Vocal mixing tips?

[Stephen Simmons]

So I'm singing a song with a track just trying to get things together and get my feet back under me as I proceed into my fourth solo CD. It's a karaoke track Diana Krall version of almost blue. I think I sing it pretty well but I have passages that are very soft and breathy and passages that is significantly higher. I tracked with a universal audio la-2a input medium compression through the Apollo twin USB. Also inserted a Manley voxbox. Anybody have any tips or tricks as to balancing out the lodge and soft Parts besides just squashing the hell out of the track? I tried the Cakewalk 64-bit tube leveler I've tried  Nectar 2 presets... all of that seemed to add a little harsh Edge to the high-end and didn't really smooth out the disparity volumes.

Ideas?

WSS

[Byron Dickens]

Automation 

[Max Arwood]

1) Automation

2) Vocal Rider (or similar)

3) Compression

[Tezza]

It starts with good microphone technique and that can only be achieved if you have a strong sound when monitoring in the headphones and you practice with that sound. You will find that you back off the mic in the loud parts naturally and move in a little on the soft parts and also move aside from the mic to fade out voice or during "pop" letters like "p" . Setting the right distance to the mic for the loudness is also important. The closer you are to the mic the more spiking in the waveform you will get. If there is a lot of dynamics in the song, soft and loud parts then these things are even more important. If it's one vocal blast, all the same volume then you probably want to sit back from the mic a bit. Anywhere around 4 - 8 inches is usually normal depending if you are using a pop shield or not. 6 inches seems to be the norm for many.

The combination of these things should give you a vocal track that is pretty well balanced in the mix, a place to start. If this is your 4th solo CD you probably know all this already, just mentioning for others.

I don't use compression for my vocal takes, just an 80hz cutoff on the audio interface and a 2.6k cut going in.

When recorded, I isolate the dominant frequency(s) if there are any and pull those down a tad with eq. This can act like a compressor, especially if there is a really dominant frequency present, get rid of that and the whole waveform looks a lot smoother. After that I play it through and see if any volume cuts might be needed in specific areas and apply those through automation if necessary. Then I put a little compression on and it will be ready to mix in with small plate reverb and maybe another eq.

If you've recorded an overly compressed take and don't want to do it again, then I think the best way to get rid of the breathy parts is to use volume control through automation as suggested, you can draw it in manually as well if you know the parts you want to get rid of. Depending if there are gaps between the offending parts you can also duplicate the track and cut the entire track into clips and work with each bit.

If compression is too high going in, this is what can happen, it smooths out the loud too much but also amplifies the quiet too much.

Listening to that song, it's a well controlled soft voice with medium dynamics, I would probably record without compression for that, you should be able to set up an excellent monitoring situation and get clarity on the vocals because there is not much going on in terms of other instrumentation. Diana is putting out the same soft volume on her high notes and low notes, that only comes with practice and having a good well controlled voice.

 

[Stephen Simmons]

8 hours ago, Tezza said:

It starts with good microphone technique and that can only be achieved if you have a strong sound when monitoring in the headphones and you practice with that sound. You will find that you back off the mic in the loud parts naturally and move in a little on the soft parts and also move aside from the mic to fade out voice or during "pop" letters like "p" . Setting the right distance to the mic for the loudness is also important. The closer you are to the mic the more spiking in the waveform you will get. If there is a lot of dynamics in the song, soft and loud parts then these things are even more important. If it's one vocal blast, all the same volume then you probably want to sit back from the mic a bit. Anywhere around 4 - 8 inches is usually normal depending if you are using a pop shield or not. 6 inches seems to be the norm for many.

The combination of these things should give you a vocal track that is pretty well balanced in the mix, a place to start. If this is your 4th solo CD you probably know all this already, just mentioning for others.

 that's true but it certainly bears repeating. And admittedly I'm a lot more comfortable in front of a Shure 58 because that's what I'm singing into 99% of the time live. My problem was this one particular track. I really like the way I sang it but like I said the highs and lows for a little bit more extreme than normal and I really wanted to use this particular take.

