Recording, Editing And Mixing

Here are some tips and suggestions for recording, editing and mixing vocals, from the perspective of a producer/engineer.

Although my focus is rock music, some of the following suggestions should be useful for other types of music but which may require different approaches.

In almost all articles about any type of audio recording, you'll hear there are no rules — whatever sounds good, is good.” The same is true for recording vocals; experimentation is important, and as each song and singer require a different technique, trying out ideas is even more important.

I do believe that there is still one rule though: a great performance trumps perfect pitch and timing, and also is far more important than the vocal sound itself. I'd rather hear a vocal that is totally believable and involves me in the meaning and emotion of the song than a vocal edited into technical brilliance with cool effects and perfect sonics, but is stiff, uninvolving and robotic.

The Recording Space

Where and how you set up your recording area for vocals will have as much, if not more, effect than your choice of equipment. Make sure that the microphone is not in the center of the room; this is where standing waves will be most prominent. The best position is usually about a third along the longest dimension, but roughly equidistant from the side walls.

Use acoustic baffles and sound absorbing materials to create a good space within your recording room. Remember that you want to have sound absorption behind the singer, and also (although not as important if you're using a cardiod patterned mic) behind the mic. Pick an area of your room that is well away from reflective surfaces.

If you're recording at home, a good, inexpensive, way to create free-standing acoustic screens is to construct a frame using 1″ PVC piping, usually used for garden sprinklers. This stuff is available from any big box hardware store, and is very cheap and easy to work with. Buy several lengths of piping, some T-joints to make stands, some 90 degree bend pieces and glue. Sketch out your plans, measure accurately and make them sufficiently tall - 7′ is usually a good height, and you really only care about the top 4′. Once you've double-checked your measurements, start cutting the pipes. Assemble the entire frame ‘dry' first to make sure that all your pieces work together, and once you have made sure that your measurements are accurate, start gluing. Now use these frames as hangers for quilts, duvets, blankets or sleeping bags thrown over the top. If you're more ambitious, use furniture movers' packing blankets which are also very cheap. You should easily be able to construct several complete screens for less than $25 each.

If you want to get even more ambitious, construct wood frames and Owens Corning 703 semi-rigid panels, covered with an open weave fabric such as burlap. A box of six 48″ x 24″ x 2″ panels can be found for around $70. You can get fancy by making one side of the screen absorbent, and use peg board on the other side to be more reflective.

Microphone Technique and Position

Good singers will move their position relative to the microphone depending on the changing vocals levels during the song. Too much movement, and varying room reflections will change the sound, resulting in a less consistent, and potentially more remote sound. However, even experienced singers forget mic position when they get caught up in the emotion of the performance. Part of the producer/engineer's job is to make the singer relaxed and comfortable, and able to concentrate on the performance. Nagging singers about anything is usually a bad idea, and can be annoying. Mention microphone position a couple of times, but be supportive and gentle. With some more inexperienced singers, it can help to make a mark on the floor with tape, and suggest to the singer that that's their mark. This doesn't help much with singers who ‘lean' into the mic, but it's a start.

Arrange the mic position so that the singer sings up” into the mic capsule. 2 to 4 inches above the mouth should work fine; the idea is that the singer should raise their chin an inch or two. Start off with the singer's mouth about 5″ - 6″ from the microphone (maybe a little closer with a dynamic mic). Every singer will be different, so a few passes checking out the level changes between loud and soft passages in the song will be needed. Remember that with most cardioid mics, the closer the singer is to the mic, more bass will be accentuated because of the proximity effect.

Always use a good pop shield between the singer and the microphone to prevent ‘b' and p' plosives. Although DIY stocking constructions can work ok, a decent pop shield is not expensive and worth having. Metal mesh shields are best, with fabric mesh a close second. Don't use foam wind covers: they're ineffective for pop suppression and attenuate higher frequencies. Position the shield so that it's about 3″-4″ from the mic — this also should be changed if the singer tends to get too close to the mic for quieter passages — use the position of the shield to make the singer keep his/her distance from the mic.

With some voices and microphones, sibilance can be a problem. Sibilance is the bright ‘hissing' noise made by consonants such as s,” t” c” and f.” To reduce sibilance with directional mics is to rotate it off-axis by a few degrees. This position reduces the high-frequency sensitivity of most mics a touch, and can help reduce problem sibilance. Around 15 degrees is enough. An off-axis placement also has the advantage of reducing popping. It is always better to spend time getting the vocals sounding good, with minimal pops and sibilance rather than try editing or de-essers later.

If you're recording a singer with a naturally ‘boxy' sound, or perhaps a singer with an obviously nasal tone, an omni or figure-8 patterned mic can help, although you may need to position the singer a little closer to the mic so that the direct sound of the voice is more prominent than the room effect.

For singers with wildly fluctuating levels, try using two mics, one more sensitive than other. Space them a few inches apart, angled in slightly, and have the vocalist sing into the space between the mics. Or use a similar mic (if available) and switch in the -10 or -20 dB pad on one of them. Record on separate tracks, and switch them at the editing/mixing stage later if needed.

Most mics and preamps have a bass roll-off filter, often at a set turnover frequency between 80 - 150 Hz. Use the most appropriate setting for the vocal, but use it.

A common question is Why do I see vocal mics positioned upside down?” Actually, there are two reasons: the first dates back 60+ years: one of the most used and famous microphones for vocals (along with the AKG C12) is the Neumann U47 tube mic, introduced just after WWII. This mic had the M7 PVC capsule, which had a tendency to dry out over time, and this deterioration was accelerated by heat. So it made sense to hang U47s upside down, as heat rises, so eliminating cooking the capsule over time. Another reason is that it's easier to get singers to sing ‘up' a little; singers are less likely to mess with a vocal mic height when it's suspended on a boom upside down than a mic on a stand right in front of them.

Once the mics were mounted upside down, another advantage became obvious; there was a benefit for the singer by getting the mic, stand, boom and cables out of the way, offering the singer a better view of a music stand for holding lyrics, hanging headphones and storing other items.

Scheduling

There used to be a tradition of leaving vocals to the end of recording projects, after most overdubs and extra sweetening had been completed. Not a great idea: singers can't be expected to sit around for days or weeks, and then pump out all their vocals in two or three days.

The number of hours you can expect to record vocals is limited, especially with heavier rock and metal. So it makes sense to scheduled vocal recording over as many days as possible, breaking up sessions into styles so that more melodic, less stressful, vocals are recorded first which serve as a warm up to attempt more aggressive parts. Depending on the length of your sessions, include a few days off too, particularly after a sessions where the singer's voice has been really stressed.

