rough mix...give some life to vox

[terrible_buddhi]

I have done a rough mix of a couple songs...looking for advice on 'livening' up the vox...especially in sorry kelly...better than you just needs new vox before I worry about the mix, but advice on either or both is welcomed....take a listen...you help is always appreciated. BTW I am using CE 2 pro.

- Keith

 

[Scott Tansley]

Maybe should post this in the mp3 forum too.
Anyway had a listen and you definately need to compress the vocals. The vocal volume fluctuates quite a bit. Your mic technique is the first problem. Sometimes you sound far from the mic. And for the louder phrasing your a bit too close. Compression will go a long way to evening out this. Sounds like you've not got any compression on anything in the mix. Plus where's the kick drum? Also the whole mix sounds a bit mono. Maybe thats what you intended. There's not much depth either. Could use some reverb on snare and vocals. Some stereo delay on the acoustic could help spread the image a bit too. There's potential for a good mix there. Good luck.

 

[Kramer]

Scott pretty much nailed the problems down....The overall level of the music tracks are very low.They need to be boosted to at least 0db.

The vocals are eradic as scott mentioned and peak out over 0db on certain words.You definetly need to compress the vocals and bring the whole music track up.....everything sounds really thin right now.....none of the instruments have any definition.You need to add some body and depth to things.

 

[muzeman]

Nice singing and writing!
Guitars sound good.

If you follow the above suggestions,should be great!

Best to you,
Pete

 

[Scott Tansley]

Kramer, I'm not sure what you mean by boosting some tracks to at least 0db. Anything boosted above 0db will cause clipping problems.
And Keith, can you tell us your mic setup and recording setup. We might be able to help more with this information.
BTW Keith, welcome to homerecording, there's a lot of very usefull information for you in the mixing and mastering section of this site. And you've chosen the "musicians" recording software - CooleditPro. Good one. You'll definatelly learn a lot from the home recordists and pro engineers on this site. Have fun. You've got the writing, playing and singing down pretty good. Things can only get better.



Scott Tansley

 

[Scott Tansley]

"Maybe should post this in the mp3 forum too. "
Ah shit, mate, sorry, I thought I was in the cooledit forum when I said that. Silly me. Oops.

 

[Kramer]

Kramer, I'm not sure what you mean by boosting some tracks to at least 0db. Anything boosted above 0db will cause clipping problems.
Scott Tansley

I should have worded it a little better.What I meant that he needs to boost the levels up some and let them "at least" peak at 0db.Right now the music tracks are barely registering on the VU meters,No where near 0db.I had to turn my speakers almost wide open to get them at a listenable level.(0db)

I use a compressor/limiter to cut the whole mix off at 0db.

You dont wanna go above 0db but you want to peak at it.At least thats ben my understnading forever and all the CD's I ever bought peg out on 0Db.

[edit to add]I just now listened to the second tune and it has pretty much the same problems at the first one.The levels are wy down except for the high-hight and cymbals.They are hot!Peaking way into the red.

 

[terrible_buddhi]

wow...lots of info!

I wasn't expecting that much help, or that quick...thanks guys! Unfortunately the computer I did all of this on has died, a brand new dell, and I am hoping it is all still there when it is fixed.

Would you recomend doing a group normalization? Or compressor for each track individually...also, where should I start for settings? Other than double tracking the acoustic guitar on Sorry Kelly, I have not put any effects in...including reverb because I am just not sure where to start.

Thanks for the compliments, I am not the vocalist, but I do a lot of the songwriting. As always your help is appreciated!

- Keith