When it comes to mixing vocals, many producers and musicians struggle to fit vocals into the mix. Often the first information sounds like the singer is sitting on a backing track. Getting vocals into the mix isn't easy, but there is a technique that can help.
How can you fit vocals into the mix? If you have never encountered this problem yourself, then you probably have a natural talent or have not yet recognized the problem. When you listen to your own mixes, do the vocals sound like part of a backing track? Are the vocals now placed correctly in the mix and how does it sound? Not too loud as it sounds during playback, but still loud enough to hear every word?
Train your ear with a good template If you listen to commercials, you'll find that some vocals are relatively loud while others are relatively quiet. Regardless of the impression of the volume, you will always understand what is being sung on the one hand, and feel that the vocals have exactly that volume on the other. It's never too loud or too quiet. Vocals or rap are built into the instrumental - an impression to be felt immediately when someone hears your mix. So how do you add vocals to the mix now?
Edit the voice frequency. A popular method is to give the vocals their own space in the frequency spectrum, so to speak, a niche for the vocals. First you need to find out where the singer's voice sounds especially clear. Human voices have a special power in the frequency spectrum around 3 kHz, and in this area you can influence the part of the voice that sounds "in your face". Listen to the vocal track in solo mode and add a few dB of EQ with a medium slope in the middle. Now scroll through the base frequency to see at which frequency the EQ boost has the most effect. There is a high chance that the vocals would benefit from a gain of around 3kHz. But sometimes there is a second area in the middle that can benefit from a boost. If you now hear the vocals again in combination with the backing track, you can use the equalizer to increase (increase) or decrease (cut) the subjective sensation of the volume of singing at the found frequency. The volume fader does not need to be touched. Over time, you will work with different voices and feel how much EQ is enough, and when it becomes too much.
Free up space on the track. So now that you know where to put the EQ, it's time to carve out a niche for the vocal track in the instrumental. It is best to add an EQ to a group track with a backing track so that you can edit it in its entirety. Take a few decibels off the backing track where you boosted your voice and listen to the result.
Insert vocals first, then mix With this little magic, you can now reduce or increase the volume of vocals to mix them in a clear and quiet way or a clear and loud way at any time. The vocals now fit better with the instrumental, and the song sounds like a whole. Of course, this is just a very simplistic way of getting vocals into the mix, and usually you have to use other instruments. But this technique is a good starting point that is easy to implement and will help you blend the vocals into the playback.
