Idaly-Style Vocals in FL Studio: Sing Soft Without Disappearing

Some vocals don't need to shout to stand out. Idaly sings or raps, and his tracks often live somewhere between the club and the bedroom. The vocal that fits that world is soft and melodic: warm in the middle, lots of air on top and so smooth you don't notice the processing.

Sounds easy. But singing softly and making it hold up in a mix is harder than rapping loud. Here's why, and what to do about it in FL Studio.

Soft, but not far away

Idaly is from Amsterdam, was part of the New Wave collective and makes his own beats too. His music moves between club tunes and slower bedroom tracks. That second side especially calls for a vocal with a few clear traits:

• Warm mids. The voice has body even when it gets quiet. It never sounds thin or weak.
• Lots of air. There's breath and shine up top. That makes it intimate, like the singer is standing right next to you.
• Smooth compression. Long notes stay in place without the voice sounding flat or strained.
• Hooks that stick. The choruses are melodic and stay right on pitch.

The same dry rap vocal: first without a preset, then with the Idaly Type preset. Turn your sound on.

Singing soft is a skill

Most home recordings of soft vocals have the same problem: the voice was recorded too quiet and everything around it too loud. Your fridge, your laptop, the traffic outside. Turn the vocal up later and all that junk comes up with it.

• Get a little closer to the mic. Singing softly from a distance mostly captures the room. Moving in gives you more voice and less space. Watch out for popping p's and b's, a pop filter helps.
• Sing soft, but with support. Whispering isn't singing. Keep your breath under control and stay on pitch, even on the quietest lines.
• Turn off anything that hums or buzzes. On a loud rap vocal a fan disappears. On soft singing you hear it in every gap.
• Record harmonies separately. A second voice on a different note, sung just as softly, fills out the hook without the lead having to get louder.

Still recorded too quiet? This preset has an input gain knob up front. Use it to bring a soft take up to level before the rest of the chain gets to work.

From dry take to soft and airy

The steps are roughly the same for any vocal: low end cleanup, tone shaping, compression, pitch correction, shine up top and space. With a soft sound, only the focus shifts. You want to keep the warmth in the middle instead of cutting it out, lift the top without the s turning into hiss, and use compression that carries the voice instead of choking it.

For the melodic lead, Pitcher is in the chain. Set it to the key of your beat, or it'll pull your soft notes exactly the wrong way. The free Beat Lab finds the key for you, and the Pitcher guide shows you how to work it.

The hard part is getting it all to sit together. More air also means more breath and more hiss. Gentler compression means more movement. Where that balance sits took a lot of fine-tuning, and that's what the preset sets up for you. From there you adjust it to your own voice.

Where soft vocals go wrong

Mistaking hiss for air

Air is that soft shine above your voice. Hiss is a sharp s that stabs your ear. Crank the top end blindly and you mostly get the second one. Check at low volume: if the s jumps out, you went too far.

Breaths louder than the lyrics

Compression makes quiet things louder, and with soft singing that includes the breaths between your lines. A little breath is part of the vibe. A gasp that's louder than the next word isn't. Cut the worst ones or turn them down.

Pushing the voice back with reverb

A soft voice with a lot of reverb quickly sounds like it's in another room. You want to keep that intimate feel. Keep the lead close and use space as a backdrop, not a blanket.

Want more on melodic vocals with autotune? Read how to mix melodic autotune vocals. Want to understand which steps go into a chain and why? Grab the free vocal chain cheat sheet.

More sounds in the same lane

• Lusho-style vocals in Logic Pro: airy and melodic
• Chivv-style vocals in Logic Pro: soft and open
• Kevin-style vocals in Logic Pro: warm and relaxed

Want to hear them side by side? All Type vocal presets with before and after videos are on one page.

Idaly Type presets are inspired by the vocal mixing style of Idaly. This is not an official product and Idaly is not involved. Results depend on your voice, mic and recording.