1000 Hours of Vocal Mixing Tutorials in 30 Minutes

[00:00] It's been 12 years since my journey

[00:01] started of trying to get a better vocal

[00:04] sound. And in that time, I've probably

[00:05] mixed thousands of hours of vocals

[00:08] alone. In this video, I'm going to

[00:10] condense those thousand plus hours into

[00:12] 24 minutes of the most important things

[00:14] I've learned in getting a professional

[00:16] vocal sound. By the end of this video,

[00:17] you'll know more about mixing and

[00:19] recording vocals than 95% of artists out

[00:22] there, and you won't have to go through

[00:23] the years of frustration to get a good

[00:25] vocal sound like I did. Let's get

[00:27] started. We'll start off with what I

[00:28] assume most of you struggle with most,

[00:30] which is actually mixing vocals and

[00:32] putting plugins on them. Although this

[00:33] is far from the most important thing

[00:35] that you can do to get a better vocal

[00:36] sound. I'll get to that at the end of

[00:38] the video. It's probably one of the most

[00:40] confusing. Let's go over the plugins in

[00:41] the order I normally use to process my

[00:44] lead vocal in. Heads up, the vocals that

[00:45] we'll be working with today is a custom

[00:47] song that I made specifically for this

[00:49] video. First plugin we'll start with is

[00:50] pitch correction. For modern song

[00:52] production, pitch correction is make or

[00:54] break, and getting it right is

[00:56] essential. That being said, pitch

[00:57] correction is very genre and singer

[00:59] dependent. If your singer is mostly on

[01:01] pitch or you're working with a genre

[01:02] like folk or acoustic, you might not

[01:04] need it for this track. It feels more

[01:06] pop, so it makes sense to use it.

[01:11] There are two main types of pitch

[01:12] correction. Manual, which involves

[01:14] individually moving each note that was

[01:16] sung, and automatic, which automatically

[01:19] does it for you. In my opinion, manual

[01:20] gives better results than using the

[01:22] automatic counterpart, but it does take

[01:24] significantly more time to dial in a

[01:26] vocal. I normally use melodine for any

[01:28] manual pitch correction that I'm trying

[01:30] to do. On the other hand, automatic is

[01:32] way faster, but in my opinion, doesn't

[01:33] sound quite as good. For this

[01:35] performance, and the vocal was already

[01:36] sounding mostly on pitch, and for the

[01:38] sake of time, I'm going to be using

[01:39] automatic. In my opinion, the best

[01:41] automatic sounding tuner is Autotune

[01:43] Pro. Let's go on to the next plugin in

[01:45] my vocal chain, EQ. EQ, in my opinion,

[01:47] is the most important plugin that you're

[01:49] going to put on your vocal chain today.

[01:50] And most people have no idea what

[01:52] they're doing with it. Out of all the

[01:53] plugins we'll use today, it's one of the

[01:55] hardest to get right. That's probably

[01:56] because every vocal, every microphone,

[01:59] every different recording needs slightly

[02:01] different EQ settings. Even though

[02:02] that's the case, there are some EQ moves

[02:04] I find myself regularly doing regardless

[02:06] of the singer and microphone that's

[02:08] being used. Those moves are getting rid

[02:10] of the bass below 100 hertz,

[02:13] adding a high shelf around 8K and

[02:15] boosting the shine and then dipping some

[02:17] of the mud around 250 to 750 Hz.

[02:23] [Music]

[02:25] This is a good starting point for most

[02:26] vocals. You can do this same type of EQ

[02:28] move with any type of EQ that you

[02:30] choose. Some of my favorites to use are

[02:32] the ProQ4, like I'm using here, or

[02:34] Logic's stock EQ. I also want to point

[02:36] out that the majority of these are

[02:38] subtractive EQ, or in other words,

[02:40] taking away the sound. This cut and this

[02:42] dip here. This is the opposite of

[02:43] additive EQ, which would be adding or

[02:45] boosting frequencies. I find that

[02:47] subtractive EQ tends to sound more

[02:49] natural, whereas additive EQ can add

[02:51] some colors to the sound, which can be

[02:52] pleasant. When I want to add those

[02:54] colors to the sound, I often turn to

[02:56] analog emulations of EQ to get the job

[02:58] done. The first plugin that I'll use is

[03:00] a simulation of a Ptech EQ. I often use

[03:02] this to boost the highs of a vocal above

[03:04] 8k. I'll go up to 10k here. Turn up the

[03:07] bandwidth and boost up

[03:10] [Music]

[03:19] just more present overall. I'll also use

[03:20] the same technique to boost to low end.

[03:22] I find that both of the boosts just have

[03:24] a nice sound to them. The other analog

[03:26] EQ I find myself using a lot is the

[03:28] emulation of an SSL EQ. I used this

[03:30] exact EQ setting for years on my vocals

[03:33] and I stole it directly from a mixer

[03:34] called Leslie Braithweight from a video

[03:36] I watched about 8 years ago. Taking some

[03:38] of the filter up to get rid of the body.

