Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Forum For the Record Articles Editorial Reviews User Reviews Classifieds
New Posts FAQ Calendar Forum Actions Quick Links Advanced Search
Forum General Discussions Mixing Techniques Newbie: Mixing a highly dynamic singer
If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection
below.
03-03-2019 #1
(BTW I used to do tech in radio and in TV so I'm the worst kind of newbie. The kind that imagines they can take this on! LOL )
When I go to mix:
I've been importing and then consolidating and normalizing the vocal track.
There's often a 9db or even 12 db difference between the softer parts and the power notes on most of my vocal tracks. (That's with me backing off the mic on the power notes.)
If I keep the levels down, to accommodate the power notes, the soft parts get drowned by the music or, alternately, have no presence.
If I crank up the soft parts, then I overdrive the power notes. Applying a compression filter / plug in has not been fixing that. The power notes still sound distorted.
If I do different sound levels for the quiet parts vs the power notes, they end up having different "presence", which weakens the song and also gets distracting.
If I notch the background music to pop the vocals at the tricky parts, the background music almost entirely drops out because my vocals have a broad resonance on them, so I have to notch too much of
the background, (and otherwise the notching doesn't work).
My voice is also contralto, which gives my voice its unique sound. I don't want to lose that in the mixing. Although, on the power notes, I understand one can successfully compromise.
If you folks can help me figure this out, there's a huge back load of music I can finish that's going to come tumbling out. That would be joy!
03-03-2019 #2
Why? (Where the notion that being anywhere near a first step in mixing started beats me.
There's often a 9db or even 12 db difference between the softer parts and the power notes on most of my vocal tracks. (That's with me backing off the mic on the power notes.)
https://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/mixing-techniques/newbie-mixing-highly-dynamic-singer-401543/ 1/5
1/10/2021 Newbie: Mixing a highly dynamic singer - Home Recording forums
There's a good first start.
If I keep the levels down, to accommodate the power notes, the soft parts get drowned by the music or, alternately, have no presence.
If I crank up the soft parts, then I overdrive the power notes. Applying a compression filter / plug in has not been fixing that. The power notes still sound distorted.
If I do different sound levels for the quiet parts vs the power notes, they end up having different "presence", which weakens the song and also gets distracting.
Same as above.
If I notch the background music to pop the vocals at the tricky parts, the background music almost entirely drops out because my vocals have a broad resonance on them, so I have to notch too much of the background,
(and otherwise the notching doesn't work).
Try being a little more subtle addressing things 'mixing :>) Fixing -leveling, eq, compression etc- the vocal first makes 'sit in the mix easier. Then move on to building 'a mix around the voc.
My voice is also contralto, which gives my voice its unique sound. I don't want to lose that in the mixing. Although, on the power notes, I understand one can successfully compromise.
Good, don't do that. As a mix progresses you move on to more and more finer points. The previous work makes it easier to see where and what to do next.
If you folks can help me figure this out, there's a huge back load of music I can finish that's going to come tumbling out. That would be joy!
No problem.
Joy!
And welcome to the hunt
Last edited by mixsit; 03-03-2019 at 13:58.
03-03-2019 #3
I suspect there are two small problems in the same department - first you've probably been preoccupied with preventing the input stage distorting on the peaks, and then the quieter sections get a bit lost,
and bringing up their level brings background graininess with it, then trying to make the huge dynamic range fit in the limited range of a song.
Although normally I'm an advocate of recording with no processing, in this case, I'd gently compress what was coming in, and then gently compress again before I start using the channel fader in the mix.
The fader range will be more manageable, but the compressor won't start pumping which is always horrible, but common with ultra dynamic singers. I've also sometimes moved to a dynamic mic with no
proximity effect - like the EV RE20 and RE320 - and then letting the singer use mic technique to pull off on the belts and move in for the gentler parts.
03-03-2019 #4
https://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/mixing-techniques/newbie-mixing-highly-dynamic-singer-401543/ 2/5
1/10/2021 Newbie: Mixing a highly dynamic singer - Home Recording forums
Backing off the mic is working a bit but at extremes, just reduces presence.
BTW Someone suggested double mic-ing. I haven't been able to make that work successfully yet. Mic's seem to each have their own imprint and then I end up having to adjust for that, so just shifting the
problem to a different arena.
in this case, I'd gently compress what was coming in, and then gently compress again before I start using the channel fader in the mix. The fader range will be more manageable, but the compressor won't start pumping
which is always horrible, but common with ultra dynamic singers.
03-03-2019 #5
LOl Yes. I see a vast ocean before me! While just learning to swim.
03-03-2019 #6
03-03-2019 #7
Not familiar with Ableton but the problem is not terribly unusual. Can we assume you are working with some sort of volume automation first and then sending the track to compression? Careful automation
can sometimes get you close enough for further processing to work in cases like this.
03-03-2019 #8
Basically, I've been importing the vocals and then setting them so the power notes are short of peak. With my new mic set up, I don't have to adjust much to do that.
https://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/mixing-techniques/newbie-mixing-highly-dynamic-singer-401543/ 3/5
1/10/2021 Newbie: Mixing a highly dynamic singer - Home Recording forums
Reply With Quote
03-03-2019 #9
03-03-2019 #10
If you are recording the voice alone then you can adjust the takes before mixing so the problem wont happen.
If your tracks are at different volume levels them tweak them separately.
If one track goes low and also loud then add compression to fix that. Or possibly use your DAW to adjust just the low and high parts levels separately.
Page 1 of 2 1 2 Last
Web homerecording.com
Thread Information
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Similar Threads
Advice for the singer if you were mixing this? Replies: 4
By kickingtone in forum Vocal Technique & Processing Last Post: 12-02-2017, 14:07
https://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/mixing-techniques/newbie-mixing-highly-dynamic-singer-401543/ 4/5
1/10/2021 Newbie: Mixing a highly dynamic singer - Home Recording forums
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2021 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2021 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Super PM System provided by vBSuper_PM v1.2.3 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2021 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Copyright © 1995-2017 Audiofanzine except where noted. All Rights Reserved.
https://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/mixing-techniques/newbie-mixing-highly-dynamic-singer-401543/ 5/5