Unfinished mix - where to go from here?

D

D-toks

New member
Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right place to post this since it is not a finished mix. That said, for my latest cover I was wondering if anyone can give me guidance on how I can gain more presence to my vocal? I feel pretty good about the vocal takes I've got from the source with this but I feel my voice still lacks presence. Currently I have a compressor, de-esser, reductive eq (picture below), and additive eq (picture below) and have bussed a hard compressed plate reverb and tape delay to try and create presence. Still doesn't seem to be working. What can I do from here? Thanks.

I have posted both the original artists verse 1 and my own verse 1 for an A/B. It is clear to notice the presence in the original's vocal that is lacking in mine. I am aware that my chorus is still lacking harmonies. Thanks.

Original song:
Playing: Somotrack.mp3 - picosong

My cover/mix:
Playing: dtokstrack.mp3 - picosong

My EQ's
Reductive:
Reductive EQ.png

Additive:
Additive EQ.png
 
Hi Robus,

So quick on the trigger with the responses haha. Do the links I posted not work? I haven't finished the song yet so posting into my soundcloud feed might be premature no?
 
My bad. When I "mp3" in the link I assumed it was a download. He's got a very different voice from yours. Yours seems lower. I'm not sure trying to cop all of his vocal antics in the beginning is working for you. It sounded like you were close to the bottom of your range, while he was singing higher up in his. Have you thought about transposing up a step or two? I can't offer you much advice about the EQ. I'm not sure the performance is quite there yet.
 
Oh so you think my voice is lower than his or vice versa? You said both in your response. I did not think to transpose it because I thought it would make A/Bing a lot harder but yeah I may need to learn to be a bit more original and make songs mine but idk really how to do that. The original always sounds good as is to me, which is a problem. Thanks for the honest feedback though. I was thinking,"yes I got a solid performance" since I thought I was matching his notes but I might revisit the performance now. Anything in particular that led to things not working out for my voice as you alluded to?

*Also you're right it is a bit strange that the link appears as it does. It's just a regular internet page link, not a download.
 
I'm not sure where his range is in relation to yours. You're singing the same melody in the same register and key from what I can tell, but it sounds like you're closer to bottoming out than he is. He just seems more at home in this key than you do. My thought is that you could transpose up. In terms of performance, I'd start with the beginning. Those whoa-oohs are meant to sound improvised. Yours sound a bit too studied, like you were concentrating too much on whoa-ing and ooh-ing exactly where he does, and losing the feel. In my opinion, you would do better thinking about how to cover the song, as opposed to reproduce it note-for-note. Try transposing the backing track--but don't try singing it right away. Instead, walk away from the song for a week--don't listen to the original or your version at all. Then go back to the backing track, again without listening to your previous version or the original, and try to deliver the vocal in a way that feels good to you. The reason I suggested transposing it first, is so that when you come back to the song in a week's time all you'll have to do is step up to the mic. I think you might like the result better.
 
I'd definitely work on the vocal performance, i'd say you sound more than nervous. You also sounded more comfortable in the higher ranges. You need solid takes down before worrying about EQ'ing it - but I thought the processing on the vocals was pretty good actually.
 
Robus said:
I'm not sure where his range is in relation to yours. You're singing the same melody in the same register and key from what I can tell, but it sounds like you're closer to bottoming out than he is. He just seems more at home in this key than you do. My thought is that you could transpose up. In terms of performance, I'd start with the beginning. Those whoa-oohs are meant to sound improvised. Yours sound a bit too studied, like you were concentrating too much on whoa-ing and ooh-ing exactly where he does, and losing the feel. In my opinion, you would do better thinking about how to cover the song, as opposed to reproduce it note-for-note. Try transposing the backing track--but don't try singing it right away. Instead, walk away from the song for a week--don't listen to the original or your version at all. Then go back to the backing track, again without listening to your previous version or the original, and try to deliver the vocal in a way that feels good to you. The reason I suggested transposing it first, is so that when you come back to the song in a week's time all you'll have to do is step up to the mic. I think you might like the result better.
Click to expand...
Your middle name should be piano because you struck so many chords with this. It's like you were in the room with me when I made this haha. You're right, his range goes lower than mine and is more developed than mine from what I can tell. You're also right that I was a little uncomfortable with the key but I wanted to A/B it to gauge how I've progressed as a singer and thought it would be easier if I could play two songs in the same key with me and the original artist for comparison. This is also partially why I tried the note-for-note reproduction as well. Probably a naive way to go about it but it was my mindset at the time. I like your advice, I'll leave this track alone for now and come back to it. What I'm going to do instead is try a new song in the meantime that I know and just try to take it from the top without listening to the original...maybe that will inspire me to be more creative? I think I rely too much on the original melody as a safety net of what sounds good. Again, a naive mentality. It seems so obvious in theory that I should change my approach but the application is proving a bit difficult.