[03:40] Taking more of that low end down.

[03:42] Dipping some of the mids around 500 htz.

[03:45] Dipping again at 4,000 htz and then

[03:48] boosting at around 9k with a high shelf.

[03:50] These settings I'm giving you are great

[03:52] starting points for vocals, but you're

[03:54] always going to get better results when

[03:55] you can train your ears to identify the

[03:57] frequencies that need help. Here's one

[03:59] concept that really helped me with EQing

[04:01] and just mixing in general. This tip has

[04:03] to do with the mid-range of any

[04:04] instrument. Think about 1K. It's one of

[04:06] the most important and most heard parts

[04:08] of any song or voice or instrument. And

[04:11] you can think of that mid-range like a

[04:13] rubber band. The more mid-range a voice

[04:15] has, the more it's going to band towards

[04:18] you and feel closer to you as a

[04:19] producer.

[04:20] [Music]

[04:26] The less mid-range a vocal has, the more

[04:28] it will start to blend in and dip back

[04:30] into the rest of the track.

[04:37] You can use this idea to help bring your

[04:39] vocals more forward in the mix. I think

[04:41] a lot of people would be really

[04:42] surprised to hear how much actual

[04:44] mid-range is on the vocals of some of

[04:46] their favorite tracks. Now, let's move

[04:47] on to the next plugin I'll put on the

[04:49] chain, the compressor. Compression can

[04:51] either glue your vocal perfectly or it

[04:53] can completely destroy it. And the

[04:55] difference is in understanding these

[04:56] tips I'm about to share. The first one

[04:58] is that different compressor types color

[05:00] the sound differently. My favorite type

[05:02] of compressor to use for vocals would be

[05:03] the FET type compressor, which most

[05:05] famously is the 1176. It adds a distinct

[05:08] flavor that I've come to love and expect

[05:10] when I hear my vocal tracks. I almost

[05:12] always use as fast of release as it can

[05:14] go, a pretty fast attack, and then a 4:1

[05:18] ratio.

[05:20] [Music]

[05:22] I also tend to chain multiple

[05:23] compressors together to get the best

[05:25] sound possible. Having multiple

[05:27] compressors in a row will reduce the

[05:29] workload of any one compressor and often

[05:31] leads to more natural sounding results.

[05:33] After adding compression, you might

[05:34] notice that you'll have some more lows

[05:36] and low mids that you might want to get

[05:37] rid of. You can always go back to the EQ

[05:39] from before and adjust accordingly.

[05:43] In this case, I think it sounds pretty

[05:44] good. The vocal is sounding way better

[05:45] in the mix, but there are still a couple

[05:47] peaks in the vocal that need to be

[05:48] tamed, that are being overcompressed,

[05:50] which brings me into my next point. Get

[05:52] out my iPad for this. With more

[05:53] compression, oftent times the voice will

[05:55] be more upfront and easily able to be

[05:58] heard. But it also comes at a cost of

[06:01] less energy. On the other hand, a vocal

[06:04] that's less compressed will be farther

[06:07] back and it will have more of that

[06:10] original energy of the recording. This

[06:12] is often an important trade-off to keep

[06:14] in mind. The more you compress

[06:15] something, the less of that original

[06:17] performance energy that will have, but

[06:19] the less you compress something, the

[06:21] less it will be able to be understood.

[06:23] For most modern mixes, you'll probably

[06:25] want to lean more towards more

[06:27] compression than anything. But there are

[06:28] ways to have the best of both worlds

[06:30] where you can get both energy and

[06:33] compression at the same time. And that

[06:35] has to do with gainstaging, which let me

[06:37] show you now. Notice these peaks in my

[06:38] vocal here. These parts are going to get

[06:40] compressed way more than the smaller

[06:42] parts of my vocal. To help fix that, all

[06:44] you have to do is highlight the selected

[06:46] vocal and then take it down in terms of

[06:48] gain. You can either do this in the

[06:49] region editor in Logic like this, or you

[06:52] can automate everything.

[06:54] I personally like to use the first

[06:56] method and create different parts for

[06:58] the regions because I can visually see

[06:59] how loud those vocal waves are getting.

[07:02] But actually, automating gain will

[07:03] probably give you more fine-tuned

[07:04] results. Let's move on to another

[07:06] specific type of compression that can

[07:08] really help save a badly recorded vocal.

[07:10] That would be the DSer. A DSER is

[07:13] basically a compressor that only targets

[07:15] a narrow range of high frequencies,

[07:17] specifically where S's and siblins live.

[07:19] Mics tend to exaggerate these siblance

[07:21] sounds while recording. They can make

[07:23] your vocals sound very sharp or painful.