Some singers prefer to attempt capturing a continuous performance in longer takes, punching in corrective phrases or parts. If you're recording rock vocals with dynamics ranging from a whisper to a roar, try the dual microphone suggestion I mentioned above.

Microphone Choice

Experienced singers who have recorded often may know which microphones have worked well for them in the past. Ask, if you know that the singer has this depth of experience.

If your singer doesn't have a great deal of experience, then start by choosing a microphone with an inverse character to the singer's natural sound.

Every voice is different, and therefore there is no ‘perfect' vocal microphone. Most advice on recording vocals starts by telling you to use a large diaphragm condenser (LDC) microphone. Although often true, ‘often' isn't the same as ‘always.' If you have a singer (particularly female singers) with a thin, high, hard vocal sound, better results can be achieved using a dynamic microphone, or even a ribbon. An Electrovoice RE20 can be a great vocal mic, as can the Shure SM7B, and the lowly SM58 can sound great, paired with a good preamp.

Cheap LDC microphones often have a noticeable harshness at higher frequencies and therefore are exactly the wrong choice for this type of singer. The market is crowded with sub $1,000 LDC microphones, many of which have this unnatural harshness, although I tried an inexpensive Audix CX212 recently that was rather good. Among the many other reasonably priced, but premium, LDC microphone brands, Lauten Audio and Peluso are worth checking out.

Another variable is the material itself: having found the perfect mic for the first song, perhaps a rock song with wide dynamics and a belted-out chorus, don't assume that this should be the mic used throughout all vocal sessions. An appropriate choice for an intimate ballad may require a different microphone. Usually, two different mics will cover the range of vocal delivery. Some mics don't work as well with high vocal levels, as the timbre of vocal character changes with delivery.

Buying Microphones

If you're primarily recording just one singer, don't base your purchasing decision on reviews. Try out different microphones, and pick one that best suits your singer. Microphones are tricky to buy — online stores often won't accept microphone returns unless they have a defect. Visit a good pro audio dealer with a demo room and try out several mics. Or book an hour or two at a local studio with a decent mic cabinet, and try out their options, but use the same preamp with each test, so that you're comparing apples to apples.

If you're planning to record different, unknown singers, start with at least a good dynamic mic, and a large diaphragm condenser.

If you have a limited budget, spend money on a preamp first. A good preamp can make a basic mic sound good, but a crappy preamp can make a great mic sound far less impressive.

You can add to your mic collection as your budget expands, but it makes no sense to replace poor quality preamps.

Headphone Mix

The headphone mix that the singer hears is critical to achieve a great performance. A touch of reverb is often helpful as it creates a sense of space around the vocal, but ask the singer what they prefer.

The balance between the backing track and the vocal can influence the performance:

If the vocal is too loud in the headphones = flat notes — lower energy.

If the vocal is too soft in the headphones = sharp notes and a strained performance

If a singer is mostly flat, turn up the backing track in their phones a little without telling them. If the singer is mostly sharp, then turn the backing track down. This will help correct consistent, but small, pitch problems. If the singer is inconsistent; sometimes sharp, sometimes flat, then you have to do more work in helping the singer create the right performance. Remember though, the performance is the most important element: slight pitch issues are less important than a convincing, emotionally believable performance.

Take the time to set up your monitor mix so that you can easily adjust the mix so that you can immediately offer the singer changes to help; drums a bit louder to help timing issues, more keys or guitars to help with pitch, less bass or lead licks to help with focus , etc. Keep the headphone mix as simple as possible, and usually it's a good idea to pull out most of the sweetening and any parts which could be distracting, such as percussion with off rhythms.

Headphone choice is another consideration, and if your singer prefers ‘one ear off' that will lead you to a different mix. Closed back headphones are needed.

Recording Chain

Try to capture the character and performance of the vocal going to the computer (or tape) and forget about trying to create it in the mix. Editing and mixing vocal tracks should be the final touches to enhance an already good vocal track.

Audio interfaces contain preamps. Most of them are just OK, but are usually bland and can easily be bettered by a good, separate preamp.

For rock songs, I always use hardware compressors as part of recording chain because this type of material often needs more dynamic control before the signal gets to the analog-to-digital converters. For different types of music, you may decide that a compressor isn't needed. Unlike the days when we recorded to tape and wanted to get the best signal-to-noise ratio, and therefore wanted to record hefty levels to tape, modern digital recording has such a huge dynamic range when recording 24-bit that this isn't strictly necessary. However, I still choose to use hardware compression, but now not as much for dynamic control but rather because I like the coloration of the sound that different compressors impart. A compressed vocal in the headphones also benefits the singer; they feel less need to compensate dynamically.

Aim for 5-6 dB of gain reduction on the signal peaks, but don't overdo compression during recording—you can't remove it later. Start with a ‘not too fast' attack time, so the transients pass relatively unscathed, with medium release time. You'll need to experiment with your particular recording chain, singer and style of song.

One disadvantage of project studio recording is that there is less attention paid to the recording levels before the converters. I like riding a vocal fader during the recording, but to do this you'll need some type of outboard mixer. It then becomes simple to push/pull the vocal levels during the recording which results in a smoother recording, and less work to do at the editing/mixer stage. There are many small mixers available at reasonable cost, some of which have the audio interface and converters built-in, so that they connect to your DAW machine via FireWire or USB. If you're recording just with a DAW, be sure to set up your cue (foldback) monitoring sends so that they are sent pre-fade, so your adjustments to levels don't alter the headphone mix.

Encouragement and Criticism

The psychology of how to get the best performance out of a singer is much more important than microphone choice, preamps, compression or anything else to do with the technical aspects of recording. It's all about getting a singer to relax, and feel confident enough to give their very best performance, without feeling self-conscious. I have been a guest on many sessions where I cringed—not because of the recorded sound, but how thoughtless comments destroyed the mood of the session, and made the singer uncomfortable and doubt their performance. I have actually seen an engineer jump on to the talkback button and bark flat, do it again” at the first delivery of an iffy note. Moments later on another pass, this same idiot impatiently interrupted again by saying wrong again!” If it were my session, I would have fired the moron.

Be mindful that the singer is trying their hardest. Encouragement with gentle criticism pays dividends. Try to avoid comments where you're making comments containing don't.” Use positive reinforcement. Take frequent short breaks, offering the singer a chance to relax and listen back to their progress. Trying to record take after take can be confusing; it's hard for a singer to hear which parts of their performance need adjustment, so breaks, when a singer can review the takes so far, can help enormously.

