What are Vocal Chops?

You'll surely have heard some music producers talking about vocal chops, and you'll have probably asked yourself, "What are vocal chops?"

Today, I will try to briefly explain what they are and let you hear some examples.

Vocal chops are one-shot samples chopped up from full vocal recordings and then processed to make them sound distorted, clippy, and/or glitchy.

Many EDM artists use this popular vocal technique to add interesting sounds to their songs. They can be used as one-shot samples in your tracks or even as a base for an entire song.

They provide an interesting texture that can add instant character to your music.

A wide variety of vocal chop samples exist: some use only spoken words; others have multiple layers with sounds such as laughter or screams mixed into them; still, others use only short breaths that can be layered over each other for varying results.

The main advantage of using vocal chops is that they don't have any lyrics, so you don't have to worry about writing them!

Below you can hear some examples to better understand what they are. 👇

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If you want to create your own vocal chops, it will take some time and patience, but it's certainly possible!

First, find a vocal sample that you like. It can be an acapella, a phrase, or some spoken words (just pay attention to the copyright. )

Don't be afraid to use the same one over and over again - the more you work with it, the better your chops will become.

Then, listen carefully to the different syllables in each word and try isolating them by chopping up the audio file into smaller pieces.

Once you have these isolated syllables at various tempos and pitches, you can use them to create your own melody.

You can apply this technique in any DAW such as FL Studio, Ableton, and Logic Pro X. (I love to create my own chops with the Ableton Simpler. 💪)

If you want to get inspired by professional pre-made vocal chops and understand how they're created, you're in the right place.

We've crafted a vocal pack dedicated exclusively to them called "LUV Vocal Chops."

Inside you'll find a collection of pre-made vocal chops (dry & wet) + a selection of adlibs, phrases, and one-shots that you can use to create your own chops. 👇