Archives for December 2017

Many of you have probably struggled to fit your vocals in with the rest of the mix. There are some tricks you can do to help the final mix. First it is best to mult the vocals into a “verse vocal” and “chorus vocal” tracks and apply different processing to each. Verse vocals may not need much EQ to create contrast, which will create contrast in the arrangement. A second important tip is to use a multi band compressor target specific frequencies so that when the singer sings louder only those will be compressed. EQ and compression go hand in hand to create mixes where all instruments and vocals can be heard.

Key Takeaways:

• Do you ever feel like you’ve spent an awful lot of time mixing your music but you just can’t get the vocals to sound right?
• Sometimes it’s best to mult the lead vocals individually, into a “chorus vocal” and a “verse vocal”.
• You have to know how to use both compression and EQ in order to hear all of the instruments and achieve just the right mix.

“Although EQ is incredibly powerful it doesn’t always work the way you want it to. That’s why EQ and compression go hand in hand to make powerful and punchy mixes where all the instruments can be heard separately the way you want them to sound.”

Read more: http://www.audio-issues.com/music-mixing/two-practical-solutions-to-make-your-vocals-fit-better-in-the-mix/

Master Audio Engineer Sigurdór Guðmundsson has some interesting thoughts on de-essing that he shared in a Facebook group. When asked where he would put de-essers in the process chain, he responded that he would typically put it on a vocal, if he felt that it was needed. That would occur only following EQ and compression. While multiple de-essers don’t immediately come to mind for most, it is something to think about. Serial compression is often used in conjunction with different types of compressors that are compressing more than one dB at a time. For more information on this subject, check out the article by Björgvin Benediktsson: How to Create a De-Esser from Scratch.

Key Takeaways:

• A Facebook question, regarding where to put de-essing in the process chain,triggered an Audio Issues article.
• Columnist, Bjorgvin Benediktsson, admits using multiple de-essing was not something he had considered before.
• Fortunagely, a master engineer and friend explained that he liked to use de-essing both early and late into a an audio.

“Since a de-esser is basically a frequency dependent compressor it makes total sense to think of them the same way.”

Read more: http://www.audio-issues.com/music-mixing/use-serial-de-essing/