Lowering the volume of vocal tracks

[LNovik@aol.com]

I recorded my voice in a  project. I then duplicated the track twice. In the 2nd and 3rd tracks, I nudged one to  the right and the other to the left. I did lower the volume of these extra tracks. However, my volume is much higher than the instruments. What is the best plug-in (hopefully one that comes with Cakewalk, but not necessarily) to lower in amplitude the vocals. I HAVE tried lowering the gain of each track, but it  only helps somewhat. I even tried to lower gains in the Nectar plugin, but it's still too loud. I know I could just keep lowering gain and volume everywhere, but I wonder if there is a good plug in that will lower and compress it so I don't loss the quieter volume parts completely.

Thanks.

LNovik

[Byron Dickens]

Maybe everything else is too quiet.

[John Vere]

You should not need a plug in for levels. Each track  has a gain and a fader. Then the vocals should be all going to a dedicated vocal bus for further adjustments to the mix. 
I have a tutorial where I demonstrate my personal workflow for balancing my mix. It might be exactly what you need right now to achieve your goal. 
#22. Then also #15 and 210 are about mixing basics 

 

[LNovik@aol.com]

Yes, it did occur to me that perhaps everything else was just too low, as Dickens has suggested. But, I guess, I didn't try enough to just make everything else louder. I will try this today.

Also, I will look at those tutorials that John Vere has offered.

Thanks for these replies.

LNovik

[DeeringAmps]

2 hours ago, LNovik@aol.com said:

I will look at those tutorials that John Vere has offered

Good idea!

t

[whoisp]

I would for sure use a vocal bus, simple solution. If you also use any FX on vocal  tracks and dependent on how you use a bus don't forget he FX can send to master a stronger signal than your  main track depending on your wet/dry mix settings on FX, same again if you using fx on bus and you are send your track to master and bus because the bus will send back to master.  You could have a few things going on from your explanation. If duplicating your lead vocal you would set a bus different to having a lead vocal and backing tracks. If you are just adding warmth, air and life to a lead vocal by duplicating the lead track i would do it on a vocals room lead bus. Sometimes its not good to duplicate, some people do it for the sake of it which can ruin a vocal because you get phasing and bleeding which then you may loose the personality and bits in your voice 

 

[Starship Krupa]

On 9/23/2022 at 2:14 PM, LNovik@aol.com said:

I recorded my voice in a  project. I then duplicated the track twice.

I'm surprised that nobody else picked up on this.

If you just duplicate the same take of an audio track and pan it, all you get is a louder, reinforced mono track. Which sounds kind of like what you're hearing. Is this a single take just duplicated, or are these multiple takes?

If what you want is the sound of a doubled vocal coming from a single track, you need to do this with FX. iZotope Vocal Doubler is a popular free plug-in that is (obviously, from the name) intended for this use.

With just one track to apply FX to, you'll find it much easier to use compression.

However, if I have this wrong and you did re-record your vocal multiple times, what I do for this is route the vocals to a bus, then use compression on the bus to even them out.

Taking a look at some tutorials on how to EQ vocals to sit in a mix might be helpful as well. It's amazing how much low end you can roll off, and the positive effect it has on the mix. I usually wind up rolling off my vocals around 400Hz. That way they don't step on the other instruments as much.

[reginaldStjohn]

 

1 hour ago, Starship Krupa said:

I'm surprised that nobody else picked up on this.

If you just duplicate the same take of an audio track and pan it, all you get is a louder, reinforced mono track. Which sounds kind of like what you're hearing. Is this a single take just duplicated, or are these multiple takes?

If what you want is the sound of a doubled vocal coming from a single track, you need to do this with FX. iZotope Vocal Doubler is a popular free plug-in that is (obviously, from the name) intended for this use.

With just one track to apply FX to, you'll find it much easier to use compression.

However, if I have this wrong and you did re-record your vocal multiple times, what I do for this is route the vocals to a bus, then use compression on the bus to even them out.

Taking a look at some tutorials on how to EQ vocals to sit in a mix might be helpful as well. It's amazing how much low end you can roll off, and the positive effect it has on the mix. I usually wind up rolling off my vocals around 400Hz. That way they don't step on the other instruments as much.

+1

[John Vere]

13 hours ago, reginaldStjohn said:

I usually wind up rolling off my vocals around 400Hz

This is way too much for my voice. I roll off at 120Hz. But definitely I always use hi pass filters on every track. Most are below 50 Hz  but it’s definitely a tool everyone should be using when mixing.  

[Will.]

On 9/26/2022 at 4:34 PM, Cactus Music said:

This is way too much for my voice. I roll off at 120Hz. But definitely I always use hi pass filters on every track. Most are below 50 Hz  but it’s definitely a tool everyone should be using when mixing.  

Not really. If it doesnt need any form of EQ why use one. Also, one should not be using a hipass on every track. Its one of those tweaks you need to lookout for. 

Think i'm lying? Well, test it for yourself and keep an eye on your reading. Hipass bump up the volume on the band depending on your slopes. If you havw good monitors and a tuned ear - this will be highly noticable. 

So every single time you hipass you raise the peak level. Lower a volume slider or gain wont help much the peaks will still hit the ceiling. This is where a lowshelf is your friend. 

If theres nothing in the bottom region - why use a hipass and ruin the track? 

On 9/23/2022 at 11:14 PM, LNovik@aol.com said:

I recorded my voice in a  project. I then duplicated the track twice. In the 2nd and 3rd tracks, I nudged one to  the right and the other to the left. I did lower the volume of these extra tracks. However, my volume is much higher than the instruments. What is the best plug-in (hopefully one that comes with Cakewalk, but not necessarily) to lower in amplitude the vocals. I HAVE tried lowering the gain of each track, but it  only helps somewhat. I even tried to lower gains in the Nectar plugin, but it's still too loud. I know I could just keep lowering gain and volume everywhere, but I wonder if there is a good plug in that will lower and compress it so I don't loss the quieter volume parts completely.

Thanks.

LNovik

Best advice i can give right now, learn how level Peaks, RMS (root means square) and Dynamics work.

Read up on some articles from well-known people. (Apologies to John) Not to downplay Cactus Music channel or walk all over his tutorials, you can learn a lot from his videos and obviously because John is a great guy, but dont read to much in to youtube videos. People there just tell you how they do things and not really tell you why or give you the technical side of things. 

Your levels might just be perfect, but your peaks are screaming as its hitting the ceiling. So equipt yourself with just the basic of knowledge in mixing and setting up mic levels with techniques too and invest in some decent "Flat" monitors that actually exposes these things to you. 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Will.