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Top 5 Big Secrets / Tips for Vocal Mixing

Vocals are some of the organic elements that can’t be replaced by any synths because they contain characteristics which can’t be mimicked by anything else. Because of that, producers may have problems in mixing them right in the mix as they are so organic that they should be treated carefully in order to prevent from destroying them.

Hence, we decided to share a couple of tips or secrets that we use when it comes to mixing vocal.

1. Automate the volume

Automation

You want to decrease and control the dynamic range of vocals so that they do not sounds too soft or too loud in certain parts of the song. Vocal riding is a good option to control the dynamics of vocals as it helps you to auto-automate the volume of the vocal throughout the song.

2. Cut off unwanted frequencies

Frequency Cutoff

Unless you are using vocals for creative purposes, you do not want your vocals to compete against the bass in low frequency spectrum. Have a low cut at 100Hz to 250Hz depending on the vocal itself and cut off some resonance frequencies. Trust your ears on this one.

3. Sidechain Vocals to Synths

Sidechain Vocals

To create spaces for the vocal to fit in the mix, sidechaining can be your best friend to do that. In most cases, try to keep the sidechain process as subtle as possible because you do not want to notice that. A great plugin to do that is TrackSpacer by Waves.

4. Double and Pan Wide

Stereo

It is important for the vocal to stay at the centre of the mix but increasing the wideness of the vocal allows it to stand out more. Duplicate your vocals into 2 separate vocals and hard pan them to left and right.

5. Think of the big picture

Big Picture

Vocal might sound good in solo but not when it is in the mix. It is quite simple and obvious that our listeners are not going to listen to the vocal of the song in solo. Try to mix everything around the vocal instead of just focusing on the vocal itself. Try to think of your mix as a whole.

Vocals can be the most emotional part of the song thus causing vocals to be one of the most difficult things to sound right in the mix. Feel free to try out our top 5 secrets for mixing vocals and tell us the result in the comment section below.

Thank you for reading.

Your W. A. Production team.

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