Hey guys, I'm gonna be sharing my approach towards mixing a lead vocal in a regular pop, afro and common musical genres.
First of we need to get a good tracked vocals print.
On our insert where the vocal track has been placed. We load up couple of plugins to make the vocals go from being okay to sounding great..
#1. Subtractive EQ
We have some very disturbing frequencies that could mess up your vocals from sitting tight in our mix. This figures might now be 100% correct in your case but it should be a starting point for you to get up and running.
High pass filter
48oct 150hz
Nasal bell removal
Q- 8, 5k-7k, -3db
Whistling bell removal
Q- 8, 11k-15k, -3db
And any other frequencies that are disturbing in your mix. Sweep through and subtract those frequencies.
#2. Compressor
Now about compression, I go about using waves CLA- 2A. Adding it already give a unique sound to the vocals . Mess around with it till you get the sound of desire
#3. De-esser
I love this de-esser cause its easy use and understand . Pull down the threshold till the "as" aren't punching out in the mix . Mess around till you have a good output.
#4. Additive EQ
For a additive EQ I always go about using a Fabfilter Q2. This EQ is a very interesting one cause its functions are amazing. I use it to add up warmth and breath to it and other needed frequencies to make it sound right and not clash with other elements of the song.
And basically that's all I use on my insert channel. That then leads me to creating a vocal bus where I send the vocal channel to. And on this bus is where I have my pitch correct and other effects sends like reverbs, delays etc..
On my Vocal bus I'll add the following plugins to my insert.
#1. Pitch correct
For my pitch correct I use Antares Autotune. I really don't like the synthetic sounds when is over driven so I try to use mild settings to just get the gentle effect it gives. Here are my settings to achieve a warm pitch correct settings.
#Use the key of the instrumental you're working with.
#Humainze: I use a 100%
#Retune speed : I use a maximum of 11 retune speed
#Vibrato settings: I use zero settings for all
#Formant : I use the maximum 100%
#Amplitude : I let my ears decide on that
#Tracking : I let my ears decide
#input Type : it depends on the vocals I'll be working with
Note : Let your ears be the judge. I'm just giving figures to make you have a starting point and make it sound better
#2. Imager
I use this to centralize the vocals and spread them out. Mess with it, I know they have good presets.
And that's all the inserts I use on the vocal bus.
Now for the sends
#1. Parallel Compression
I use a waves Rcompressor to achieve this successfully. Now this settings might not work for your case but it should be a guideline on where to start from.
Ratio : 12.0
Release : 5000
Attack : 0
Threshold : I drop the threshold till I can see the graphic display in the ratio drop lower that 12.0.
Gain : I raise the gain till I begin to hear the effect in the vocals. Let your ears be the judge ...😁
#2. Reverbs
Now this is really what I do that gets people asking why I do this. I use multiple reverbs in different sends to achieve a better reverbed effect.
Frist reverb
Second reverb
Third reverb
Fourth reverb
Now I use the send volumes to merge the effect together to make the vocals as reverbed as possible and sit better into the instrumental we are working on.
#3. Delay
When its comes to delay i use Echoboy. And I use the preset studio ping pong in the vocals folder. You should try it and you'll never regret it .. But after using the delay .. I always and EQ ( highpass filter ) and a reverb to make it have the professional touch.
#4. Exicter
I use the Aphex Exciter with the preset in the vocals folder male upfront etcs.. Mess with the fader volume till you get the perfect touch .
Everything giving was just put you on a start point to achieve a very great vocal lead mix . # The most important is called the fader balance cause you have to balance the vocals with the giving instrumental #
Try it and don't forget to drop your comments below.
#flstudio #studioOne #logicProX #ableton #cubase #nuendo4 .. #MixingLeadvocals #Music