Understanding Gunna’s Vocal Style
Gunna’s vocals are known for being smooth, melodic, and laid-back. His delivery is effortlessly cool, often gliding over trap beats with a vibe that feels both luxurious and atmospheric. His vocal tone doesn’t aim to cut through aggressively; instead, it feels submerged in the beat, allowing the instrumental and vocals to form one cohesive sonic experience.
To recreate his sound, your goal isn’t just technical clarity—it’s about blending emotion, Auto-Tune stylization, and spatial depth. Gunna uses effects and layering subtly to create width, space, and tone without overwhelming the listener. You’ll need to embrace a minimalist yet polished mixing style that focuses on blending rather than dominating.
Recording Clean Vocals
Achieving a Gunna-like sound starts with a clean, high-quality vocal recording. Using a large-diaphragm condenser microphone, such as the Rode NT1 or Lewitt LCT 240 PRO, gives you the clarity and detail needed to sculpt his signature tone. Record in a quiet, acoustically treated space to eliminate background noise, as Gunna’s vocals are highly processed and will reveal any imperfections in the raw recording.
Keep the vocal performance relaxed and melodic. Gunna rarely pushes hard; instead, he leans into a sing-song delivery that matches the mood of the track. Capture multiple takes to ensure fluid phrasing, as a seamless vocal rhythm is a hallmark of his style.
Using Auto-Tune for Gunna's Melodic Flow
Auto-Tune is a major part of Gunna's sound. He uses pitch correction not just for tuning, but as an expressive tool. To achieve this, set your pitch correction plugin to match the key of the song and use a medium-to-fast retune speed. This helps preserve a melodic flow while keeping the vocal locked into the instrumental.
Formant correction and humanization settings help maintain a natural quality, especially when singing in higher or lower registers. You’re not looking for a robotic tone—instead, aim for a fluid vocal with a modern melodic rap character.
Sculpting with EQ
Gunna’s vocals are bright but warm, airy yet smooth. Use a high-pass filter to remove any unwanted low-end rumble. Clean up muddiness around the low-mid range by identifying and slightly reducing problem frequencies. To keep the vocals present, you can gently cut around boxy or nasal frequencies in the midrange.
To get that silky high-end sheen, boost slightly in the upper mids and apply a gentle high shelf in the top-end. This adds brightness and air without making the vocal harsh. Always use your ears and reference tracks for guidance. The goal is for the vocal to sit neatly within the beat, not on top of it.
Compression and Vocal Control
Compression keeps Gunna’s vocals even and polished. Start with a smooth, musical compressor that preserves the dynamics of his chill delivery. Set a medium-fast attack and release to keep things under control without flattening the character of the vocal. Apply moderate gain reduction, just enough to level out performance inconsistencies.
To bring more presence and energy, you can apply parallel compression. This involves duplicating the vocal, applying heavy compression to the duplicate, and blending it back in with the main vocal. The result is a vocal that retains its dynamics while gaining a sense of power and consistency.
Adding Saturation for Texture
Subtle saturation helps warm up Gunna’s vocals and adds that luxurious texture he’s known for. Tape or tube emulation plugins are great for this. Focus the saturation around the low-mids to give body to the vocal, and apply just a touch of high-end warmth to enhance clarity.
Keep the saturation low-key. You want to enhance the tone, not distort it. The idea is to make the vocal feel rich and analog-inspired, even if the rest of the mix is digital.
Creating Space with Reverb
Gunna’s vocals are spatially rich but not drenched in effects. Reverb is used sparingly and strategically. A small room or plate reverb with a short decay time adds just enough ambiance without pulling the vocal too far back in the mix.
Use pre-delay to separate the reverb from the dry vocal, which helps maintain clarity. Reverb should create depth and vibe, not blur the vocal. You can automate reverb sends between sections to emphasize hooks and keep verses more intimate.
Using Delay for Width and Vibe
Delay is one of the most important elements in Gunna’s vocal chain. A stereo delay set to a quarter or eighth note gives rhythm and movement to his vocal. Keep the feedback low to avoid overwhelming the mix, and apply EQ to the delay to remove muddy low-end and piercing highs.
To make the delay feel musical, match its timing to the tempo of your instrumental. A synced, filtered delay can add groove and mood, helping the vocal weave into the beat seamlessly. You can also automate the delay send to enhance transitions between verses and hooks.
Vocal Doubling and Harmonies
Gunna subtly layers his vocals for depth and texture. Doubling your lead vocal can thicken the sound without making it obvious. Record or duplicate your lead, shift the timing slightly, and pan one take slightly left and the other slightly right. Slight pitch shifting or micro pitch plugins can further enhance this effect.
Harmonies, even subtle ones, give Gunna’s vocals their lush character. These should be tucked underneath the lead vocal and can be lightly affected with reverb or delay to push them back in the mix. The goal is to enhance the emotional vibe without distracting from the main vocal line.
Finishing Touches: De-Essing, Limiting, and Bus Processing
De-essing is essential to keep your high-end under control. Use a de-esser to tame sibilant frequencies without dulling the vocal. Set the frequency range based on your vocalist’s voice and apply gentle reduction.
After all your processing, a limiter can help catch final peaks and smooth out the vocal output. Use it subtly, just enough to control the loudest moments without squashing dynamics.
Group all your vocals to a dedicated vocal bus and apply a glue compressor to tie everything together. A final EQ here can help gel your layers or tame any harshness. Use bus-level processing to keep your vocals coherent and consistent across the track.
Placing Vocals in the Mix
Gunna’s vocals are often slightly tucked into the instrumental rather than aggressively front-facing. Use volume automation and sidechain compression on your beat elements to make space for the vocal without needing it to overpower the mix.
Listen on multiple systems to ensure your vocal sits correctly. On studio monitors, headphones, or car speakers, the vocal should always feel like it belongs—not floating too high or getting lost in the beat.
Use a Gunna-Inspired Vocal Preset
If you want to streamline the process, Cedar Sound Studios offers Gunna vocal presets that take the guesswork out of mixing. These presets are designed to emulate specific artists and genres using stock plugins, which makes them compatible with nearly every major DAW. The Gunna-inspired preset will give you the sound and polish you’re looking for in just a few clicks, saving you hours of tweaking and testing.
Final Thoughts
Mixing vocals like Gunna is all about restraint and vibe. It’s not about maximum presence or punch—it’s about glide, smoothness, and atmosphere. By carefully applying Auto-Tune, subtle delays, clean EQ, and ambient reverb, you can achieve a vocal sound that feels right at home in today’s trap and melodic rap scene.
Stay focused on emotion and tone. Gunna’s sound is less about technical perfection and more about feel. Let your vocals flow like the beat, surround them with space, and fine-tune until everything blends like velvet. When done right, your mix will not only sound like Gunna—it’ll feel like him too.