The red LED indicator lets you know if you’re clipping, so reduce the output gain if any clipping occurs. Move the center of the “target” slider to the average incoming level, then adjust the output slider to add additional gain or to prevent clipping. We recommend using this plug-in at its default startup settings, only changing the input threshold “target” and output sliders. Vocal Rider really works as though a sound technician were carefully listening for changes in audio level, and gently turning up and down the volume to keep the level consistent over time. For those of you using Apple Logic Pro X, see our post about setting up the optimal compressor settings, then insert Vocal Rider after the compressor. Vocal Rider doesn’t replace a traditional compressor, unfortunately, but used in addition to a compressor results in remarkably smooth and present vocal recordings. We’ll be discussing it in Logic Pro X, but the same concepts apply using it in any other professional DAW, like Avid Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, or Apple Garage Band. Vocal Rider is available in various formats, including AU, VST3, and AAX, making it compatible with a variety of DAWs and video editing software.

Your mileage may vary with vocal recordings in noisy environments, especially those with intermittent loud spikes and transients.

Unfortunately, bleed from ambient sound may cause the output gain to rise and fall unpredictably. That said, we find that it also works well with vocals that contain low to moderate background noise, such as a recording through a lavaliere, a recording on location or in well-controlled live music scenario. Vocal Rider works flawlessly with vocals recording in a quiet studio environment with little to no background noise. Vocal Rider includes more variables specifically suited to vocal recording, that raise and lower the gain smoothly while preventing the noise floor from creeping up when the person stops speaking. By comparison, traditional compressors use simple binary logic to either raise or lower gain when the signal level exceeds a user-defined threshold. As a result, it doesn’t raise the gain during the natural pauses between words and sentences. Even better, it automatically resets to a neutral position when the incoming signal drops below a predetermined threshold. The algorithm detects patterns for average loudness over time, and cleverly increases and decreases audio levels only as needed.

The Waves Vocal Rider plug-in mimics someone moving fader moving gently up and down to compensate for changes in audio level. Its simple interface makes it easy to use and fits in with our ethos for creating great audio in the shortest amount of time. We typically don’t recommend third-party plug-ins, but this particular plug-in is a workhorse and performs excellently for spoken and sung vocals.

One of our favorite tools for vocal postproduction is the Waves Vocal Rider plug-in.

Waves vocal rider