[07:25] And if you're boosting the top end, like

[07:27] I recommended with my EQ, this can

[07:29] become even more of a problem. TSRs are

[07:31] super easy to set up and they're very

[07:32] easy to hear the difference between A

[07:34] and B. Notice when it says show that

[07:36] this DSER starts working, let's turn it

[07:38] off.

[07:41] [Music]

[07:43] It's really subtle, but that small

[07:45] taming can actually help a lot. This

[07:47] particular vocal recording doesn't have

[07:48] a lot of sibilent sounds, but others

[07:50] definitely might. Just like with normal

[07:52] compressors, you can chain DSERS for a

[07:54] more natural effect. You can also affect

[07:56] where they are in the vocal chain, which

[07:57] will give you slightly different

[07:59] results. My favorite thing to do for an

[08:01] especially sibilent vocal is to have one

[08:03] go before my EQ and then one sandwich my

[08:07] EQ and compression. That means before I

[08:09] boost anything, I'm dsing a little bit

[08:10] and then I'm also dsing after my

[08:12] compression to make sure that that S

[08:14] isn't so harsh. Let's go over the next

[08:16] types of plugins I'll put in my voice,

[08:17] reverb and delay. Let's start with

[08:19] reverb. Most people use reverb to add

[08:21] space, but if you want your voice to

[08:23] sound expensive, you'll need to

[08:25] understand its nuances. There are two

[08:27] main ways of putting reverb on a track,

[08:29] either directly on the track or using a

[08:31] bus track. Both have pros and cons.

[08:33] Putting it on the track itself uses more

[08:35] processing power, but it can be faster

[08:37] and it can be easier to dial in and

[08:39] automate. Busing reverb oftent times

[08:41] requires less processing power. You have

[08:43] more control over the reverb bus itself,

[08:46] but it does take a little bit longer to

[08:48] set up. I tend to use a combination of

[08:49] both techniques on my vocal. If I'm

[08:51] working with a lead vocal or an

[08:52] instrument track, I have no problem just

[08:54] throwing on a reverb track by itself on

[08:57] there. Oftentimes, I'm trying to work as

[08:58] creatively and as fast as possible so

[09:00] that my ideas don't slip down the drain.

[09:02] However, for background vocals or

[09:04] something with 50 plus tracks, I'm

[09:06] absolutely going to use bus reverb so I

[09:09] can save on processing power. Let me add

[09:10] one of my favorite reverbs here directly

[09:12] to the lead vocal, the Valhalla Vintage

[09:14] Verb.

[09:19] The more reverb a vocal has, the farther

[09:21] back it feels in the mix. Let me go back

[09:23] to my iPad to demonstrate this. If you

[09:25] are right here and you're in a hallway

[09:28] and you hear a sound really close to

[09:31] you, somebody's whispering into your

[09:33] ear, you probably won't hear any reverb.

[09:35] There's not going to be any extra room

[09:36] reflections that bounce around and then

[09:38] go back to your ear. However, on the

[09:40] opposite side of the spectrum, if

[09:41] somebody's yelling at you from across

[09:43] the room, that sound is going to travel

[09:45] forever until it hits your ears, which

[09:47] is also going to introduce a lot of

[09:49] extra noise reflections and a lot of

[09:51] reverb. That being said, this would be

[09:53] more reverb farther away, less reverb

[09:57] right up close. Hopefully that makes

[09:59] sense. Now, let me show you how I might

[10:01] add reverb with a bus track. What's cool

[10:02] about the bus track is it lets me add

[10:04] any number of effects after the reverb

[10:06] to further change the sound. For

[10:07] example, a common one is to use an EQ to

[10:10] really hone in what frequencies the

[10:12] reverb is happening on.

[10:13] [Music]

[10:20] But this also works for other effects

[10:21] like distortion, an amp, chorus,

[10:24] flanger. To make a reverb feel more like

[10:26] reverb without mudding up the vocal, I

[10:28] like to automate the parts in between

[10:30] when the vocal isn't singing. You can

[10:32] either do that by automating the amount

[10:33] of send you have on the bus track like

[10:35] up or down or you can automate the

[10:37] individual plugin itself which is why I

[10:39] think the individual plugin shines. You

[10:42] can see I'm just automating it so that

[10:43] every time there is an empty space the

[10:45] reverb comes in.

[10:47] [Music]

[10:54] You're just filling in that space to

[10:56] give it that much more polish. The best

[10:58] vocals in the world are doing this all

[11:00] manually. and manually is the best way,

[11:02] just like with pitch correction. But if

[11:03] you're feeling lazy, you can do an

[11:05] automatic version of this by adding a

[11:07] side chain compressor to your reverb

[11:08] bus. Make sure that lead is selected in

[11:10] side chain on the compressor.

