Hello everyone, I´m making a home made recording of a power metal-ish song, and it´s my first time mixing vocals. I´m having a lot of trouble making the vocals to sit nicely. I´ve already watched a ton of videos and tried all the normal techniques such as reverb, parallel comp, but I feel that it´s still too separated from the instrumental part. I´ll leave here a small bit of the song for you to hear, feedback will be very much appreciated!
Can´t get the vocals to fit in the mix...(power/epic metal)
- Thread starter Mr. Cachi
- Start date
Retrohazard
New member
I think they sound pretty close. Not sure what you are looking for. They could "sit down" in the mix a little more I guess. For me that would be volume down to start. Then if I can't hear the vocal well enough in places ride the fader with automation and compress maybe more than you think you should.
This vocal sounds fairly compressed to me but might do well with a touch more?
Once you feel the vocal volume is pretty close to where you want it I've found that eq will usually get you the rest of the way. A drop in the mid freq will bring the apparent vocal volume down and a boost in the highs will bring the apparent volume up. Just have to play around with it until you find the sweet spot.
Honestly I wouldn't fret over it too much though. What you have is sounding good already to my ears.
This vocal sounds fairly compressed to me but might do well with a touch more?
Once you feel the vocal volume is pretty close to where you want it I've found that eq will usually get you the rest of the way. A drop in the mid freq will bring the apparent vocal volume down and a boost in the highs will bring the apparent volume up. Just have to play around with it until you find the sweet spot.
Honestly I wouldn't fret over it too much though. What you have is sounding good already to my ears.
jimmys69
MOODerator
The tune is sounding cool man! I do hear what you are talking about with the placement of vocals in the mix. They seem not 'in it'. Good to hear you are not washing it in verb to make it fit. That rarely works...
My comments to come are just suggestions.
If it were me, I would first approach the vocal first with two compressors. One with a fast attack and 10:1 ratio. Then a second with a slow attack and less compression to smooth it a bit. Both only reducing gain like 3db at most.
Then for that particular voice I would suggest sending a bit of short slapback delay as well as a longer one. I also like to make the delay a bit 'low fi'. Pull the lows and highs out a but so it doesn't sound like it just a copy of the original track. Sometimes saturation/distortion can work really cool there as well to mask the delay so you more feel it than hear it. Plate reverb in there as a send as well. Maybe even a bit of a doubler would be cool in the background. All of these FX used lightly. It can get mushy really quick. I really just go for a layer of stuff behind the main vocal to 'thicken' it. That way it sits in the mix without having to be loud in the mix. It is a fine line to get that right. Sometimes, no effects are better. Just depends on the song and singer.
What DAW are you using?
If you have a few bucks, I would highly recommend Howard Benson Vocals Bundle. It $69 and well worth the money to have a bunch of easily placed tools in one plugin. I also use CLA Vocals which is only $29 now, but I find the HBV plugin much better and diverse for easy and broad ability to experiment.
I typically use other plugs for nailing down the vocals, but lately the HBV has been my go-to for quick satisfying vocal. Just finished a record with only two separate Waves API compressors and the HBV plugin. Turned out very nice.
My comments to come are just suggestions.
If it were me, I would first approach the vocal first with two compressors. One with a fast attack and 10:1 ratio. Then a second with a slow attack and less compression to smooth it a bit. Both only reducing gain like 3db at most.
Then for that particular voice I would suggest sending a bit of short slapback delay as well as a longer one. I also like to make the delay a bit 'low fi'. Pull the lows and highs out a but so it doesn't sound like it just a copy of the original track. Sometimes saturation/distortion can work really cool there as well to mask the delay so you more feel it than hear it. Plate reverb in there as a send as well. Maybe even a bit of a doubler would be cool in the background. All of these FX used lightly. It can get mushy really quick. I really just go for a layer of stuff behind the main vocal to 'thicken' it. That way it sits in the mix without having to be loud in the mix. It is a fine line to get that right. Sometimes, no effects are better. Just depends on the song and singer.
What DAW are you using?
If you have a few bucks, I would highly recommend Howard Benson Vocals Bundle. It $69 and well worth the money to have a bunch of easily placed tools in one plugin. I also use CLA Vocals which is only $29 now, but I find the HBV plugin much better and diverse for easy and broad ability to experiment.
I typically use other plugs for nailing down the vocals, but lately the HBV has been my go-to for quick satisfying vocal. Just finished a record with only two separate Waves API compressors and the HBV plugin. Turned out very nice.
Hey jimmys69, thanks for the reply, great tips! I´ll try the slapback delay to see if it helps. I´ll also check out that Howard Benson Vocals Bundle, I haven´t heard of it before
jimmys69
MOODerator
Just FYI, The Howard Benson Vocal is not really a bundle. Not sure why they call it that. It is one plugin.
Howard Benson Vocals Bundle
– Joey Sturgis Tones