15-09-2020, 10:12 PM
(15-09-2020, 10:07 PM)mikej Wrote: Hi!I think vocal levels really can vary. And on a song like this they can be back a bit. They're not buried and someone else might come along and think they're fine but I think in this one they could grab you just a bit more. I think part of it is the fact that it's a heavy song with a fairly melodic vocal right at the top and I think that hi guitar part obscures it a bit. But still I think throughout they can come up a hair. Or maybe just an upper midrange boost to make them a bit more aggressive.
Hey, thanks Roy.
Yeah, I wasn't really sure about the level of that riff at the start. I think I dropped it by about 6db or so already from where I had it originally so could have been worse!! Cheers for pointing it out. I'll try and tuck it in a bit more. I'll also bump up the vocals a bit.
I feel I do need to do a bit more work on vocal levels as you are not the first person to comment on them being a touch low in my mixes.
It could be just my taste, but I suspect the level may be not quite translating as I would like and/or I am getting it a touch wrong... I think vocals also maybe sound a bit lower on headphones compared to monitors anyway, so I probably do need to bump them up a bit by 0.5-1db or something to account for that too. I don't always check on headphones, I really should make a habit of it I think, it might help!
My thinking/approach is that if the vocals are too up in the mix it makes the guitars and things less powerful, but I am maybe not getting it quite right yet. In my mind I'm aiming for something like the chorus vocals in Paramore's Monsters or something like that I think, by way of example.
Really appreciate your comments, kind of confirms a couple of thoughts that were at the back of my mind - if that makes sense.
Cheers!
It doesn't have to sound good. People just need to think it sounds good.