I don't use compression for my vocal takes, just an 80hz cutoff on the audio interface and a 2.6k cut going in. 

 I usually use a light compression on the way in. I've had people who know more about recording than I do admonish me about that before.

 

When recorded, I isolate the dominant frequency(s) if there are any and pull those down a tad with eq. This can act like a compressor, especially if there is a really dominant frequency present, get rid of that and the whole waveform looks a lot smoother. After that I play it through and see if any volume cuts might be needed in specific areas and apply those through automation if necessary. Then I put a little compression on and it will be ready to mix in with small plate reverb and maybe another eq.

If you've recorded an overly compressed take and don't want to do it again, then I think the best way to get rid of the breathy parts is to use volume control through automation as suggested, you can draw it in manually as well if you know the parts you want to get rid of. Depending if there are gaps between the offending parts you can also duplicate the track and cut the entire track into clips and work with each bit.

 yes that might wind up being the solution.

If compression is too high going in, this is what can happen, it smooths out the loud too much but also amplifies the quiet too much.

Listening to that song, it's a well controlled soft voice with medium dynamics, I would probably record without compression for that, you should be able to set up an excellent monitoring situation and get clarity on the vocals because there is not much going on in terms of other instrumentation. Diana is putting out the same soft volume on her high notes and low notes, that only comes with practice and having a good well controlled voice.

 that's very true. On the other hand I'm a baritone or a tenor or whatever so naturally I'm going to push a little bit on higher notes especially singing a song written for a female voice. And one of the aims of recording this tune is 2 get used to the new vocal chain. I've recently purchased the Apollo twin USB. I had been using and audient and a focusrite preamp. I'm not positive that I loved the sound of the Manley voxbox on the way in either. Thank you so much for your input!  Ps I didn't know exactly what automation was, I thought somebody was talking about a plug-in. Now I understand that it meant volume envelope.  

?

WSS

 

 

 

 

[Stephen Simmons]

11 hours ago, Max Arwood said:

1) Automation

2) Vocal Rider (or similar)

3) Compression

Is there a plug-in called vocal Rider in cake? I'll have to search that out.

WSS

[Stephen Simmons]

2 hours ago, Stephen Simmons said:

Is there a plug-in called vocal Rider in cake? I'll have to search that out.

WSS

I see thats a waves plug seems like there's a standalone version on Sweetwater. Anybody use it?

WSS

[Alan Tubbs]

Vocal rider is a third party plugin.  You probably don’t need it.

you can record the vocals twice, with the gain set appropriately for either singing level.  Then splice together.

and as pointed out above, vol automation is the first step.  Even it out and then comp to hold the volume even enough.

[Stephen Simmons]

20 hours ago, Alan Tubbs said:

Vocal rider is a third party plugin.  You probably don’t need it.

you can record the vocals twice, with the gain set appropriately for either singing level.  Then splice together.

and as pointed out above, vol automation is the first step.  Even it out and then comp to hold the volume even enough.

Thanks. Yes, I do multiple takes as a matter of course. I actually prefer that to punching in and out.

WSS

Edited December 27, 2019 by Stephen Simmons

[Marius angelescu]

Use compressor to control the dynamics of the singer.There are some parts where it could sing louder some parts slower.Use fast attack setings and low ratio.

Use a de esser for reducing sibilance. 

Use an eq to remove bad resonances from the room and the mic.Also hipass and lowpass to fit in the song.

Apply reverb if needed or maybe a gentle chorrus

[treesha]

I sometimes use melodyne to even out vocal or instrument note levels by adjusting the individual or selected group of notes and raising or lowering to taste. It is a lot if work but i like the control i can get with it. Can also tweak pitch and position etc while im at it. 

[Stephen Simmons]

By the way thanks to everybody. I decided to do it the hard way and I think that helped a lot. Good call Tezza. I just sang the song over and over being very careful of mic placement. Also took one can off so I can hear the natural vocal. The bad news was the mic was picking up the output of the can that I took off! So just for tracking vocals panned everything to the left and took off the right can.

Thanks people

WSS