How to mix metal vocals

[ShellBlast]

My vocals always seem to just combine with the mix and are to low. And when I raise the volume they stand out to much and sound bad. I only have trouble with metal vocals :/

How do you guys get metal vocals to sit in the mix nice?

 

[Dollarosa]

compress the hell out of it, play around with the attack and release until it gives you a more aggressive punch. Also add some tape saturation and small amounts of tap delay (using send). If it can not be heard at high levels, try eq on guitars to get rid of the mud, make sure there isnt too many elements being centered in your stereo image aswell.

 

[BLUElightCory]

compress the hell out of it, play around with the attack and release until it gives you a more aggressive punch. Also add some tape saturation and small amounts of tap delay (using send). If it can not be heard at high levels, try eq on guitars to get rid of the mud, make sure there isnt too many elements being centered in your stereo image aswell.

This is good advice.

I love to compress the snot out of metal vocals. Sometimes (depending on the singer and mic used) it helps to boost the high end anywhere from 4K to 8K to bring out the detail in the vocal. Sometimes you can blend in some slight distortion to reinforce any weak spots as well.

 

[colonel kurtz]

have you tried parallel compression? copy the copy track...whack the crap out of one with a comp, let the other be, and blend to taste

 

[DanLights]

eq to put it in place, normally it would be fighting the guitars in the mids/high mids, add some delay or reverb to make them sound a bit more in part of the mix and not just a soloed instrument on top, and like everyone has said: compression, parallel compression, tape saturation or distorsion can be helpful tools

 

[ShellBlast]

I use FL Studio for my mixing and what not. I know its weird, but I have been using it for so long for other reason and I'm very accustomed to it. One thing I never learned to do do properly was compression. I still don't even know what it does technically, raise levels automatically? I took a picture of the compressor vst. Was wondering if anyone could help me out and explain what does what.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[abigor731]

I know its weird, but I have been using it for so long for other reason and I'm very accustomed to it.

did you make techno before?

just increase ratio, and then decrease threshold, you should notice the output signal getting lower in volume, then turn the gain on as much as you want, attack and threshold aren't that important, you could also use a vocal preset, and if you dont notice anything, decrease threshold, and then compensate the volume loss with the gain knob
in the end you should get a signal with a more constant volume which should fit better in the mix

however, the attack and release parameters are a little bit hard to explain, i recommend you search for some sort of larger more in depth tutorial on how to compress, there are already a lot of good articles
just google, and then read read read, it takes its time, but it's worth it

 

[ShellBlast]

did you make techno before?

just increase ratio, and then decrease threshold, you should notice the output signal getting lower in volume, then turn the gain on as much as you want, attack and threshold aren't that important, you could also use a vocal preset, and if you dont notice anything, decrease threshold, and then compensate the volume loss with the gain knob
in the end you should get a signal with a more constant volume which should fit better in the mix

however, the attack and release parameters are a little bit hard to explain, i recommend you search for some sort of larger more in depth tutorial on how to compress, there are already a lot of good articles
just google, and then read read read, it takes its time, but it's worth it

Of course A friend got me into sequencing long long ago. I just journey from it. I find engineering and programming real instruments is more my style. and thank you for the information.

 

[Line666]

I use FL Studio for my mixing and what not. I know its weird, but I have been using it for so long for other reason and I'm very accustomed to it. One thing I never learned to do do properly was compression. I still don't even know what it does technically, raise levels automatically? I took a picture of the compressor vst. Was wondering if anyone could help me out and explain what does what.

Thanks,
Joe

Compression reduces the dynamic range of a sound ie if you have something like vocals that vary in level a lot, compression can make them more consistant (even) in level so that they sit in the mix better. It works by reducing the level of a piece of audio once it reaches a set level ie your threshold.

In short it basically makes the loud stuff quieter, and the quiet stuff louder, so that they're more balanced.

 

[Fox Mulder]

What kind of metal vocals are you exactly talking about?

