Advice on Vocal Mic - Mix and EQ?

Posted on

Member Since: Jul 27, 2007

OK, here's my first attempt at recording vocals...

It's called "Sylvia's Mother."

I would like some critique on the "mix."
I'm having a hard time getting the vocals to be nice and clear, without being too "bright" or "on top" of the vocals.

I've read some great advice in this forum, which I am anxious to try, just looking for more.

Thanks!

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Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jul 27, 2007 11:59 am

downloading is broken at this time (has been for a few weeks) so don't link to downloads...I'll try to fix that this weekend.

Member
Since: Jul 27, 2007


Jul 27, 2007 12:01 pm

Sorry... I went back and edited original post and substituted the link with the song title.
I'm new to this forum, I assume people can browse their "Personal Playlist" to find it, correct?

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jul 27, 2007 12:09 pm

Yeah, or they can view your profile, or so it in the member music section if you enabled that.

I'll listen later tonight.

Welcome to HRC!

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jul 30, 2007 09:48 pm

WOW! That is one of my favorite Dr. Hook tunes. We used to cover it back when it first came out.

I gotta ask, did you do all the harmony parts yourself? If so thats awesome! Very well done. I like the simple approach you took to covering the tune, a nice original feel to it. The mix is very well done as well. At first I wanted to hear a little more reverb on it, but after a couple of listens I think I might be wrong.

I'll ask this as well, did you use a pop screen or anything on the mic, and also what mic did you use? I did notice some sibilance but nothing that is in desperate need of fixing. I personally like to hear a bit of it used for expressiveness.

I have to ask as well, are some instruments midi generated? I'm pretty sure the drums are, but some of the others are pretty good sounding if they are sampled or synth instruments. IF the drums are not, that is a pretty tight drummer you have there!

Over all you did a fantastic job on this cover tuen for sure.

As for the way the vocal sounds. I don't know what mic you used but it seemed to work pretty well for a very good capture of the voice. I don't know that I would mess with the EQ at all on this one.

PR0BLEMZ
Member
Since: Jul 24, 2007


Jul 31, 2007 05:03 pm

"sylvia mother"

yo can you teach me how u did that

Member
Since: Jun 02, 2007


Jul 31, 2007 05:12 pm

I like the song a lot, and I think you did a good job with it! But I will say someting, I think you should bring the guitars in a little bit. I don't know, but they sound too far out to the sides. It could work, not sure. But maybe something to consider. Vocals sound good too!

Member
Since: Jul 27, 2007


Aug 05, 2007 09:33 pm

Thanks for the comments! I've been away on vacation, so this is the first chance I've had to reply.

Noize2U, the recording is basically just me singing over a karaoke track. The harmony vocals were already there. The mic I used was just a on old radio shack mic, and I did use a pop-screen (the kind that fit over the mic). I've since been given a Shure SM-57 to use, so I'm anxious to re-record a new vocal track using it. I've been doing alot of reading on this site, so I'm hoping I can do better. In the meantime, I have the original "dry" vocals, so I'll see what I can do about the sibilance. As for the reverb, I have a tendency to over-do it, so I wanted to be careful. When in doubt, I listen to the original, and it seems to me there's hardly any reverb there.

AKoppenheffer, since it is a pre-mixed karaoke track, I'm not sure how much I can bring the guitars in. I use Cool Edit Pro 2.0, so I'll mess with the channel mixing and filters to see what can be done.

Thanks again for the comments and honest critiques!

Member
Since: Jul 27, 2007


Aug 07, 2007 10:00 pm

I've since uploaded a "new" version with the vocals de-essed to reduce the sibilance.

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Aug 08, 2007 02:42 am

can't listen to it at the moment..but when mixing to back up tracks, try to make your voice blend in with them instead of 'sound good'....try to match reverbs, dynamics (compression) and tone (eq).

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Aug 08, 2007 09:35 pm

Tomkat, I'll get to it tomorrow night. I'm curious to see how it sounds now.

Member
Since: Jul 27, 2007


Aug 08, 2007 10:05 pm

OK, just be aware that I re-uploaded a lower fidelity (128kbps) mp3 to make room for another song.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Aug 09, 2007 09:57 pm

Although I did like the other version as well, indeed this one is a tad bit clearer on the vocal part. Very nice voice I must say. I liked the way you treat it, gives it the same great feel the original had, but with a new taste to it. Nicely done for sure.

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