Vocal Mixing - Tips & techniques

Getafix · 3rd March 2008

Hi guys,

I normally produce electronic music & recently i got hired to mix someone's album as the guy liked my production. His music is mostly electronic beats, with an emphasis on the vocals. So he wants the vocals to be pretty big & in your face.

I don't have much experience in working with vocals as most of my music doesn't have them. So i would like to get some tips & techniques regarding vocal mixing.

The guy has a slightly high pitched voice & he wants his voice to come out a bit bassy so what would be the best way to go around this? I don't want to boost too much in the low end as i'm not sure which frequencies would need it most & don't want to create a mess. Could i pitch down the vocals as octave in melodyne and add them back with the original vocals to make them a little heavy?

Anyway, basically i'd like to read about any popular techniques regarding mixing vocals such as compression, eq'ing, choosing reverbs & delays etc. I have read stuff about double tracking vocals or using a short delay to give them more punch but i'm not really sure how to go about this.

I have most of the popular vst plugins at my disposal & we've specially ordered a H8000FW to process his tracks.

Hope my questions aren't too vague. Thanks for the help!

meshuggener33 · 3rd March 2008

Borrow or hire a u47 in good nick or a good copy of a u47 like the wunder cm7 and get him to sing 1 inch away. Make sure the pre is good too.

Getafix · 4th March 2008

Oh yeah i forgot to mention that his vocals have been recorded with a U87 + Avalon VT-737SP pre, so i guess the source isn't really the problem.

cqd · 4th March 2008

Allright man..
Now first ill say im no pro, but generally with vocals ill put an eq,compressor,another eq,and de-esser as inserts,cuts before the comp, boosts after..dont compress it very much here..Then send it to a parallel compressor on a stereo bus..This will give it some body(you can squash the sh1t outa this one)..and a delay on another stereo bus..But thats just me..

3rd March 2008	#1
Getafix Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2006 Location: Pakistan Posts: 706 Thread Starter	Vocal Mixing - Tips & techniques Hi guys, I normally produce electronic music & recently i got hired to mix someone's album as the guy liked my production. His music is mostly electronic beats, with an emphasis on the vocals. So he wants the vocals to be pretty big & in your face. I don't have much experience in working with vocals as most of my music doesn't have them. So i would like to get some tips & techniques regarding vocal mixing. The guy has a slightly high pitched voice & he wants his voice to come out a bit bassy so what would be the best way to go around this? I don't want to boost too much in the low end as i'm not sure which frequencies would need it most & don't want to create a mess. Could i pitch down the vocals as octave in melodyne and add them back with the original vocals to make them a little heavy? Anyway, basically i'd like to read about any popular techniques regarding mixing vocals such as compression, eq'ing, choosing reverbs & delays etc. I have read stuff about double tracking vocals or using a short delay to give them more punch but i'm not really sure how to go about this. I have most of the popular vst plugins at my disposal & we've specially ordered a H8000FW to process his tracks. Hope my questions aren't too vague. Thanks for the help!

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3rd March 2008	#2
meshuggener33 Gear nut Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 79	Borrow or hire a u47 in good nick or a good copy of a u47 like the wunder cm7 and get him to sing 1 inch away. Make sure the pre is good too.

4th March 2008	#3
Getafix Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2006 Location: Pakistan Posts: 706 Thread Starter	Oh yeah i forgot to mention that his vocals have been recorded with a U87 + Avalon VT-737SP pre, so i guess the source isn't really the problem.

4th March 2008	#4
cqd Gear nut Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 124	Allright man.. Now first ill say im no pro, but generally with vocals ill put an eq,compressor,another eq,and de-esser as inserts,cuts before the comp, boosts after..dont compress it very much here..Then send it to a parallel compressor on a stereo bus..This will give it some body(you can squash the sh1t outa this one)..and a delay on another stereo bus..But thats just me..