Mixing Vocals

Question 1

If a singer drops away from the mic what could be done to create a better balance with the rest of the take?

Answer 1

A boost at around 150hz with a wide Q and some added volume; you can render with this EQ and than add back to the main track, automate the EQ, or potentially use a dynamic EQ

Question 2

How can you deal with vocal plosives post-recording?

Answer 2

Roll-off below 150hz ish, render with the EQ and use a crossfade to blend - or automate the EQ and volume in the same manner

Question 3

Which two types of compressor are best for a more natural sound and why?

Answer 3

valve and opto compressors with slow down and smooth out the sound, resulting in a more organic vocal

Question 4

Which two types of compressor should be used for a clean, punchy and up-front vocal ?

Answer 4

VCA or FET compressors

Question 5

What are three main goals/effects to achieve when compressing a vocal and what settings should be used for each?

Answer 5

Corrective - Peaks should be tamed with a fast attack and fast release
Transient Shaping - the attack can be enhanced if desired with a slow attack and fast release for a more punchy performance; sustain can be increased with a medium-fast release; and a slow release will sit the vocal further back in the mix
Perfomance smoothing - setting the threshold to only work on the loudest parts (moderate-slow att/rel times) will create a more smooth overall performance between different phrases and sections

Question 6

How would you set-up a vocal de-esser with ableton’s standard Compressor?

Answer 6

Select a band-pass filter in the EQ section of the compressor so it will onlyreact to the selected frequencies, use the Preview button to listen, select the frequency range to be ducked out (use a narrow Q factor) by seeing where the peaks are most prominent (use Peak mode), select a fast attack (around 1ms) and fast release (around 15ms) time

Question 7

Describe six areas of a vocal’s frequency range where you may wish to boost or subtract with EQ?

Answer 7

Air Band - add a high shelf boost somewhere above 10khz (depending on Q)
Boost Presence - add a fairly narrow bell-curve boost around 2 - 4.5khz
Anti-Nasal - if a vocal is shrill or nasal try boosting at 5-6khz
Reduce Boxiness - use a bell-curve cut around 4-500hz
Boost Lows - use a low shelf to boost below 400hz
Remove subs - gentle HPF below 60hz

Question 8

What is ADT ?

Answer 8

Automatic Double-Tracking is using a single delay with slight pitch (and phase) modulation to create an artificial double-track for a lead vocal - originaly created by recording a vocal and slowing down the tape speed slightly