DaBaby – KIRK

EQ7 was used for the vocals on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"The two red tracks are the main verse vocals. Vibe is very important for rappers, and they will fill in words to get the right feeling. This happens by punching in, and if the lines don't overlap, I may have them on the same track, but if they're overlapping sometimes and need to be processed separately, I'll have them on two tracks, like here with the A line and the B line. They both have the Avid EQ7 EQ, which was sent to me with the session, with a shelf at almost 6kHz. It enhanced it a bit, so I left it.

(...) "Typically, my processing on vocals here is EQ-compression, EQ-compression, EQ-compression and so on. When vocals are recorded well, I don't have to do that, but in this case, because of the hotel room sound, I had to do many corrections. Because speed was of the essence, I just added more plug-ins as I encountered issues — I did not have the time to go into settings of plug-ins already there. The plug-ins on the vocal busses, with a number of variations, start with the Waves DeEsser, and then the UAD SSL-E Channel strip, thinning things out, and the Waves CLA76 knocking off 3dB to flatten peaks, as they did not track with a compressor. I also use the Avid EQ7, and the Waves MV2 compressor, which acts more like an expander."

Used for the vocals on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview. An image of the settings can be found here.

"Typically, my processing on vocals here is EQ-compression, EQ-compression, EQ-compression and so on. When vocals are recorded well, I don't have to do that, but in this case, because of the hotel room sound, I had to do many corrections. Because speed was of the essence, I just added more plug-ins as I encountered issues — I did not have the time to go into settings of plug-ins already there. The plug-ins on the vocal busses, with a number of variations, start with the Waves DeEsser, and then the UAD SSL-E Channel strip, thinning things out, and the Waves CLA76 knocking off 3dB to flatten peaks, as they did not track with a compressor. I also use the Avid EQ7, and the Waves MV2 compressor, which acts more like an expander."

The "Bluey" mode was used for the vocals on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview. An image of the settings can be found here.

"Typically, my processing on vocals here is EQ-compression, EQ-compression, EQ-compression and so on. When vocals are recorded well, I don't have to do that, but in this case, because of the hotel room sound, I had to do many corrections. Because speed was of the essence, I just added more plug-ins as I encountered issues — I did not have the time to go into settings of plug-ins already there. The plug-ins on the vocal busses, with a number of variations, start with the Waves DeEsser, and then the UAD SSL-E Channel strip, thinning things out, and the Waves CLA76 knocking off 3dB to flatten peaks, as they did not track with a compressor. I also use the Avid EQ7, and the Waves MV2 compressor, which acts more like an expander."

Used for the vocals on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview. An image of the settings can be found here.

"Typically, my processing on vocals here is EQ-compression, EQ-compression, EQ-compression and so on. When vocals are recorded well, I don't have to do that, but in this case, because of the hotel room sound, I had to do many corrections. Because speed was of the essence, I just added more plug-ins as I encountered issues — I did not have the time to go into settings of plug-ins already there. The plug-ins on the vocal busses, with a number of variations, start with the Waves DeEsser, and then the UAD SSL-E Channel strip, thinning things out, and the Waves CLA76 knocking off 3dB to flatten peaks, as they did not track with a compressor. I also use the Avid EQ7, and the Waves MV2 compressor, which acts more like an expander."

Used for the vocals on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview. An image of the settings can be found here.

"Typically, my processing on vocals here is EQ-compression, EQ-compression, EQ-compression and so on. When vocals are recorded well, I don't have to do that, but in this case, because of the hotel room sound, I had to do many corrections. Because speed was of the essence, I just added more plug-ins as I encountered issues — I did not have the time to go into settings of plug-ins already there. The plug-ins on the vocal busses, with a number of variations, start with the Waves DeEsser, and then the UAD SSL-E Channel strip, thinning things out, and the Waves CLA76 knocking off 3dB to flatten peaks, as they did not track with a compressor. I also use the Avid EQ7, and the Waves MV2 compressor, which acts more like an expander."

Used for the vocals on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview. An image of the settings can be found here.

"There also is a Softube Weiss De-ess mastering de-esser, again in part to compensate for the C800. If you do too much de-essing with one de-esser it sounds like someone has a lisp, so I do little bits with several de-essers. The Weiss is a very transparent plug-in, which I interchange with the UAD Precision De-Esser, which has a similar vibe. I also used the Waves Renaissance DeEsser, and the Waves RVox, with a threshold set to -16.3, so it does a lot. The RVox is a slow-attack, fast-release type of compressor, and it basically puts the vocal in your face. The RDeEsser has a rounder sound, with a bit more colour."

Used for the vocals on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"There also is a Softube Weiss De-ess mastering de-esser, again in part to compensate for the C800. If you do too much de-essing with one de-esser it sounds like someone has a lisp, so I do little bits with several de-essers. The Weiss is a very transparent plug-in, which I interchange with the UAD Precision De-Esser, which has a similar vibe. I also used the Waves Renaissance DeEsser, and the Waves RVox, with a threshold set to -16.3, so it does a lot. The RVox is a slow-attack, fast-release type of compressor, and it basically puts the vocal in your face. The RDeEsser has a rounder sound, with a bit more colour."

