Vocal guide
How to sound like The Weeknd
Dark, cinematic After Hours / Dawn FM chain.
What defines The Weeknd's vocal sound
Abel's signature vocal blends 80s synthwave space with modern R&B clarity — long lush plate, gated room, and a subtle tape saturation glue. This preset captures the entire After Hours and Dawn FM mix template.
The chain, step by step
- Clean-up EQ — cut low rumble and muddy low-mids so the vocal sits forward.
- Pitch correction — set the speed to match the artist's style (hard and fast for melodic rap, gentle for R&B/pop).
- Compression — even out the level so every word stays upfront in the beat.
- De-essing & tone EQ — tame harsh "s" sounds, then add air on top.
- Space — reverb and delay on sends, tuned to the record's era.
Dialling this in by ear takes hours. The The Weeknd preset loads the whole chain in one click, with only stock plugins.
Get the The Weeknd vocal preset for your DAW