Clean: Automate every goddamn syllable - make your life hell. Use compression as per needs, never too much. Send that to a delay and reverb channel + send the delay to that reverb channel as well. Balance it as per taste, hipass the delay and the reverb at around 250hz to avoid rumble. Going below 250hz there may or may not get the delay/reverb to mess around with the snare, or to be specific the snare 'ambience'. Not many people think about this too much, but it's never a harm to get extra obsessive over your stuff.

Cookie monster: *Everything that has been mentioned above*

 

[BLUElightCory]

I use FL Studio for my mixing and what not. I know its weird, but I have been using it for so long for other reason and I'm very accustomed to it. One thing I never learned to do do properly was compression. I still don't even know what it does technically, raise levels automatically? I took a picture of the compressor vst. Was wondering if anyone could help me out and explain what does what.

Thanks,
Joe

Threshold - The level at which the compressor will start to act upon the audio - Generally you'd want to start at 0 and lower this until the compressor starts working on the audio, then adjust from there.

Ratio - This is the degree of gain reduction by the compressor. The higher the ratio, the more compression will be applied to the signal once it crosses the threshold. Once you get to a ratio of 10:1 or so it becomes known as "limiting."

Attack - This is how quickly the compressor kicks in after the signal crosses the threshold. A lower number generally (but not always, depending on the compressor) corresponds to a faster attack. Using too fast of an attack will generally make the signal "smoother" sounding at the expense of less definition. Slower attacks generally sound punchier but less compression is applied to the transient.

Release - This is how quickly the compressor allows the signal to return to its normal level. Set this last; use your ear to find the setting that sounds best.

Type - hard knee/soft knee - this refers to how quickly the compressor reaches its maximum amount of compression (depending on how it's set) once it kicks in. "Hard" is generally more aggressive and noticeable, "soft" is smoother and more subtle.

Gain - this is just used to set the output level of the compressor. If you compress a bass by 10dB, you'd use the "Gain" knob to compensate for that 10dB loss in volume.

Usually it's best to set a modest ratio (4:1 or so) and medium attack and release time, and then reduce the threshold to get some compression happening first. Then you can fine-tune each control while you listen to the signal in the mix.

 

[ShellBlast]

Thank all of you so much. My vocal mix's are sounding better by the minute I find this stuff so interesting to learn so if anyone else wants to teach me something or thinks I should know more and etc, please do.

 

[Erik Monsonis]

I mix on FL too, mostly drums and orchestra.

I use Reaper for tracking guitars, bass, vocals and stuff, and doing final mixes/mastering, but all the drum work and orchestra (also writing) is done in FL.

Fruity Compressor can be nice, but have never used it for vocals.

Just try a 20:1 ratio, threshold to taste, fast attack and slow release It always works for me. Also a nice stereo delay and slight verb are needed for most parts.

EDIT: Cory's suggestion is really good too, just different opinions and tastes on the subject. I've always loved how slightly too compressed vocals sound

 

[Sickan]

Gate unwanted noise, de-ess (if the essing is distracting), compress to hell (especially with screamed vocals), send to reverb and delay (sligth, or for effect), highpass around 200 Hz aswell. Additional things would be doubling, saturation and parallell compression.

 

[darthjujuu]

textbook definition of "compressor" aside, what's a little more important in this context is the character different compressors can add, aside from smoothing out dynamics. there's a distinct sonic character of something that's gone to fuckery and something left dry, and this is really apparent in squashed metal vox. experiment with lots of different compressors, if you can. try some in sequence, some in parallel, and various degrees of squashing. don't be afraid to crank that threshold way down, even if it's just to see what it does. other than that, tape saturators all the way. subtle doublers and really quick slap delays can thicken things up in a pleasant way, like others have already said.

 

[DaveBlack]

awww, I miss that little guy. My first compressor...I actually tried to use the FL plugins in reaper but only a few of them worked. I never mix a real deal song in FL strictly because of the sound engine. But I still program all my MIDI material in it and I love BooBass for some reason it gives you the perfect template to start off with.