[11:14] This compressor is set up in a way that

[11:16] when the voice stops, that reverb will

[11:18] come in. It's turning it down minus 10,

[11:20] and then when it stops singing, it

[11:22] won't, and you'll hear it better. In my

[11:24] opinion, it doesn't sound quite as good

[11:25] as the manual way, but it can really

[11:27] save you some time if you just throw

[11:28] this on. Let's move on to the next

[11:30] plugin, delay. Even though delay is a

[11:32] really popular effect, most people don't

[11:34] take advantage of some of the best ways

[11:35] of using it. Delay and reverb are very

[11:38] much cousins. You can do all of the same

[11:39] techniques that I just mentioned with

[11:40] reverb with delay. Anytime I'm using a

[11:42] delay, I almost always like to put it

[11:44] before a reverb so that my delay isn't

[11:46] dry. In this case, if I put delay

[11:48] directly on the track, I'll use h delay,

[11:50] which is one of my favorites. I'll put

[11:51] it before the vintage verb

[11:56] on a bus track. oftentimes that that

[11:58] means me making a completely new bus

[12:00] specifically for delay and then adding

[12:02] its own reverb plugin after the fact to

[12:04] make sure that it's not dry. The

[12:06] majority of time I use delays, I band

[12:07] pass the outcoming signal. Really easy

[12:09] to do on an H delay like this. You just

[12:11] take the highp pass, pull it up, and the

[12:13] low pass, pull it down. This helps gets

[12:14] it out of the way of the main lead vocal

[12:16] so that you can have both living in the

[12:18] same space but still be able to

[12:19] understand. teach you how to make better

[12:22] vocals. Just like reverb, probably to

[12:24] get the best results and fill in some of

[12:26] these spaces is to automate the delay to

[12:28] fill them in. And just like reverb, you

[12:29] can use that side chain compression

[12:31] method to do the same thing. If delay is

[12:33] a big part of the track sound, I'll

[12:35] often make its own track just for the

[12:37] delay itself. Sometimes what you hear as

[12:39] a delay is actually just multiple tracks

[12:41] stacked on top of each other with each

[12:43] vocal pasted exactly where I want it.

[12:45] This just gives me more control. For

[12:46] example, I might do that with this lead

[12:48] here. take the last part here and move

[12:50] it over.

[12:52] [Music]

[12:57] And sometimes I'll record a completely

[12:58] different part with background vocals

[13:00] that I'll sing on over that. I'll get

[13:01] more into background vocals in a little

[13:03] bit, but I thought I'd point that out.

[13:05] And here comes one of my most favorite

[13:06] tips when it comes to using delay.

[13:08] Delays are a fantastic replacement for

[13:11] reverbs when it comes to a busy mix. If

[13:13] you have a lot of elements going on

[13:14] already and your mids and your low mids

[13:17] are already very muddy and convoluted,

[13:19] then it's really a good idea to use

[13:21] delay instead of reverb. It will still

[13:23] push back the sound like you want it,

[13:25] but it won't muddy up the mix nearly as

[13:27] much. You can do that with an H delay

[13:28] right here. Instead of using the host

[13:30] and syncing up with your BPM, go into

[13:32] milliseconds, drop it down a little bit,

[13:34] turn up the feedback, and then use the

[13:36] dry wet knob to taste.

[13:39] [Music]

[13:45] that's got absolutely no reverb on it at

[13:47] all. The only thing that's driving it

[13:48] backwards in the mix is the delay

[13:50] itself. This is a really good idea if

[13:52] you have super busy mixes. It also goes

[13:54] right in hand with the next point of my

[13:55] delay. If you want to hear the delay of

[13:57] your vocal, take it off of syncing with

[14:00] your BPM. If you want your vocal delay

[14:02] to blend in with the rest of the track,

[14:03] then sync it to your BPM. 90% of the

[14:05] time I'm syncing it to the BPM, but that

[14:08] can be a really helpful hint. If you

[14:10] want to actually hear your delay better,

[14:11] then take it off and just use

[14:13] milliseconds and put it to some random

[14:15] value. Now, if all of these plugins and

[14:17] things I'm talking about still seem

[14:19] overwhelming, I've created a free vocal

[14:21] preset that you can download in the link

[14:22] below. If you download them, all you

[14:24] have to do is click on them and they

[14:25] will automatically load in. It will

[14:27] automatically change the sound for you,

[14:29] which is really cool. using some of

[14:30] these same concepts I mentioned. You

[14:32] don't have to worry about buying any of

[14:33] these plugins I have here because it

[14:34] only uses stock plugins. Go check them

[14:36] out in the description below. Now, let

[14:38] me do a quick fire round of some of the

[14:40] other cool vocal effects I like to use.

[14:42] First up, the flanger. Flanger is great

[14:44] for adding width, and it's also a good

[14:46] replacement if you didn't actually

[14:47] record doubles or triples.

[14:50] [Music]

[14:53] The next up would be format shifters,

[14:55] which I always put before any of my

[14:57] other plugins. Foreman shifters are

[14:59] great for changing the sound of a voice

[15:00] without actually changing the pitch.

