How to Make Crisp Sounding Vocals in Adobe Audition

Adobe Audition is an audio recording program that can be used for many applications such as music, sounds effects and radio production. In fact, Adobe Audition is a staple in many radio stations and is how many major broadcasters create their production. Vocals are a key part of audio production and Audition can help you create some amazing, crisp sounding vocal parts.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Record your vocals into Audition. Be sure to use a decent mic and proper recording techniques to make sure that the vocal recording is as good as can be before you start tweaking it in Adobe Audition. Save your vocal track before you start working with it in Audition so you can revert to the raw audio if you don't like where it is going.
2. Use noise reduction to eliminate any hiss or floor noise. Select a very small piece of audio where there is silence, and then open the noise reduction window in the noise reduction menu under effects. Click on "Capture Profile" to capture a profile of the noise you want to take out. Now select the entire piece of audio, go back to the noise reduction window and click "OK" at the bottom.
3. EQ your vocals. Audition offers robust EQ options. You can use the graphic equalizer to adjust frequencies on a 10-band, 20-band or 30-band level allowing you to key in on specific frequencies. You can roll off the low frequencies and take out some of the mud in the mid-range frequencies. There are presets for vocal boosts, but you may need to tweak them to locate your vocals' exact frequency range.
4. Compress your vocal track. You can find compression in the dynamics processing window in the amplitude settings. In Audition 1.5, there are a few good vocal presets so try them and tweak for what works best for you. In Audition 2.0 there are some really good presets for vocals under the multiband compressor.
5. Amplify your track by boosting it a few dB or by normalizing it. Get it to a good level that it fits in with the other audio elements but leave a little head room.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember that you have an undo button so experiment with your vocals all you want, and if you don't like where it is going, simply undo and try something else.