Most singers prefer a relaxed environment, and don't want to feel that they are in a fishbowl. Turn down the lights, and get people out of the control room. Singers don't want the distraction of seeing band members appearing to be cracking jokes, having conversations, mixing cocktails or anything else unrelated to the vocal performance. Hearing a babble of background conversation each time the talkback button is pressed is another distraction.

Record everything. There's no such thing as a ‘practice' pass, particularly with DAW recording (multiple vocal tracking to tape can get more challenging). Often the best performance is achieved in early takes so make sure you've recorded them. Set up your DAW so each pass is automatically recorded to a new track.

Make Notes

Make notes of settings used in your hardware recording chain. Microphones settings such as LF cut and pad settings, preamp settings, compressor settings , etc. All will be very useful if you decide at a later stage to record or replace additional vocal parts. Also make these notes for any hardware you use at the mixing stage.

Editing and Mixing Vocals

For the purposes of this discussion, let's talk about a very simple scenario: assume that your goal is to have two separate tracks of vocals: one for the verses, and one for the choruses.

The verses are fairly constrained, but the choruses involve a much more aggressive vocal performance, where the singer's voice character (timbre) changes and the levels and vocal sound change considerably.

Comping Vocals

Once the recording stage is completed, you'll probably have multiple audio tracks of your vocals. You now will want to comp (to compile or to create a composite vocal track) vocal takes into the best comp'd track(s). You may want to keep sections of the vocals on separate tracks so that you can more easily apply processing and effects later, reducing the amount of automation and dynamic control needed, and corrective processes such as EQ which may not be needed on the entire completed vocal track. Remember that the comp should result in seamless vocal parts which do not sound disjointed. Often the individual phrases may not sound quite right when soloed, as you are auditioning out of context. Just remember to focus more on the continuity of the performance and not on all the details at this stage — we'll tackle the fine detail later.

Every DAW will have features for comping tracks, and they all work slightly differently but the result is the same; a new track is created, and parts from your vocal takes are placed on this new track, comping the best parts of all your takes. The unused parts are removed from the arrangement, but filed away in case they are needed later. See the section below though, as some out takes can be very useful for simulating double tracked vocals.

Destructive Editing

Once you have your comp'd vocal tracks, you may have residual problems to deal with. There may be noises, pops, mouth noises, breath sounds and unwanted level fluctuation between phrases.

There are two schools of thought here; some people always use automation for everything; others (like me) prefer to rely less on automation, but rather permanently editing the audio file. For me, it's easier to scoot through a file, selecting parts in a wave form editor, and eliminating noises, adding silence between phrases, reducing some breath sounds, interpolating pops and other minor fixes, and changing gain of entire phrases, than to make small adjustments manually by graphically changing automation. To me, it's just good housekeeping to have a smooth vocal track where I can use any additional compression mostly for sonic reasons rather than depending on automation and compression for too broad dynamic control.

Some dislike destructive editing as you really can't change your mind later (other than reverting to a backed up original file) but I actually like this supposed restriction; I like making decisions as early in the recording process as possible, only leaving minor instrumental parts open to tailor later, probably because I came from the old school analogue recording days using tape, when we had to make such choices as there was much less flexibility than in the present day digital domain, and when bouncing tracks down to create a comp'd track on a tape machine was commonplace, in order to free up more tracks for record additional parts. No going back in those days!

De-Essers

De-essing isn't much of a concern for me, as I believe that recording the vocal using the right microphone, position and hardware chain prevents the problem before it becomes an issue. However, if you record many different singers, or mix material where you had no control during the recording process, then think about investing in a used dbx 902 - the best de-esser made, hardware or software. They can be found quite inexpensively. You'll need a dbx 900 series rack to house the module, but they are not expensive, and gives you somewhere to house additional 900 series units such as the excellent 903 compressor (essentially a dbx 160 in a 900 module) ; also quite cheap and a great workhorse as a single channel compressor/limiter.

EQ

Hopefully, you have already record your vocals with a LF cut setting on the microphone set at 75 or 80 kHz, or an equivalent setting on your preamp. But your work on the low end of the spectrum probably isn't done. Listen to your vocal track in context, and see how much you can roll off at the low end. Don't do this with the track soloed: you'll think that the vocal is sounding too thin. But in with the mix, you'll be surprised how much low end you can remove. This will help make the vocal sit right in the mix, and is one step in cleaning up the low end, a common problem in mixes that have too little low end definition. This concept also applies to many other instruments — get rid of frequencies that aren't the focal point of that instrument's sound and stop too many instruments competing in the same frequency band.

Taking this idea one step further, try to cut frequencies rather than boosting them. Boominess is most apparent around 200-250 Hz. Instead of boosting mid range frequencies to attempt to make the vocal more present, try notching EQ around 230 Hz with a higher Q setting (every voice will be different) and then boost the vocal level.

Many vocals have their most obvious frequencies in the range from about 750 Hz to 2.8 kHz. Unfortunately, guitars are in the same range and turning up the vocal will just make the vocals sit on top of the guitars, not mixed in with guitars. A better approach is to EQ the guitar so that the guitar sound is scooped out where it's clashing with the vocals, using as narrow a ‘notch' as possible, the result being that the vocals now have their own space alongside the guitars but only in the competing range.

Another technique to try is compressing the guitars more when the vocal is present, using side-chain compression to affect the guitars. In my example above, use a send from the vocal track, heavily EQ's, so that the vocal being sent to the compressors side chain has a very limited frequency range, centered on the vocal's fundamental frequency. It won't sound good, but that doesn't matter as you're not hearing this vocal; its sole purpose is to control the compression of the guitars only for that frequency range.

If you're looking for a new tool for mixing, dynamic EQ is a very useful plug-in, combining an EQ and compressor with features enabling you to apply EQ only when the signal within a certain frequency range exceeds a certain loudness, as set by your threshold and filter. A good example of this is the Brainworx dynEQ

Compression

A compressor isn't intelligent, so it doesn't know when vocal dynamics are being changed for an intentional effect or because the singer wasn't adequately controlling the dynamics of their performance, or even didn't care and got caught up in the emotional delivery of their take. Often you want vocal dynamics. Your job is to ride the vocal levels (or automate) to preserve the dynamics you want, while smoothing out those which you don't.

A compressor can make a vocal ride properly within a dense mix and it is an indispensable tool to control peaks and bring average levels up. Compressors work much faster than you can, but for slow averaging of vocal dynamics, you will do a better, and smarter, job.

Don't ask your compressor to work too hard.

The more you do, the more obvious the artifacts will be, and depending on your compressor settings, you will make the compression noticeable, which is often not desirable. If, after you have tried the recording and editing tips described above, you still find that your vocal levels are not adequately controlled, try routing the output of your vocal track to a aux, and ride the vocal level to the aux, using automation to capture your moves. Now add final compression and other effects you want to the aux, not to the original vocal track.

