Getting lead vocals in front of the mix, but not above and removed from it

[Mutha Goose]

Hey Guys

1st off, thank you for your guitar tracking assistance and advice. It really helped.

 

Now to my next problem I can't seem to figure out...

 

When I listen to the lead vocals on recordings, they are right there front and center. They sit right in the middle (so to speak) with nothing in their way, but yet are rooted in the song. However, when I try to mix like that in my recordings, they sound like they are on top of the song, not in it. Like they are disconnected from the song, not a part of it.

 

How do you handle the vocals to keep them as the central focus without disconnecting them from the song?

 

[mike.sartori]

It might help to make a space for them; work on panning your drum kit, guitars, piano's, etc., right and left, then the vocals can be brought down and still remain 'present' in the center of the mix. You can make some space in the EQ as well, cut frequencies from electric guitar and other melodic/rhythmic instruments that are in the same range as the vocals, then you can bring the vocals down in the finished mix and they will still be easy to hear.

[CME]

Also automation can do great things for vocals. Just trying to EQ/Comp them into working can be hazardous to them. They get all funky and don't sound right. IMO anyways.

[WRGKMC]

Time based effects like Chorus, Reverb and Echo push the part back into the mix.

Theres also much that can be done using specific EQ settings that blend with the rest of the mix.

I often compare the Lead vocals to the drum tracks. Drums cover a wide frequency responce and if

the vocals can stand with the drums properly the rest isnt to hard to balance in.

 

You can also turn your mains off and gradually turn up the volume and you should hear the Vocal and snare

first in the mix followed the rest of the mix.

[Mutha Goose]

Very interesting... my work flow has been to start with the drums, move to guitars, then bass, and vocals last. But what I think am hearing here is that I should probably hit the vocals 2nd, and fit the bass and guitars around that?

[WRGKMC]

 

Very interesting... my work flow has been to start with the drums, move to guitars, then bass, and vocals last. But what I think am hearing here is that I should probably hit the vocals 2nd, and fit the bass and guitars around that?

 

 

No, theres no formulas here and no right or wrong way.

I often track my vocals last or near to last and often have to go back and make evaluations and comparisons

to make things fit properly in the mix.

 

I often use a photograph analogy when mixing because people tend to be highly visual when they first get into

recording and havent learned to use their tools well enough to make changes that corresponds to their ears.

 

You can think of building a mix using separate cutouts of the musicians placed on a white sheet of paper.

The problem you're having is the lead singer is too big in comparison to the other pictures and no matter what you do

ge's masking the other pictures. You want to either increase the size of the other players or reduce the size of the singer,

or a little of both. You only have the piece of white paper to work with. It corresponds to your frequency range of 20~20Khz,

your hearing range. Each cutout will take part of that white sheet or use part of that frequency range.

 

If the prat is too up front its either got too wide a frequency responce, is too loud, or is too dry.

If the vocals taking up too much frequency responce from other instruments, the

other instruments wind up being cut thinner than they should be making them sound smaller.

If the Vocals and the instruments are using the same frequencies, turning down the vocals causes

the vocals to dissapear. If the vocals are too dry and have no resonance thay will sound up front at

normal volume levels.

 

EQing is always the first thing you need. If you set the mix for mono, all instruments should be heard clearly.

If some dissapear you have masking. You have to sculpt the tracks with an EQ to make sure two or more arent

using the same frequencies.

 

Heres some simple charts which explains what I'm talking about.

These are not 100% accurate and its impossible to paint by nimbers and expect great results.

 

Heres a frequency chart of the various instruments including fundamental tones

and overtones.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]342862[/ATTACH]

 

Heres a few rough examples to show how the instruments can be EQed to fit together into a mix.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]342865[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]342866[/ATTACH]

 

This is key. If you took the other instruments off the chart and left only say the guitar,

it may sound awful solo with only the midrange happening. Thats OK and its expected.

You cannot mix all the tracks for their best fidelity and expect them to fit together.

They would all overlap and mask each other.

 

Idealy you may want a little space between the parts so they sound independant. Other mixes may need some gentle masking to give a thick backwash and no frequency gap between the players.

 

They are all techniques you'll learn to use as you get more experienced.

If you want allot of metalic bass for slap, you'll have to cut a hole ijn other instruments responces in the 2~3K range to fit that slap in. You may have to put a 2.5K notch in the guitars so it can be heard. If you want vocals tho cut through the mix at 7.5Khz, you dont want to be boosting the snare and cymbals at thts frequency or you'll have masking. If you want a beefy low end on vocals at 250hz, then you have to listen to whats at that frequency and maybe use a high pass filter on guitars and put a scoop on the bass and kick so that area of the frequency responce is available.

 

What this all boils down to is what sounds natureal and what doesnt.

if you have a sparce mix with say a three piece band and vocals, you can make those parts sound bigger. If you have allot of parts, all will have to be trimmed and panned to make them sound smaller so they can all fit within the sound scape. So allot of what you do is make judgements on what you have to keep, what you're like to keep, and what you can dump can cut without missing.

