Vocals in the mix?

[sawfingers]

Hi everyone, this has probably been covered before but I can't find exactly the answer. I'm recording a track on Cubase, drums, bass and a couple of guitars and a few keyboards and am reasonably happy with the sound at the early stage I’m at. The problem is when I record the vocal it sounds totally detached from all the rest, not in the mix if you see what I mean. Could it be my vocal mic (Sennheiser e835s) or do I need to play with compression and EQ or can I fix it in the final mix? I’m pretty new to this so be gentle with me. Thanks.

 

[xfinsterx]

Copmression, and then a decent reverb and/or delay will make a vocal sit nicely in a song for me.

 

[RAMI]

XFinster is right on.

Also, the delivery of the vocal track can affect the perception of it being in the "same room" with the rest of the band. If a singer with little exprience recording hears themselves in the headphones for the first time (and many times after that), they might tend to get close to the mic and sing sofflty, for example. That might give it too intimate a sound for the rest of the mix. Make sure the singer is comfortable and hearing a good mix.

 

[EdWonbass]

I sometimes have this same problem. It's not like there is someone staring at me while I'm singing. It's just me by myself but for some reason it sounds strange in the headphones. I guess getting the right balance and hearing things the way they seem the most natural should help in getting a good vocal performance. This in turn should help it sit in the mix.
I'm actually at this stage right now. I'm working on a song now and I finished tracking everything and I even did a scratch vocal and the scratch vocal just doesn't seem to sit right.

 

[RAMI]

Yeah, I sometimes feel that, even though nobody's in the house and the windows are closed, I'm sure SOMEONE can hear me screaming like a madman......

Then the paranoia wears off and I roll another joint.

 

[Ironklad Audio]

i'd add that microphone selection is quite important as well...it's seems like some mics will give tracks that just don't want to "gel" with the rest of the mic

 

[sawfingers]

thanks

Thanks for the replies, all great advice. Took on board Ironklad's note about Mic's. I've been trying to record acoustic guitar using a standard vocal mic with terrible results but assumed this was the best I would get. Anyway yesterday I bought a Samson C01 condenser mic (only £44 in the U.K, how they make something of this quality for that price, amazing). What a difference, my Taylor is now recording with the same tone and brightness that I’m hearing live. Have yet to try it for vocals but I reckon it could make even me sound reasonable. Rock on you Chinese men!

 

[ecktronic]

Compression to get the vocal relatively tamed then volume automation if needed to bring out certain sylabels and to tame unwanted sybilance and breathing etc.

EQ is very important also. Try a high pass to cut alot of the lows and also a cut in the low mids. Try boosting at 12k+ and also at either 3k or 5k.

Eck