Help mixing rap vocals cubase 6 elements!

  • Thread starter Thread starter MasterRS
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MasterRS

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Okay so I've had cubase 6 elements around 8 months and been experimenting with the software.
Currently am recording on a SE X1 Mic and focus sapphire 6 AI.
Currently i'm recordin my vocals at the halfway point volume of 6 and then applying the current effects:
Izotope Nectar
Izotope Alloy
Compression

and then i'm creating a group stereo channel and adding 'light wide' from stereo to mono in spatial effects
then a compression light master.

I'm not getting that mixed in sound and pro effect am hoping for..and was wondering after reading and purchasing many videos, dvds and google searches if anyone could help me with perhaps a suggestion to what i'm doing wrong.
I know theres no exact technique or method, but perhaps how you deal with rap vocals on a instrumental would help.thanks
 
Don't know if this applies, but it sounds as if you're recording over 2-track instrumentals...this is always going to be a challenge. I would look into either creating your own or purchasing a tracked out instrumental; this way, the effects (especially verb / ambience) are universal across the mix. It's also easier to find the instruments that "clash" with your vocals and fix them individually. You are using a LOT of plugins...I'd focus more on A/B'ing your mixes versus commercial mixes to find the correct vocal levels/eq's. Good luck!
 
normally just a mp3 instrumental i work with. What do u mean by a/bing my mixes??
 
It means comparing your mix (A), to a similar commercial mix (B).



Working with a pre-made backing track can be very easy, or very difficult.

Often they are made with a certain vocal type/range in mind, especially in the case of karaoke backing tracks.

If the person mixing it didn't make room for your voice, then it becomes very hard work.

You can attempt to carve a hole for your vocals with an eq, but the level of success depends on a lot of factors.


The recording is so much more important than the post-effects with this kind of thing.
IMO the vocal should sound great from the get-go, otherwise it'll never fit naturally with a commercial sounding backing.
 
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Other than to say I'd cut the area that clashes with the vox, if there is one, I can't answer that.
 
Just select a notch on your eq and use it to cut the frequencies that you hear clashing with the vocals.

This is speculation Master. You might not need to do this.
 
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a notch on my eq wheres that in cubase..i know how to get into cubase's eq but how do i do it??
 
Can you post a sample say in the mp3 mixing clinic so we can hear for ourselves.
It's very difficult to judge without hearing.
 
You see thats the thing on cubase 6 elements i cant see digirack or the thing for that anywhere? Is it perhaps because i have cubase? and yes ill post a upload in a sec..
 
Ok, fair enough, the plugin i showed was a digidesign plugin, but they're all the same within reason.

Open any standard eq plugin and just look at it. Not to sound nasty, but eq is probably the simplest plug you can work with.


How to Use a Parametric Equalizer
read this.

Q, frequency, gain, high pass, low pass, shelf, notch;
They all generic terminology.
 
The thing I struggle with is..i've paid for dvds..tutorials..read this stuff but i think when i hear a vocal how do i apply it??
 
No problem; Hope you find it useful.

Other's may disagree, but i think that's the only bit that can't be taught.

If you listen and you know something isn't right but you don't know how to fix it, the only thing to do is play around with things.
Experiment. It is trial and error, but as long as you learn when you get something right, then you're doing ok. :)

The best advice I can give is to keep it simple. Avoid having reems of plugs.
Maybe set up one eq, comp and verb at most. Play with the eq first (on the vocal and perhaps on the backing track).

Create notches and use them to 'scan'. IE. adjust the frequency while you're boosting or cutting and observe the difference.

If you do this to the extreme (6-10db boost or cut), you'll really hear what's happening, then when you find something you like, you can reduce the cut/boost amount to make it more natural.

Hope that's helpful RS.
 
Steenamaroo said:
The best advice I can give is to keep it simple. Avoid having reems of plugs.
Maybe set up one eq, comp and verb at most. Play with the eq first (on the vocal and perhaps on the backing track).
Click to expand...

+10 000
KIS
Keep it simple
over proccessed vocals sound like it
essentially nectar and alloy contain maybe 6 or more effects within each and if just one of them is set wrong it can mess up the whole vocal.
I normally just add EQ where needed as per steen said
Light compression if needs be (i prefer to manually set the levels in a volume automation)
reverb again light
thats it
every song is differant try comparing your track to a commercial track and see if you can tell what the vocal sounds like compared to yours. Ie is there a lot of highs, verb in the commercial track? is the vocal track at the front or back of the stereo image etc


KIS
 
can you post a link to the file you uploaded?
i cant seem to find it thanks
 
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