Logic Pro 9 mixing vocals against a mp3 instrumental..help

  • Thread starter Thread starter MasterRS
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It's getting better, but not quite there yet. It's hard to compare mix 4 and mix 5 because the volume of your vocals in mix 5 is so much lower than in mix 4. I think this is because of the extra compression you added. When you compress you often lose some volume of the track you're compressing, so it's important to compensate for that volume loss via the gain slider in your compressor plugin.

As far as the EQ: it's still sounding a bit dark and muffled. Mess around with your high-pass band (the one furthest to the left in your EQ plugin, try cutting some more lows) and your highest notch band. Try to get the vocals to be a bit more clear and present :)
 
Yeah definetely agree guitar so which two do i mess with then on my eq to do that far left yeah? ill give it a shot and come back to the thread..ive noticed that on the pro ones they sound so loud..even against instrumental mp3s..and audio wise theyre so crystal clear.. i mean ideally i want my songs to song like any 'k koke' or 'bashy' (youtube them) rap kind of sound..am i dreaming that ill get audio quality like theres..or is it possible..because it looks like it's my eq am guessing thats causing my problems and why am not getting the sound i want?
 
think i go the eq to a level where im happy..now struggling with compression..got any hints for if u know ur compressing right or too much?
 
MasterRS said:
Yeah definetely agree guitar so which two do i mess with then on my eq to do that far left yeah? ill give it a shot and come back to the thread..ive noticed that on the pro ones they sound so loud..even against instrumental mp3s..and audio wise theyre so crystal clear.. i mean ideally i want my songs to song like any 'k koke' or 'bashy' (youtube them) rap kind of sound..am i dreaming that ill get audio quality like theres..or is it possible..because it looks like it's my eq am guessing thats causing my problems and why am not getting the sound i want?
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I think it's possible to get your audio quality very close to the artists you listed with the equipment you have. It's going to take you a lot of time and skill building, however, to get to a point where you can make your tracks sound like theirs'. Your EQ plugin is fine - the plugin itself is not your problem, but rather how you are using it is.

The reason why pro tracks sound loud is because they've been through mastering and have been maximized for their volume. Don't worry about that end of the production right now, though. For now let's just focus on getting the mix clearer.
 
MasterRS said:
think i go the eq to a level where im happy..now struggling with compression..got any hints for if u know ur compressing right or too much?
Click to expand...

Well, if it sounds like it's "pumping" then you know it's too much compression. To know if you're using compression correctly, you first have to know what you want to achieve with compression for that specific track. Don't just throw a compressor on a track because you think you should. You have to know if you want to use the compressor to make the level more consistent, to get a smoother/harsher attack, etc. Once you know how you want the compression to sound, it'll be easy to know if you're compressing correctly :)

Also, one thing to note, the default for the Logic compressor is RMS mode. This might not be what you want (you should read up on RMS vs. peak to find out the use for each). To switch it to peak mode, you just have to hit the "Peak" button under the threshold slider.
 
where does it say rms..so do you always have to use a compressor? or is not neccessary? just ill upload what the mix sounds like now..im happy with the eq but ive noticed theres a few 'plosive words' that kinda mess my nice eq sound out..so not sure what to do..so you can give me your opinion in a min ill pos tht esong..
 
what the hell..i tried clicking peak from rms it doesn't let me? what am i doing wrong?
 
aah hold on fixed it..it's because of the compressor circuit type..hmm question: i read in my mixing book am reading..that FET in compressor is for vocals..but i can only change to peak on circuit type platinum in compressor..does that matter?
 
MasterRS said:
do you always have to use a compressor?
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That's sortof like asking a mechanic if he always has to use a spanner. It really comes down to the job in hand.

If your levels are consistent, you like the tone of your recording, and nothing needs to be tamed, then you may not need a compressor at all.

Do you understand what they do, Master?
 
I listened to mix 6. You've completely eliminated all the bass in your voice now.


This is a big bottom line here for me Master, and you may not like it, but if you can't hear that adjusting the eq thinned out your vocals to that extent, then maybe this isn't the hobby for you.
Maybe you could focus on recording technique, then get someone to do the mixing for you?
Straight vocal onto a backing track wouldn't even be all that expensive to have mixed professionally.



See, to me, rather than manipulating settings for a while to get what you want, you're letting us hear every little adjustment to see if we like it.
That's not really a healthy method man, because every recording scenario is different and you're not really going to learn anything that's usable in the long term.

No one would expect you to get it perfect straight off, but an eq is one of the more straight forward things to work with.
You should be able to just grab things and move them and ascertain whether or not the result is good, to you.
 
hmm yeah i know what you mean..and dont compressing just compress it? lol well is it bad to have killed the bass? i just tried to make it sound more like songs i want it too..and if eq isnt hard what am i doign wrong
 
i geet what your saying steen but am trying to get my eq so it sounds pro like the songs ive posted i want it too..but then im trying to learn..by asking you guys...so that i know..and yeah im adjusting and playing..so i learn..otherwise if i send it off to someone ill never learn..
 
yeah and i used that eq default..but then got told to play with it?? so ive done that and i done what guitar posted..but my eq doesn't sound anywhere near to the pro recordings iv eposted so im trying to tweak it to that level..so it sounds similiar to that
 
im just using my laptop..although sometimes connect to my hdmi..i do have some small speakers though that are usb ? could this be the problem
 
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