Cutting vocals though the mix

[D-Jhepz]

So pads and vocals lie in the same freq range, who would of guessed...?

Its my first "real" attempt at vocal work and all is well except trying to sort out the mix :/ there is alot of messiness lying around the 1000hz-5000hz area and I'm struggling to keep the pad's work and the vocals strength without taking the power away from both of them?

Does anyone have any tips or experience to help please, would be appreciated!

 

[Riisu]

Vocals, in my experience, are without doubt one of the hardest things to mix and keep sounding "natural" whilst remaining upfront and consistent. You gotta make the decision whether they're the focus of the track, or if it's just a sample thrown in and out for a linking effect etc.

Which leads to how brutal you can be with them, and where you place them.

If it's a vocal led track you need to fit everything around them, and it'd help to mix the vocal first so it's how you'd like it to sound and then place elements around that. Also depends how many channels of vocals you've got as to how you can place them in the stereo mix. The timbre of the pads also come into question.

If it's just a bit of a sample that has an effect for the tune, then you can be a bit more creative with it.

That being said, delay, reverb, doubling, pitchshifting and spreading in little, and varied amounts will all help a vocal glue to the mix. In my experience, vocal effects definitely need to be set up on a bus, also sending all those effects into one another helps them gel a lot easier.

Also try side chaining your pad to the vocal by a little amount to help them move together. Doesn't need to be a lot, but can definitely help

Just reference different tunes and see what you like about the placement of the vocal and what it brings to the track.

 

[lostnthesound]

Also try side chaining your pad to the vocal by a little amount to help them move together.

^ THIS.

Also, adding a small amount of overdrive or saturation can really add some punch. When it comes to compression, be sure not to over do it–you want to use compression to level off the peak transients rather than squash the dynamic range.

 

[D-Jhepz]

Vocals, in my experience, are without doubt one of the hardest things to mix and keep sounding "natural" whilst remaining upfront and consistent. You gotta make the decision whether they're the focus of the track, or if it's just a sample thrown in and out for a linking effect etc.

Which leads to how brutal you can be with them, and where you place them.

If it's a vocal led track you need to fit everything around them, and it'd help to mix the vocal first so it's how you'd like it to sound and then place elements around that. Also depends how many channels of vocals you've got as to how you can place them in the stereo mix. The timbre of the pads also come into question.

If it's just a bit of a sample that has an effect for the tune, then you can be a bit more creative with it.

That being said, delay, reverb, doubling, pitchshifting and spreading in little, and varied amounts will all help a vocal glue to the mix. In my experience, vocal effects definitely need to be set up on a bus, also sending all those effects into one another helps them gel a lot easier.

Also try side chaining your pad to the vocal by a little amount to help them move together. Doesn't need to be a lot, but can definitely help

Just reference different tunes and see what you like about the placement of the vocal and what it brings to the track.

lol you just fucked up my entire day.... but thanks man il get to work trying those out!