Feb 22, 2008 04:21 pm EQ a notch in the song and place them(vox) in it... like placing an egg in a nest . : )
This is when a spectrum anylizer comes in really handy .
Vocals, not sitting right in the mix?!?!?!?
Posted on Feb 22, 2008 04:14 pm
JScott
Dethklok, Dethklok
Member Since: Dec 25, 2007
I keep trying different things but I can't get the Vocals to sit in the mix right what the....
Any Ideas are welcomed.
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Feb 22, 2008 04:21 pm EQ a notch in the song and place them(vox) in it... like placing an egg in a nest . : )
This is when a spectrum anylizer comes in really handy .
Feb 22, 2008 04:52 pm Errr? Sorry Hue being honest here, I don't know how to do that. I am a complete noob at all the effects ie.. Compression, reverb, chorus, EQ.
I have used them on guitar for years but I have never had to mix them, if that makes sense.
Feb 22, 2008 04:56 pm Yeah this was a big step for me when I learned to notch my tracks for the vocals.
I think that the average range for intelligibility of human speech/singing is somewhere between 1 kHz - 4 kHz. That's where the actual "meat" of the human voice is, but not the "esses" and plosives. If you EQ your guitars, keyboards, etc. such that you "notch" out maybe -3dB between 1K and 4K, that will allow the vocals to shine through the mix much better.
But be careful with the width and depth of the notch because you can really neuter a good guitar tone by taking too much mids out of it. Same goes for all the other backing tracks. A pretty subtle notch will make a pretty dramatic difference in the clarity and presence of the vocals.
I tend to skip the notching for lead guitars, so they'll shine through all of the backing tracks during solos as well.
Feb 22, 2008 08:27 pm i usually pull everything outta the mids on a wide spectrum till it sounds muffled, then little bit at a time bring em back in starting with top end mids. but i cant seem to do it all at once coz i think ya ear starts to play up on ya,
so i do it about 1hr 1/2 at a time, then take a break for 30.
Put a little low end mids in there to thicken it up so its not too clear, thats the problem i think, too much clarity, if there is such a thing.
Make sure there is reverb on them to bring them back in the mix without losing too much sparkle.
Feb 22, 2008 09:09 pm My bad, JScott . I was rushing out the door at work, and thought I'd get back to this sooner . Everything I learned about this particular issue came right here from HRC, which is a double bad for me not being as helpful as I'd like to have been . I think seating vocals is more an 'ear-thing' than any other tweak in a mix . Can be tricky, can be simple... depends on the song . What I do is eq each track, taking-out what the track doesn't need, without shaping the instrument . Then, within the sub-bus of the instrument mix, I'll notch a place for the vocals to sit . All the time checking the SPAN for a nice 'level-looking' waveform . Eqing/compressing again at the main to smooth things out .
Feb 23, 2008 06:44 pm Compress compress compress. Compression has many many answers to this question IMO
Feb 25, 2008 07:26 am Itried some of those things. I tried dropping the EQ on the guitars and raising it on the Vocals. But I don't think I did it wright. I am using the Cakewalk Track EQ. that is the only one I have and it has 547Hz and 3757Hz.
Feb 25, 2008 07:27 am Flame I'm coming over tomlorrow and you can help me right? lol
Feb 25, 2008 12:48 pm I don't do much EQ, usually the guitars are the only things I notch and only about -3 to -5 around whatever range the meat of the vox are sitting at. I then compress however much needed which depends on the performer. After that I will add a small delay of 3 to 25ms and only use it around 15% wet.
Feb 25, 2008 03:30 pm What do you guys use for Compressing and Eq? Plug-ins or actual hardware. Suggestions would be great. I run Cakewalk HS 6XL. I only have what it came with. Is there freeware compatable ith it?
Feb 25, 2008 04:15 pm HS6 XL looks like it supports VST plugins so you can go to a site like www.kvraudio.com and take a look through the thousands of free VSTs that they have to offer.
I think that some of the more popular ones are the DigitalPhishPhones, CamelPhat, Kjerhaus Classic Series, and so many others.
For compression the Classic Series compressor has been my standby for a while now. I'm starting to like it less now that I've used it a lot but its still terrific for a freebie.
For EQ I've been using a VST called NyQuist that's OK but not great.
Start looking around on KVRAudio and you'll find more VST plugins than you can shake a stick at. Just start trying them and see if you find any you like.
Feb 26, 2008 01:20 am Historicaly there are two definate trains of thought. Motown advocated boosting what you want to hear. Others were more notch out what you don't want. I use both. The "Art" is to retain a reasonable sound of what you are notching or boosting. Sometimes a multiband compresser will work better than eq as it boosts/cuts in a slightly different manner, often without introducing as many phase related problems. Sometimes the lesson learned is how the piece is constructed. There are times when a recording has told me that the guitar sound and the vox just don't play well together, and really should not reside together in that song. Effects like reverb can also be problematic. Sometimes a litte dryer signal will add just enough clarity to vox without altering volume levels via eq or whatever to make the grade. Panning as well can put something in a "space" that will lend a little more clarity. Then there's of course riding the faders or changing volume on the fly. Compression can only do so much to make vox evenly preceived throughout a piece. Sometimes ya just gotta boost a sylable to get it over that keyboard chord.
Feb 26, 2008 09:53 am Also, don't underestimate the value of a little pre-delay in your vocal-verbs/delays .
Feb 27, 2008 07:34 pm JScott, the track EQ in HS can be adjusted to whatever frequency you want and as wide a notch as you would like.
The Hz dial will adjust the frequency and the Q will adjust the width.
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