| You spent 5 hours getting
"the" mix in the studio. You left your mix "set up" and you went to
play a copy on different systems. You played it on a boombox, in your car and also
on another system. You decided it was "almost perfect" - the voice wasn't
quite present enough. What do you change? |
| The solution may not be as simple
as it sounds. There are a variety of ways that you could accomplish this simple
task. Each way has its advantages and disadvantages. We have divided the
solutions around different signal processing devices. So let's examine this more
carefully: |
NON
PROCESSING SOLUTIONS |
| Not everything you do
needs different signal processing or effects. In the overall picture it is often
best to adopta rule that "less processing is best." |
Bring Up Fader |
| Why It Works |
It brings up the vocal. |
| Advantages |
Doesn't change vocal quality. |
| Disadvantages |
Sometimes bringing up the vocal can cause
other instruments to be harder to hear (because a frequency element in the voce now covers
up another instrument part). Bringing the vocal up can sometimes reduce the
"excitement" of the mix because the instruments are now lower than they were
(relative to the voice). The vocal can sound too loud in spots. |
|
Ride The Fader |
| Why It Works |
Brings up vocal lines that were hard to hear. |
| Advantages |
Doesn't change vocal quality. |
| Disadvantages |
If it is done incorrectly, it can make matters
worse. |
|
|
DYNAMICS
PROCESSING SOLUTIONS |
| The Compression & Limiting
functions on your dynamics processing will turn down the louder passages,
automatically. Now the vocal will not peak as high and it is usually brought up to
be the same peak level as it was before using compression or limiting. This
effectively increases the "average level" making the low-level passages louder. |
Compress The Vocal |
| How It Works |
It effectively brings up the passages that are
being covered up, directly helping each line being heard. |
| Advantages |
It does not "color" or change the
vocal quality. |
| Disadvantages |
The voice can, again, start to cover up
instruments that are low in the mix. Using too much compression tends to "take
the life out" of the vocal and in extreme cases causes a "pumping" (where
you hear noise and leakage come up on low-level passages) or a "restricted"
sound on the loud passages. |
|
Compress The Mix |
Compressing the overall mix tends to make
everything heard better. Sometimes it does one good to process the overall mix with
compression rather than the voice. The disadvantages for overall compression are
much the same as the disadvantages of compressing the vocal only. |
Limit The Mix |
Limiting is an extreme form of compression,
allowing no signal to get above a preset level (called the Threshold). Running your
limiter with the quickest attack time possible and 5 ms. or so release time can reduce
those quick spikes that cause the overall level to be low. Set the "threshold
control" so these peaks are reduced about 6 dB. Now the whole mix can come up
in level. Anytime you increase the overall level, the mix will sound better. Maybe
the vocal really doesn't need adjustment. |
|
EQUALIZATION
SOLUTIONS |
| Equalization changes the level of the
signal for a particular band of frequencies. Applying equalization to a vocal
will tend to accent certain harmonic frequencies over others. |
Boost Presence or
Projection Frequencies |
| How It Works |
The presence frequencies (around 5 kHz) and
projection frequencies (around 3 kHz) will make the vocal cut though the music track. |
| Advantages |
This often allows the vocal to be mixed near
the level of the track, creating "excitement" |
| Disadvantages |
The hyping of these frequencies with EQ makes
the voice less natural. If overdone, the vocal becomes harsh and irritating and can
"thin-out.". |
|
Boost Presence on Entire
Mix |
Even after the mix is complete, boosting 3-5
kHz can bring out the vocal in the mix, along with the possible disadvantages listed
above. |
|
| EFFECTS
SOLUTIONS |
| The use of delay and reverb effects to
"bring out" things in the mix is the most neglected technique in today's
mixing. |
Reduce Reverb While Adding
Delay |
| How It Works |
Reverberation makes things sound more
distant. Reducing reverberation on the vocal will put the vocal more "up
front." Unfortunately this usually causes the vocal to "sound
bare." Adding a Slap or Space Echo to the vocal helps give the character
of more reverberation without sending the vocal further back in the mix. |
| Advantages |
This solution does not change vocal quality. |
| Disadvantages |
The slap or space echo tends to make the
recording sound somewhat like it was made in an outdoor arena, especially if
overdone. The vocal can also become harder to understand. |
|
Customize Effects
Parameters For Vocal |
| How It Works |
Pre-delay on the reverberation makes the vocal
sound more present. Certain programs, such as Hall programs tend to have a high
"pre" or "initial" delay. Other programs, such as
"Plate" and "Room" tend to have shorter pre-delay parameters.
Using the correct kind of reverb program, (Plate or Room on instruments and Hall on
vocals) or adjustment of parameters on the reverb will help bring the vocal forward in the
mix. |
| Advantages |
This works without changing the balance of the
mix. |
| Disadvantages |
If the programs are too dissimilar, it begins
to sound like the vocal and the band are in different rooms. To help with this,
adjust the reverb time parameter of both
units to match or at least be close. Another disadvantage is that it takes an additional
effects unit for the vocal sound. |
|
|
| One of the ways to get a really
good mix is to use all of your shaping tools on the different instruments that make up the
production. There are many other settings that can be used with
EQ/Effects/Dynamics
to achieve the best mix. One of which is the "Exciting
Compressor" and others which you will find in the RID Pro Audio Specialist and EQ
& Mixing study modules in the Alexander Magazine online training service. Find
out more about Alexander Magazine here.
|
