DMusic.com | for indie musicians and fans | Free MP3 music downloads - Forums: The General Forum: Guitar vs Vocals

Forums > The General Forum

Guitar vs Vocals

sween	Date: June 12, 2004 @ 12:15 PM Problem. When I record, I can get the drums, guitar, bass and anything else sounding great, then it comes to vocals. I got a B-2 Behringer mic and a V3 ART Pre amp. My vocals still sound alittle too quiet (Take a listen - Down In Flames http://sween.dmusic.com ) and I dont want to bring volumes down on the other sounds, any tips that can help me up the vocal volume without distortin the sound?
DevonPowell	Date: June 12, 2004 @ 12:28 PM EQ the vocals during mixdown (and adjust the other tracks accordingly). Vocal tracks, from what I've seen, tend to have the bass dropped a lot, whereas the mid and high tones are boosted up somewhat. This adds clarity to the vocals and enables you to separate them out a bit in the mix, as well as boost them up volume-wise. The other instruments should fill in the bass tones. NOTE* I am not an engineer. I am not a producer. I am recounting what I've seen others who ARE the above do.
DevonPowell	Date: June 12, 2004 @ 12:28 PM Oh, a good compressor/limiter would also be worthwhile...I use one during the actual recording process AND during mixdown...
sween	Date: June 12, 2004 @ 12:51 PM Excellent, thnx for the advise, will try anything to get my sound quality. Thanx again
synthsect	Date: June 12, 2004 @ 7:54 PM also helps to scoop out some midrange on the guitars and let the vox fill in that space
pog	Date: June 13, 2004 @ 11:07 AM Most instruments have a place in a mix so's they don't step on each other's toes... when I mix, there are a lot of things to be considered. The bass, obviously would have more bass & low mid frequencies. If the bass is slap, then high mids add punch, and tops can add clarity. With rhythm guitars, and backup vocals, I tend to mix the levels down... around 50%, and I have a touch more low mids, and maybe scoop the high mids a touch. With the drums, each part of the drumkit has it's own place in the mix... kickdrum mix is similar to the bass guitar, snare is middy, and highhats and cymbals have more on the high frequencies. With the Lead Guitars and Vocals, I tend to mix them higher in the mix as they are single note instruments. I also use tend to make them a little middier, so it cuts through the mix betterer. On the Lead Vocals track, a compressor is a good way to bring up the levels, but less is more, simply because if you add a compressor, it takes feel/expression away because it makes the quieter sounds and louder sounds closer together in level. Most of the time, I start with a good drum sound, then slowly mix in the other instruments, starting with the higher frequency sounds, and finishing with the bass sounds.
sween	Date: June 13, 2004 @ 1:36 PM Thank you all for the advise, good stuff, am constantly workin on new songs, hopefully I can improve
sqrlcub	Date: June 14, 2004 @ 10:26 AM A lot of vocals also sound better if you do an exact doubling and then offset it by like a millisecond. Turn down one set of the vocals and then mix the eq differently on both.
sween	Date: June 14, 2004 @ 5:06 PM Ahaaaa Ive just been trying that, good tip, works well, nice1 Cheers
AdamsGod	Date: November 17, 2004 @ 2:01 PM i always work with recording two of the same vocals.. one keeping in center.. and one to the left or right (just a bit). thats in songs that i know insturments are gonna take over the vocals. give "Evolution" and "TheNew" a try, on my Dmusic site to see what i meen.

Post A Reply
From:	Guest	(Icons - Linking)
Post: