Cant get vocals to sound right

  • Thread starter Thread starter youngchrismusic
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youngchrismusic

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Im a rap artist and alot of the time when I record, the beat seems to be way "stronger" than the vocals. Like the vocals almost blend with the beat. Its hard to explain. Anyone know how I can tweak the vocals to where they aren't too loud and overpowering but sound nice and clear when mixed with a louder 'stronger' beat? Im using an akg perception 220 a cheap ass behringer mini-mic preamp and acoustica mixcraft 4
 
Rap louder! ;)


Seriously though...how are you mixing the beats and the vocals?
Maybe the problem is panning? Do you have everything mixed in the same L-R position?

What is the overall tone of the vocal...is it very bassy/thick and similar to the beat tones? They may be masking each other if their tone/EQ is similar.

It's hard to give you clearer instructions without hearing what you have....
 
Yeah it's hard to say without more info. I assume your recording into the computer. Are you programming your beats there too or are you using a drum machine and recording that into the computer? You may try recording your beats a bit softer to give you some extra room. I hope that helps.
 
Thinking out loud:

try singing at a different distance from the mic - closer adds bass, farther away makes it thinner

try using a different backbeat sound that doesn't mask the vocals

Put the backbeat (snare) slightly to the left, and kick slightly to the right, and vox straight up the middle

make a eq notch in the music track so there's a place for the vox

pan stuff around so there a hole in the middle for the vocals to sit

make your beats less busy so there's less competition

don't run your overall mix right up to the max - leave some headroom

try a different mic, a mic is like a pair of shoes, they have to fit you
 
i dont make my own beats...just load them into mixcraft, record and play with the vocals, and mix it all down to an mp3
 
youngchrismusic said:
Im a rap artist and alot of the time when I record, the beat seems to be way "stronger" than the vocals. Like the vocals almost blend with the beat. Its hard to explain. Anyone know how I can tweak the vocals to where they aren't too loud and overpowering but sound nice and clear when mixed with a louder 'stronger' beat? Im using an akg perception 220 a cheap ass behringer mini-mic preamp and acoustica mixcraft 4
Click to expand...

You might need to compress the vocal more aggressively. One of timbalands engineers actually had this same problem mixing "The Way I are".

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb08/articles/insidetrack_0208.htm

read that and pay close attention to her story on the vocal parts.
 
lets ask the important questions yall

how do you process your vocals first of all
 
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