction for a clean sound.
Autotune
Add subtle pitch correction with Autotune. Set the key of your song and use a medium-fast retune speed. Adjust the humanized setting. It should not sound too artificial or robotic.
Reverb
Create space around the vocals in the mix. Choose a plate or room reverb for the effect you want. Set the decay time and blend the wet signal with the dry vocal. Too much reverb can give your sound an artificial tinge. Don’t go all in with this effect. Start slow and stack it up as you go.
Delay
Use delay to add depth to your mix. A stereo delay plugin with a delay time of 1/4 or 1/8 note can work wonders. Keep the feedback low, or your mix will sound distorted.
Saturation
A tape or tube saturation can add warmth to your track. Apply just enough to hear a slight coloration. It will bring a certain character to the mix. It is one of the best effects to make the melody sound sweeter.
Limiting
Control peaks and increase loudness with a limiter on your vocal bus. Set the ceiling and adjust the threshold for a slight gain reduction.
Work on the Aggressive Sections
After the melody, we focus on the aggressive sections of the mix. This intense part requires a different approach to sound right.
EQ
Shape the tone of the mix for aggression. Add the high-pass filter. Reduce boxiness in the mix. Boost the track to get some kick into it.
Heavy Compression
Heavy compression will help you achieve a consistent sound in the aggressive parts. Set a high ratio while lowering the threshold for gain reduction.
Add Distortion
A distortion plugin can add grit to the mix. Start with a mild setting; keep increasing it until it sounds right. Focus on adding upper harmonics without muddying the low end.
Multiband Compression
Focus compression on the low-mids and high-mids. Use 3 or 4 bands to control specific frequency ranges. Use a low setting for each band.
Bring Vocal to the Front
A limiter with a low threshold will push the vocal to the front of the mix. Watch out for any clipping during the mix.
Brighten the Vocal
Add excitement to high frequencies with a reverb or exciter plugin. You can shine some light on the track's power with heavy compression on the parallel compression bus.
Add Some Vocal Doubles
XXXTentacion often used vocal doubles to thicken his sound. Record or copy your main vocal. Pan one takes slightly to the left. Pan the other slightly right. Apply slightly different EQ and effects to each.
Introduce Layers
Layers add energy to the track. Process background vocals are different from the main vocals. Add short phrases or sounds. Pan them across the stereo field.
Bring in Creative Vocal Effects
Creative effects like pitch-shifting bring unique textures to your mix. You can hear it in songs like “Moonlight” or “Look at Me!”. Use tempo-synced delays for rhythmic interest. Play around with vocoder effects to get an edgy sound.
Balance the Mix
Use some reference tracks by XXXTentacion to compare your mix. Balance the vocals against other elements in the song. Make small adjustments to EQ and compression as needed. Give the track a listen to check if the vocals sit well in the mix.
Glue the Mix Together
Apply gentle compression to your master bus. Use a limiter to catch peaks and increase loudness. Bring together all the elements to get the final mix. Listen critically to the track. Make small adjustments as you go. Try a few different versions of your mix until you are satisfied with the final product.
Musicians covet the XXXtentacion sound as it is groundbreaking. He went against the grain and created an immediately recognizable style. If you want to sound like him, you cannot be afraid to push some boundaries.
You can also achieve the same effect as XXXTentacion with our XXXTentacion Sample Pack. It uses stock plugins so that you will be up and running in no time. Start with a good recording and use the sample pack to see some magic happen!