Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier is an audio multiplier & post processing audio software plugin created by Joey Sturgis Tones; in collaboration with Grammy nominated and multi-platinum selling producer Howard Benson.
Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier finally gives you an all-in-one tool that can go from a single vocal take to hundreds of vocal layers in seconds. Not only does it sound convincing as if you’ve painstakingly recorded and edited several vocal layers the hard way, it also gives you INSANE control over the mix of all those layers via saturation, compression, reverb, delay and more. Best of all? It works great on instruments too!
Who Is Howard Benson?
Howard Benson is a music producer and is renowned for his work with artists including Kelly Clarkson, Flyleaf, My Chemical Romance, Three Days Grace & many more. Howard was nominated for Producer of the Year in both 2007 & 2008 and has won GRAMMYs for his work on Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger (Best Pop Vocal Album, 2013) and Halestorm's "Love Bites (So Do I)" (Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, 2013).
Feature Breakdown
Here is a quick breakdown of the main sections of the Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier plugin...
Advanced Voice Generation
Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier utilizes an advanced voice generation engine based on Joey & Howard’s unique “Sample & Hold” algorithm. It was designed to take your source audio and turn it into a lifelike clone, including variations in pitch and timing as you’d find in a real-world vocal double. It can create one double or many voices depending on how you set it up. Voices can be tightly locked together or modulated for more extreme results.
Enhanced Post Processing
Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier introduces more post processing features than you’ll find in any other multiplier plugin. Whether you’re working with a single voice, a group vocal performance, or really any other audio that could benefit from doubles or layered performances, the hard part is never creating the copy - it’s always deciding what you do with it after.
Rather than requiring you to copy your settings or create a new signal chain from scratch, Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier sends your duplicated signal through some of the most frequently used post processing in vocal mixing. Each stage of processing has been optimized to work best in this configuration, creating an easy-to-use, consistent mixing workflow
User-Friendly Controls
Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier is packed with straightforward user-friendly controls like Pitch Mod Depth & Timing, High & Low Tone, Voice Count & Stereo Width and even single knob Saturation, Delay, and Reverb modes.
But don’t be fooled by these simplistic controls, these effects sound rich and go DEEP. Select from 3 Vocal Density options, 4 types of Saturation, 6 Delays, and 4 Reverbs - plus everything else listed below.
Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier is broken into two main sections - Voice Generation and Post Processing.
The Voice Generation section of the plugin is responsible for taking your source audio and turning it into a lifelike clone, including varieties in pitch and timing as you'd find in a real-world vocal double. It can create one double or many depending on how you set it up. Doubles can be tightly locked together or modulated for more extreme results.
The Post Processing section handles everything else - vocal density, saturation/warmth, compression, delay, reverb, and output gain. Use as much or as little as you want to get the group vocal results you desire!
How to use Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier
Voice Generation
Start your vocal multiplying efforts in the middle of the plugin using an XY Pad to find the perfect balance of Voices and Stereo Width.
- Fine-tune your Voices and Stereo Width independently with the sliders
- Set the Multiplier Volume to set how loud the generated voices are compared to the source
📌 Tip: Set Multiplier Volume louder while working to clearly hear your changes.
Pitch Mod
Once you’ve got the right number of voices, use Pitch Depth and Timing controls to set how much they vary from the source.
- Depth controls how far the generated voices can drift from the pitch of the original
- Rate controls how long it takes for a generated voice to reach that depth
📌 Tip: Set lower values for more natural variations in pitch.
Timing
- Timing
- adjusts the spread of timing differences between the generated voices
📌 Tip: For tight vocal doubles, set lower values. For multiple voices (used in conjunction with Vocal Density - for chants and grouped vocal effects), raise the knob to audibly hear the separation.
Tone
- Tone provides tilted-EQ shelf controls with wide Q, for High and Low equalization of the generated voices
📌 Tip: Used to shape and contour the generated voices, adjust to taste...
