Mixing Vocals- too thin, etc...

[A.G.]

everytime i try to mix vocals I can get clarity but it always seems to be too thin and in the backround. When ever i attempt to thicken up the vocals with a reverb or graphic eq i loose clarity. Can anyone please help me out?

thanks...A.G.

[David Klausner]

Any additional information you can give on your system may be of some help in figuring out where the issues are. What is the gear you are using (mic, mic pre, recording system, reverb, EQ, etc.) and what type of music are you doing?

[A.G.]

I am recording on my computer using Cool Edit Pro, Soundforge, and a bunch of Timeworks plugins. I have a soundblaster live platinum 5.1 soundcard, a shure sm-58 mic, and a pyramid sea2500 mic pre-amp.

hope that helps...A.G.

[clintonwstuart]

Sometimes it helps to give a 3-6 db boost of the "big three" frequencies. 100Hz, 1Khz, and 10Khz.

[David Klausner]

There is certainly room for improvement in each step of your recording chain - mic, mic pre, interface and plug-ins could all stand to be upgraded.

Working with what you have however, the first thing I would try to do is make some room for the vocal. Preferably during the arranging process, but if everything is already recorded, you can use EQ. The power of a vocal is generally in about the 1K range, and the human ear is most sensitive to sounds in this range (coincidence? I think not). Try to scoop a little of that range out of some of the competing instruments - you may find you are then actually able to raise the volume fader for those channels a bit without things getting muddy and interfering with the vocal.

Reverb places sounds further back in the mix, and while the right reverb can thicken the sound a bit (think things like plates which are short but dense), too much can definitely get muddy and keep the vocals from being out front. Some styles of music, like punk, are usually done quite dry to keep things in your face. A short "slapback" delay can sometimes thicken a vocal without leaving long tails to muddy the mix.

Without hearing the vocal, it is hard to make a recommendation, but it may be somewhat "thin" to begin with. Try working the proximity effect on the mic (the closer to the capsule, the more bass boost you get). While this is not nearly as apparent on an SM58 as on some other mics, it is still worth a try.

Lastly, you didn't mention compression. Used properly, it is s great tool for beefing up a vocal track.

Let us know how you make out, and if anyone else has any suggestions, please feel free to chime in!

[Ernest828]

Avoid reverb!

Use a delay less than 30 milliseconds. Try a mono delay first and pan it with the main vocal. This will spread the sound some and it`ll fix that thin problem. The other solution is use a stereo delay but this time pan the efx to the right and left and spread it enough so you vocal gets bigger and wider(which is what its really doing).

The last trick is to get a chorus sound and instead of giving the vocal a ton of chorus, give it alot of depth(if there is such a setting in your gear). The chorus effect will not spread the vocal but the depth will. If you have the option, try this too.

Personally, I use the first two techniques all the time, I discovered it by chance, I thought I made a great discovery then heard a Beatles album and realized, I`m really not that smart, but George Martin is! :)