andrushkiwt said:
I'd definitely work on the vocal performance, i'd say you sound more than nervous. You also sounded more comfortable in the higher ranges. You need solid takes down before worrying about EQ'ing it - but I thought the processing on the vocals was pretty good actually.
Click to expand...
Thank you mate! I don't know how to eliminate the nervousness when singing. I live in an apartment so I definitely don't want any more noise complaints from the neighbours and such. So it can be hard to sing out 100% fully. Plus I do get the "am I going to be able to complete this phrase in one breath/hit this note" anxiety while singing as well. These things I'm working on. Also, you're on board with Robus then about the song being too low for me, which it probably is. So when you say more solid takes, are you referring more to the sound is too pitchy, or the tone is bad, or it sounds muddy, or...what specifically? Pitchiness was the first problem I was told I had before by members so I'm hoping that's not still the problem. Thanks.
 
well, i agree that it sounds you're trying to mimic everything too precisely. I would consider just memorizing the lyrics and then improvise while singing - make it feel more natural than rehearsed. it is a bit pitchy, yes, and then feel/emotion from the voice isn't very engaging. it's more than just singing words at a particular pitch - there is an emotion evoked with every word/phrase. the emotion i'm sensing from the track is nervousness. but getting over that comes from confidence (and maybe some lessons?).
 
Did you try automation dtoks? It sounds like if you lift the vox volume at the end of each phrase that may help. Mic choice/use might be a factor too, I'd try with lips on the grill of something without a proximity boost (omnidirectional for example) and see if that sounds closer.
 
andrushkiwt said:
well, i agree that it sounds you're trying to mimic everything too precisely. I would consider just memorizing the lyrics and then improvise while singing - make it feel more natural than rehearsed. it is a bit pitchy, yes, and then feel/emotion from the voice isn't very engaging. it's more than just singing words at a particular pitch - there is an emotion evoked with every word/phrase. the emotion i'm sensing from the track is nervousness. but getting over that comes from confidence (and maybe some lessons?).
Click to expand...
Agh haha I've been trying to get my pitch to be laser-like since I first heard about the problem so I will admit I wasn't super pleased to read that the pitch still wasn't there but thank you for the honesty. Gotta do better next time. Emotion is tough. I'm not really that sensitive or emotional naturally so it is hard to evoke meaning out of a song even moreso if I didn't write it myself. I think a fundamental mistake I'm making is I'm approaching singing as a science rather than an art? How do I raise the uvula, how do I open the larynx, how do I raise my face for the high notes, how do I get the pitch perfect...these are the questions I'm asking myself when I should probably be thinking about how do I tell a story and connect with the song. I study science in university for what its worth so I absolve myself of some blame half-heartedly haha. Singing confidence and nerves are plaguing me though as you've noticed. I've never even sang live before. Hopefully when I stumble upon some more money I can reinvest in a vocal coach. I just couldn't keep up with the payments I was shelling out for my previous lessons. Thanks again.

easlern said:
Did you try automation dtoks? It sounds like if you lift the vox volume at the end of each phrase that may help. Mic choice/use might be a factor too, I'd try with lips on the grill of something without a proximity boost (omnidirectional for example) and see if that sounds closer.
Click to expand...

Hi Eas, as we discussed before, I probably should spend more time mixing. Automation does take a ton of time so I tend to throw on a compressor but I guess that contributes to the lifeless sound of the vox because everything's on an equal level volume wise. I have an audio technica at2020 condenser xlr mic. About a $100 so it should be decent enough to the job done but admittedly its not studio quality. I won't use the mic as an excuse though. To be a decent singer, one should be able to make something happen on any mic right? Also haha sorry you lost me on the final sentence: somewhat embarrassing but I think I need to break open the production dictionary because I don't know what those terms you used mean. Could you explain a little bit about what the omnidirectional proximity boost and grill concept is? Thanks as always.
 
No prob man, I'm thinking that to get that really close sound you might have to sing right up close to the mic. But the at2020 is a cardioid so it'll get really boomy on the low end when you sing up close. So I wouldn't recommend that approach after all.

Automation is tedious to draw in but you might try it on just a couple phrases and see if it helps. You can always squash your vox with a compressor like you said but there's a different sound when you use automation first.
 
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