Who I am

[Pedaling Prince]

For the vocal level I would have mixed it difrent today. Vocal level is hard. I have a friend who mixes it very very loud, the last months I have come into the habit of listening in mono makin the vocal sit as good in the mix as I can, my last mix (my first attempt in heavy genre, whisper to a scream Johnny Lokke) I didnt listen in mono and vocal are too loud ...

Whisper to a Scream; I did that mix as well.

In aggressive music like hard rock and metal, I find it effective to take the vocals down in the mix until it sounds like the singer is struggling to scream over the guitars. In other words, you want it right at the edge where the vocals would be unintelligible. Basically, I apply a principle similar to the principle of abbreviations in English writing:

When you use abbreviations that may be unfamiliar to your reader, you spell them out in full first with the abbreviation in brackets (ex: Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)) then use the abbreviation from that point on.

In an aggressive mix, I do something similar with vocals. I make sure the words are understandable on the first go-round then I don't worry about it if they get buried a little on subsequent go-rounds because I know the listener already knows what's being said. It's a good effect, giving the subconscious impression the music is getting louder.

As for vocals for most other kinds of music, I find it effective to lower the vocal until it's struggling to be heard like you would for aggressive music, then bring it back up one or two dB; generally, the best vocal balance will be within about three dB of the "struggling" point.

I couldnt listen your version of Comfort, my phone wouldnt play it, but Im gonna hear it later in my studio.

I look forward to that.

Thank you sir, lets keep in touch and welcome to the site and keep up the feedback. This site is all about feedback.

Mucho appreciated.

No problem; that's what I'm here for!