Drake- Draft Day Vocals Processing

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reemdog23

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Would anyone know how or have an idea how Drake (or any Hip Hop Artist) seems to get his vocals to sound very crisp/high end with out having sibilance issue/making the sibilance almost silent without effecting the vocal? I heard his setup involves an C800G and Neve 1073/1081. Is there even a DeEsser being used? Software or Hardware? It's like the S's sound are almost none apparent and he doesn't sound like he has a lisp. When I mix, that always seems to be one of my main issues is making the vocals sound crisp to my liking but the sibilance/making it sound smooth is an issue -____-. I use a DeEsser but the only time I seem to cancel out the S sound to my liking, the vocal sounds like it has a lisp. His vocals don't sound jumpy. It's like they are smoothly placed in/compressed? Any tips would be appreciated!!

PS: A few Hip Hop artist I have read about who use the C800G, from their albums I've heard, they seem to get the crisp vocals without the sibilance ever sounding like it's there and the vocals sounding smoothly tamed if you will. Is it a hardware deEsser/compressor that's achieving this?
 
Is the siblance there on the dry vocal? or is it after some processing the sibilance becomes apparant?
 
i would say not to add the high end if its causing siblance, however it really depends on how bad it was before - like if you are trying to fix a problem that was recorded its very possible that the artist is too close to the microphone.

So its a condenser mic what levels are u recording in at, and hows the dynamic range? do all S'ssss sound bad or only some depending on the volume? Have you tried different directional patterns? Or the attenuation switch?


The following is what im assuming is the problem
if you are adding high end, it leads me to believe that you might not be getting a satisfactory recording to begin with. One way you can add high end into the vocals is to remove its low end, your microphone should have a cut off switch that will allow for this, try experimenting with that in order to get a vocal that is balanced more towards your liking that wont need to have high end added. This might also help with the siblance if you also consider attenuation or distance.
 
theProducer said:
i would say not to add the high end if its causing siblance, however it really depends on how bad it was before - like if you are trying to fix a problem that was recorded its very possible that the artist is too close to the microphone.

So its a condenser mic what levels are u recording in at, and hows the dynamic range? do all S'ssss sound bad or only some depending on the volume? Have you tried different directional patterns? Or the attenuation switch?


The following is what im assuming is the problem
if you are adding high end, it leads me to believe that you might not be getting a satisfactory recording to begin with. One way you can add high end into the vocals is to remove its low end, your microphone should have a cut off switch that will allow for this, try experimenting with that in order to get a vocal that is balanced more towards your liking that wont need to have high end added. This might also help with the siblance if you also consider attenuation or distance.
Click to expand...

Mic: u87ai/Pre:Neve 1073 500 series.

Vocals peak -16 to -12. What do you mean by mic attenuation? No I haven't tried any other directional patterns. Would that help? The plugin DeEssing does help but I don't want it to sound unnatural. I still do want the high end bite though lol. I'm using the Maag EQ4 for the high end (7+ boost at 10k).
 
7 db boost? thats too much man! if you have to eq that radically then theres definately a problem with the recording

Sorry I thought it was a u87 which has all those switches im not sure about the u87ai - different directional patterns might do the trick ! i think its worth a shot, however i cant see if you have a low hz cut off, i think thats a good place to start if you have it because that will reduce the amount of eq u will need on the high end.

You can also simply turn the gain down, maybe its time I ask for a sample so I can hear whats going on? dry and post fx?

The other issue it could be is the recording environment.
 
theProducer said:
7 db boost? thats too much man! if you have to eq that radically then theres definately a problem with the recording

Sorry I thought it was a u87 which has all those switches im not sure about the u87ai - different directional patterns might do the trick ! i think its worth a shot, however i cant see if you have a low hz cut off, i think thats a good place to start if you have it because that will reduce the amount of eq u will need on the high end.

You can also simply turn the gain down, maybe its time I ask for a sample so I can hear whats going on? dry and post fx?

The other issue it could be is the recording environment.
Click to expand...


Here is the response from TDE Mix Engineer Ali himself:


"get rid of that boost at 10K, that might help flatten the vocals. also try turning up your peak reduction on the LA-2, BUT dont over compress. the rest should be cutting certain frequencies when coming into the 1073"


Is this basically saying I need an EQ source before connecting to 1073 or maybe a Hardware DeEsser? I'm looking into a DBX 902 5-7K is killing me.
 
Ahh i meant a sample of the song, in terms of what that engineer means only he will know exactly so its best to ask him. Hes obviously being very specific, im just trying to eliminate problems as opposed to countering them.

I might be able to have an idea of what he means if u send a sample through.
 
Partynextdoor and 40 produced this track. about mixing drake's vocals u have 40, he is a genius. listen his interviw on youtube, he speaks about mixing vocals and producing tracks for drake
 
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