Serial compression:

I use this technique all the time, and I think it's the most commonly overlooked technique regarding compression. Using two compressors can be very helpful, as you're making the two compressors to perform different tasks. Try using a fast FET-type compressor (such as an 1176 or software emulation) set to a fast attack, with the threshold (or input control in the case of an 1176) set so that only the peak signals are being compressed leaving the body of the vocal untouched. Aim for a gain reduction that sounds natural but firmly controls the peaks.

Now follow this with opto type compressor (an LA-2 or LA-3 type) with a slower attack and release, but this time set the threshold lower with more moderate ratio. This will level the vocal track nicely, and the two compressors together will give you a much smoother result.

Parallel Compression:

Often used on other instruments, particularly drums and guitars, a modified version of parallel compression can work great on vocals. Either duplicate those vocal parts you want to use this effect on, or send from the original vocal track to an aux channel. On the aux channel (or separate vocal FX track), add a great deal of EQ to boost presence and air, roll off the low end, and add obscene amount of compression. You now have two vocal tracks, one natural and one with heavy EQ and compression. Now set the natural vocal channel to it's appropriate mix level and bring up the FX vocal so it just peaks out under the unaffected vocal to add presence and excitement. Use the natural vocal channel for the send to reverb you might want. Set right, the vocal won't get lost in the mix, and although the unaffected vocal sounds natural there will be a presence and edge that can be a real benefit to your vocal mix.

See here for more details on compression and compressor types.

Vocal Tracking, ADT, Doubling, Thickening etc.

ADT (Artificial Double Tracking): Since the dawn of time (well, since The Beatles) double-tracking vocals is one of the most useful and commonly used effects. Double-tracked vocals are stacking the same vocal twice (sometimes more) to thicken the vocal sound. This can also work very well on backing vocals.

The best results will be obtained by doing it for real, getting the singer(s) to duplicate their part on another track. However, it's a laborious process. Getting the two vocals to be tight enough can be quite difficult, particularly if the original is more of a creative interpretation than a technically consistent performance. Where words start or end on hard consonant sounds, such T” or C,” the doubling result can sound sloppy. Some singers are really good at it, others are not. Either way, it can be a time-consuming and demanding process.

You'd think that it would be easy to recreate the ADT effect easily using modern technology. Just adding a digital delay to the vocal at the same level as the original part, with a delay time of 40-100 ms and no feedback should do it, right? Not really.

When ADT was first created at Abbey Road, the technique involved two tape machines; one playing back the original vocal to another tape machine, which then recorded and played back the delayed vocal in to another channel on the mixing console, the delay time being changed by use of vari-speed control on the second tape machine. Because tape was being used, with two machines, variations were being introduced several times along the process. Tape machines have wow, flutter and scrape flutter, each of which introduces slight changes to the delayed vocal. Add to this the addition of harmonic distortion introduced by the delayed vocal being passed through three stages of signal electronics, and the characteristics of tape itself, all of which introduces undefinable ‘analog warmth' and the end result is just not the same as slapping on a digital delay.

However, its possible to get close enough for all but the most critical ears. There are various plug-ins which claim to simulate this quite well, but they are mostly expensive. I've had some success by using VacuumSound's ADT plug-in coupled with a distortion/warmth unit like a Culture Vulture Alternative plug-ins such as PSP's Vintage Warmer can help too.

Additional, a fast compressor taming the peaks to soften hard consonants, or even an envelope shaper, can make the tracked vocal sit better with the original. Melodyne's offset by random pitch and time is another additional process worth trying.

Dual Shifter:

Another favorite. Older Eventide hardware like the h3000 had a dual shifter setting. This can be recreated by standard plug-ins. First, copy your vocal track twice. On copy 1, insert a compressor (opto type) with a low ratio and the threshold set so that the compressor is working on all but the quietest parts. Follow this with a pitch shifter, pitching the vocal down by 10 - 15 cents. Now add a digital delay, initially set to something like 10 - 50 ms. On copy 2, insert a fast FET or VCA type compressor with a fast attack, higher ratio, with the threshold set so that it's only working on the peaks. Add a pitch shifter again, this time pitching up 10 - 15 cents. Once again, add a digital delay, but this time set to a different delay than copy 1. Route the outputs of these two copies to a submix, panned L - R, where you can apply further compression if needed, together with EQ further removing low-end mud, and perhaps adding a little presence. Tweak these suggested ‘starting point' settings to taste.

Whisper track:

Here's a tip for an effect which may be useful on slow, more intimate verses, especially ballads. Ask your singer to whisper, almost talking, along with the vocal track, often in a lower register, compress it, and bring this up so it's barely audible under the lead vocal.

Reamping:

Usually used for guitars and keyboard tracks, this can be very useful for really hard edged, tough vocals in hard rock or metal mixes. It can add lots of distortion and a great live sound to a vocal. Send your vocal track out to a recording room via a reamp box, or at a pinch, a passive DI box in reverse. Use this send as an input to a guitar amp, and close mic it. Also, add a room mic and compress it. Record these two new tracks, and mix them to taste under your lead vocal. As there's really nothing useful coming out of a guitar amp above about 4.5 kHz, you'll find that mixed right, it can add a lot of edge and aggression into your vocals.

Reverb

Washy vocal reverb has become less fashionable in recent years, compared to pop/rock music production of the classics from the 70's and 80's. But there are many exceptions. The current trend is to use reverb to create a little space around the vocal, but not much that it's an obviously applied reverb effect.
Unlike recording orchestral music or recordings of ensembles in folk, jazz or MOR, I find that the use of convolution reverbs are less useful in pop/rock/metal genres. Convolution reverbs use a ‘fingerprint' of an actual space and mix it (or convolve) your vocal with that space, creating the impression that your singer's vocal was recorded in that space.

The downside of using convolution reverbs is that the IRs (the Impulse Response files used to convolve with the vocal) are less flexible and offer fewer options to create a suitable reverb sound. So I often prefer to use digital reverb units which use algorithms to create synthetic effects. These are purely mathematical calculations where every part of the reverb effect is freely adjustable and you can tailor exactly the vocal reverb you want. Lexicon is the best known and most used manufacturer of all digital algorithm-based reverbs since the 70's.

For a lead vocal, I'd suggest starting with a short reverb time (well under 2 secs), and a pre-delay around 40 - 60 ms and boost the early refections part of the parameters depending on the reverb device you're using. It's not possible to give hard-and-fast recommendations; you'll need to experiment. I've always been a lover of the EMT 140 fbST plate for vocals (the real one!) but some digital reverbs (the original 224XL Rich Plate that carried through the Lexicon PCM series) are all very good.