[15:03] [Music]

[15:08] Next up would be sampled vocals. Take a

[15:09] portion of your lead vocal and drag it

[15:11] to an empty track and put it into a

[15:13] quick sampler. Turn on slice, take the

[15:15] sensitivity down of the transients, and

[15:17] all of a sudden you can play these chops

[15:18] on the piano.

[15:24] can be a super cool and creative way of

[15:26] finding some cool ideas for vocal chops.

[15:28] Next up would be LFOs. LFOs are really

[15:31] great for emulating side chains or

[15:33] rhythmic stutter effects like this.

[15:38] Next plugin I talk about is creative

[15:39] busing. Just like with our bust reverbs,

[15:41] we can add some different effects to

[15:43] them to get some interesting sounds. For

[15:44] example, we might be able to add a clip

[15:46] distortion or after that we could even

[15:48] add a guitar amp. Now any of the reverb

[15:50] that's going through this bus is going

[15:52] to go through Valhalla room. It's going

[15:53] to be side chained. Then it's going to

[15:55] be distorted and then gone through an

[15:56] amp.

[16:01] This allows for a lot of really creative

[16:02] effects and can give some cool results.

[16:04] Next up would be reversing vocals. Take

[16:06] the first part of your lead vocal, drag

[16:08] it to a new track, turn on reverb, and

[16:10] crank that thing up on the individual

[16:12] track itself. Bounce it in place. Extend

[16:14] the tail. Double click on it. Go to

[16:15] functions. Reverse. And now you have a

[16:17] vocal swell that you can put right

[16:19] before your drop, that's going to sound

[16:20] cool.

[16:21] And if you put it right before your

[16:23] actual drop, it's going to just hit even

[16:24] harder.

[16:27] [Music]

[16:28] This next tip has to do with distortion.

[16:30] Distortion is a heavier version of

[16:32] saturation and can add grittiness and

[16:35] energy to a vocal. Cranking it up is

[16:36] great for genres like rock, punk, or

[16:39] metal.

[16:42] But I do want to point out that it won't

[16:43] emulate the actual distortion that a

[16:45] singer needs to sing to get the best

[16:47] results. This is without Saturn, but me

[16:49] singing with a slightly distorted tone.

[16:53] You can hear that there. But sometimes

[16:55] what I'll do is I'll only distort the

[16:56] high end if I want some extra presence.

[16:58] So I'm just going to distort this part

[16:59] here. Take this part and turn it

[17:01] completely down.

[17:04] It's leaving that low and mid-range nice

[17:06] and untouched, but it's really

[17:07] distorting that high end. The lead vocal

[17:09] is maybe the most important thing to

[17:11] worry about when it comes to your vocal

[17:12] tracks. But there are some other things

[17:14] that really make a difference as well.

[17:15] Let's move on to the next important

[17:16] topic that can really transform your

[17:18] vocal sound. Doubles. Doubles and

[17:20] triples are when you have the singer

[17:21] record the same part multiple times. You

[17:23] can take these separate recordings and

[17:25] pan them one hard left and one hard

[17:27] right and they will create a new width

[17:29] to your vocal. It sounds so much better

[17:31] with doubles and triples if you're

[17:32] trying to have more energy. To get

[17:35] started with these doubles, I'll often

[17:36] copy and paste the same exact settings I

[17:38] have from my lead vocal onto my doubles.

[17:41] Then I'll tweak the processing slightly

[17:43] depending on what I want. The two most

[17:45] common things I'll do is tune the

[17:46] doubles and triples to be slightly more

[17:48] tuned than the actual vocal itself and

[17:50] then to take away some of the high-end

[17:52] information with a high shelf EQ. That

[17:55] just helps the lead vocal shine out even

[17:56] more.

[17:57] when you do what you're supposed to. If

[18:00] for some reason that you didn't record

[18:02] those doubles, you can fake them by

[18:04] duplicating the lead vocal track twice,

[18:06] duplicating it again twice, going to the

[18:08] track, going to fine-tune, and going up

[18:10] plus 15 on one track and minus5 on the

[18:13] other track, panning one right, and one

[18:15] left. And this is going to simulate that

[18:17] same effect.

[18:21] Notice it still sounds weird and that

[18:22] the actual double and triple recorded

[18:24] takes are always going to sound better.

[18:26] If you need even more energy, I'd

[18:27] recommend recording other vocal parts

[18:29] either an octave up or an octave down.

[18:32] Check out what this sounds like.

[18:36] If you want a more detailed high-end,

[18:38] you can do the same exact technique, but

[18:40] instead of singing normally, you can

[18:41] whisper into the microphone. Check out

[18:43] what this sounds like.

