Need help with Cubase Mixing!

[mbrice09]

i find it really hard to monitor level volumes on headphones. not everybody may be the same but when i think a level sounds great on headphones ill play them on my monitors and its either to high are low..

1 question.. why are you limiting your vocals? are you dealing with a beat thats already mixed n mastered? another thing i found when starting off is having a vocal chain like that i found myself feeling dedicated to always throw those on my vocals when half the vocals didn't even need them.. instead of using a denoiser and gate now i just try to eliminate background noise so theres no need for a denoiser and go threw the vocal manually and silence space thats not need.. (give space after the end of words and fade in a lil so it sounds good and natural).. takes more time but free's up cpu space and don't need so many effects on my vocals.. also check what your doing with your eq and compression, if "lead vocals in your face" is a preset try to configure that to fit the vocal to the track. play the beat and vocal at the same time, set the threshold and ratio accordingly then play with the attack and release so it fits well with the beat. and maybe instead of delay use reverb to push the vocals back? idk these are just suggestions, people here know alot more than me im just trying to help.

[PrograMentalist]

Did you just throw everything on there? I'd start by removing everything, then adding only what you NEED

If you can't get the vocal to sit nicely just by adjusting the levels, do add some EQ, if it's a really dynamic performance, go with a compressor after that. Start with gentle compression and use only as much as necessary...

And if those "Clean lead vox" and "Lead vocals in your face" are presets, don't use them, or at the very least, only use them as starting points. There's no such thing as an EQ or compressor preset that will fit perfectly without adjustments, especially for vocals.

[boybianchi]

Originally Posted by JBr33zymusic

My current vocal chain is :
DeNoiser
Gate - Clean Lead Vox
GEQ-10 - Lead vocals
compressor- lead vocals in your face
de-esser
limiter
delay

My problem is this makes the vocals very loud and stand out from the beat, other mixing ways I have tried are to quiet. I'm using an Audio Technica 2020 and a Focusrite Scarlett Interface. I would like some recommendations please!

1. Lose the denoiser. Instead, use EQ.
2. Get rid of the GEQ-10. Don't use a graphic equalizer to EQ vocals.
3. Use a parametric one instead. Try one with a realtime freq analyser.
4. Get rid of the freq's you don't need. Boost A LITTLE to the freq's you need.
5. Do this while listening to the beat. DON'T solo the track while eq'ing.
5.1 Read 5 again. It is really that important.
6. Watch out with the compressor. Especially watch out for a too high ratio.
there is no need, unless you remove the limiter at the end (Cubase compressor has makup gain and limitless ratio so you maybe you are actually using two limiters in a row)
7. You are probably using the sync on the delay. Switch it off, and manually
find something that suits the beat. This could be like a 1/4 but just a few
miliseconds "off-beat".

The biggest problem you are facing is EQ. If the vocal "feels" too loud in comparison to the beat, turning the volume down will actually drown the vocal in the beat. You need to seperate the frequencies. also known as "creating a hole for the vocals".

Good luck.

[JBr33zymusic]

Originally Posted by boybianchi

1. Lose the denoiser. Instead, use EQ.
2. Get rid of the GEQ-10. Don't use a graphic equalizer to EQ vocals.
3. Use a parametric one instead. Try one with a realtime freq analyser.
4. Get rid of the freq's you don't need. Boost A LITTLE to the freq's you need.
5. Do this while listening to the beat. DON'T solo the track while eq'ing.
5.1 Read 5 again. It is really that important.
6. Watch out with the compressor. Especially watch out for a too high ratio.
there is no need, unless you remove the limiter at the end (Cubase compressor has makup gain and limitless ratio so you maybe you are actually using two limiters in a row)
7. You are probably using the sync on the delay. Switch it off, and manually
find something that suits the beat. This could be like a 1/4 but just a few
miliseconds "off-beat".

The biggest problem you are facing is EQ. If the vocal "feels" too loud in comparison to the beat, turning the volume down will actually drown the vocal in the beat. You need to seperate the frequencies. also known as "creating a hole for the vocals".

Good luck.

When I use EQ and Compression then some Reverb the vocals sound very plain and low. I got that chain off a tutorial and thought it worked really well. The vocals become very loud though and they are hard to work with.

[boybianchi]

Originally Posted by JBr33zymusic

When I use EQ and Compression then some Reverb the vocals sound very plain and low. I got that chain off a tutorial and thought it worked really well. The vocals become very loud though and they are hard to work with.

Are you using the reverb as an insert of fx send?