 

Do you really need to have 250K pumping on vocals to make them sound like the Jolly Green Giant? In most mixes its highly unlikely, leave those frequencies to the bass and kick. Do you need vocal frequencies above 12Khz cranked? If you're a male with a sorprano voice maybe, but its most likely your voice is effective between between 250 to 11K max and you can trim everything above 11K and it would never be missed.

Those frequencies can then be assigned 100% to the cymbals and when you turn the cymbals up they wont bury the vocals with noise.

[Mutha Goose]

This makes perfect sense. Thank you for taking the time to explain it so clearly. Can't wait to go play and see if I can put this into practice

[Lee Knight]

I know it's not very cool to admit this... but...

 

Limiting and compression. I happen to love the sound of pop and rock where the vocal has been limited with finesse. I don't mean light handed as much as with style. If I need to hear the vocal and it's having a hard time competing? I shave the peaks with Massey's limiter, then I follow that up with Massey's compressor. Usually slow attack here to regain some cool attack.

 

Like I said, not very hip to admit it, but it sure sounds great.

[WRGKMC]

 

I know it's not very cool to admit this... but... Limiting and compression. I happen to love the sound of pop and rock where the vocal has been limited with finesse. I don't mean light handed as much as with style. If I need to hear the vocal and it's having a hard time competing? I shave the peaks with Massey's limiter, then I follow that up with Massey's compressor. Usually slow attack here to regain some cool attack. Like I said, not very hip to admit it, but it sure sounds great.

 

 

My own vocals are so bad after singing through bad PA systems for 40 years

I have to work all kinds of magic on my vocals to get them to compete..

 

My current chain often consists of

1. Sonar Sonitus EQ --- Since I got my new EV mics I no longer have to EQ

 

2. Autotune --- I use this in auto mode but only when needed. It does give some chorus like movement to the sound.

 

3A. Voxengo Voxformer ----- This is a great plugin. it has two compressors with a crossover to act as a multiband,

Drive, DeEsser, Parametric EQ, Presence and a few more goodies

 

3B. Sonar Vintage Strip. I been using this more often lately on vocals. Its a killer Comp limiter with simular addons of Deesser, parametric,

Expander, and all the typical bells and whistles. I can get a super solid vocal sound with this.

 

4A. Kjaerhus Classic Chorus ---- Free oldie but goodie. Cant tell you exactly why I like this so much but I do. It expands the vocal width so

it fills in the center better. I go easy using it and use it mainly to get some room ambiance. The presets can be worked to fine tune and the output

volume can help make up for a weak track if needed.

 

4B. Sonar FX Chorus ---- I may use this in place of the Kjaerhus. Its a clean sounding plugin with plenty of options.

I do find it better on Harmony Vocals, Guitars, and The setting for Bass is killer for some stuff.

 

5. Voxengo Tempo Delay ---- This is one of the best Free delays I've used. It takes awhile to learn all the

settings but the echo is very good. Its about as close to using a Reel to Reel as an echo unit I've found.

I like the fact you can set either side any way you want and you can adjust the high frequency cutoff to match the mic.

I often set this one to match the music tempo with a little pre delay and add enough to get wide vocal trails.

 

6. Hyperprisim Limiter. --- I've had these plugins forever. They are very old and I dont think you can even find them any more.

I pop it in the end of the plugin chain to prevent overs and reduce overall dynamics. Its just a simple low consumption Limiter

that does not color the sound. No fancy GUI and only a few adjustments. Its just limits the way a limiter should clean and simple.

 

I may use one or all of these depending on the song and I do experiment with many others depending on the song.

 

I also clean up the vocal track to remove any noise between vocal phrases and sometimes process the track using waves L2 limiter

to even up the dynamics. As I said, my vocals arent great but I use allot of technique that sounds professional. I dont spend a whole

lot of time on getting every phrase perfect, I'm more focused on a good melody and cool vocal breaks that a better singer could build upon.

[Quarterwave]

All good tips here. You might also like to create 2 duplicate tracks of the original vocal (so that you have 3 identical vocal tracks), EQ them all differently, and then pan the left channel @ say, 10 o'clock, the centre channel @ noon and the right channel @ 2 p.m.

 

Then, drop the left channel fader to around -4 db, keep the centre channel @ unity, and then drop the right channel to around -4 bd as well.

 

Put all of those channels into a buss so that you can control all 3 faders with just the single buss fader and then throw a nice reverb (I like Sony Sonnox @ the moment) on the buss. That should help to give you more "spread" to the vocal, and subtle use of the reverb will help to "lift it off the tape" (so to speak) and yet help it to gell better with the other instruments, without losing clarity or presence.

 

NOTE - I also use a good compressor on the actual track itself (usually a Waves CLA-2 when in track edit mode) to help flatten things out so that when the track is re-inserted back into the session, the volume is a lot more consistent. By doing this, it helps to make the vocal easier to hear in quiet parts, and not as blaring in the louder parts. Once you have the overall volume worked out, you can then go back in, and edit the track again to raise or lower specific words and phrases in the vocal track, so that you can hear everything clearly.... provided that is what you are looking to accomplish !

 

Good luck !