[18:47] It adds a nice presence to the mix

[18:49] without being overbearing. I don't do

[18:51] whisper vocals for every track, but for

[18:52] certain genres, I find it works really

[18:54] well, like pop. If you want your vocals

[18:56] to be less noticeable and overall

[18:58] tighter sounding with the actual lead

[19:00] vocal itself, I recommend syncing them

[19:02] up in time with the lead vocal. This can

[19:04] be a time- inensive process because

[19:05] you're going to take every single

[19:06] transient and move it to where it needs

[19:08] to be. But once you do, it's going to

[19:10] give you a good result. Let me show you

[19:11] what it sounds like with these timed up.

[19:14] [Music]

[19:16] And

[19:19] without those small differences in

[19:21] timing make the background doubles feel

[19:22] a lot beefier. So, if you're going for a

[19:24] tighter, more polished sound, you'll

[19:26] probably want to sync them all up. I

[19:27] also want to point out that I almost

[19:29] never touch my lead vocal in terms of

[19:31] rhythm. I just am looking for a good

[19:33] solid performance and recording to

[19:34] start. There's a decent chance that I'm

[19:36] not exactly on the grid, but I find that

[19:38] getting too close to the grid just can

[19:40] sound a little bit robotic and

[19:42] unnatural. And it can sound especially

[19:43] unnatural if I have to do that in

[19:45] post-production and move every single

[19:47] transient. Now that we have our lead

[19:48] vocals done and our doubles done, let's

[19:50] go over some background vocals.

[19:52] Background vocals often go unnoticed,

[19:54] but without them they completely change

[19:56] the feel of a mix. While recording

[19:58] background vocals, I often recommend

[20:00] using a different mic completely. In

[20:02] this case, I used a SH SM7B. Most of the

[20:04] time when you're recording lead vocals,

[20:06] you'll use a large diaphragm condenser,

[20:08] which has a nice sparkle to it. To make

[20:10] sure your background vocals stay in the

[20:11] background, it's important to use

[20:13] something that is a warmer sounding

[20:14] quality, like this dynamic microphone.

[20:18] [Music]

[20:23] If you're recording harmonies and you're

[20:24] ever in doubt of what to sing, just find

[20:26] the actual chords that are being played

[20:28] in the instrumental and then sing each

[20:30] triad or note of the chord itself on the

[20:33] lyrics. That's what I did for these

[20:34] harmonies. Check it out.

[20:41] Also, keep in mind the more background

[20:42] vocals that you actually record, the

[20:44] more options you'll have for things like

[20:46] panning and the beefier your sound will

[20:48] be. for the same exact reasons as I

[20:50] mentioned before when syncing up the

[20:52] vocals to the lead vocal. When dealing

[20:53] with a lot of background voices or

[20:55] harmonies like this, I'll often group

[20:56] them into one group and then process

[20:58] them together. In this case, the only

[21:00] thing that I put on them was an OTT,

[21:02] which stands for over-the-top

[21:03] compressor, which is a great free

[21:04] multiband compressor and a channel EQ

[21:09] already sounds pretty good, and I didn't

[21:10] have to throw a thing on any of these

[21:12] except autotune. My last tip for

[21:14] background vocals is that they can also

[21:16] just be there to help with the

[21:17] instrumental itself. You can use them to

[21:19] sing along with leads or other synths or

[21:21] even guitars to help give them extra

[21:23] texture or flavor. Or they can be the

[21:25] actual synth line themselves just like I

[21:27] did in this song. Check it out. pitch

[21:29] correction.

[21:32] [Music]

[21:43] You can feel free to get really creative

[21:44] with it, but the amount of times that I

[21:46] use my voice as an instrument itself is

[21:48] way higher than you might think. Okay,

[21:50] so we've got all of our vocal tracks

[21:51] done. Now, it's time to mix them. Let's

[21:53] talk about mixing your vocal track and

[21:55] balancing it volume-wise with the rest

[21:57] of the instruments going on. I used to

[21:58] think that vocals should just be on top

[22:01] of the mix. But then I learned some of

[22:03] these techniques and it really helped me

[22:05] out. First, I recommend mixing into a

[22:07] limiter. The limiter will affect the

[22:08] overall volume relationship between the

[22:10] vocal and the rest of the instruments.

[22:12] And if you're going to have it on the

[22:13] master in the end, you might as well

[22:14] throw it on here so you can hear what

[22:16] it's going to sound like.

[22:19] Dial in the right volume for your voice

[22:21] compared to the rest of the instruments.

[22:23] you should mix in mono. It really helps

[22:24] you understand how the rest of the track

[22:26] is helping to sit together. If you're

[22:27] mixing on headphones only, you can

[22:29] always add a gain plugin to the end of

[22:30] the stereo output and then turn it on

[22:32] and you'll mix in mono.

