Mixing Rap Vocals/Choruses - share your simple GO-TO fx chains

A

arybeats

New member
So currently I have come a long way in producing beats. AryBeats's Spotlight page on SoundCloud - Hear the world . Im one of the better producers in my town creative-wise, but when it comes to mixing, mastering, and recording vocals on top of my OWN beats its tough. First off I must say that I know recording vocals on an industry beat which was mixed/mastered perfectly is much easier than recording over a beat I made on my own, but please listen to AryBeats's Spotlight page on SoundCloud - Hear the world and see if my beats arent mixed pretty decently...They're always at 0db, I only use a oxford native limiter on my master track, I was told always to do no compression on pre-processed industry drum-kit drums (808s, kicks, snares, etc), I pan my kicks/808s in the middle, everything else I spread just a little left and right, I eq out low frequencies on hi-hats, hi frequencies on 808s etc.

But when it comes to recording vocals, I want to get more professional. I currently go from a focusrite scarlet interface (with standard focusrite preamp inside) to a senheisser MK4 condenser mic recording mono. First thing I do on the fx chain is throw a standard presonus studio one compressor on there and set the preset to rap vocal, then the next fx in the chain is Izotope Nectar, I use the "Hip-Hop Modern Up Front" preset, other than that I know nothing about what to do to mix vocals well. I know how to use Vocalign to layer multiple tracks, I know how to record ad-libs, I know how to pan 1 track left, 1 track right, and 1 middle for choruses, but everything I read about rap vocal fx chains are filled with complicated numbers and hardware that I either don't have or can't afford. I see people talking about how they do 90% of their mixing before it even hits their DAW, because they have $2500 hardware eq, $1000 preamps etc. Well I dont have that, I would love in simple terms someone to help me with a fx chain (from top to bottom) your go-to fx chain, with presets that are pretty close that I can tweak once I get there. In the music industry too many people say "well it's really what you're trying to do" no sorry Wiz Khalifa sounds the same on every f*king track he records, Eminem's choruses sound the same in almost every track he does when he's the voice of the chorus. There has to be an fx chain with vst effects that have decent presets to help me out, if everyone answers with "well there is no preset, depends on what song and sound your going for" then i'll never learn. I have Waves Mercury Bundle, Sonnox Oxford Native Limiter, and Izotope Nectar. Just also got some Antares vocal effects vsts other than Auto-Tune. Really could use some insightful help on how to go about recording/mixing vocals better. My buddies just made a huge soundproofed studio with a real booth etc and run from a Onyx Firewire Mixer into a Nuemann TLM-102, and I am the only producer they have and I'd like to help them out, but I can only make a 95% good vocal mix. Again my current chain is Compressor Rap Vocal preset, into Izotope Nectar Hip-Hop Modern Up Front Preset, into EQ if needed, and delay if needed. If you guys can give me a top to bottom fx chain you use with simple terms (no hardware chains please, just from mic intio preamp/interface, into DAW, then list software vst effect chain in order with presets that I can go from there and tweak) Thank you so much for taking your time to read this, I am a more hands on type person so reading a thick book on vocal production really won't help me, I have severe ADD when it comes to that kind of learning. Please if you'd be so kind share your FX Chains

---------- Post added at 03:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:21 AM ----------

Wow..164 views so far and no replies. Glad ppl want to give back. Seems like everyone in the music industry wants to keep the keys to true engineering/production success secret once they learn. Us creative minds with little technical knowledge are being held back behind an invisible wall. All I asked for was your go-to fx chains in order and detailed for vocals, whether it be lead rap vox, or a sung chorus/hook. Please share if you'd be so kind.
 
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I always raise my eyebrow in suspicion whenever I hear that a relatively inexperienced hip-hop mixer has Waves Mercury.
At minimum, during Waves' largest and craziest half-price sale, that's a $3,000 investment. At regular price, it seems to vary between $6,000 and $10,000.

If you have that kind of money, I would suggest going to Groove3 and buying a year's subscription for $150. That should be almost nothing to you. Then, watch all of the "mixing" series -- they will teach you how to make vocals sit well in a mix.

For what it's worth, I checked out your beats and they are very well-mixed. Now, you just need to learn to mix vocals.

-Ki
Salem Beats


(EDIT) P.S., Please use more topic paragraphs to separate your sentences. I really had to stay very disciplined to take the time to decipher what you were writing -- it gets fatiguing when there are no breaks in the rhythm. It's like if you went into your step sequencer, drew a bar full of 64th hi-hat notes with no spaces between them, and played this bar on repeat. Not fun.
 
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I just started getting into mixing vocals as well, and I'm sorry to tell you that it really depends from recording to recording because there are so many variable factors when recording vocals especially if you are recording different artists.

Personally, I've just been duplicating my tracks and putting different amounts of compression and reverb (sometimes delay) on the different tracks and either mix them together to find a good sound or find the one that sounds the best to me. My friend told me I need to get Izotope Nectar because it has everything you'll need for vocal processing, so I'll have to check that out soon
 
No one's going to help somebody who's just looking for a handout.... and there's no way to even really help you anyways... because there is no magic preset. If you don't like it, I don't know what to tell you... there's no magic preset in life to begin with. On top of the fact you're asking people to tell you their own special chains, which a lot of engineers aren't going to be comfortable doing... it's like going to a 5 star restaurant and demanding the chef to give you his world famous pasta recipe..... it's not going to happen.

But I'll be nice and tell you my chain for a lead vocal (rap) is usually any 4 to 6 band EQ I feel like using that day, into either an LA-2A styled comp or an 1176 styled comp if I really want to smash it hard... no delays and very little to no reverb on the lead vocal, only on dubs or adlibs.

I'm not telling you any presets because there are none... learn your tools.

Peace.
 
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