I Don't Sound Like That...Do I?

Okay, I may have been a little overoptimistic about getting an EP completed by Monday, but I have got the vocals for one track recorded. In spite of small impediments like stomach cramps and hiccups.

Now I have to perform the arcane alchemical processes that (hopefully) turn adequate vocal performances into good ones. These mystic methods, passed down from generations of sound engineers, look something like this:

(1) Noise Gate - I usually just cut anything below -48dB. Removing the frequencies of quiet ambient noise also works, but tends to thin the sound.
(2) De-esser - optional.
(3) Smoothing/Compression - reduces the wavering in volume you tend to get in quiet singing, like mine.
(4) Normalisation - optional but advised.
(5) Manual Denoising - silence out any unwanted sound between the vocal parts if they weren't removed by the noise gate. I usually remove breaths too.
(6) Pitch Correction - I tend to waver or be slightly flat on high notes, and if I had the patience I'd only apply correction to these. But global pitch correction is a reasonable substitute for years of vocal training.
(7) Excitation - optional, but it gives a good full sound to the voice, making reverb less necessary.
(8) Chorus - easy to overdo, so apply tastefully, if at all.
(9) Reverb - I prefer to use reverb as an occasional effect, rather than a general way of giving sheen to the sound.

There's also echo, and shifting lines or words slightly forward or back to correct small errors of timing. The latter can be quite painstaking, and I'm far too lazy to do it much.

I have yet to get to grips properly with Stereo Imaging. This involves breaking the signal into frequency bands and introducing small delays between the left and right signal within each band - the higher the band the greater the delay. It's supposed to create a solid bass end and a feeling of airy openness at the top.
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UPDATE: One track now complete. That's "complete" as in "I've spent four straight hours working on it, I think it sounds pretty good, any further changes will be quite minor, and I need to go the bed because it's nearly five'o'clock in the morning."