cubase- not sitting in the mix

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solit

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I am currently recording vocals over completely mixed and mastered instrumentals. Basically I have the instrumental playing on 1 track, and I am recording vocals on top of it.

After recording the vocals- that is exactly how it sounds- it sounds like the vocals are ON TOP of the instrumental.

I am using a
SHure KSM 27 Mic
Audiophile 2496 Soundcard
M-Audio DMP3 Preamp

Any advice on what I can do during both recording AND mixing in order to make the vocals "sit in the track",(begin to sound like they are actually part of the overall song????

thanks in advance for your wisdom!
 
Make sure you have a reasonable scratch vocal track to work with right from the beginnning, and make sure it's being used during overdubs so that everything you build around it "fits!"
 
vocals in the mix

for starters, bring down the already mastered track about 3 or 4 db. this will help you get the vocals in there without causing distortion or clipping.

you say you don't have an outboard compressor, but if you can compress the vocals a bit while recording that would help too.

when you mix, compress the hell out of the vocal. use a high ratio (8:1 or maybe even higher) and use fast attack and slow release times (not faster that 15ms, listen to make sure it still sounds alright). set the threshold so that in the loudest parts, you're getting about 10dB of gain reduction, and use a bit of makeup gain...

tweak the level of the vocal until it's loud enough to be heard, but not so loud that it sounds like it's out in front of everything else. the compression should help the vocals stay really even and you should be able to find the right place for them.

after you've got the vocal sitting right and you bounce the track down, run that bounced down track through a limiter (waves L-1 or simmilar thing) and bump the volume back up the 3 or 4 dB you took out at the beginning, and you're good to go.
 
You say you have the backing instrumental music on one track. Are you implying, then, that you are trying to overdub vocals on a single mono track? If so, that could be your problem. The vocals are competing for the same "physical space" in the mix, so will sit on top. Make sure you are using a stereo track with right and left panned appropriately, and run your vocal down the center.

Chris
 
stereo tracks

cubase, and most other modern music sequencing/recording software, can have a stereo audio file on one track.

to me at least, "one track" doesn't imply mono unless you're working on a tape machine...
 
Okay, then.... perhaps it's a debate about semantics. In Cubase, in order to have a stereo track, it is I guess *technically* one track. In order to do this, though, you must have it on TWO CHANNELS, which in Cubase, the first must be odd-numbered. (ex. 5+6)

Chris
 
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