In software emulations, the UAD Plate 140 is good, and the recently introduced Lexicon Native plug-ins are superb. Unlike many software emulations of hardware, reverb plug-ins work extremely well, as in reality the hardware digital reverbs are really just giant calculators, with little or no significant analogue component coloration, so their algorithms can be calculated just as well with modern computers, although the CPU requirements can be considerable; a good reason to have one or more hardware units if your budget permits.

The usual method of using reverb is to insert your reverb on an aux (containing either routing to external hardware or your reverb plug-in) and send to it from your vocal(s) tracks.

Increase your return levels until you can just hear the effect, and then back off a touch. As mentioned earlier, this is merely a starting point; adjust the pre-delay, and reverb time to fit your mix, and don't worry too much about the finer digital delay parameters. You will probably need to EQ the send to your reverb, and often the return, by removing anything under at least 100 Hz and treat other areas of your reverb to removing any annoying resonances and notch out any unwanted frequency bands.
Try altering the reverb time between the different sections of your song. In rock music, start by making it shorter for verses and longer for the choruses. Generally you'll have verses and chorus parts on different tracks, so you can use multiple reverb unit instances if you're using plug-ins, as reverb plug-ins in particular are challenging to automate when altering certain parameters such as reverb times. If you're using hardware, but only one unit, you'll have to record the effect returns for parts using differing hardware settings.

Background Vocals

There are many techniques for recording, editing and mixing background vocals ().

Start by applying the same editing and mixing techniques as suggested earlier for lead vocals. Your first task is to clean up the individual vocal parts. Most often, you're looking to create a blended, smooth sound for these vocals.

Here's an approach I like using:

Panning:

Keep your out of the way of your lead vocal, which is almost always panned dead center. Start by panning them at 10 'clock and 2 'clock. I prefer to leave the extreme hard left, hard right positions for any effects returns. Having said that, I have found occasionally that panning the backing vocals hard left-right can work, returning effects to your mix with a narrower stereo spread.

Low End EQ:

Just as we removed low end from the lead vocals, you should do the same here. But this time, while listening to your in context, move your low cut turnover frequency up until your start to noticeably thin out. Then back off a touch. Soloed, these vocals will sound way too thin, but will work fine in the mix. It's important to make sure your don't muddy-up low end guitar and keyboard parts, as well as clouding the space used by your bass parts.

Compression:

By now you should have applied broad level control manually to your parts. Next step is to beat them unmercifully into a blend, where individual transients and untamed peaks are ruthlessly stamped on. Perhaps this is one area of mixing where you can forget subtlety; squash those vocal peaks! Fast attack, high ratio is the order of the day, with the threshold set so that peaks are heavily controlled.

Submix:

Route the outputs of all your tracks to a stereo bus, maintaining pan position, and with the correct mix of your parts. This single fader aux will control your overall level. Leave it alone for now. You'll probably need to make multiple passes throughout your mix, automating the balance between the various parts. Usually, I do this by grabbing automated faders in ‘touch' mode and will go in to the individual tracks afterwards, smoothing out automation points and correcting any mistakes.

Once you have all your individual levels set, the next step is to apply some ‘glue' to further smooth out and blend your Start by inserting a stereo bus compressor (hardware or software) on your aux, and set it (as a starting point) with a low ratio (2:1 or less as a start), not too fast attack, low-ish threshold, medium release and aim for gain reduction in the 3-4 dB range, adjusting the threshold until this is achieved. Continue playing through the song, adjusting the release value until it's smooth and seamless.
Almost there!

Now you want to apply some EQ, if necessary, to create a space for the lead vocal if the parts occur at the same time as the lead vocal. If they only occur occasionally, apply the side-chain compression or dynamic EQ techniques as described earlier, but using the lead vocal as the control signal. If the overlap the lead vocals often, then apply the EQ scooping technique described above so that the EQ is notched in the lead vocal's range — it won't take much to make quite a difference. In any event, you should use this additional processing only if you have trouble riding the levels in the mix.

Depending on your set up, you can send from the aux to another aux for reverb and other effects. On some , particularly on slower, more intimate material, a chorus effect can work well on mixed in to taste, as well as before the reverb send. I particularly like Fluid , from Audio Damage, although there are many on the market, and if you have access to Lexicon or Eventide hardware, they're unbeatable. ADT and dual shifter effects (see above) can also work well on , as well as many effects normally used for lead vocals. Again, experiment after you've cleaned up your basic tracks.

Vocal Balance

Vocals not sitting well in the mix is one of the commonest questions around the audio recording forums. Hopefully, some of the above suggestions will help, but as a final note, it's important to listen to your mix, as it evolves, on a variety of playback systems. Often, too loud or too quiet vocals will be easier to judge at very low playback levels, as well as playing your mixes back on small crappy speakers, simulating the environment in which your song is most likely to be played. Also try playing back your mix and stand outside the mix room, and play back your mix on other devices, including your car and all the iGadgets. Listen to commercial mixes of the same genre and see how your vocal balance and sound stand up.

Finally, when you commit to your mix, take the time to create additional, and clearly noted, alternative mixes with the lead vocal up a little on one, and down a little on another. A Little” depends on your particular song, but 1 or 2 dB should be plenty. When you get to the mastering stage, the additional, overall, mastering processing needed may affect your vocal balance and it can be a lifesaver to have alternative mixes available, identical other than the vocal level. Creating separations for mastering can be even more useful.

Panning Techniques For Mixing. Are Asymmetrical Mixes Weird

When mixing a song there are an infinite number of ways to put together the stereo field or the left to right image across the speakers. When I am working with mixing clients, or training others to do mixing, one of the topics that often comes up is the idea of symmetry or left-right balance. If there is a guitar panned to one side, is there another guitar on the other side of the mix so it does not feel lopsided? This always leads to the question of whether or not left-right balance is something important that we should strive for. Won't it sound weird if we have something on one side without something to balance it on the other side?”

The answer to this is not as straightforward as it might seem. If we look at mixes from some of the great mixers, we will find that many do have almost perfect balance between the left and right side in terms of both arrangement as well as spectral balance. What I mean by spectral balance” is that they seem to have an equal amount of each frequency range on the left and right side of the mix. Check out this Green Day mix as a near perfect example of this. Except for the fact that the hi-hat is panned to the left side, the general sound of the left and right side are virtually identical.

But as we start to listen to a wider range of mixes we will also find the complete opposite. Check out this mix for U2 in which most of the song has a single guitar hard panned to the left side with absolutely nothing to balance it” on the right side.

