Desperate for Answers: How to send VOCALS for mixing and mastering?

[EvanLagunaz]

I have my song ready to be mixed and mastered and am very confused on how to send the vocals, I know all the "rookie" stuff like export the length of the track so each track is the same length as the whole song etc... but I have other questions that I cant find through googling or youtube.
Just so you know what I am working with, I use garageband for vocals and I sing over a premade beat.

1.) Firstly when exporting vocals, what counts as "1" vocal track?
-For example most mixers say on their sites 2 dollars per additional track after the first 48 tracks, I feel thats a rip off cuz I literally have like 3 vocal tracks I want mixed where I am literally only saying one phrase like "YEAH!". Am I going to have to export each phrase and end up with over 100 tracks to be mixed???

2.) Some of my vocal takes are louder than each other especially when exporting, is the mix engineer going to be able to (or expected to) fix this???

3.) Heres a pic of Verse 1 from my song. Should I export the vocal as 1 track (the full verse) OR export as 2 separate tracks so I am not singing over myself if you know what I mean.

4.) So confused as to how to send vocals, example: should I send verse 1 and verse 2 together as 1 track, the 3 Choruses together as 1 track etc... or should I be sending each vocal take (the blue region in the pick) as 1 track by itself and end up with 100+ tracks to be mixed?

Hope I made sense, any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

[krushing]

1.) Firstly when exporting vocals, what counts as "1" vocal track?
-For example most mixers say on their sites 2 dollars per additional track after the first 48 tracks, I feel thats a rip off cuz I literally have like 3 vocal tracks I want mixed where I am literally only saying one phrase like "YEAH!". Am I going to have to export each phrase and end up with over 100 tracks to be mixed???

48 tracks is quite a lot of vocals. Everything that needs to be processed in a different way or will overlap with other stuff will need to be on separate tracks - but for example, all your "yeahs" can be on the same track.

2.) Some of my vocal takes are louder than each other especially when exporting, is the mix engineer going to be able to (or expected to) fix this???

Yeah, leveling out vocals with compression and/or volume automation is a normal, basic phase of the mixing process.

3.) Heres a pic of Verse 1 from my song. Should I export the vocal as 1 track (the full verse) OR export as 2 separate tracks so I am not singing over myself if you know what I mean.

Export as two separate tracks.

4.) So confused as to how to send vocals, example: should I send verse 1 and verse 2 together as 1 track, the 3 Choruses together as 1 track etc... or should I be sending each vocal take (the blue region in the pick) as 1 track by itself and end up with 100+ tracks to be mixed?

The mixing engineer doesn't want to re-construct your tracks from 100 vocal snippets - send different harmonies, overdubs and such as separate tracks but verse 1 & 2 can be on the same track. The chorus would, again, depend on if it's completely different from the verses (and thus to be differently processed) - if you're singing in a similar fashion throughout the song, there's no need for them to be on separate tracks. And the engineer can always split them if he/she needs to, but obviously if you stack your vocal harmonies together on a single track, then you can't control their relative levels anymore.

 

[GeneraStudios]

Krushing's advice is what you should do. Consolidate any vocal tracks that are the same type of vocals and that should be processed the same. its okay if theirs volume variation since the mixer can automate sections, but you want to make sure anything thats grouped you want to be 90% similar. If you were to send him all these separate snippets he'll spend the first 30 minutes combining everything anyways, most likely.

Another example you could consolidate is if you have an ambient background keyboard in the intro, and then an ambient vocal phrase on the outro. If they both function as background elements, you want them to be mixed roughly the same, and operate in the same pan/frequency space then they can be combined. I would only go this far if you're strapped for cash and really need to get under a track count. Just try to get in the head of someone who has never heard this song before and has to mix it from scratch - what might they want, what information should you give them, and how can you make their lives easier without limiting their creative freedom?

This isn't relevant to what you need to do, but just for some background as to what many people do when mixing... When I record my own vocals I sometimes end up with 50+ vocal tracks, but by the time i'm down they're consolidated down to 10 or so. And then I end up routing them all to 1 or 2 busses. This reduces the amount of decisions you have to keep track of down the line. A similar process happens for most other audio instruments like drums and guitars. Its convenient to record takes on different sets of tracks so you have more flexibility later, but as you finalize parts the flexibility becomes more of a chore to keep up with.

 

[EvanLagunaz]

Thank you so much guys for the answers! On my Pre-choruses, Choruses and Bridge I have lots of vocal layering like 1 Lead vocal, then 1 Left and 1 Right Vocal, so it seems like I have to export each as separate tracks to be mixed then huh?

 

[krushing]

Thank you so much guys for the answers! On my Pre-choruses, Choruses and Bridge I have lots of vocal layering like 1 Lead vocal, then 1 Left and 1 Right Vocal, so it seems like I have to export each as separate tracks to be mixed then huh?

Well, separate tracks - although I don't know how many layers you actually have and what they consist of, since you said "lots" yet only mentioned three. If there's actually lots - let's say tens of vocal tracks per each section - then you can probably pre-mix them as you'd like them to sound and only send off the premixed stems. But if it's just those three layers/tracks, send everything separately. Of course, all this depends on the engineer as well; your best bet is to ask him/her directly.

 

[chris carter]

What Krushing said is on point. I would only add the following:
a) 48 tracks of vocals is not a lot for a pop or r&b song.
b) GENERALLY SPEAKING most PRO mixing engineers don't charge by the track. I suppose there are some, but I've never met them. You might get mix engineers will will charge differently for extreme situations, like a 2 track song (piano and vocal, for example), or a billion tracks. I only have one rule for track count: over 200 tracks or under 200 tracks... and I'm still not likely to charge more for 200 tracks; I just want to find out why there are so many tracks (like is this really a medley of two different songs, for example). I would be dubious about someone who charges a dollar per track over a specific number.

Here's some other helpful info: Chris 'Von Pimpenstein' Carter - Hit Mix Engineer & Record Producer

 

[Keep Movin]

Hit me up keepmovin25@gmail.com I'll mix a song or freestyle free if u like the sound we good ?