Brent Faiyaz Vocal Chain: Breathy, Intimate and Wide
Vocal chain · recreated by ear
Not affiliated with, authorised by or endorsed by the artist. This is an approximation built by ear and from public sources — not a preset, session file or official chain.
The kind of chain that gets this sound starts at the microphone, not the plugins: soft, close singing with the gain up, a gentle expander to control the room, de-essing before any brightening, 4–6 dB of two-stage compression, an air shelf above 12 kHz, and wide harmony stacks instead of a widener.
Where it comes from
60% MIC
Distance and delivery · the plugins only finish it
The 60-second answer
Condenser at 10–15 cm, sung softly, slightly off-axis. Gentle expander for 3–4 dB of room control. De-ess 3–4 dB at 6–8 kHz. Opto leveller 3–4 dB, fast compressor 2–3 dB. High-pass 90–110 Hz, -2 dB at 250–350 Hz, +2–3 dB shelf from 12 kHz. Dark plate 1.4–1.8 s, pre-delay 30 ms.
Why breathy vocals are a dynamics problem first
When a singer backs off and sings softly, the gap between the breath and the word gets much smaller. On a belted take the breath sits maybe 30 dB under the note; on a soft take it can be 10 dB under, which is why the air is audible and the sound feels close. It also means the take arrives with a low average level and a lot of room in it, so the compressor must work gently or it lifts the room and the mouth noise up to the voice. The fix is an expander doing 3–4 dB first.
Why the air shelf has to come last
This style depends on top end: the sense of breath is energy between roughly 8 kHz and 16 kHz. That is also where sibilance lives, so a shelf added before de-essing multiplies every S and the vocal hisses. Done in order — two small de-essing stages, then 2–3 dB of shelf from 12 kHz — you get the air and none of the spit.
An approximation you can rebuild, step by step
| # | Do this |
|---|---|
| 01 |
Sing quietly, close, off-axis 10–15 cm with the mic angled 15 degrees off the mouth. Turn the preamp up instead of pushing the voice. 10–15 cm · gain up, voice down |
| 02 |
Expander before compressor Gentle downward expansion, 3–4 dB, so the room drops in the gaps without chopping breaths off. Expansion 3–4 dB, soft knee |
| 03 |
De-ess in two small stages Once before the compressor, once after the air shelf. Soft close singing makes a lot of top-end detail. 2 dB, then 1–2 dB at 6–8 kHz |
| 04 |
Two gentle compressors Opto for 3–4 dB of body, then a fast one for 2–3 dB of peaks. Never one unit doing 7 dB. 3–4 dB, then 2–3 dB |
| 05 |
Clean the proximity buildup Close soft singing piles energy into the low mids. A narrow dip keeps the warmth and loses the box. HPF 90–110 Hz · -2 dB at 250–350 Hz |
| 06 |
Air shelf, then saturation Shelf 2–3 dB from 12 kHz. A low-drive tape stage after it returns the density a quiet delivery lacks. +2 to +3 dB shelf 12 kHz |
| 07 |
Stacks carry the width Harmonies panned 90–100 percent, dipped 2–3 dB at 300–500 Hz, rolled off at 9 kHz. Lead mono · stacks wide and darker |
The trick: record the same line twice at two different distances
Sing the line once at 10–15 cm, then again at 40–50 cm without changing anything else, and keep both. Line them up, leave the close take as the lead, and bring the far take up underneath until you can just feel it, usually 8–12 dB down. High-pass the far take around 300 Hz so it adds no weight, and keep it centred. That far take carries the same performance plus the room and the air, arriving a couple of milliseconds later with a different frequency balance. Blended in, it does what no plugin does convincingly: the vocal feels like it exists in a physical space while staying intimate, because all the intelligibility comes from the close take.
Stop guessing the chain.
The Vocal Chain Bible is 88 real vocal chains from Grammy-winning engineers — every plugin, every setting, in order, with free alternatives for each one. 5+ years, 100+ interviews, one PDF.
Get the Vocal Chain Bible — $48 →Mistakes that kill it
- Gating the breaths out. The breath is the sound. Use expansion so it sits 12–16 dB under the word.
- Air shelf before the de-esser. You amplify the sibilance you are about to spend ten minutes fighting.
- A widener on the lead. Width belongs on the harmony stack. A widened lead collapses in mono.
- Singing loud and fixing it later. No plugin adds air that was never in the take.
The parts that transfer are the recording approach and the order of operations.
Keep going
FAQ
How do I get a breathy vocal sound?
Sing softly at 10–15 cm with the preamp up, then control the room with gentle expansion rather than a gate.
Where should the air shelf go?
After de-essing. A 2–3 dB shelf from 12 kHz adds air; before the de-esser it only adds sibilance.
How do I get width without a widener?
Stacked harmonies panned wide and dipped in the low mids, plus a second lead take recorded further back.
Sources
Recording Academy artist interview · No published interview describes this chain in technical detail. Everything below is my own reconstruction from the released records, not a documented setup.
This breakdown is independent editorial analysis based on publicly available interviews, studio videos and published engineer credits, plus my own recreation of the sound. It is not affiliated with, authorised by or endorsed by the artist or their team, and the settings are an approximation, not the session file. Meshplugins and the Vocal Chain Bible are not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any artist named on this page.
Who's behind this
Ivan Meshcheriakov · IvanFromRnD
5+ years ago I moved to LA with zero connections and started building from nothing — 14-hour days, meeting people and interning at studios. It took me 5+ years to meet and interview 100+ Grammy-winning engineers — then I turned it all into the Vocal Chain Bible.
Read my full story →