In the last few decades the norm has been to pan the bass, kick drum, snare and main vocals straight up the middle, but what happens with the other elements is all over the map. We can find examples of very balanced symmetrical mixes as well as completely lopsided mixes. What can we take away from this?

You may have a strong feeling that mixes should have a strong left-right balance, but music fans do not care at all!

It is all just a matter of mood and personal preference. I tend to do both fairly often. Sometimes it is just letting the muse dictate where things should go, but often if I am making a mix asymmetrical it is because I want a particular instrument to stand out or have more presence in a mix. When a guitar (or any other instrument) sits alone on one side of a mix without a complimentary” instrument on the other side it will generally have more personality and connect with the listener in a more direct way. Instruments with left-right counterparts will tend to blend in as part of the ensemble. Another positive aspect of this is that when a primary instrument is set off to one side without an opposite counterpart, it will often compete less with the main vocal in the middle. While one is not better than the other, it is pretty obvious that both are completely valid.

One of the great tools we have available to us in mixing is to experiment with panning and see how it affects the overall feel of the mix, and even experiment with muting parts that have multiple versions of the same instrument/part to feature the part more. Regardless of what you do, the important thing is to mix in a way that you feel is best for the music because music lovers do not really care about anything else.

Here are a few more examples of some great lopsided mixes.

The entirety of Van Halen I

One fairly common mixing technique you will find is a trick where the mix will be fairly balanced in one section and then completely asymmetrical in another. This helps build a sense of dynamics even in very compressed recordings. Check out this John Mayer tune as an example.

Here is Lenny Kravitz doing the same thing

There are some days I actually miss the 70's and 80's not as often as one might imagine and some part of that nostalgia is in panning.

I can tell in a matter of seconds what decade a song was recorded in because as it happens my truck is missing the left side of the stereo mix and the difference between the decades is so very obvious. Starting somewhere in the mid 80's stereo mono” became the norm. Don't even need a left/right channel mix. One speaker pretty much gets it all. But then a Beatles tune comes on. Wow! If your readers haven't tried it—Listen to Abbey Road with one side turned off. A real eye opener.

And I love listening to Eddie Van Halen's rhythm playing on the first album. All the leads are on one side. Of course, you're stuck with David's vocals but the songs aren't all that long.

4 Great Tips For Recording And Mixing An Acoustic Guitar Music And Technology

Recording and mixing an instrument such as an acoustic guitar can be as simple or as complex as you like but most important of all we need to get the sound right at the source to set us up for a good recording. Here at our Manchester recording studio , we have learnt the hard way in our early days, so remember - record a bad sound at source and you are starting on the wrong foot and leaving yourself open to a headache of a mix!

First off, if you have a selection of guitars or access to a number of different acoustics, then make sure you utilize your resources. Choosing the right guitar with the best sound for what you need will save you a lot of time later on when mixing. Think about what role the acoustic is going to play in the track; is it to be placed into a loud and busy mix and be heard through it's top end, or is it the absolute main focus of the track? All of these kinds of questions help us understand what we need form the guitar itself but not only that, it will help your decision in step two now you know what you need form the guitar - choosing you microphone(s) and placement.

Today we'll talk through two of our favorite microphone placements, but don't let this stop you being creative and finding a better way to record your acoustic guitar. Use these ideas as a good place to start and go ahead and tweak away!

The ‘XY' Technique

The first is the popular ‘XY' placement. This involves two pencil condenser microphones crossed over at the 12th fret. They will both be aimed at the 12th fret and at an approximate 90 degree angle against each other. Move this placement up and down the fret board and sound hole to find the best sounding point. Remember, every guitar is different and no mic position will be applicable for two different guitars. The microphones should be around 6 inches away from the guitar, but again, use this as a guide and play about with the distance.

When mixing these signals, pan them left and right for a stereo feel, panning harder for a widest stereo image.

Stereo Technique

The second microphone involves, again, two condenser microphones, however, this time we will need a large diaphragm condenser and a pencil condenser. The large diaphragm condenser will be position facing the bridge of the guitar at around 6 inches away and the pencil condenser at the same distance but at the 12th fret. This allows us to capture a good rich low end from the bridge and bright clarity from the 12th fret. The large condensers can be great for capturing low end due to their structure and size. Like the other technique, spread these signals using your pan tool in your chosen DAW. The great thing about this technique is that you can now balance the low end of your acoustic guitar by bringing in the bridge microphone until you are happy with the sound against your 12th fret position.

Single Large Diaphragm Condenser

For the times where the stereo sound isn't necessary, placing a large condenser approximately 6 inches away from the guitar around the 12th fret can still give great results. The reason we recommend the large diaphragm over the pencil is because in the mixing stage, you have the option to keep or cut the rich and full low end that a large diaphragm condenser offers. Remember, when using this technique, it is important to find the point of perfect balance between the low and muddy sound the bridge can offer, to the clarity and sometimes thin sound the neck can give. You have less room for correction, compared to a stereo technique, when mixing.

Be wary of either side of your frequency ranges

A common problem when mixing acoustic guitars is the control on either the top or low end. Managing harsh top and low end can be achieved with a simple compressor. However, before we continue, we must stress; don't over compress. Keep the ratio below 5:1:1 and make sure you're threshold is only cutting up to 3 to 4 dB maximum. Over compression on an acoustic guitar takes away the dynamics from what can be a beautiful sounding instrument. Always listen back to the guitar in the mix and take some time away, to come back with fresh ears and a fresh outlook.

Use these three techniques and feel free to explore and experiment to achieve the sound you desire. Remember to make the right choices at the very beginning and most of all, have fun doing what can be a very satisfying recording experience.

7 Advanced Guitar Mixing Techniques For An Amazing Guitar Production Audio Issues

Building upon one of my older articles, Top 10 Guitar Mixing Techniques , here are even more tips and tricks to make your electric guitar sound better in your mix.

1. Long Release on Chords - For a longer, more sustained sound for chords, use a long release on your compressor. Think if it this way: the longer the release, the longer the sustain of the chords.

2. Fast Attack to Reduce String Sound - Compression is used to create shape, it's not just used to control the volume. A really fast attack really pushes down on the initial strum, resulting in a more pad-like sound.

If you combine a fast attack with a fast/medium release you'll end up with a chord that seems to wash over you, especially if you hit the chords(and your compressor) hard.

3. Re-amp if Needed - Re-amping means routing your performance from your DAW into an amp and recording it again. If you recorded a great performance through a guitar emulator and you're not satisfied with the sound, re-amping is a great way to give your electric guitar more depth. It's a perfect way to tweak a great performance that has a lackluster sound.