[22:35] [Music]

[22:40] Once you're in mono, you can turn down

[22:42] the volume of your monitors so that it's

[22:44] really, really quiet. You want to barely

[22:46] be able to hear anything. The only

[22:48] things that you should be able to hear

[22:49] poking its head through are the snare

[22:50] drum, the vocals, and the words

[22:52] themselves, and then maybe the kick

[22:54] drum. If that's the case, then you know

[22:55] that you're on to something good with

[22:56] your mix. This is just a good mixing tip

[22:58] in general is to listen to your mix at

[23:00] really low volumes. You can also use

[23:01] this same trick with reference tracks to

[23:04] see how theirs sounds at really low

[23:05] volumes. I find that to be one of the

[23:07] easiest ways to dial in my vocal volume.

[23:09] Another trick I can give is to stop

[23:11] soloing your vocals. Nobody cares if

[23:13] your vocal sounds really good by itself

[23:15] because they aren't listening to it by

[23:17] themselves. They're listening to it with

[23:19] the rest of the track.

[23:21] [Music]

[23:25] And the last tip that I'll do has to do

[23:27] with creating a submix of your

[23:28] instruments and then sidechaining your

[23:30] vocals to that bus. Let me explain what

[23:33] I mean. You can route every single

[23:34] instrument bus of your track into

[23:36] something called a submix except for

[23:38] your vocals. Then on that submix, you

[23:40] can add a side chain so that any time

[23:42] that that instruments hit and the vocal

[23:44] is singing, it's going to dip out some

[23:46] range right here in the mid-range here.

[23:50] [Music]

[23:51] This can just help that vocal sit in the

[23:53] mix rather than on top of the mix even

[23:55] more. Now, let's move on to maybe the

[23:57] least sexy part about getting a good

[23:59] vocal sound. Editing. A good vocal take

[24:01] still needs editing to sound great.

[24:04] Otherwise, it's just going to sound like

[24:06] a demo. When I'm talking about vocal

[24:07] editing, it means going through getting

[24:09] rid of any extra noises, any pops,

[24:12] clicks, taming any pllosives. I know I

[24:15] heard one here. And that's what the

[24:16] process is about. If I have a possive

[24:18] right here, I can just quickly get rid

[24:20] of it by adding a nice little fade

[24:22] there. Already sounding way better.

[24:24] Those small subtle changes like that are

[24:26] going to add up to a big end result. One

[24:27] of the biggest parts of editing I

[24:29] already mentioned before comes from

[24:30] gainstaging the track itself before it

[24:32] hits a compressor. I know I talked about

[24:34] this, but it it really is that

[24:35] important. If you're struggling with

[24:36] some noise in between your vocal takes,

[24:38] you can get rid of it pretty easily with

[24:40] something called a noise gate. But just

[24:42] like most things in production, the best

[24:44] results will come from manually going

[24:45] through and getting rid of any of those

[24:48] parts that might be problems. Another

[24:50] part of the editing process involves

[24:51] comping. Comping is short for compiling,

[24:54] and it means you're going to take your

[24:55] best vocal recorded takes and stitch

[24:57] them together to make one crazy good

[24:59] mega take. You can determine what part

[25:01] sounds best and then select it, and this

[25:02] will give you the best results. You can

[25:04] get really crazy with this, but I

[25:05] recommend trying to keep it simple.

[25:06] Comping say six different vocal takes is

[25:09] a lot easier than coping say 60 vocal

[25:11] takes. And while choosing the best vocal

[25:13] takes, the emotion and the energy of the

[25:15] takes themselves is way more important

[25:17] than the pitch. The pitch is oftentimes

[25:19] one of the easiest things that you can

[25:21] affect later. Whereas energy, there's

[25:24] not a plugin for that. And finally,

[25:25] let's go over the most important part

[25:27] about getting a good vocal sound, the

[25:29] recording itself. Now, I know a lot of

[25:31] you out there are expecting to fix your

[25:33] vocals with plugins and tricks and tips,

[25:35] which is why I started this video with

[25:37] them. But honestly, if you don't get the

[25:38] recording part right, none of what I've

[25:40] told you in this video so far is even

[25:42] going to matter at all. While you're

[25:43] recording, the closer you get to a

[25:45] microphone, the boomier the sound is.

