Vocals (NT2-A)
The full mastering process for vocals (nt2-a), split into sections.
About the vocals (nt2-a)
Vocals are the most exposed source: the human ear is wired to detect every detail of a voice, so recording mistakes (noise, plosives, room) show more than on any other instrument. With your Rode NT2-A (a large-diaphragm condenser) through the iD44, the serious work starts in the take.
Your capture chain
- NT2-A → iD44 preamp (clean gain, no clip) → pop filter is mandatory.
- Minimal room treatment: sing toward an absorbent surface, away from parallel walls.
What’s critical now vs. what can wait
- Critical now: distance and attack on the mic, controlled plosives, gain with no clip and as few room reflections as possible. A room that gets into the take doesn’t come out later.
- Can wait: de-essing, compression, EQ, tuning and automation: all of that is mixing territory.
If you want the complete map on a single page, there’s the recipe Vocals you can understand, from zero.
Sections
- 11. What mastering does to your vocalThe limiter changes the balance and brings out sibilance and brightness. What happens to the vocal in mastering and what it has to bring resolved from the mix.
- 22. Presence and loudnessWhat happens to the vocal as the LUFS go up, how to keep the limiter from burying it, and when it's time to go back to the mix.
- 33. Final check before masteringThe list for checking the vocal before closing: lyrics, sibilance, space, mono and small speakers, with a reference alongside.