Advice

balky

Member
Hello people :)

Listen, I have a question:

Let's say the music during its course changes volume and intensity, but the volume of a singer stays the same, and in the quieter parts it kind of rolls out... What is the best way to deal with it in such cases? I am attaching a file. If you would be kind enough to tell me what you think :) how terrible my work on this song is ������������ I would be very much grateful.
 

Attachments

  • NINA-All the things you are.mp3
    6.1 MB · Views: 56
I wish some of my track were that terrible!! :)

A couple of comments on what I hear:

I think the singer is a too "up front", a little too loud for the mix. On the places where she gets strong, you could back off a bit extra, try using some automation to lower the vocal a couple of dB to even it out, Many singers will back off the mic when they really belt it out. This does the same thing.

She's also got a fair amount of sibilance in her voice in spots. A bit of EQ is needed to tame that. That will also move it back in the mix.

The stereo spread on the horns is a bit wide to me. I think I would try moving the pan a bit more towards the center.

I don't think you're far off. You just need to polish it a bit more.
 
That is beautiful man, nice 40's vibe. Female has strong clear vocal.

How are the horns done? is that played sample from a VST? Or live horns.
 
I wish some of my track were that terrible!! :) :rolleyes: THANKS :) I fee happy you think this way... I use ozone 8 for mastering. It has lots of presets for every module, so I can't take all the credit... though I still tweak it some to see how it affects the overall sound better/worse...


A couple of comments on what I hear:

I think the singer is a too "up front", a little too loud for the mix. On the places where she gets strong, you could back off a bit extra, try using some automation to lower the vocal a couple of dB to even it out, Many singers will back off the mic when they really belt it out. This does the same thing.

Well, that's what I meant (the beginning is soft and her voice is all up there. I think it is the upward compressor - it it brings up quiet parts up and the downward compressor evens the louder parts... Need to play with it. Perhaps if I set her channel volume automation, it will also do the trick? What do you think?

She's also got a fair amount of sibilance in her voice in spots. A bit of EQ is needed to tame that. That will also move it back in the mix.
When you say "sibilance" do you mean Ss or just mid HIs? Her voice at the beginning of climax starts to sound a bit shrilling, you probably meant that especially... What is the best tool for that? Dynamic EQ/compressor?

The stereo spread on the horns is a bit wide to me. I think I would try moving the pan a bit more towards the center.
Unfortunately, it is just an instrumental mix... Perhaps if I use some stereo tools I can try, but it will narrow everything :(

I don't think you're far off. You just need to polish it a bit more.


Thanks :)
 
That is beautiful man, nice 40's vibe. Female has strong clear vocal.

How are the horns done? is that played sample from a VST? Or live horns.

Oh, thanks :) Wow, thanks! As I've said before, all the instruments are already in the mix. I have not changed a thing... She sang, and then Ive put it all together... :)
 
The instrumental mix is super. When I play sax, I get these room noise, wall reverberations. It is bad. So I try the midi samples from a controller and that is not real enough. Those horns were very nice.

I was thinking about building a fort in the room out of bed mattresses, and playing inside of them. Kind of like a temporary booth.
 
With regards to the sibilance, its the S sounds that jump out. There are de-essing plugins that may help. Also, taking a some of the high frequencies down a bit will also help.

The automation I mentioned is how things are done if someone wants to ride the volume control during rendering. In the old days, people would move faders up and down while the track was mixed down. This is done now by setting up adjustments in the volume. That way, you can turn things down a bit when needed, and raise them back. How that is accomplished depends on your DAW.

As for the instrumental mix, you could easily leave it as is. The stereo spread is just a personal preference. It just seemed a bit wide, especially with headphones.
 

Booth is very important! I have one and i love it. I got WhisperRoom 4 by 6. It is costly though. But if your concern is just reflections, here is how i managed this before booth era.

I bought 4 Flush Hardwood Unfinished Hollow Core Interior Door Slabs Each pair was connected by hinges. Then, I bought 3 screw eyes and one eye bolt. On the inside i glued acoustic foam to the entire inner surface.

Every time i needed it, i would Assemble it and close myself inside :). It took care of reflections only though. Eventually, I had to invest into the booth as my area is very noisy of fire trucks and ambulances and JFK airport... yeah, say nothing - i was lucky this way :)

:)
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The instrumental mix is super. When I play sax, I get these room noise, wall reverberations. It is bad. So I try the midi samples from a controller and that is not real enough. Those horns were very nice.

I was thinking about building a fort in the room out of bed mattresses, and playing inside of them. Kind of like a temporary booth.

Oh, thanks for the clarification. I do have R-Deesser on her voice, evidently, it is not enough... I will try to pgive it a punch some more.
And as far as automation, I usually use it for SENDS... the principal is clear, never used it on voice though :)
 
Listening on both headphones and monitors, I think the balance is better on the second sample. It doesn't jump out at you, its blends with the music better. When I first listened, there were some unusual timbres which threw me a bit. I couldn't tell if it was some phasing or other artifacts from the processing, but after listening to both, I think its just her voice and how her accent affects her phrasing.

I think V2 is clearly the better choice here.
 
Listening on both headphones and monitors, I think the balance is better on the second sample. It doesn't jump out at you, its blends with the music better. When I first listened, there were some unusual timbres which threw me a bit. I couldn't tell if it was some phasing or other artifacts from the processing, but after listening to both, I think its just her voice and how her accent affects her phrasing.

I think V2 is clearly the better choice here.

Thank you, TalismanRich! I am glad I was able to address your initial remarks :)
I tried to smooth out her super low notes and high's that fell out in the first version with multiband dynamic EQ - it helped a lot.
Perhaps you are right, she does have an accent - she is a Russian speaking person :) But she still did great job, I think :)

Cheers :)
 
Hey, guys~
Since I started it here, I will continue... I would like you to hear another song that my friend recorded at my place. Again, it is an instrumental + voice.
What do you you think? Music vs voice balance, FX whatever it may be, I would like to hear it so I can better at it :)

Thanks.

Pavel
 

Attachments

  • Elina - Lush life 2021E.mp3
    4 MB
I quite like the tr4ack. Don't know much about this genre to offer any advice. You've go quite a lush and prominent reverb on the vocal, I guess it suits the style. Nice job
 
I quite like the tr4ack. Don't know much about this genre to offer any advice. You've go quite a lush and prominent reverb on the vocal, I guess it suits the style. Nice job
Thanks, very much :). That is why I am asking ... I am experimenting :) with this h-Reverb by waves.
Say if you look at this performance she has reverb that is a bit different texture wise, but it is pretty lush too :) I will play more with it.
 
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