4. Cut at 800 Hz - I always seem to dip a little at 800 Hz, it takes the cheap sound away. Especially if I'm working with cheap guitars.

5. EQ the reverb - Reverb is the number one culprit when it comes to a muddy mix. This trick is applicable to any instrument, but make sure to filter out some of the low-end of your reverb send when mixing electric guitar. It'll still give your guitar space and depth, but without the unnecessary muddiness.

6. Use subgroups - If you're working with many similar guitar track, grouping them together makes mixing a lot easier. This is one of the most important advice I can give. It's simple but extremely important. Bus, route and group your tracks and suddenly your tracks become more manageable.

7. Use the Right Reverb - Take your time to go throw your reverbs. Choosing the right reverb depends on a lot of things: genre of music, speed of song, type of feel.

You can't get a large open vocal sound with a small jazzy -club preset. You're better off with a hall setting. Also, a fast rock song with a cathedral reverb is going to muddy up the mix immediately. So take your time to use the right reverbs for the song.

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!

Learn How to Record, Mix and Produce Beautiful Music.

Home recording doesn't have to be a headache. You can immediately up your game when you download my free guide, The Home Recording Cheat Sheet, A to Z - A 26 Point Checklist to Instantly Improve Your Music. Enter your email and I'll send the free guide straight to your email inbox!
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.

5 Tips For Mixing Background Vocals

Here are 5 things to think about when mixing background vocals and who knows, maybe they can help improve and simplify your approach.

1. Crank the Pan Pots

The one thing that I think is easy to do as a new engineer is to try and find the perfect spot for every part of a stack or harmony. You know pan the high harmony 50% left and right and the mid harmony 75% Left and Right etc.

But if you think about it for a second, a harmony is just a note of a chord.

Is it realistic to record each note of a piano chord and then start panning them into their own pocket”?

I didn't think so. Try and think of background stacks or harmonies as one. They are going to accompany the lead vocal/melody and therefore don't necessarily have to be easily heard on their own. Just pan them hard left and hard right and focus more on the blend (to sound like a chord) and also the contrast between the lead vocals.

2. Group Your Background Vocals

Piggy backing off of contrast and blend, sending the background vocals to a Group Bus can help tremendously. Whenever you add processing to the combined background vocals it has a glue like effect, fusing them together.

Most of the time I will have some form of compression and EQ on my grouped tracks but there are times where a little more processing will be added. This is more of a taste and mood kind of thing.

Compression - This is by far the biggest thing I do on my vocal groups. I tend to go for a more compressed sound because I don't like my background vocals to be very dynamic. I want them to kind of get lost in the background and have your ear gravitate towards the lead; compressing generously tends to help me reach that goal. If you want numbers I'm probably taking out -6 dB's (maybe more) and a fast attack with a medium to long release. Compressing heavily also helps to squeeze all the background tracks together, fusing them into one big fat vocal chord.

3. Get Rid of the Junk

When you pan harmonies out left and right, often times you get a build up in the lower mids. For whatever reason it just seems to be one those things that I consistently notice from record to record.

Taking care of that zone can help give clarity to other parts in the mix and can also give more focus to the star of the show, i.e. the lead vocal. I would generally attack this region with some type of EQ or dynamic EQ depending on the severity of the problem.

But not all background vocals are created equally.

For the most part I would take an EQ and apply it to the entire Group but there are times when you have to go in and treat each track individually.

Because the harmonies are in different frequencies ranges, taking an EQ to the entire bus might actually damage the quality of the sound. In this situation the best thing to do is treat each problem on its own and then maybe make a gentle cut on the entire Group. Just make that judgement call when the situation arises.

4. Make them Mysterious

Often times the role of the background vocals is to just support the lead melody and not get in the way. You can get creative with how you mix the backgrounds so that they add a bit of mystery to the way they sound in the track. The goal is to try and get them to move around the lead vocal.

There are a couple of tools I use when going for this type of effect but I'm sure there are a lot more creative possibilities out there

Stereo Imaging - Putting a stereo imager on the background vocals widens them out and also makes them a bit phasey sounding. By adding this type of texture you are making them sound less direct or obvious to the listener, making the lead vocals sound clearer.

Flanging - I would probably lean toward this effect now-a-days just because I like the backgrounds to be effected but not too washy sounding. With flanging you can kind of achieve that sound. If you have a mix knob just dial in the amount of flanging you want so that they become a bit more swirly” and float around the lead vocals.

5. Put them In the Back”

To truly achieve this effect is a lot easier said than done and I really mean that. It's definitely not impossible; it just can't be explained easily in words. What I can do is give a couple of pointers to send you off in the right direction but in the mean time, listen to some records with great sounding background vocals and get an idea of how that texture sounds.

Balance - This definitely trumps everything. You need to get the balance right so that the vocal up front sounds, well, up front and the background vocals sound in the back. It's not just a matter of turning them down so that they are quieter; you really have to finesse the fader so that the vibe of the backgrounds is achieved but they support the lead vocal and don't get in the way.

Reverb - Dave Pensado always referred to reverb as a front to back panner and I agree. Just be conservative with it because it starts to sound unpleasant when you use a lot. Try and add it in to a point where you start to hear it and then pull it back.

EQ - Yep, more equalization! Now in this situation it's a bit different. There's usually one frequency area that the lead vocal lives in and there are times when the background vocals compete. I really try to avoid using the EQ but there are times when I may have to knock out a little bit around 1-5 kHz so that the lead vocals dominate that range. It also helps to push the background vocals to the back.

Conclusion

So I keep harping that there isn't really any one silver bullet to the realm of mixing. Often times I create a new technique every time I mix a song because the last technique never seems to work on a future project.

However these 5 tips should be able to get you going when you are mixing your background vocals. I will usually use at least one on every mix that involves a harmony or stack. Try them out and see if they work.

 

Advanced Guitar Micing And Mixing

Another long guide on the art of mic'ing a guitar cab with 2 different microphones to achieve a fuller sound. Also includes tips for use on mixdown to get that "pro" sound.
Electric Guitar Mic'ing.

There are two fields of thought on Mic usage when mic'ing guitar cabinets / amps. Using a Dynamic mic like a Shure SM-57 gives a very "gritty" sound, but often lacks top end sparkle that makes the sound cut through in a mix meaning you have to apply lots of EQ and / or reverb to get a usable sound. Using a Condenser mic will often give a more detailed sound with more "fizz", but often lacks lower-frequency response and as a result can sound too "thin" and "transparent".

