Production & Technical Aid

[steveo00]

Any tips on how to make a vocal sit back into the mix ? other than add reverd and delay.

Much appreciated

[AAJH]

EQ'ing will, although it depends on what mic used to record etc.

• 100Hz - 250Hz - Adds 'up-frontness'
• 250Hz - 800Hz - Muddy area
• 1000Hz - 6000Hz - Adds presence
• 6000Hz - 8000Hz - Adds sibilance & clarity
• 8000Hz - 12000Hz - Adds brightness

[BBM]

Adding to what AJ said, even if you flood your vocal with reverb and so much delay you turn your vocal into an echo chamber, the gain needs to be at the right level.

Once your levels are set, then you can make your vocal sit as far back as you please by slight eq and adding verb/delay.
^verb is the main way to make anything sit further back which I'm sure you already know.

Also, you can play around with phasing using a slight delay 5-15ms on one side (R or L only) to achieve some cool fx.

What are you trying to do that isn't being accomplished with verb?

[MIKEY_C]

eq m8, take some low end off, always helps me abit m8

[chrisssy]

AAJH reply was great!

Me myself finding delays more useful than reverb and takes less space. Sometimes sending the delays to a reverb can sound great!

[Winterval]

The most important thing is to make space for the vocal. If your track is already multi-band compressed, and has lots going on in it, there probably isn't room for a vocal in there. Generally, if a track is interesting enough to work as an instrumental, it's got too much going on to have a vocal as well. Take tracks out that overlap with the frequency range that the vocal sits in.

Secondly, pay attention to the stereo image. In an instrumental, you'd normally have the lead sound panned dead centre. In a vocal track, that's where the vocal has to go, so you need to move the lead line left or right a bit to get it out of the way. Try layering a slightly different sound and panning one left, the other right, to create a gap in the middle for the vocal.

Lastly, and most difficult, is reverb. The acapella probably has a subtle very, very expensive high-end reverb applied to it already. Shoving it, and bits of your track, through a cheap low-end reverb won't make things gel properly, you need to be sympathetic to what's already been done to the vocal, and get as close to the same effect on your track as you can.

[ploughman]

Hi, apart from these great tips people already have been giving I came to think of one more.

If the track contains lots of guitar and/or synth stuff, think about putting a side-chain compressor on these instrument-tracks. The side-chain should be set that way, that when lead vocal is playing it will duck the guitars down just a notch. Maybe -2db is enough. Anyway, try to not overdo it. You shouldn't be able to hear it (ducking) in the final mix. Just that the lead vocal comes in front of the mix.