How do I go about carving a spot for the vocal? Do I examine where in the frequency spectrum the vocal has the most character and then just go and cut that frequency gently from all the other instruments?
Pretty much. Do it slowly with care, to your ear's liking.
Melodic string instruments (guitar, violin, cello, etc) usually "speak" in the same range as the human voice. So your guitar track is going to compete for space with the vocals. After you've tried to set a good balance with volume and panning, the next step is to try to make these tracks get out of each other's way by accentuating with dynamics processing: EQ and compression.
A lot of people EQ the guitar by putting a gentle bell notch on it (say 3 DB) around the 250hz-500hz range, and this lets the voice sound more clear without affecting the overall tone of the guitar. I would recommend that you do what you suggested, sweep the vocal to find a frequency that makes it sound particularly clear and present, and make a note of it. I personally find that around the 1k range.
You can return the favor to the guitar by doing the same to the vocals. You sweep the guitar and look for a frequency that makes the guitar sound present and attractive, and see if you can bell notch the vocals in that range without hurting the vocal sound. I find that could be in the 2.5k range for the guitar. But trust your ears and hear it in context (one on top of the other) until both sound good and they both sound more present. The trick is not to hurt one in favor of the other but to make both stand out more in a harmonious way.
Also, are you recording with dynamic mics? I feel like your voice could use a bit of shimmer. I bring it up because I would usually complete the treatment by giving the vocal track a shelf boost around 5k. So my eq recipe might be something like:
- Wide notch on the guitar at around 800hz (or where the vocals sound good)
- Narrower notch on the vocals at around 2.5k (or where the guitar sounds good)
- Shelf boost on the vocals at around 5k (particularly if you are recording with a dynamic mic like and SM58/57)
And both guitar and vocal get a high pass filter at around 50hz (neither should be "speaking" that low, so any content in that range is just mud hurting the bass and kick)
BTW, same concept for the bass and kick. You have to give them room in the frequency field so they both can shine without getting in each other's path. You can usually do that with pass filtering, so the kick gets the lowest range (40hz and under), but in return the bass enjoys priority in the mid and highs.
And you mean about the guitar...the licks? They need to stand out more? Again, how would I go about helping them to stand out more? I was conscious of this when I was mixing...but I could never get them to really stand out.
The guitar track is both supporting or leading at times. When behind the vocals it is mostly supporting, so it has to let the vocals be heard right. When the vocals are not on, the guitar becomes the lead of the song. Then it needs hero treatment.
1. Automation. You can automate some of the processing so you can bring it up during the guitar licks. This may be riding the gain, or the dynamics processing.
2. Move the guitar leads to another track. This is easier. Just cut the guitar parts that are meant as leads (the licks), and move them to their own track so you can give them their own processing. These leads don't need vocal carving ('cause no vocals). They also can be given a treatment to stand out more. You might EQ up some of their nicer frequencies. You can also shape the way it sounds with transient modeling (add compression + gain to make it stand out more). I would also consider adding presence with a mid-range reverb (shallow reverb with pass filtering so it only plays in the mid range), and a touch of saturation.
