Deathmetal Vocal-Mastering

[rayden]

Hey Guys,
I've been searching for that at google and anyway it lead me to this forum
I couldn't find any topical or matching thread so I decided to register and ask by myself!

I hope you don't bash me, cuz I'm a total noob, especially in "professional"-sounding recording/ mixing/ mastering.

My main focus is on the Deathmetal Vocals, which I would like to have very Powerfull, strong and good matching into the song.
For an example I took a Song of random Deathmetal/ Deathcore Band, which is spreading a non-vocal track (in search for a new vocalist (for me just to practise and jerking around)).

Well I recorded, but that track is pretty "brutal" mastered, and my Voice seems to be a little bit lost...
I tried something here, something there, but I can't imagine how to make it sound "brutal" (or as brutal, as it would fit better into that song)...
which was perhaps down to the fact that I'm a noob
Which 'effects'/ Mastering-Methods/ EQ-settings?

I'm recording with a rode NT1-A, goin' into a Line6 ToneportUX2 (don't know whether that is important).

What is the "best setting" to make it sound 'full'?
(espacially if you take a look at these garglings, normally they are really 'quite', arent they?)

Maybe here is someone who thinks:"hey! Thats' what I can do best!"
It would be really awesome, if someone could help me with my problem

As a preview for what I've 'got' so far; The Song with my vocals:
h*tp://soundomaso.biz/stuff/vaginal_secretion_mixdown.mp3
(replace star through t)

(provisional convertet from wav to mp3, hope there's not too much quality-lost)
I'm 18 from germany (so sorry if my english is not perfect everytime)

thank you!


-edit
it was recorded in one take (except the scream over the growl at the end).
so there are some disagreements, I know
and overall so... 'unclean'...

[Daisy]

It sounds like someone trying to pass a kidney stone.


You could try backing off of that mic at least a few inches, there, dude-rancher. That will go a long way towards clearing up some of the proximity effect (which is muddying up the picture currently), so that people can hear all of those meaningful and poetic lyrics you are trying to convey.

[rayden]

tss
I don't think it's that hardly overdriven... I'll give you sample from farther away, later (its 00:15 am here)

btw. who knows, normally I'm singing about Philosophical stuff, psychology and... well anatomy :lol:

(and I recognized, that the quality is a little bit odd~ (the track normally sounds a not that weak... ht*p://myspace.com/thepartisanturbine, listen to the stuff there... I'm sure the vocalist isn't that "skilled" like I am :P, that are simple gargles, but sound pretty pushed... how? ))

[steve.h]

I've been told I get some pretty good-sounding screaming vocals, and it's really simple:

1 - Stand about a foot from the mic, and make sure you're not going anywhere near the red when you scream

2 - When you've got your vocals, put a compressor on the channel and smash the living fuck out of it. I'm talking 20:1+, with the threshold WAY down. Get it to the point where no matter what type of screaming you're doing, it's always just about the same volume mid-scream.

3 - EQ: gently roll off everything below 200-300hz, with a dip somewhere in that range as well to remove the "cloudiness" (although ches.. err daisy was right in that you are most likely too close to the mic! The closer you get, the more the air builds up and the more artificial lower-frequency content you get.) Give yourself a slight, wide-bell boost around 3-4khz, and roll off the highest high-end.

4 - Reverb: you don't need much, but in order for the track to sit well, you'll need some. Otherwise, it'll just sound like you're screaming in a completely different place than the band is.


That's about it! If it still doesn't sound good, you can't scream. Most people can't; it's much, much harder than you'd think, regardless of what people who aren't fans of the genre may think!

[rayden]

k, much thanks for that!
I'll try that tomorrow... if I can understand everything what you've written, hehe
Well I hope it isn't so, that I can't scream :lol: (do you just mean the high-piched?)

I'm doing this for a longer time now, and I don't think that I am that bad...
anyways, self praise sucks, but i want to justify myself lol

(btw. I'm using Adobe Audition to record (& mastering))

thanks so far :]
(and there is some space between the mic and my mouth (the pop-killer and about 12cm's~, but I'll make that gap bigger... yer.. yer.))

[TerraMortim]

vocals sound fine.. the snare is masking them a bit. I don't agree to step away.. they have the right sound for what they are. Overall the snare is really brutal and all, but it's so much so that it overpowers even the guitar. I'd play with making the kick a little bigger too

[TerraMortim]

Originally Posted by steve.h

I've been told I get some pretty good-sounding screaming vocals, and it's really simple:

1 - Stand about a foot from the mic, and make sure you're not going anywhere near the red when you scream

2 - When you've got your vocals, put a compressor on the channel and smash the living fuck out of it. I'm talking 20:1+, with the threshold WAY down. Get it to the point where no matter what type of screaming you're doing, it's always just about the same volume mid-scream.