Reduce the lows when using the Low Oct generator to balance mixed vocals. Raise the highs on backgrounds, strings, keys (pads), and guitars to add sparkle and air - when wrapped in reverb and ducked behind the source, this is a cool effect.
Low Oct
- Adds a generated voice an octave below your source
The Low Oct control preserves the formant, tracking the pitch of the input source accurately for a natural blend.
📌 Tip:
This works great on a multitude of sources, not just vocals but bass and guitars to add weight a girth for solo phrases or to drive heavier genre music styles.
Vocal Density
Remove empty space around the voices generated by the plugin by increasing Vocal Density.
- Subtle - Adds a light amount of widening to each voice
- Normal - Adds a medium amount of widening to each voice
- Dramatic - Adds a substantial amount of widening to each voice
📌 Tip: Use the Dramatic density type for heavily processed vocals or non-vocal sources.
Saturation
Harmonic Saturation is super common processing for vocal mixers. Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier offers 5 types:
- Off - No saturation
- Vintage Tape - Classic, slightly dirty saturation
- Clean Tube - Tight and balanced saturation
- Warm Tube - Warmer, fuller tube saturation
- Broken Tube - Aggressive saturation with unexpected harmonic variations
📌 Tip: When testing each mode, turn up the amount to hear the effect more clearly.
Glue
Glue acts as the main compression stage of the Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier plugin.
- Based on the highly-successful Bus Glue series by JST
- Creates consistency between source audio and generated voices by reducing peaks
- Can be set to minimum value to bypass compression
📌 Tip: Glue is applied before FX, which means they can be affected by uncompressed peaks. Use it wisely!
Delay
There are 7 built-in Delay options in Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier. Control repeats with the Feedback slider.
- Off - No delay
- Lofi Slap - Low fidelity slapback delay
- Lofi 1/8 - Low fidelity eighth note delay
- Lofi 1/4 - Low fidelity quarter note delay
- Tape 1/8 - Eighth note tape delay
- Modern 1/8 - Eighth note digital delay
- Pong 1/4 - Quarter note delay with panning effect
📌 Tip: Use Lofi Slap with lower voice counts to create upfront sounding vocals.
Reverb
There are 5 built-in Reverb options in Howard Benson Vocal Multiplier.
- Off - No reverb
- Bright Room - Short, high frequency reflections
- Dark Room - Short, low frequency reflections
- Cathedral - Long reflections with some high frequency rolloff
- Outer Space - Extra long, seemingly infinite reflections
📌 Tip: A little goes a long way with reverb! Don’t drown your vocal doubles with reverb (unless that’s the sound you’re after)
Additional Controls
- Filter - A combined high and low pass filter (20Hz - 20kHz)
- Mute Input - Mutes the input signal
- Mono Low-End - Makes the low-end of the voice group mono
📌 Tips: Darken / Brighten generated voices to fit your mix with the Filter (note; this param does not affect the Low Oct voice). Remove the input source using Mute Input when used on a bus group track. Set Mono Low-End to focus your lows and create space for your voices to shine in the mids and highs.
What You'll Get
- Single-User Perpetual iLok Software License
- 3 Activations Per License Purchase
- Powerful collection of presets for getting your mix bus sounding perfect with only a few clicks!
- Audio Plugin in AU, VST3, AAX formats
- User Manual
Requirements
- Mac or Windows computer with supported OS and supported DAW
- FREE iLok Account (iLok dongle NOT required - Computer, iLok 2/3, iLok Cloud activation supported)
Supported Operating Systems
- Windows 7+ (64 bit): VST3, AAX
- macOS 10.14+ (Intel or M1/M2, 64 bit): VST3, AU, AAX
Supported DAWs
- Cubase
- Reaper
- Pro Tools
- Logic
- Garageband
- Ableton Live
- Studio One
- FL Studio
- Digital Performer
- LUNA
Legal
© Joey Sturgis Tones. All rights reserved.
VST and VST3 are trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
Mac OSX and Audio Unit are trademarks of Apple, Inc.
AAX is a trademark of Avid, Inc.
Windows is a trademark of Microsoft, Inc.