Vocal Processing & Autotune

FlowState includes a professional vocal processing chain with compression, de-essing, and real-time autotune. This guide shows you how to record polished vocals directly—no post-processing required.

The Vocal Chain

When you record with vocal processing enabled, your microphone signal flows through three processors:

1. Compressor — Evens out your dynamics so quiet parts are audible and loud parts don't clip
2. De-esser — Reduces harsh "S" and "T" sounds that can be piercing
3. Autotune — Corrects pitch to the nearest note in your chosen key and scale

Setting Up Vocal Recording

1. Create or select an audio track
   Click the + button in the track list and choose Audio Track, or select an existing audio track.
2. Arm the track for recording
   Click the R button on the track. It will turn red to indicate the track is armed.
3. Open the Vocal Chain panel
   Click the Vocal tab in the bottom panel. This is where you configure your vocal processing.
4. Select a preset or customize
   Choose from 12 built-in presets, or adjust individual settings for compressor, de-esser, and autotune.
5. Grant microphone permission
   Click the record button (circle) in the transport bar. Your browser will ask for microphone access—click Allow.
6. Record
   Press Play to start recording. The record button shows an animated pulse while recording. Press Stop when finished.

Vocal Presets

FlowState includes 12 professionally-designed presets for different styles:

Natural Presets

• Clean Recording — Minimal processing, preserves natural sound
• Warm & Present — Adds warmth and presence without coloring too much
• Podcast — Optimized for speech clarity and consistency

Radio-Ready Presets

• Radio Ready — Polished, broadcast-quality vocals with subtle tuning
• Subtle Correction — Light pitch correction that sounds natural

Effect Presets

• T-Pain Effect — Classic hard autotune with fast correction speed
• Chipmunk — Pitched up with full correction
• Demon Voice — Pitched down with heavy compression

Genre Presets

• Hip-Hop/Trap — Tight compression, moderate tuning, modern sound
• R&B/Soul — Smooth compression, gentle tuning, preserves vibrato
• Pop/EDM — Polished and precise with noticeable correction
• Rock/Alternative — Natural dynamics, minimal tuning

Compressor Settings

The compressor controls the dynamic range of your vocals:

• Threshold — Level at which compression starts (lower = more compression)
• Ratio — How much to reduce signal above threshold (4:1 is moderate, 10:1 is heavy)
• Attack — How fast compression kicks in (faster = tighter control)
• Release — How fast compression releases (slower = smoother)
• Knee — How gradual the compression onset is (higher = smoother)
• Makeup Gain — Boost to compensate for volume reduction

De-esser Settings

The de-esser tames harsh sibilance (S, T, and similar sounds):

• Frequency — Target frequency for sibilance (typically 5-8kHz)
• Threshold — Level at which de-essing activates
• Reduction — How much to reduce sibilant frequencies
• Range — Width of the frequency band affected
• Listen Mode — Solo the sibilant frequencies to dial in settings

Autotune Settings

The autotune corrects pitch to notes in your chosen scale:

• Key — The root note (C, C#, D, etc.)
• Scale — The scale type:
  • Chromatic — All 12 notes (most forgiving)
  • Major — Happy, bright sound
  • Minor — Sad, emotional sound
  • Pentatonic — 5-note scale, hard to hit wrong notes
  • Blues — Classic blues intervals
  • Dorian — Minor with a raised 6th
• Correction — How strongly to pull pitch to the nearest note (0-100%)
• Speed — How fast correction happens (faster = more robotic)
• Humanize — Adds slight variation to avoid robotic feel
• Formant Shift — Shift vocal character without changing pitch
• Retune Speed — Similar to speed, affects latency vs. quality

Recording Tips

• Use headphones — Prevents microphone feedback and lets you hear the processed sound in real-time
• Get close to the mic — 4-6 inches is ideal for most microphones
• Record in a quiet space — Background noise will be audible
• Set the right key — Match the autotune key to your song's key for best results
• Don't over-compress — Too much compression sounds unnatural and fatiguing

Visual Indicators

When vocal processing is active:

• A teal dot appears on the record button
• The tooltip shows "Recording with vocal processing..."
• Recorded clips are named "Vocal [time]" instead of "Recording [time]"

Disabling Vocal Processing

To record without any processing:

1. Open the Vocal panel
2. Turn off Compressor, De-esser, and Autotune individually, or
3. Enable Bypass All to disable the entire chain

The record button's teal indicator will disappear when processing is disabled.

Next Steps

• Deep dive into each vocal preset
• Set up input monitoring to hear yourself while recording
• General recording techniques
• Mixing vocals after recording