3 - EQ: gently roll off everything below 200-300hz, with a dip somewhere in that range as well to remove the "cloudiness" (although ches.. err daisy was right in that you are most likely too close to the mic! The closer you get, the more the air builds up and the more artificial lower-frequency content you get.) Give yourself a slight, wide-bell boost around 3-4khz, and roll off the highest high-end.

4 - Reverb: you don't need much, but in order for the track to sit well, you'll need some. Otherwise, it'll just sound like you're screaming in a completely different place than the band is.


That's about it! If it still doesn't sound good, you can't scream. Most people can't; it's much, much harder than you'd think, regardless of what people who aren't fans of the genre may think!

I agree... He might not want to throw verb on it tho... I dunno, stuff like Dying Fetus and Cannibal Corpse are fairly dry in the vocals, unless I'm remembering differently (I haven't listened to their mixes in a while)

[TerraMortim]

btw...that first part almost reminds me of Nile...almost =D

[TerraMortim]

Originally Posted by rayden

tss
I don't think it's that hardly overdriven... I'll give you sample from farther away, later (its 00:15 am here)

btw. who knows, normally I'm singing about Philosophical stuff, psychology and... well anatomy :lol:

(and I recognized, that the quality is a little bit odd~ (the track normally sounds a not that weak... ht*p://myspace.com/thepartisanturbine, listen to the stuff there... I'm sure the vocalist isn't that "skilled" like I am :P, that are simple gargles, but sound pretty pushed... how? ))

I don't think it is either. A big thing, I think..snare is a bit...too overpowering, are your guitars panned all center? Try doing multi track guitars with some panning, like maybe 8 o clock and 3 o clock or something like that, as if you have too much in the center, esp with growling vocals, they're all going to blend like crazy...

And yeah, limit the living shite out of them. but then again..listen to some Nile, during blast beats the vocals are REALLY masked by everything else...so it's also a fairly stylistic decision as well.

[Massive Master]

I'm not trying to jump in as Captain Obvious, but aren't we talking about mixing (not mastering) here...?

[steve.h]

Originally Posted by Massive Master

I'm not trying to jump in as Captain Obvious, but aren't we talking about mixing (not mastering) here...?

Duh, it's the same thing! I'm surprised you didn't know...

[ecktronic]

Ive noticed for death metal vocals that they are actually pretty thin so the guitars can have a lot of the energy.

Id start with a good bit of compression (maybe) then maybe cutting a good chunk of the low end off with a hi pass.

A good production tip is to do a second vocal take but whisper it rather than scream it. Try and get it as close in timing as the scream take, then blend in so that you only hear a little bit of the whispering. This is to fool the listener into thinking the vocal is a lot more powerful than it actually is. Can work real nice.

Eck

[ecktronic]

By the way, the vocals are the best sounding part of this mix.
The mix is soo crowded and unclear, but the vocals stand out.
They actually mask the rest of the mix, so by cutting the lows and maybe some low mids this will help bring out some of the rest of the mix.

I'd also watch when you are bouncing your mix, make sure you choose stereo, and not mono.
Unless you decided to do a mono mix that is.

Would be nice to hear the mix in stereo.

Eck

[acidrock]

Originally Posted by steve.h

That's about it! If it still doesn't sound good, you can't scream. Most people can't; it's much, much harder than you'd think, regardless of what people who aren't fans of the genre may think!

I definitely not death metal fan and it's probably because I've heard so many bands who have absolutely horrible singers.It really is hard to scream and make it sound good.

[steve.h]

Originally Posted by acidrock

I definitely not death metal fan and it's probably because I've heard so many bands who have absolutely horrible singers.It really is hard to scream and make it sound good.

Word. I do have to say, in the OP's defense, that I didn't listen to the sample before posting as I didn't have any speakers where I was. After listening, the other posters are right: the mix is way too dense for any vocals to come through.

[rayden]

alright, thanks for the postings so far!
I don't know whether you read over, the music is an alone standing mp3-file from ht*p://myspace.com/thepartisanturbine
(The song there is upped with the old singer -> Vaginal Secretion), so I wondered, how they made it sound so powerful~

@steve.h
do you think Im a bad singer

and so there seems not to be any "secrete of death metal vocal-mastering"?

@TerraMortim
thanks for the tips, but I can't do anything with it, because all those words sound strange to me
as i mentioned... I'm a beginner in mixing/ recording

[Massive Master]

Originally Posted by rayden

and so there seems not to be any "secrete of death metal vocal-mastering"?

MIXING - Not mastering. MIXING.

Two completely different things.

[Carny1122]

Hey man, that is a DAMN brutal song!

