Judge this vocal mix

[JayB]

Hey guys, the rest of this mix I'm pretty happy with (though I have to fix the drummer's snare in this so right now there's just the sample by itself) , but I'm still very much a noob at mixing vocals. So if you guys could just tell me how this sounds and maybe give me some tips, it would be very much appreciated!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2354806/Sneap Forum Mix help/Empire Vocal Mix 6 20 2012 .mp3

 

[JayB]

Anyone?

 

[Plankis]

I'm getting an error clicking on that link.
Edit: I see now I get the same error clicking on other dropbox links. Oh well, I'll be back tomorrow.

 

[jackbraglia]

the vox are pretty low in the mix, so its kind of hard to judge them. but they dont sound bad to me

 

[jackbraglia]

one thing i will say about the guitars though, is that i think the guitarist is choking those palm mutes a bit too hard. they have no low end

 

[AceFireForce117]

guitars seem too loud imo.
Maybe just bring them down a notch and bring the vocals up a bit aswell

 

[JayB]

Thanks for the input guys. I know everyone's different but I like loud guitars and lower than standard vocals. I'll prob bring them up a bit more than they are here though. Really just looking to make sure the actual vocal mix is sounding ok

 

[JayB]

Also what do you guys think about panning and volume for the backing vox? Should they be brought up more , and or panned wider?

 

[jackbraglia]

Also what do you guys think about panning and volume for the backing vox? Should they be brought up more , and or panned wider?

yea i like buried vocals too, but i cant expect someone to judge them if they're buried. we cant really hear the panning and stuff accurately. maybe solo the vocal mix and let us hear that.

 

[JayB]

yea i like buried vocals too, but i cant expect someone to judge them if they're buried. we cant really hear the panning and stuff accurately. maybe solo the vocal mix and let us hear that.

I just bounced this, the vocals are a bit higher in volume and slightly cleaned up eq wise. Let me know if you need them louder to judge. Also, for HP on vocals, do you do it into compression or after? I'm not sure if doing HP and subtractive eq into compression would simply raise those frequencies back up again.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2354806/Sneap Forum Mix help/Empire VocAligned 6 21 2012.mp3

 

[Plankis]

I'd try a deesser on those vocals. I barely noticed the backing vocals, might be the sweetspot if that's what you were going for but you can probably automate them a little louder on the parts you want accentuated. The guitars are a little too scratchy for taste as well.

 

[JayB]

I'd try a deesser on those vocals. I barely noticed the backing vocals, might be the sweetspot if that's what you were going for but you can probably automate them a little louder on the parts you want accentuated. The guitars are a little too scratchy for taste as well.

Thanks, the guitars were reamped so I doubt there's much I can do about any scratchiness. As for the vocals, I have double tracked main vox, and then two more tracks panned a bit L and R (like 60 L R) that come in to accentuate lines and the chorus. I guess I'll bring em up a bit

 

[JayB]

Also I think the reason why the backing vox aren't noticeable is that they are going to the same bus as the main vox, I think maybe I should put them on their own bus

 

[Plankis]

Also I think the reason why the backing vox aren't noticeable is that they are going to the same bus as the main vox, I think maybe I should put them on their own bus

Yeah, I would do that. I don't like how the compressor reacts with that setup; pushing the main vocal back when backing are also singing. Also regarding scratchy guitars, I think you can hide that slightly scratchy sound simply by lowering the low-pass filter.

 

[JayB]

Yeah, I would do that. I don't like how the compressor reacts with that setup; pushing the main vocal back when backing are also singing. Also regarding scratchy guitars, I think you can hide that slightly scratchy sound simply by lowering the low-pass filter.

Here's a newer mix with the backing vox on their own aux. Should the backing vox be using a different compression or eq to make them sound separate? Also , for the guitars, they are already LP'd at 6 khz, I think any lower would just take all the life out of it

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2354806/Sneap Forum Mix help/Empire Delay FX Test 6 21 2012.mp3