Getting the VOCALS LOUDER?

[guitbuddy]

Hey everybody,

Is there some trick to the volume level of vocals? Also, do the other tracks " suck " the volume
down from other tracks?

Recording the vocals, it seemed they were about right. Meter looking good, etc. In the
headphones, sounded good.

Then on playback, I have to lower ALL the other tracks: bass, drum, etc. to almost nothing, plus INCREASE the VOCAL track to the max, and they still seem way too low.

Plus it makes the mix all weird, too.

confused.

thanks

[Mark Bliss]

Its hard to advise without more info.
What are your recording levels? What are your backing tracks?

Guessing, I suspect perhaps you are using drum/bass loops or something from the library? Notoriously too loud.
If so you can expect to turn them WAY down for mixing iMO.

If my guess is wrong- Need more info.

[rrichard63]

In addition to what Mark Bliss said, this is one of several reasons why people use compression on vocal tracks. Especially if your drums and bass are already compressed (as they often are).

[guitbuddy]

Hey guys,

thanks for replies.

No not using those loops, but will keep in mind.

Yes, I throw compression on there, plus what ever plugin I think will boost them. Maybe my
levels were off. Ill keep trying.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

Have you tried lowering the levels of the other tracks? You just need to balance everything out -- unless the vocals recording level is just way too low.

Greg

[guitbuddy]

Have you tried lowering the levels of the other tracks? You just need to balance everything out -- unless the vocals recording level is just way too low

Hi Greg,

yes, lowered ALL other tracks. So low, it looks ridiculous and hard to even try a mix.
Vocal track all the way up.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

It sounds like the recording volume is low, so you need to figure out why that is. Experiment with microphone positioning, distance from the microphone, etc.

Greg

[Starship Krupa]

If you have a vocal capture that is too low, you can also normalize its clip by selecting the clip and Ctrl+K.

But if you find yourself regularly needing to pull down all the other faders, look at the level of your vocal capture. It should be taking up most of the vertical space in the clip. If it's not, adjust your mixer or recording interface accordingly.

[Ampfixer]

Another thing you might try is making room for the vocals in the mix. What I mean is that if everything is panned to centre then you may be getting some masking of the vocals. Try moving some of the instruments away from centre and let the vocals breath a bit. That should help your cause.

[Mark Bliss]

If the OP is saying he cant get a reasonable rough mix with nothing but levels, his recording levels are in need of evaluation. You don't need any compression or "unmasking" or anything else for that. It sounds lake a case of basic gain staging to me, but we don't have the details to know for sure.
Like I asked in my initial reply-what are your levels?

Knowing that would help with giving advise on salvaging the take and/or preventing the problem in the future.

[dathyr1]

Hi Guitarbuddy,

Following what Mark and the others have mentioned to you. How many Vocal tracks do you have in the song? How does the Vocal(s) sound by itself and do you have any effects modules on your vocals. Set Vocals up for the volume you want and play just your vocals.

Then-Try bringing in one Inst. track at a time and see what the vocal track does-stay the same, decrease, etc. Dont know how many tracks total you have- if allot?

Are You doing any special bussing or groupings of tracks with your song? As Mark and others say, we need more details on how your song is designed(midi vs audio tracks) and levels of individual tracks.

just throwing out ideas,

Dave

[guitbuddy]

hey all,

I have just ONE vocal track in song. But it is from a stereo interface- could that be the problem?

[Acoustica Greg]

hey all,

I have just ONE vocal track in song. But it is from a stereo interface- could that be the problem?

Hi,

You may already be doing this, but when you record from a microphone, you should arm the track on the side that has the sound. In most cases, this would be the left side. Did you do that?

In other words, when you arm the track, don't choose Stereo, choose Left or Right. If you arm for Stereo, you'll end up with the vocals in one ear.

Greg