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I am having trouble getting the vocals to sound right in my mixes. I have decent compressors, reverbs etc but really don't know how to set them up properly. I was wondering if there is a good plug in that would allow me to scroll through some presets that were specially created for vocals, to take away some of the guess work.

It doesn't have to be a free plug-in, but it can't be incredibly expensive either.

Thanks

Billy

Most VST plugs are going to have some sort of preset list. I use a lot of Waves stuff as I have the Diamond bundle.

Presets don't really work that great a lot of the time. You'd think it takes away the guesswork, but voices are sooo sooo different, and there's so many different styles of music, that really all your doing is replacing your best guess with a dumb guess by someone who's never even heard your music.

So...

Cirrus's Mangled and Idiotic guide to Vocals.

Compression

How much to compress depends on the density of the mix. If it's a modern rock type thing, you might be completely flattening the voice to make it sound right. If it's a sparse ballad, maybe nothing. It depends so much on the voice too - A good performance with appropriate mic technique etc might not need anything.

Firstly, vocals often have different dynamics between verse and chorus. If there are quiet passages and loud ones, it often helps to move them onto seperate tracks then route them to a common group track. That way you can process them individually but then add common effects to the group insert positions.

Before you do anything, just make the best static mix you can with no processing. Get the vocal to a decent volume, then get a compressor going.

Set the attack so the consonants etc at the start of each word/ line come through clearly. You want them to grab you. I tend to find it's in the 25-40ms range, listen to words that start with T, S or P to make sure they're not jumping out too far or getting squashed too much. If they're too punchy, lower the attack time, and lengthen it if they're too squashed.

The release depends on the voice and how busy the vocal line is. If it's got a few long words and sustained notes, you can have a longer release, maybe 60ms+, if it's a really busy vocal like say a Chili Peppers song you want a shorter release so that the compressor has "let go" by the time the next syllable comes in. Maybe somewhere in the 30ms range.

The ratio and threshold are down to taste, but typically I'll start with 4:1 and bring the threshold down until the quiet parts of the singing just brush the gain reduction meter, and anything louder has the compressor controlling it. Then I'll use makeup gain to bring the Vocal track back up to a comparable volume to the bypassed sound.

From there, I'll adjust the settings as the mix evolves.

De-essing

Some voices don't need it, some need loads. You can minimise the problem, oddly enough, by not using a pop shield and choosing the right mic. Pop shields seem to ruin the S's. Instead of a pop shield, try taping a pencil vertically down the centre of the mic, right in front of the diaphragm. That breaks up the pop sound quite well as long as you stay a sensible distance from the mic.

EQ

There are no rules here. It totally depends on the sound you've recorded and the mix you're trying to fit it into. Ideally you want to do all your EQing by picking the right mic for the voice, but you may find yourself wanting to adjust things in the mix. As an example, with my singer I often find myself making quite narrow notch filter cuts between 2.5 and 4K because he's got a smoker's voice and there are some gravelly overtones there that, when removed, really smooth him out. I might HPF his voice too pre-compression so that bassy sounds like Ps and Bs don't grab the compressor unnaturally. Then I might do a lift around 10 to 12K to put a bit of air on his voice if I've used a dynamic mic like our trusty SM7.

Reverb

Be VERY careful with reverb, because it tends to muddy things up and sound cheap/dated/amateur. When you do use it, I often find it best to set it up on a send so you can automate the volume going into it and keep it subtle except in the very loud/ busy parts. I tend to find that early reflections don't work so well, thinner sounds are better, and pre-delay is important to keep the vocal at the front and reverb tucked neatly behind.

Delay

I much prefer delays for adding ambience to vocals. I like analog voiced ones which you can high and low pass so they sit in their own space of the mix rather than competing with the vocal. If you cut everything below say 600hz and above 3k, and use analog voicing/ modulation to change the texture, you can get some really ghostly ambience that doesn't detract from the directness of the vocal. Also, panning the delays out works well. I tend to use LCR mixing which leaves the soft pan positions open for this kind of stuff.

Automation

THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT! Once you've got your vocal compressed and a great static mix going on, automate the volume of the vocal track. Ride it, move that fader, static mixes are boring and you want to use the vocal level to control the excitement of the mix and keep it sitting right relative to the music. Get your compression going to control the energy content of the track, use eq to fit it and the music together, use reverb/delay to add depth and ambience, but this is the stage where you actually make the vocal sit right.


All the other stuff

Double tracking, detuning extra tracks, autotune/melodyne, they're all tools too which are useful if a single vocal by your vocalist isn't quite strong enough or if you're shooting a particular sound. Don't go over the top with them though. They're always best kept subtle because our ears and brain are very very attuned to hearing and judging very subtle nuances in voices - it's how we communicate. So it doesn't take much to make us think a voice sounds strange compared to say, putting loads of flanger on a guitar track.

cirrus why the fuck havent you posted this as a thread before?

I just get that thing where someone asks a question about recording/mixing and a little light goes off in my brain - "I have opinions on this matter."

Plus work is always boring and forums are but a click away.

Poor Billy, I think I might have shit on his thread.

Billy, try the Kjaerhus Gold plugins, I love those. They used to cost money but looks like they're not available any more so I guess you could pick them up from anywhere... They do a channel strip, great compression, EQ, etc on that.

no no... dude!! That's a lot of good information, thank you!!!! I forgot about this thread but I will definitely try some of the tips here. Thanks a lot brother.

Great info there Cirrus, I'll have to give it a proper read later.

Billy, I think the ezmix plugin would suit you if you just want something that has presets you can compare to.

I'm just a hobbyist, but I like to do parallel fx on vocals. for example, put a send to another track that you use for an airy delay sound (eq+delay) and leave the main track dryer (eq, comp, reverb) etc.

I want to move to England and start a recording studio with Cirrus.





And fly planes with him.

nakedzen wrote:I'm just a hobbyist, but I like to do parallel fx on vocals. for example, put a send to another track that you use for an airy delay sound (eq+delay) and leave the main track dryer (eq, comp, reverb) etc.

Deffo the best way to do it, then it's easy to process the delays/ pan + automate their volume. Sometimes it's cool to have the ambience swell behind long notes, then cut it back when things get messy.

Markdude wrote:I want to move to England and start a recording studio with Cirrus.

And fly planes with him.

Sounds like a plan!

Is there a plugin that will make me suck less at singing? lol

I love sound toys devil lok. Use it on every vocal track I ever did. 2 knobs of lovely.

I use that and rob pappen delay. I use the stock settings on the delay and just adjust the time/wetness (but adjust the dropdown to insert).

I was watching Pensados place (a sound engineer video blog/show) and the dude who mixed Adele and Amy Winehouse rehab etc said something interesting: He said a trick is to send a delay, into a reverb to create a surrounding verb. Gonna give that a try.

A lot of good info on here, loving this stuff.