[25:47] The farther you get from the microphone,

[25:49] the thinner the voice becomes. I like to

[25:51] stick somewhere between 4 to 6 in. to

[25:53] keep artists from actually eating the

[25:55] microphone while they record. You can

[25:56] set that up at four to six inches away

[25:58] as a shield and as a blocker. This will

[26:00] also have the added benefit of helping

[26:02] with sibilent sounds and pllosives. I've

[26:04] already mentioned this, but I'll say it

[26:06] again. My favorite type of mic to record

[26:08] vocals is a large diaphragm condenser

[26:10] mic. It has the most modern high-end

[26:12] sparkle out of any type of microphone,

[26:14] and especially for vocals, that is

[26:16] extremely important. I'd recommend

[26:17] buying the best one you can comfortably

[26:19] afford. This next tip might sound a bit

[26:21] strange, but if you record a lot of

[26:23] vocals and produce a lot of your own

[26:24] music, I highly recommend getting a desk

[26:27] arm like this. When I'm not using it, I

[26:29] can move my mic away. And when I am

[26:31] using it, it's plugged in, it's ready to

[26:33] go, and it's right at my mouth, ready to

[26:35] record. I'd also like to add that this

[26:37] desk arm or just having a microphone

[26:39] ready to go allows me to easily record

[26:41] any ideas I have that come out of my

[26:43] head with my voice. If I don't record

[26:45] those ideas, chances are very high that

[26:47] they will just be lost forever in the

[26:49] ether. I'd also recommend that if you're

[26:51] doing a lot of recording that you get a

[26:52] sitst stand desk like what I'm adjusting

[26:55] with right now. Ideally, all of the

[26:57] vocals that you record will be recorded

[26:59] while standing. Standing opens up your

[27:01] lungs more, your diaphragm more, and

[27:03] gives you a more supported sound. That

[27:04] brings me into my last tip that I'll

[27:06] mention while recording. While

[27:08] recording, I recommend actually singing

[27:10] to a drum track rather than a metronome.

[27:12] A metronome or a click track is okay,

[27:14] but actually recording to a live drum

[27:16] beat gets me way more in the pocket or

[27:19] way more on rhythm. This doesn't have to

[27:21] be a complicated drum pattern either.

[27:23] You can drag in a loop from Splice or

[27:25] you can just use Logic's session drummer

[27:27] to automatically generate you one

[27:28] immediately. Now, I know I've covered a

[27:30] ton of information in this video. If it

[27:32] seems overwhelming, that is completely

[27:34] normal. Don't worry. To make things more

[27:36] manageable, I'm going to hop back into

[27:37] my iPad and draw out a hierarchy of

[27:40] things you should be focusing on as an

[27:42] artist to get a better vocal sound

[27:43] because to be honest, most people focus

[27:46] on the wrong things. This is the exact

[27:48] order I think about things to get a good

[27:50] vocal sound in the mix. We're going to

[27:52] start actually first with the master. I

[27:54] think in terms of what affects the sound

[27:56] the least in terms of vocals, master is

[27:59] probably the least. It does compress

[28:00] things a little bit. It makes things

[28:01] louder, but everything else I'm going to

[28:03] talk about is going to affect things

[28:05] more. Second thing that I would put

[28:06] would be mixing. Yes, changing the

[28:07] volume and the relationship between all

[28:10] of the instruments can definitely help

[28:12] your vocals shine, but if you don't have

[28:13] the next three, then things aren't going

[28:15] to matter. Next one I would put would be

[28:17] plugins and effects. Your plugins are

[28:19] more important than the mix. If you have

[28:21] plugins that make your vocals sound bad

[28:24] or muddy, then mixing isn't going to

[28:25] matter at all, and then your master

[28:27] isn't going to change that either. Next

[28:29] up, I would say your mic. Your

[28:31] microphone does make that big of a

[28:33] difference. You can fix a lot of things

[28:35] that you might otherwise not in EQ with

[28:37] just the microphone and the actual

[28:38] recording of it yourself. I'll actually

[28:40] put slash recording cuz I think that

[28:42] kind of goes along with it, like the

[28:44] whole recording process. But the most

[28:46] important thing that you need to get

[28:47] right if you want good vocals is the

[28:50] performance. The performance itself, the

[28:53] singer. But if you don't have a good

[28:55] recording and you don't have a good

[28:57] singer, as much magic as I can pull from

[29:00] my ass, I'm not going to be able to fix

[29:01] it. I really am not. You really need to

[29:03] get this first. I've said this before on

[29:06] the channel, but if Adele were to sing

[29:08] through an iPhone, she would probably

[29:10] still sound great. I can do everything

[29:12] else and it would be fine because she's

[29:14] amazing at singing. And that's really

[29:16] what you need to hear. Sometimes the the

[29:19] truth hurts, but yes, if your vocal

[29:21] tracks aren't sounding like you want

[29:22] them to, maybe your rhythmic timing

[29:24] isn't there, maybe your falsetto sounds

[29:26] bad, maybe your chest voice sounds weak,

[29:29] maybe your tamber, your vocal tone isn't

[29:31] there. These are all things that you can

[29:33] learn about and get better at. The more

[29:35] you sing, the more you do, the better

[29:37] you get. Probably talked about plugins

[29:39] and all this jazz jazz and the other for

[29:42] so long, but I'm I'm telling you, if if

[29:44] you get the singer right, everything's

[29:45] going to change for you. There it is.

[29:46] everything I've learned about mixing

[29:48] vocals since I've started 12 years ago.

[29:50] Remember, you can grab that free vocal

[29:52] chain I mentioned in the video earlier

[29:54] in the description below. If you liked

[29:55] this comprehensive video on mixing

[29:57] vocals, I think you're really going to

[29:58] like this one I made on music

[29:59] production, which you can find right up