Project Mix - the Insider Project Mix Secrets to a Great Vocal Sound
Rap, Rock, Reggae, and Country - vocals reign supreme.
If you can't deliver a great sounding vocal then you ain't got chops, bottom line.
And lets face it, sometimes vocals can be tough.
I am going to assume for the purposes of this article that you have no control over how the vocal was recorded, and basically it's time to work with what you've got.
So lets look at the basics.
Dynamics Vocals have a huge dynamic range from a whisper to a scream, literally.
This means that you will be contending with how to keep the dynamic under control in order to keep the vocal riding in its correct position atop your mix.
The top tools are compressors, de-essers, multiple tracks and the good old fader.
Honestly the topic of compressors is far to extensive for this article, but needless to say that knowing how to use them will separate the men from the boys [no offense ladies].
They are critical to a good vocal mix but then so are de-essers.
I will usually place a de-esser first in the vocal chain, since sibilance is substantially louder in dynamics than the rest of the vocal.
So de-ess, then compress, then EQ.
But you probably already know this so lets move on to some secrets.
Multi Channel Have you ever noticed how you can get a vocal set up to sound great in one part of a song, say perhaps the verse, but then in another part it will sound shrill, or muddy? It only makes sense since you are dealing with a living thing - a human with a voice.
This means that tone and timber are ever changing.
So the solution is to set up multiple vocal channels.
In your DAW, simply duplicate the vocal channel and set up the EQ and compression, and De-Essing to accommodate different sections of the song you are working on.
You could have a V-Vox (short-hand for verse vocal) and C-Vox (Chorus Vocal).
The tracks are identical but the processing on each track may be severely different.
This is the insider trick that top mix guys use to keep a vocal from sounding shrill when they jump into those high head-voice notes.
The beauty of this multi-channel technique is that you can set up all kinds of different variables that fit the need of your song.
Do you like the reverb and delay on the verse but then notice that the vocal becomes unintelligible when the 24 tracks of power chord guitars come in during the Chorus? Simply set up your C-Vox track dry - or maybe with a slap delay - and compress it harder so it sits up in the mix.
When you are in the verse section of the song you will have the C-Vox muted.
Then when the chorus comes on, simply mute the V-Vox, and unmute the C-Vox at the same time.
Voila.
Great sounding vocal through out the entire song.
If you can't deliver a great sounding vocal then you ain't got chops, bottom line.
And lets face it, sometimes vocals can be tough.
I am going to assume for the purposes of this article that you have no control over how the vocal was recorded, and basically it's time to work with what you've got.
So lets look at the basics.
Dynamics Vocals have a huge dynamic range from a whisper to a scream, literally.
This means that you will be contending with how to keep the dynamic under control in order to keep the vocal riding in its correct position atop your mix.
The top tools are compressors, de-essers, multiple tracks and the good old fader.
Honestly the topic of compressors is far to extensive for this article, but needless to say that knowing how to use them will separate the men from the boys [no offense ladies].
They are critical to a good vocal mix but then so are de-essers.
I will usually place a de-esser first in the vocal chain, since sibilance is substantially louder in dynamics than the rest of the vocal.
So de-ess, then compress, then EQ.
But you probably already know this so lets move on to some secrets.
Multi Channel Have you ever noticed how you can get a vocal set up to sound great in one part of a song, say perhaps the verse, but then in another part it will sound shrill, or muddy? It only makes sense since you are dealing with a living thing - a human with a voice.
This means that tone and timber are ever changing.
So the solution is to set up multiple vocal channels.
In your DAW, simply duplicate the vocal channel and set up the EQ and compression, and De-Essing to accommodate different sections of the song you are working on.
You could have a V-Vox (short-hand for verse vocal) and C-Vox (Chorus Vocal).
The tracks are identical but the processing on each track may be severely different.
This is the insider trick that top mix guys use to keep a vocal from sounding shrill when they jump into those high head-voice notes.
The beauty of this multi-channel technique is that you can set up all kinds of different variables that fit the need of your song.
Do you like the reverb and delay on the verse but then notice that the vocal becomes unintelligible when the 24 tracks of power chord guitars come in during the Chorus? Simply set up your C-Vox track dry - or maybe with a slap delay - and compress it harder so it sits up in the mix.
When you are in the verse section of the song you will have the C-Vox muted.
Then when the chorus comes on, simply mute the V-Vox, and unmute the C-Vox at the same time.
Voila.
Great sounding vocal through out the entire song.