mixing vocals with an instrumental that's already mastered.

K

Kwame

New member
Hi, new to this community and new to mixing also

My question is when I'm mixing down my vocals with an instrumental that's already mastered .. should I leave the instrumental alone even if it's not too loud or to quiet ?

Or should I dropped it down to 18db also along with my vocals . Before hitting the mastering stage .
 
Pull the gain down on the instrumental track until it is at reasonable level to record vocals. Then mix your vocals to be cohesive with the backing track.

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Just because the instrumental track has already been 'mastered' doesn't really mean anything. I assume that you mean compressed/limited to be as high a volume as possible. You cant change the processing that has already been done, but you can turn it down and mix from there.

-18dBFS is just an ideal starting point for recording. What you do after that is up to you.
 
And then *if* the instrumental track is overly-compressed, don't be surprised if you need to use rather odd dynamic control on your vocal track to make it sit nicely.
 
I'll respectfully disagree with Jimmy on one note; it does matter if the instrumental was already 'mastered'. Dynamics will be much less and the vocal track won't sit well. Turning the levels up or down won't make much difference. The one thing you can try is to run the vocal track through some compression and a limiter to get the dynamic range to match the instrumental. As Massive said "rather odd dynamic control". I take that to mean, slam the hell out of it. lol

Then EQ as needed. If you need some time domain effects, figure out what the instrumental has and match that as well.

just my 2 bits.
 
Chili said:
I'll respectfully disagree with Jimmy on one note; it does matter if the instrumental was already 'mastered'. Dynamics will be much less and the vocal track won't sit well. Turning the levels up or down won't make much difference. The one thing you can try is to run the vocal track through some compression and a limiter to get the dynamic range to match the instrumental. As Massive said "rather odd dynamic control". I take that to mean, slam the hell out of it. lol

Then EQ as needed. If you need some time domain effects, figure out what the instrumental has and match that as well.

just my 2 bits.
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Naw we actually do agree. I just didn't state it very well. :)

I work with mastered to the rim backing tracks all the time with a couple of white suburban hip hop kids weekly. I find it does take a bit more then usual compression on the vocals to get them to sit well, but that seems kinda typical of the genre anyway. On many a track we have added guitars, bass, even programmed drums to be able to enhance the dynamics of a tune or to change it altogether.

So really just bring the instrument track to a volume that works to record your vocals at an ideal level. Then when at mixdown stage find a way to make the vocals sit with the already mastered track. What that takes is always different. Sometimes the backing track needs to be eq'd, sometimes something special done to the vocal to gel with the track. It just depends...
 
In all the years I've been mixing, I've never managed to do a mix that works as an instrumental that works with a vocal instead.

I did quite a lot of saxophone stuff for a few projects, and they worked pretty well, but muting the sax and adding in a vocal wasn't just a swap. Lots of the other sound sources needed rebalancing because the voice just didn't fit the 'hole' created by muting the sax. Since then I've often tried to do a mix, leaving the space for the vocal, but every single time, the mix has needed adjustment. Those really good karaoke tracks/backing tracks you hear I think MUST have been mixed with a vocal present, then mastered without it. Lots of times you hear decent recorded and played backing tracks that just fight when they're used live with a singer.
 
I suppose one of us should ask the OP what his backing track is...

Hey Kwame, can you post the instrumental track so we have an idea of what you are working with? :)
 
thanks for replying !

so what im doing now is working with an instrumental that has already been made to its final version. So when i started recording i didnt touch the gain on the instrumental. i recently learned about when first recording to set my levels to 18db. Im totally about to go off the topic. . .so i recorded all my vocals. . but i just kinda like recorded everything without setting my levels. so now im in the editing stage and my vocals are good n clear. .like really good takes. but everything is peaking. .LIKE RED EVERYWHERE. .so right now im just chopping up my vocals as in . taking out all the unnecessary stuff. so after in done doing that.i just really need to know the right steps to go towards in the editing stage before mastering.should i drop every track down to 18db . .since it wasnt set that way when i first recorded. .or
 
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Massive Master said:
If you tracked that hot, you've already wrecked the vocal track. Turning it down after the fact is like putting a burnt steak into a bucket of ice to try and un-cook it.

(EDIT) More if you're bored... Proper Audio Recording Levels | MASSIVE Mastering Blog | The Rants and Ravings of an Audio Mastering Engineer

(EDIT AGAIN) Why these pages aren't formatting properly, i have no idea... Working on that.
Click to expand...



thanks i read that forum you sent. i will keep it as my bible..i only have myself and no help. . im new and want to learn as much as i can .so for my next session. what is a proper way to set my levels. like should i just talk or rap into my mic with a up lifted voice not yelling but uplifted and def watch my meter and if its hitting the red. . .turn down my fader around -18/-20dbs while i still have the same level of tone. .
 
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