Set The Proper Balance Between Vocal And Track

1. Work on the vocal as soon as possible. Make sure it has the sound you
want before you move on to the other tracks in order to make sure there’s
space for it in the mix.

2. Reference against the vocal with every change. Every change to

every track needs to have a listen against the vocal to be sure it’s not
masking it.

3. Make sure the vocal isn’t masked by another track. See above.

4. The proper mix level is different for different genres of music. For
example, pop music has the vocal very forward in the mix while rock has it
behind the rest of the band to help the mix sound more powerful.

The Dual Compressed Vocal Trick

1. Insert a limiter on the vocal channel
2. Set to 10:1 or more to limit peaks
3. Insert a compressor after the limiter
4. Set to 2:1 and compress to keep vocal level even
NOTE: Set both processors for fast attack and medium release

Vocal Mixing Techniques Checklists 1

 The Awesome Airy Vocal Trick
1. Duplicate the vocal channel
2. Compress hard (6 to 10dB or more)
3. Insert an EQ after the compressor in the signal chain
4. Boost at 8k to 12kHz and filter lows below 600Hz
5. Add into the mix just under main vocal channel
NOTE: You might have to de-ess the new channel

The Pitchy Vocal Coverup Trick

1. Create a new effects channel
2. Insert a pitch corrector plugin
3. Set one side down 9 cents or the other up 9 cents
4. Add 20ms of delay on the left and 40ms on the right for a thicker sound
5. Send from aux on the vocal channel and mix until the vocal tuning is less
noticeable

The Big Background Pan Trick

1. Pan the lowest harmony voices towards the center
2. Pan the highest harmony voices towards the outside
3. Any mid-harmonies should be panned in between
NOTE: The lower voices in the center makes more room for the lead vocal

The Large And Thick Background Trick

1. Create two new stereo chorus channels
2. Pan one chorus to the left and slightly to the right, and the other to the
right and slightly to the left
3. Set one chorus to a deeper depth and faster modulation
4. Send the same amount to each chorus from an aux send on the
background tracks or subgroup

Vocal Mixing Techniques Checklists 2

 Getting The Best Performance From The Singer
Consider some of these suggestions before and during a vocal session.

• Make sure the lighting is correct. Most vocalists prefer the lights lower
in the studio and the control room when they are singing.

• A touch of reverb or delay in the headphones can help the singer’s

comfort level with the headphones mix since it makes the vocal sound
more like the finished product.

• If you need to have the vocalist sing harder, louder, or more

aggressively, turn down the vocal track in the phones or turn the
backing tracks up slightly.

• If you need to have the vocalist sing softer or more intimately, turn his
or her track up in the phones or turn down the backing tracks.

• Keep talking with the artist between takes. Leave the talkback on if possible.
Long periods of silence from the control room can be a mood killer.

• Try lowering the lights in the control room so the vocalist can’t see you.
Some people think that you’re in there judging them, when you might
be talking about something completely different.

• If the take wasn’t good for whatever reason, explain what was wrong in
a kind and gentle way. Something like “That was really good, but I
think you can do it even better. The pitch was a little sharp.” This
advice goes for just about any overdub, since players generally like to
know what was wrong with a take rather than receiving a “Do it again”
blanket statement.

• Always keep smiling. It’s easier to get the best performance from a singer
when the mood is light and they feel confident and encouraged. A smile
can do more to set the mood than almost anything else you can do.

Vocal Mixing Techniques Checklists 3

 The 3 P’s
When it comes to vocals in the studio, engineer/producer Ed Seay’s “Three
Ps” are what a producer lives by. They are

• Pitch
• Passion
• Pocket

You’ve got to have all three to have a dynamite vocal. And while pitch and
pocket problems can be fixed by studio trickery, if you don’t have passion,
you don’t have a vocal.

Vocal Mixing Techniques Checklists 4