mixing duet

andrushkiwt

andrushkiwt

Well-known member
Hey, does anyone have experience mixing male and female duets? i have a ballad that i've acquired some talent for to sing along with. some sections are solo, many are harmonizing.

i have only mixed myself with background vocals, and not 2 unique voices who are both the lead. usually, i copy and paste my main vocal onto a separate track that has a stereo chorus. this really widens it and gives it a more full sound. i don't believe i'll be able to do this when there are 2 main vocals, however. so, i'm looking for a different approach. the genre would be something like paramore meets bush for a somber, dark ballad. Should I pan each lead slightly? Keep the chorus for the "thinner" vocal, whichever that turns out to be? i would say that I could keep the chorus for both vocals, but there are some instances where they overlap phrases, plus the harmonizing puts a damper on that - two stereo choruses at once probably won't sound very good.

tracking hasn't started yet, so i'm just trying to prepare for it. we are very excited to sing this song and I don't want to disappoint when it comes to mixing time ;) appreciate any thoughts
 
It very much depends on the singers' voices, who the singers feel has the lead in each section, and who you think has the stronger voice.

I find that panning one on each side works well if they are both sharing the limtelight and it keeps things simple - you can get some nice interplay between the different melodies and harmonies for relatively little production effort, it works really nicely with some call/response action too.
 
Jake_JW said:
It very much depends on the singers' voices, who the singers feel has the lead in each section, and who you think has the stronger voice.

I find that panning one on each side works well if they are both sharing the limtelight and it keeps things simple - you can get some nice interplay between the different melodies and harmonies for relatively little production effort, it works really nicely with some call/response action too.
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i did write some "call and response" lines, yes. she has lead in verses, i have lead in first two choruses, together for the remainder plus some call and response stuff toward the end.

i'll start around 10-15% off center on each side, i think. so, scratch the stereo chorus? i don't see room for it. unless i'm missing a place to be creative with it here.
 
My experience with two lead vocals is mostly acoustic/folk/country/soft-rock stuff so it might not be the same for different (heavier/more agressive) styles, but I find I like having the two vocals very definitely placed opposite each other in the stereo field (which chorus might mess with, spreading things out a bit).
If rest of the mix suits it you can go quite far out with the panning, as long as you keep things balanced overall (i.e. don't get lopsided) and you check the levels/tone in mono as far as possible.
 
I am not a big fan of copy, paste, pan. Maybe get an ADT plug in, double track it or stereo widener. But really, I think if you mix it well, you can get the vocals fat with a single track. Compression will fatten it, some EQ work. There are lots of ways, but I think you should track the performance, mix it straight work with what you have and you may be surprised how fat you can get it with straight mixing techniques.
 
DM60 said:
There are lots of ways, but I think you should track the performance, mix it straight work with what you have and you may be surprised how fat you can get it with straight mixing techniques.
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I guess the kicker is that if the vocal isn't sitting right with the just the basics (eq, compression, reverb), it's probably not going to sit well full stop. Once it's there, a double track or chorus could add some width or size, if that's the sound you like.
 
I was thinking of double tracking the final chorus, i'll see how it goes. wish i had a sample to put up in the clinic, but the only one i have is me singing falsetto for the girl part. not the prettiest.

i'll start with basic mixing and go from there. i was most concerned about panning and which vox to use the stereo chorus for. thnx
 
If the two vocals sit well together, maybe you don't pan at all. It really will depend on the vocals if they occupy different frequency areas, they could sit center. If they do trip over each other, then start the pan slight during the duets to give them there area. I really don't think it will be as difficult as you think.

When I do my own choruses, I don't always pan as the other vocals don't sit in the same frequencies, different notes, pitch, etc. Don't get too concerned just yet. Some things work themselves out naturally.
 
DM60 said:
If the two vocals sit well together, maybe you don't pan at all. It really will depend on the vocals if they occupy different frequency areas, they could sit center. If they do trip over each other, then start the pan slight during the duets to give them there area. I really don't think it will be as difficult as you think.

When I do my own choruses, I don't always pan as the other vocals don't sit in the same frequencies, different notes, pitch, etc. Don't get too concerned just yet. Some things work themselves out naturally.
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i really appreciate the responses. what do you mean by "trip on each other"? as in, words become unintelligible and unclear when both leads are in the same space?

i listened to some duets on lunch - my least favorite performer, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow did that "pictures" tune together. they both seem to be dead center. not the same genre, but it's still good to hear how they're doing it.
 
If a duet was performing live on stage (either with or without a band), they would be standing fairly close to each other in the centre of the stage, not at opposite ends of the stage and not both impossibly in the centre spot.

So I would mix them as I would picture them on stage.

As for chorus and other effects . . . let the initial performances determine whether effects are needed. I don't care much for chorus on vocals, but each to his own.
 
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