As for tips on making the vocals stronger (I think that the volume is fine...the overall song mix needs a bit more guitars I think, and try low-cutting the bass guitar at like 50-ish maybe), look into styles like Johnny from Job For a Cowboy (kinda the cliche death metal band, but an awesome vocalist nonetheless). You deepness is there, that isn't a problem. Try tightening up your voice a bit more so that your lows have the same scream-type-feel as when you scream higher, you get what I mean? You can hit the low growls, so just try to get them more growly and more pissed off (key example: at 1:08, when you do that deep growl into the first breakdown, try to get a low growl that kind of feels like "I'm gonna kill someone"....might help! haha). I dig the song, and I think that the vocal tone and level and everything is fine, but (no hard feelings, just constructive criticism) try to scream with more emotion.

And if you haven't listened to Job For A Cowboy, check them out. I think that you could totally take a lot away from how Johnny screams.

But good job man, I really do like the song. Very, very brutal.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by Carny1122

I think that you could totally take a lot away from how Johnny screams.

I'm sorry; I have absolutely nothing worthwhile to add to this converation. I just wanted to quote that sentence all by itself out of context just to see it like that.

For some reason I can't put my finger on, that sentence is one of the most interesting pieces of prose I have read in a long, long time. It's gotta be right up there somewhere between "Four score and seven years ago" and "Dude, Where's My Car?"

G.

[TerraMortim]

Originally Posted by acidrock

I definitely not death metal fan and it's probably because I've heard so many bands who have absolutely horrible singers.It really is hard to scream and make it sound good.

A lot of people don't realize that. It's taken me a long time to get my technique up to where it is...still some improvement needs to be made.. but I'm getting there.

[TerraMortim]

Originally Posted by rayden

alright, thanks for the postings so far!
I don't know whether you read over, the music is an alone standing mp3-file from ht*p://myspace.com/thepartisanturbine
(The song there is upped with the old singer -> Vaginal Secretion), so I wondered, how they made it sound so powerful~

@steve.h
do you think Im a bad singer

and so there seems not to be any "secrete of death metal vocal-mastering"?

@TerraMortim
thanks for the tips, but I can't do anything with it, because all those words sound strange to me
as i mentioned... I'm a beginner in mixing/ recording

not a problem. What I mean is, the guitar is one track, correct? If it's one track, try recording the same part on another track and then putting one a bit left and one a bit right...it'll open up things in the middle for the vocals some more.

[TerraMortim]

Originally Posted by SouthSIDE Glen

I'm sorry; I have absolutely nothing worthwhile to add to this converation. I just wanted to quote that sentence all by itself out of context just to see it like that.

For some reason I can't put my finger on, that sentence is one of the most interesting pieces of prose I have read in a long, long time. It's gotta be right up there somewhere between "Four score and seven years ago" and "Dude, Where's My Car?"

G.

I don't get it . . . . . . . .

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by TerraMortim

I don't get it . . . . . . . .

Never mind, Terra. It's like one of those 3D computer images, the harder you try to see it, the less success you'll have. It either pops out from the background at you or it doesn't.

You're not alone. I got a positive rep message last night for that post from someone who totally misundersood where I was coming from with it.

[rayden]

Originally Posted by Carny1122

Hey man, that is a DAMN brutal song!

As for tips on making the vocals stronger (I think that the volume is fine...the overall song mix needs a bit more guitars I think, and try low-cutting the bass guitar at like 50-ish maybe), look into styles like Johnny from Job For a Cowboy (kinda the cliche death metal band, but an awesome vocalist nonetheless). You deepness is there, that isn't a problem. Try tightening up your voice a bit more so that your lows have the same scream-type-feel as when you scream higher, you get what I mean? You can hit the low growls, so just try to get them more growly and more pissed off (key example: at 1:08, when you do that deep growl into the first breakdown, try to get a low growl that kind of feels like "I'm gonna kill someone"....might help! haha). I dig the song, and I think that the vocal tone and level and everything is fine, but (no hard feelings, just constructive criticism) try to scream with more emotion.

And if you haven't listened to Job For A Cowboy, check them out. I think that you could totally take a lot away from how Johnny screams.

But good job man, I really do like the song. Very, very brutal.

Yer, I know Jhonny Davy~
I've been really impressed by his growling/ screaming, too (espacially on the doom EP)... but when I saw JFAC live... he sucked.
Thats another example for the theorie that he is "pushed" by mixing/ mastering.

And thanks for the compliments
I've listened to that song 2 times, then I did the "soundtest" by growling/ screaming over... It isn't my best, especally the scream is not that good...
normally thats one of my strenghts... and there aren't any explicit lyrics either, lol.

I'll see that I record some vocals again... could sound different to the first one but whatever... I'm looking for good sound
I'm trying to integrate your advises in that

till then~

[drossfile]

Originally Posted by SouthSIDE Glen

You're not alone. I got a positive rep message last night for that post from someone who totally misundersood where I was coming from with it.

i'm not asserting that i didn't misunderstand you (although i don't think i did), but i don't even remember what i said in the message. what did i say to make you assume this? and does this mean you're irritated about getting pos rep? if so, then...i'm sorry???