JoeyAK-Style Vocals in Logic Pro: Dark, Heavy and Hard Up Front

JoeyAK makes music that hits hard. Dark trap beats, lots of energy and a voice that doesn't sit next to the beat but right on top of it. Put on "Luitenant" and you hear it right away: heavy, dry and with no room to hide.

In Logic Pro you can get a long way toward that sound with stock plugins. But dark and hard is a tricky combination. A little too much of one and your vocal turns dull, a little too much of the other and it starts yelling. Here's what to listen for, how to record for it and how to use the five channel strips in the preset.

Dark, not dull

• Weight down low. The voice sounds big and heavy. You almost feel it as much as you hear it.
• Still easy to follow. A solid presence boost keeps the words sharp. That's why it sounds dark instead of muddy.
• Fast, heavy compression. There's barely any difference between loud and quiet words. Everything sits tight and hard up front.
• Dry. Almost no reverb on the lead. The energy comes from the voice itself.

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

Heavy compression forgives nothing

The harder you compress, the more small noises come up. Breaths, mouth clicks, laptop hum and spill from your headphones suddenly get as loud as your voice. On a dry vocal with no reverb, you hear all of it. Fix it while recording, so the mix doesn't have to.

• Use closed-back headphones and keep the beat no louder than you need. Otherwise the beat bleeds into your mic.
• Drink water while you record. A dry mouth means more clicks and smacks.
• After recording, cut out the silence between your lines. Whatever's left there comes back loud after compression.
• Keep your laptop or fan as far from the mic as you can. A soft hum turns into obvious noise.
• Record with the same energy you'd bring to a stage. Heavy compression makes a weak take loud, but it won't make it hard.

Five channel strips, one sound

The preset is a set of five channel strip presets for Logic Pro. You load them from the Setting menu at the top of your channel. For your lead you get three versions: Main Vocal, Main Vocal Wide and Main Vocal Airy. On top of that there's Backing Vocal and Adlibs.

Start with Main Vocal on your verse. If your hook then feels small next to the verse, try Main Vocal Wide on the hook. Got a dark mic or a voice that gets dull fast? Give Main Vocal Airy a listen. Pick with your ears, not by the name. Put your doubles on Backing Vocal and your shouts on Adlibs, so everything sounds like it belongs together.

In broad strokes, a vocal like this goes through the same kinds of steps: cleanup, shaping weight and presence, firm compression, pitch correction and a touch of space. The difference from moving sliders yourself is the balance. How much low end can you add before your voice starts booming, and how much presence before it cuts? That took a lot of testing, and that balance is what's saved in the presets.

Set Pitch Correction to the key of your beat. Don't know the key? The free Beat Lab tells you. For how Pitch Correction works in Logic, read how to use autotune in Logic Pro, step by step.

Mistakes with a dark sound

Adding low end to a voice that's already low

If you have a deep voice, you need less extra weight than you think. Stack more low end on top and your vocal starts booming against the 808 and the words disappear.

Forgetting about your S sounds

A solid presence boost makes your words sharp, but also your S and T sounds. Hear them sting on earbuds? Record with the mic slightly to the side of your mouth instead of straight in front. It makes more difference than you'd expect.

Reverb to make it bigger

A dark vocal with lots of reverb quickly sounds like a voice in a basement. Want more size? Use Main Vocal Wide or a double on Backing Vocal instead of more reverb.

Not sure this sound suits your voice? Read which vocal preset fits your voice.

More sounds in the same lane

• 3Robi-style vocals in Logic Pro: full and direct
• Boef-style vocals in FL Studio: melodic and bright
• Ares-style vocals in FL Studio: clear and easy to follow

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

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