26 Tips And Tricks For Mixing Better Vocals

I'm Scott Hawksworth, the founder and editor of When I first became interested in music production and home recording, I had no idea where to begin. Now, music production is my passion! I built Recording Excellence to share what I've learned with the world - and with you.

26 Tips and Tricks for Mixing Better Vocals

Vocals are the most important part of any mix (well, unless it's an instrumental with no vocals, but I digress). Unfortunately, vocals are also the most difficult thing to get right” in any mix. In this article, I've put together 26 tips for mixing vocals that you can apply RIGHT NOW. It's not easy to get a great vocal sound (especially if you're newer to mixing), but it IS possible to follow some basic tips, tricks, and rules of thumb to ensure you give yourself the best opportunity to have your vocals shine.

Resist the temptation to only solo the vocal to make EQ or compression changes — These tips aren't presented in any meaningful order, but if they were… this would be the still be the number one tip. No one listens to music in solo, they listen to the ENTIRE MIX. So why would you ONLY work on your vocals without the context of the rest of the mix? Listen to the vocal and make adjustments BOTH in solo and in the mix.

Get it Right at the Source — You'll here this sentiment a lot when it comes to recording and mixing. The biggest tip for better vocal mixing is to make sure you're recording vocals well in the first place.

Use a quality mic (and don't be afraid to change up mics depending on the singer).

Make sure you have a pop filter/shield (seriously, you can get them for cheap).

Record vocals in most sound optimal area you can (doesn't need to be a professional studio, but any place that cuts down on ambient noise and reflections is good).

Use proper miking techniques.

Don't be afraid to ask for a retake (or do one yourself if you're the vocalist) if the performance wasn't as good as you think it could be.

Don't forget to make use of De-essing and Autotune/Pitch Correction when necessary… but don't go overboard - It's easy to go crazy with plugins that remove sibilance (de-essing that's too aggressive can take out some of the sparkle in the highs). It's also easy to go to crazy with Autotune (unless you're mixing for T-Payne or something). They are powerful tools that can and SHOULD be used… but the point is, do so with intention!

Understand vocal ranges and frequencies — It's good to be familiar with these when mixing and especially using EQ. Here's a helpful chart:

If possible, consider the mic used to record the vocal when mixing — If you're mixing something you recorded, you should know what mic you used and be familiar with its strengths and weaknesses AKA the frequency areas that can be problematic. Tackle those first for cuts and boosts!

Consider the singer when mixing — If you're very familiar with the singer (let's say it's you), you might know that they have sibilance at a specific frequency. You know what you'll need to attack first then. You can even figure this out with a new singer just by listening to the first verse or chorus. If it's a problem in one phrase… it's likely to be in another.

Cut before you boost — This is my go to EQ tip , so of course it has application with vocals. It's tempting to boost away, but I'd encourage anyone to make cuts to the vocal first. It's a more subtle, and can yield better results.

Filter superfluous low end — High-pass (low-cut) filters are a tremendous tool to use when mixing anything, and vocals are no different. As such, it can be a solid idea to just roll off anywhere from 80-150Hz (depending on the mix, and the singer!) before you do anything else to the vocal.

Still getting a boomy vocal? Cut some more — Anywhere from 200-350Hz can be good to apply some cuts to.

Still not sounding right? Try even MORE surgical cuts — mid-to-high nasal frequencies when cut can improve a vocal… anywhere from 800Hz to 4kHz can be a good place to focus on.

You can boost a little too, but be smart with it — I like to boost the high-end just a little bit from time to time to give the vocals a bit of a lift. Nothing crazy!

Trust your ears — Okay this is a lame tip, and it's probably cliched at this point (because it can apply to anything in mixing), but it's still worth mentioning. If it sounds good to you, and sounds good across multiple listening platforms… chances are it IS good. Trust yourself, you're the mixing engineer!

