im new to putting vocals in a mix

[foundations]

ok so im prety happy with the rest of my mix and have been mixing instruments for a while now so i know where im at

but this is my first real go at mixing vocals, and im not happy with the sound at all

i recorded them using an SE X1
and iv used:
Multiband Compressor
Reverb
EQ
Gate
on the vocal group channel

someone please give me some pointers as to why this sounds soo bad over my mix?
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/15846363/Ambidjent Vocals.mp3

 

[foundations]

no one wants to help?

 

[oroinvictus]

Try layering the vocal takes to get some thickness. If you've got waves plugins, try a C1 comp, L2 limiter and some kind of de-esser. That guitar tone is REALLY dark, and not in a good way.

 

[foundations]

i dont have waves plugins
and i dont want to have to layer the vocals to get it thicker i dont want doubled vocals all the way through the song, i believe layering takes away from the actual vocalists performance
i just want help to make the takes i currently have to sound their best
here is someone elses recording of the same vocalist and the vocals sound great with just 1 layer.. the song isnt mixed yet tho
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/15846363/Districts.mp3

 

[foundations]

i feel i might be doing something wrong with the multiband compressor?

 

[foundations]

no?

 

[jackbraglia]

it just sounds like you need to be compressing much harder. if necessary use 2 compressors in a row, each working less hard. do this on the individual channels, and then put another compressor on the vocal group's channel taking off another 2-3 db or so.

with guttural vocals we're not really looking to preserve dynamics in the performance, so don't be afraid to compress the shit out of them

 

[foundations]

thanks jack that realy helps. atm im just using the one multi band compression, and with that im obviously compressing a lot on the highs and not so much of the lows, do you think i should just put a straight up single band compressor in there aswel? and make the multi band work less hard?

 

[jackbraglia]

why are you only compressing the highs? you should only be compressing the lows with a multiband, and let a de-esser take care of any HF stuff that pokes out. your vocal chain should look something like this: a compressor with 12 or more dB's or gain reduction (or 2 back to back with like 6-8 dB's of reduction), then EQ boosting HFs (but not too much), then cutting any room sound usually somewhere in the low-mids depending on the room (but be careful here, its easy to cut out some vital frequencies by accident), then hi-pass somewhere around 80-100hz, whatever is appropriate. Just remember that too much EQ can destroy a vocal, so go easy. then you want some kind of saturation, tube or tape, hitting it fairly hard. and thats about it, aside from reverb and delay. I'd only use the multi-band if your vocalist needs more low end.

 

[jackbraglia]

oh and i forgot the de-esser. throw that before or after the saturation, whichever sounds better. this will take care of the sibilance u get from boosting those HF's

 

[foundations]

ok, coz in my multiband compressor im compressing the highs and high mids hard and nothing on the lows and a little on the low mids.. i guess thats prety wrong then?

thanks btw

 

[foundations]

someone help with my above statement?

 

[jackbraglia]

oh sorry man. yea you definitely don't need to be doing that. when it comes to vocals, only whip out the multiband if you need it. I only ever use it to beef up the low end if someone has a "small" voice. The hi frequencies in a vocal is the part that you want to breath, you don't need to squash out all the dynamics up there. Just use a de-esser to cut the sibilance, and thats it

 

[foundations]

thanks a lot