Ableton Forum

Hi,
I am just looking for a simple vocal chain that sounds good and that I can tweak. I had a somewhat good chain but lost it dealing with onedrive issues. I just do covers for online so nothing too fancy. Been really struggling with all the suggestions online for a chain. Please pick apart my current vocal chain. If you want to suggest all the specific settings for each plugin, that's great but not necessary. I am musically inclined enough to know what sounds decent but after uing this software for 2 years it's time to see what could sound better. Thanks!!!

My chain now is(in order): Auto shift, Gate, EQ3, MasterEQ+Compressor, Master EQ+Glue, Saturator

I have Ableton live 12 intro 12.3.7
Shure MV-7 mic
Sony MDR-7506 headphones
HP Windows 11 laptop

It depends so much on the source I don't think it's relevant trying to suggest anything blindly, imho.
Plus, you didn't tell what you're missing with your current chain or why you're looking for changes. We don't know either what's the purpose of this chain (e.g is it your "vocal input stage" after which you usually add FX? etc...)
But, Live has a few dedicated audio racks that could be a good starting point, did you try these?

Thank you for responding. This just proves how little I know.
What I do is record to a karaoke track from youtube. I open my sad live set and record the song. I know little to nothing about returns and sends. My vocals always seem to me like they reside on top of the backing track and not within it.
I am not sure what you mean by source. And when "I" say vocal chain, I am assuming it is the list of plugins across the bottom of my live
I record my vocals to a song with the plugins all on. Then tweak them after the fact. So I assume that is the "Vocal input stage".

Where would I find the dedicated "Audio racks" on Ableton? Are you referring to the website or the software? Sorry I should maybe explore the software a little more. I did do the short tutorial it offered.
That's why I thought if someone here told me the 3,4,5,6 or whatever number of plugins to use and in what order, I might be better off that where I am now.
I appreciate your help!

if you're trying to get your vocals to feel like they're sitting within a different fully-mixed track, that's not going to be easy... most likely, the reason your vocals don't seem to gel is because you're using completely different processing than the song you're trying to sing on top of.

think of it like this...your track was recorded with natural reverb in a real room--let's say a church...if you try and get the vocals you recorded in a tiny spare bedroom to match that vibe, you need to try to approximate what that real room sounds like. and that's just the reverb. the production/mix of the song is also going to be very particular--you likely also need to approximate the mixing style of the producer/engineer that mixed the track. EQ and compression decisions could easily give the impression that your vocal sits outside of the rest of the music.

not saying it's not doable--it absolutely should be, but to do it well would likely take a trained ear.

suggesting a 'vocal chain' is (imo) a bit of a pointless exercise, as--as jur points out--there is so much variation that it's impossible to give a good suggestion. I don't think I've ever used the same plugins on a vocal from one song to the next. it depends on your voice, and the song. context is everything.

sorry I don't have a simpler answer for you, but my suggestion would be to just spend some time really trying to dig in and figure out what works for your voice, and the song. using your ears, and figuring it out as you become more familiar with mixing will always be the best way to go, I think.