Can you put a little more life into the chorus?

[topsoul182]

Heres a band that i just finished mixing, when i sent them a preview mix they said it sounds good but can you put a little more life into the clean vocals?

what do you guys think of it? any tips for improvement?



http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1950013/windowsdone.mp3

 

[JayB]

with that girl singing or whatever? She sounds very short of breath , I would've recommended recording two takes and blending them maybe , or at least a harmony to gel it more in the mix , it sounds kinda karaoke and "on top" of the mix right now. Maybe try the ricky martin trick , duplicate the track twice ,pitch shifting the one up 4-9 cents and down the same amount on the other , and pan them left and right. Definitely add a good amount of delay and reverb or something there also

 

[topsoul182]

we did record it in different takes, its even doubled with the retune speed a little bit different. honestly i think its just a poor performance, but thats the best i could get out of her

 

[topsoul182]

i do agree with you where its sitting on top of the mix, is that an eq problem or reverb problem.

I dont know if this can help you but, its compressed in two stages one with a slow attack with a 4:1 ratio and then again with a fast attack and 10:1 ratio. each taking off about 3-6 db of gain

and with the reverb i have a plate reverb 100% wet on a bus blended with the totally dry bus

 

[JayB]

yeah those vocals definitely need a LOT more delay AND reverb. for the clean voc I say don't blend with a dry bus at all . More reverb and delay should help it sit better , and like you said , maybe try a different eq that isn't so harsh , and maybe high pass and low pass them a little more

 

[topsoul182]

okay ill throw some more delay on there and spend some more time with the eq

how are the screams fitting in with the mix?

 

[JayB]

The screams are definitely much better in the mix than the cleans. Focus on those

 

[topsoul182]

i put a dip of about 3 db in my guitar and drum bus at about 2k and a boost in the vocal bus at 2k at about 3db, do you think its not the right frequency for the clean to vocals to sit in with everything or is it too much of a boost? ive always struggled with getting my vocals to sit with the song

 

[JayB]

Well there's no "right eq" for anything , just mess around until it sounds right to you. Like I said the screams weren't too out of place , the clean vocals are where it falls apart. Drown it in reverb and delay , and post a new version and we'll go from there.

 

[ScottCash]

Dude, try this trick.


Listen to the samples that he posts of the before and after.

 

[topsoul182]

Update-http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1950013/Windows.mp3

i did the pitch shift trick and put a delay on it and lengthened the reverb, i think their sitting a lot better now. What do you think?

 

[ScottCash]

Definitely better. You might want to add even more verb and slight delay to her voice to give it that "ethereal" sound. Also, the guitars could use a little more girth as well. Maybe quad track?

 

[JayB]

yeah , definitely still needs more reverb and delay for that ethereal effect for that chick's voice. It just sounds weird because she seems to cut off some words too early (probably shortness of breath) , and more delay and verb would make it less noticeable

 

[topsoul182]

i cant do any more tracking because they needed the songs done before a tour to minnesota, should i have a long delay or a short delay for that ethereal effect