How to push vocals back further into the mix while still keeping them clean???

  • Thread starter Thread starter Love Jones
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Love Jones

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I'm using a Golden Age pre-73 as my pre amp and a m-audio sputnik tube microphone on cardoid. My tracking is very clean and i am getting very good sounding vocals using a compressor and having the threshhold tweaked so my gain reduction is rinning at about 8dbs, a little verb and delay and also a vocal rider to keep things in range. The problem is my vox sound good but sit right on top of the mix! i just have no clue how to push them back further to get them flowing with the beat rather than just sitting on top.

the closest i can show exactly what im going for is an old jdilla song (Jdilla - Shake it Down)
since this is my first post i guess i cant post links so you will have to just youtube it.



if you take a listen im trying to place my vox similiar to where his main vox stand, ignore all the overdubs and adlibs
 
try lowering the volume, and adding a slight air boost with waves pultec eq at like 8k and see if that helps! just make sure to throw some extra de-esser on there
 
Can you show an example of what you have so far? It would help us hear what could be changed.
 
Turning your vocals down and using delays and reverbs will push something back further in the mix... try EQing your delay track itself with a LPF so you don't have so much high frequencies bouncing out.... since high frequencies travel faster than lower ones your ear hears them first and perceives it as being closer.
 
old school approach cut around 2kHz by 3db and the same around 4kHz. then boost around 8kHz by about 3db also.

The first two frequencies are associated with the presence of the sound being eq'd and the last is about keeping some of the high end still there....... and yes each is an octave above the previous.......
 
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Agree with bandcoach, was just about to say....

You want to find frequencies that aren't already being overused(for lack of better wording)and cut and boost using EQ to take advantage of the empty space. Then you can lower the gain without losing the presence that was there. Do that anytime you want something to blend in better but still be acknowledged over everything else(great for hihats and subtle synth sounds, just gotta find an empty freq). Panning helps alot as well.

Also may want to refernce commercially released tracks. Alot of people convince themselves their vocals need to be louder than they actually do for people to understand the words.
 
The other thing that hit me when I reread the op was to apply another old-school approach: put a reverb on the master buss - it will do wonders in gluing everything together

moses said:
Just use PROXIMITY (VST/AU) for the task, it's free!

Proximity | Tokyo Dawn Records
Click to expand...

Shameless self-promo plug - but it is good, not necessarily going to do the required job though
 
Best way is throwing some reverb and bringing down the dry signal.
 
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