Summary of "The Weeknd's VOCAL CHAIN Breakdown | Revealed by illangelo🤯"

Tech/Vocal Chain Breakdown (The Weeknd – “After Hours”)

A tutorial-style rundown of an “exact vocal chain,” focusing on how to shape clarity, dynamics, tuning, de-essing, resonance control, and high-end “airiness.” The creator claims to help achieve an industry-standard sound using proven techniques from notable engineers.

1) Pitch Correction: Auto-Tune

Load Auto-Tune, set the key, and initially leave settings untouched.
Key idea: don’t keep one retune speed for the whole song—automate retune speed by section.
- Use more aggressive retune in some sections.
- Allow fallbacks/less-perfect tuning in others to enhance emotion and contrast between parts.

2) Vocal Dynamics Control: Waves Vocal Rider

Add Waves Vocal Rider early in the chain to manage vocal level automation.

Goal: get “in your face” vocals without over-compression squashing.
Setup guidance:
- Set range to maximum/minimum
- Use fast settings
- Adjust threshold so the level slider sits near the yellow input signal
- Tune threshold so the control returns near center (avoid exaggeration)

3) Noise Control: FabFilter Pro-G (Gate)

Add FabFilter Pro-G (used as a gate).

Purpose: tighten quiet vocal gaps by closing when vocals stop, preventing noise/artifacts.

4) Depth/Weight Shaping: FabFilter Pro-MB (Multiband Compression)

Add FabFilter Pro-MB for vocal multiband compression.

Band concept:
- Band 1: everything below 1 kHz
- Band 2: 1–10 kHz
Mix goals:
- More gain reduction in the low end
- Very subtle gain reduction in highs
- Preserve high-end information while controlling low-end tone/weight

5) Sibilance Control: FabFilter Pro-DS (De-esser)

Add FabFilter Pro-DS (or use Waves De-esser instead).

Target: up to ~6 dB gain reduction (described as the “sweet spot”).

6) Resonance/Dynamic EQ: Soothe (Dynamic EQ)

Add Soothe (specifically referenced as Soothe 2).

Soothe2 = dynamic equalizer controlling resonances.
Alternative mentioned: Waves Silk Vocal.

7) High-Frequency “Air”: Maag EQ4

Add Plugin Alliance Maag 4 EQ (Maag Audio EQ4).

Mentioned move: boost ~20 kHz by 3–4 dB
Claimed benefit: exceptionally low phase shift to maintain mix integrity while boosting airy highs
Credibility note: the Maag EQ4 has been used on vocals by artists including:
- Madonna
- Celine Dion
- Snoop Dogg
- Black Eyed Peas

8) Color/High EQ Shaping: Pultec-Style EQ

Add Pultec-style EQ for additional tone/color.

Suggested approach:
- “Simply” boost/cut low end as needed
- Boost 16 kHz ~8 dB with broad Q
- Add some attenuation at 10 kHz
Mentions a referenced pinned video where Bainz also uses Pultec-style EQ on vocals.

9) Final Resonance Pass

Add another Soothe instance with the shown settings.
End of chain.

Extra Resources

Mentions you can download templates/presets via the link in the video description.

Main Speakers/Sources

Speaker/creator: “I’m Yeck” (channel/tutorial author)
Highlighted audio reference: The Weeknd (track: After Hours)
Referenced/credited vocal tech sources/plugins:
- Auto-Tune
- Waves Vocal Rider
- FabFilter (Pro-G / Pro-MB / Pro-DS)
- Soothe (Soothe 2)
- Plugin Alliance Maag EQ4 / Mäag Audio EQ4
- Pultec-style EQ
- Waves De-esser
- Waves Silk Vocal
Named industry user reference: Bainz (via pinned video mention)