Used for the vocals on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"There also is a Softube Weiss De-ess mastering de-esser, again in part to compensate for the C800. If you do too much de-essing with one de-esser it sounds like someone has a lisp, so I do little bits with several de-essers. The Weiss is a very transparent plug-in, which I interchange with the UAD Precision De-Esser, which has a similar vibe. I also used the Waves Renaissance DeEsser, and the Waves RVox, with a threshold set to -16.3, so it does a lot. The RVox is a slow-attack, fast-release type of compressor, and it basically puts the vocal in your face. The RDeEsser has a rounder sound, with a bit more colour."

Used for the vocals on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview. An image of the settings can be found here.

"The JJP Vocals is also on the 'All Vox' bus, which starts with the Pro‑Q3, rolling of 12dB at 80Hz. The lead and hook vocals go to this bus, while the ad libs go straight to the Mix Bus. After the JJP the 'All Vox' bus has the Plugin Alliance Dangerous Music Bax EQ, for some sweetening EQ, with a 2dB boost at 130Hz, a 2.5dB boost at 5kHz, and cutting at 18kHz. Finally, I have the Lo-fi, reducing the sample rate to 15 bits, and with 0.1 distortion and 0.1 saturation, to get the vocals to sound a little more gritty. When the beat is distorted. The vocal would sound out of place if it sounded too clean."

Used for the vocals on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"The JJP Vocals is also on the 'All Vox' bus, which starts with the Pro‑Q3, rolling of 12dB at 80Hz. The lead and hook vocals go to this bus, while the ad libs go straight to the Mix Bus. After the JJP the 'All Vox' bus has the Plugin Alliance Dangerous Music Bax EQ, for some sweetening EQ, with a 2dB boost at 130Hz, a 2.5dB boost at 5kHz, and cutting at 18kHz. Finally, I have the Lo-fi, reducing the sample rate to 15 bits, and with 0.1 distortion and 0.1 saturation, to get the vocals to sound a little more gritty. When the beat is distorted. The vocal would sound out of place if it sounded too clean."

Used for the vocals on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"The JJP Vocals is also on the 'All Vox' bus, which starts with the Pro‑Q3, rolling of 12dB at 80Hz. The lead and hook vocals go to this bus, while the ad libs go straight to the Mix Bus. After the JJP the 'All Vox' bus has the Plugin Alliance Dangerous Music Bax EQ, for some sweetening EQ, with a 2dB boost at 130Hz, a 2.5dB boost at 5kHz, and cutting at 18kHz. Finally, I have the Lo-fi, reducing the sample rate to 15 bits, and with 0.1 distortion and 0.1 saturation, to get the vocals to sound a little more gritty. When the beat is distorted. The vocal would sound out of place if it sounded too clean."

Used for the vocals on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"Some of the hook and ad libs audio tracks have the Antares Auto-Tune EFX, because Jon wanted a small amount of tuning to lock them in. It's on the default setting of 25 with Humanize at 100 percent, so it's not very noticeable. The main vocal don't have Auto-Tune. I often use the iZotope RX7 to get rid of background noise, but in this case I used the Waves NS1 noise suppression plug-in on the spoken word sections. Also, the 'J' on the 'Libs Bus' is the Waves JJP Vocals. I'm only using the Space setting, which is like a stereo slap delay, and I really like using that when I need a slightly different vibe.

"The JJP Vocals is also on the 'All Vox' bus, which starts with the Pro‑Q3, rolling of 12dB at 80Hz. The lead and hook vocals go to this bus, while the ad libs go straight to the Mix Bus. After the JJP the 'All Vox' bus has the Plugin Alliance Dangerous Music Bax EQ, for some sweetening EQ, with a 2dB boost at 130Hz, a 2.5dB boost at 5kHz, and cutting at 18kHz. Finally, I have the Lo-fi, reducing the sample rate to 15 bits, and with 0.1 distortion and 0.1 saturation, to get the vocals to sound a little more gritty. When the beat is distorted. The vocal would sound out of place if it sounded too clean."

Used for "some of the hook and ad libs" on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"Some of the hook and ad libs audio tracks have the Antares Auto-Tune EFX, because Jon wanted a small amount of tuning to lock them in. It's on the default setting of 25 with Humanize at 100 percent, so it's not very noticeable. The main vocal don't have Auto-Tune."

Used for the "spoken word sections" on "Intro", as stated by Kirk mix engineer Kevin "Black Pearl" McCloskey in this December 2019 Sound on Sound interview.

"I often use the iZotope RX7 to get rid of background noise, but in this case I used the Waves NS1 noise suppression plug-in on the spoken word sections."