help with overdub levels to help match in mix

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bethanyb321

Member
hey i want to sort of remix a famous song, by just singing on top of it. The problem is since the track is already mastered and loud, when i add my vocals i see distortion, but not sure i hear any. I need to turn the song about -4 db for it to never go into the red which is kinna a problem because than the song will not be as loud and i want to create a mix with many songs, and if i turn it down 4 db itll b much quieter than the rest of the mix, so not sure what i should do?
 
u suggest i lower the song about 4db so master doesnt go into the red when i add my vocal, but if i did this i still wouldnt be able to get extra level on the rendered mixdown without going into the red..

thanks
 
Turn the track down about 16dB, record your vocal with an average level of about -18dBFS and then use editing and compression to get it to sit with the track. Once that's done apply a mastering limiter on the mix to get your overall level back up.
 
Exactly. Turn everything down a long way. Do your mix and make it sound good...then master your track to put the over all mix back up where you want it.
 
thanks so much guys ok i will try this, but i hope it doesnt end up having it sound overprocessed since essentially it will be a mastering on top of a mastering. Also im playing this mix at a party soon and i think for there for best possible quality maybe mixing it down at the -4db and just turning up the gain on the external dj mixer channel a few db when this song comes on? or would doing this also put it in the red on the mixer?

but for soundcloud yes i guess the mastering is needed,
thoughts?
thanks
 
This is your situation: the track that you are recording the vocal over is like a glass filled to the rim with water. Your vocal overdub is just adding more water to it. So you have to make room in the glass for the extra water...

Everyone else is correct about the procedure for doing it. Don't worry about it being too processed because most of the limiting you eventually end up doing will really just be working on you vocal, since it is what will be sitting on top ot the track.
 
thanks farview i will do this for sure than for the soundcloud mix,

but for the party if i can get a little better quality do you guys think what suggested would be a good idea? "for best possible quality maybe mixing it down at the -4db and just turning up the gain on the external dj mixer channel a few db when this song comes on? or would doing this also put it in the red on the mixer?"

thanks
 
thanks so much guys ok i will try this, but i hope it doesnt end up having it sound overprocessed since essentially it will be a mastering on top of a mastering.
Click to expand...
Farview said:
This is your situation: the track that you are recording the vocal over is like a glass filled to the rim with water. Your vocal overdub is just adding more water to it. So you have to make room in the glass for the extra water...

Everyone else is correct about the procedure for doing it. Don't worry about it being too processed because most of the limiting you eventually end up doing will really just be working on you vocal, since it is what will be sitting on top ot the track.
Click to expand...
A small but maybe helpful point. What you may want to do is process the vocal -i.e. compression eq fx etc, as if it would have been in the mix + what ever might have happened in the track mastering phase. That way you're not pushed into this 'remastering the whole track again' box so much.
But the overall effect of the vocal- depending on the genre/mix may not have (or would have added) a whole lot of level to the mix, so the final dif to the old track may not be all that much less.
One other thing to try though might be let the new voc in the mix duck the mix slightly with compression. I.e. vocal is heard, the mix is only lowered during the the voc.
This could be done with a moderately slow (you want it slow enough not to go after the beat or hits' again) low ratio, set it so it isn't reacting to the mix, bring the voc up into the mix until the compressor sees' it. Adjust..
Kind of weird since youre doing it all ass backwards :)
 
bethanyb321 said:
thanks farview i will do this for sure than for the soundcloud mix,

but for the party if i can get a little better quality do you guys think what suggested would be a good idea? "for best possible quality maybe mixing it down at the -4db and just turning up the gain on the external dj mixer channel a few db when this song comes on? or would doing this also put it in the red on the mixer?"

thanks
Click to expand...

A mastering limiter isn't absolutely required for either, it's just a convenient way to get the level back up due to the auto make up gain and no chance of clipping. How much actual limiting you do is up to you.
 
Yes, you could always just turn up the volume on the playback system. It won't hurt anything.
 
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