Make sure your vocals fit in your mix (especially when it has guitars) — Guitars can sometimes crowd out vocals, so making a cut to those guitars between 900Hz and 3kHz can help solve that issue.

Make your choruses stand out by doubling and panning — Need that chorus to really pop? Double the vocal, pan all the way left and all the way right in the chorus. Voila! Here's a great article to learn more about doubling if you're unsure about it.

Don't be afraid to get creative with panning — In general, you want to keep vocals panned more traditionally… but if the song calls for it (maybe it's conversational, or references space in some way), some alternated left/right panning can be awesome. When I was a young and angry teenager, I loved this Kid Rock song Where You At Rock” (Parental Advisory - explicit lyrics!) which makes use of this technique.

IN GENERAL… EQ before you compress — This is not a hard and fast rule, it can be broken, but I often find myself EQing before I compress. If you're EQing to fix flaws or get a certain sound (which you should be 🙂 ), compression will just make those problems louder and potentially create MORE work for you. If you have mud in the vocal, the compressor will just make that worse (and in fact the mud could trigger the compressor more than you'd like). Avoid those potential pitfalls by just EQing first as a general rule.

If possible, try out different compressors — Not everyone has access to multiple compressors (be they analog or digital), and that's okay. But if you DO have access to multiple compressors, try out different ones on the vocal. See which you like best, and go with it.

Don't compress the life out of the vocals — Compression is a fantastic tool, but excessive compression KILLS vocals. If you're compressing everything hard and start to notice the life seeping out of your mix… dial it back.

Note: In some genres really heavy compression is desirable for the vocal… but the point is, watch out for over-compression!
Be smart and deliberate with the reverb… AKA don't overdo it! — I love so much of the music I'm sent by Recording Excellence subscribers… but I've come across times where artists are using WAY too much reverb on their vocals and it becomes a muddy mess. A little bit can really add some great life to vocals and serve the song well, too much sounds awful.

Really be careful with that effect!

Plates, halls, and rooms, oh my! — When it comes to reverb, using a plate (mono), and some hall or room (stereo) can serve you well. You'll find that stereo hall or room can help big time with glue to keep the tracks tighter. Again don't overdo the reverb.
Smart use of delay can really serve the vocal well — For example, if the vocal is particularly powerful at a point in the song and then suddenly gone the emptiness can be noticeable.

Set up a delay bus and then send a bit of your vocal to it (before the vocal drops out) and let the delays be the thing that let's the vocals drop out more gently.

De-breathing plugins are great, but so is manual chopping — Unless you really want that breath in your music, you should be tackling this issue in some way. Chopping instead of using a plugin is more time consuming, but can really preserve vocal punch.

Utilize volume automation, and ride it a bit — Don't let the compressor do all the work (again it can crush the life out of a vocal).

Side-chains are your friend — Above I talked about how you can use cuts to guitar to help… but if your guitar and vocal won't stop battling it out in the mix, don't hesitate to sidechain that bad boy and duck it out of the way when the vocal is going.

Simplify, man! — There's always a temptation to be fancy when it comes to mixing vocals… but if it's sounding good, why add extra effects and processing if you don't need it? Don't be afraid to just STOP and be happy with the vocal. (P.S. If you got my Simpsons reference , we can be best friends)

Reference your favorite vocal tracks — I'm probably sounding like a broken record to some, but referencing is so key to mixing, I just can't say it enough. Do you know of a song in a similar genre that you absolutely love the vocals on? Listen to it for a moment while you're mixing and try to go for that sound!

So there you have 26 tips for mixing better vocals. Did I miss any? Were there any you disagreed with? Let me know on Facebook or Twitter!

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Scott
Scott Hawksworth is 's founder and editor. In addition to playing piano for over 15 years, Scott has performed in choruses, bands, and solo. His passion for music led him to learn more about music production and home recording. Scott lives in Chicago with his wife and two cats, Dylan and Sebastian.