Getting Vocals to sit back

[John!]

I've been working on a mix for a while now and can't get the vocals to "sit back" in the mix. Everything I've tried has always resulted in the vocals sounding like they're just sitting on top of the music instead of just part of the song. What are some common methods (if any) to fix this?

 

[studiomaster]

First normalize the audio so the audio peaks to 0dB.
Then add some slight compression...compression really helps...especially for hard rock and rap. but works well on all styles.

 

[Dogbreath]

Try some reverb maybe...?

Or post a clip so the knowledgeable ones here can totally rip-n-tear and disect it...

 

[John!]

ask and you shall receive

Here is a clip of the chorus from the song. Some of you may recognize it from my thread about the DC offset problem I was having.clip

 

[TheDewd]

Eq, compression and reverb..

Dude, besides the fact that the singer is awful, you have lots of EQ problems going on. Your vocals are the only intrument that "eats" up high-mids. Normally, your guitars should eat a lot of this midrange and make the vocals seem in the back. Since you don't have anything to eat the vocals up, try lowering the offending frequency with an EQ, compress the shit out of the vocal track and add some nice lush reverb to taste.

 

[Robert D]

Ok, what I'm hearing is a music bed that has no dynamics, and a vocal that does. I didn't think the singer was awful, just sticking out like a sore thumb as you said. Part of it is EQ, but most of it to my ear is that the music is squashed to death, and the vocal isn't. You can either squash the vocal to death to fit, or better yet, get some dynamics in the music and some compression on the vocal so they meet halfway.

 

[John!]

I'll try those suggestions out. As for the singer himself, I think that he's just trying to sing out of his range. I'll probably have him do a lower harmony over this to make it a little thicker and make it less noticeable when he's reaching for the notes.

 

[NL5]

Well, you have quite a few problems going on. First, the music sounds pretty bad (no offense) - it is very over compressed and dull. I would re-do the mix. The vocal is very dry, and bright (compared to the music), so no matter what you do, it's gonna stick out. How did you set up your reverb sends? I'm guessing you didn't - that would be the next place to go. Get your reverb straight, and maybe add a second reverb, and a slight delay on the vox as well.

Good luck.