In this tutorial I will outline the setup and procedures for combining these two mic's to enjoy the benefits of both, allowing you to achieve a "richer" electric guitar sound from your home studio setup. I will also be covering some basics on treatment and practices to employ to push that sound even further upon mixdown.

Equipment used:

Guitar Amp - The amp you use is pretty much down to what you have - bear in mind that the bigger the amp, the "phatter" the end sound (in most cases). Also, bear in mind that it is best to drive the amp pretty hard when recording the sound, as the desirable distortion elements will not kick in at low volumes (especially when mic'ing Tube (Valve) Amps. As a result, it is sometimes more desirable to crank up a small amp and record that, rather than using a large amp, but having to run it at lower "power levels" due to neighbors, or the wife :)

If you have a range of practice and "stage" amps, try them out, find the one which one sounds best at the volume levels you can operate at.

Dynamic Mic - In this tutorial I will be using a Shure SM-58 - ideally an SM-57 is more desirable (but I don't have one! :), however nearly any dynamic mic will do the role sufficiently.

Dynamic mics can take very extreme SPL's (Sound Pressure Levels) and as a result, you can shove them right next to the cone to really pick up the "roar" of the amp. Dynamic mics, due to their build design, also have a tendency to have a slower "transient response" - I won't go into detail here, but this is again very desirable to close mic'ing a cab.

Condenser Mic - In this tutorial I will be using a Rode NT-1 (or NT1A ), however any LARGE DIAPHRAGM condenser mic will be sufficient (note that you should use a large diaphragm mic, a small diaphragm mic will not capture the same tonality - feel free to experiment, by all means, but that's not how I work :) Condenser mic's are quite a bit more delicate than dynamic mic's, as a result you shouldn't shove one of these right next to the cone, the high SPL's could possibly damage the mic - keep it at least 4 inches away and you should be fine.

Condenser mics will usually have a very good "transient response" leading to a very dynamic and "open" sound.

Pre Amps / Mixing Console - In this tutorial I will be using 2 mics, one of which (The NT-1) requires Phantom Powering. I personally use my Behringer MX3282a, however any desk should do the job nicely (Even the MX802 is capable for this task). If you have the option of using a high quality channel strip (like a Joe Meek VC3Q for example) then use it to feed the Condenser Mic in this setup and you can use the compression settings to you advantage when tracking.

Recording Medium - Most of you will be recording onto computer, I will leave how to hook everything up and getting your software running smoothly until another tutorial.

Method:

Wherever possible, set the guitar amp up in a separate room to your studio / control room. If you have a vocal booth, nearby spare bedroom or even a cupboard, use that. Set up the amp as usual, dial in your preferred settings and have a quick jam to check that everything is working ok and sounding the way you like it. Remember that if you are using a Tube Amp you need to let it "warm up" for at least an hour before you start recording or the tonality of the sound may change as the valves change in temperature.

Start off by positioning the condenser mic. Using a stand set it up about 12-15 inches away from the speaker and so that the capsule is facing towards one of the cones. If your cab has 2 or more cones then concentrate on just one cone, try not to place the mic's in between the cones as the sound will nearly always be weaker.

Now you need to plug the Condenser Mic into a channel on your Mixer / Preamp. Ensure that the Phantom power on your Mixing desk / preamp is turned Off, this is important, plugging an XLR lead into a Condenser mic when the Phantom Power is on can easily damage the Microphone. Once it is plugged in at both ends (Mic and Channel Strip), then turn on the Phantom Power, wait about 10 seconds for it to level out. Bring the channel fader up to Unity (0dB) and set all the EQ's flat. Start off with the gain all the way down. Get a friend, your sessionist or anyone else to play the guitar while you adjust the gain trim - make sure that the signal does not peak and averages around 0dB on the mixer (Note, we are only dealing with the MIXER here, not the recording medium yet!).

Now we need to setup a "headphone mix". Plug a pair of headphones into the "headphone" out of your mixer / preamp. You should now be able to hear the guitar in your headphones via the Condenser mic - so far so good :)

Turn up the headphone volume nice and loud and venture back into the room where the Guitar Amp is setup. You need the headphones nice and loud so that you hear the sound that the mic is picking up rather than the sound of the actual cab. Now position the Condenser mic so that it is in the sweet-spot. Spend a good few minutes moving the mic around slightly until you are confident it is picking up the best possible sound - it should sound "airy" and "open" - don't worry that it does have much "grit" about it, we will address that in a minute :).

Once you are happy with the positioning, go back into your control room. Make sure you shut all the doors between the two locations and use pillows / towels / duvets / quilts / family pets to block any gaps where sound is leaking through. Now listen to the sound of the cab back through on your studio monitors - if you are happy with the sound, you are ready to move onto the next mic - if not, put the headphones back on and venture back into the "live room" to reposition the mic again.

When you have got the sound you are after with the one condenser mic, you are ready to place the dynamic mic (SM-58 in my case) to add more "depth" and "grit" to the sound. When placing the Dynamic mic ensure that you don't knock the Condenser mic accidentally as you will then have to reposition it to get an optimal sound. Get the dynamic mic right up next to the grill, I place mine about 2inches away slightly off axis pointing towards the centre of the speaker - These close mic'ing techniques are already covered in another tutorial available here at Home Recording Central.

Now that the mic is in position it is time to head back into the control room. Turn the fader all the way down to -Inf on the Condensers's channel and turn the Dynamic's channel up to Unity - as before, make sure the EQ is set to flat and then slowly adjust the gain until you get a strong signal that fluctuates around 0dB. The dynamic mic should sound pretty good by itself - we're done! both mic's are in place and we are ready to record?

Nah, that's far too easy...

Here comes the real catch of using two or more mics on a single sound source - our good friend "phasing" - this bit is FUN!

From here on the Condenser Mic (Rode NT-1) will be running on Channel 1 and the Dynamic Mic (Sure SM-58) on channel 2; just for the sake of simplicity.

Set channel 2's fader to -Inf dB so that you are now not hearing any sound from either of the mics. Bring up channel 1's fader to Unity again and you will now only be getting the sound from the condenser Mic, now, bring up channel 2's fader.. whats happening.. the sounds getting thinner?! Yep - that'll be the phasing.

Phasing occurs because the Mics are receiving two different "waveforms" (like you see on the computer screen in your Sample editing program) - Because the mic's are recording from the same source (the guitar amp) and are very close together, these waveforms will cancel each other out when they are mixed together resulting in a very thin sound as opposed to what the two mics would sound like if they were "in-phase" (which would be "phatter" than just the one mic).

Obviously this is not a good guitar sound, what the hell are you going on about jues, you made me read all this way and you have created a crap guitar sound. Hold on, this bit's a touch fiddily, but you'll be pleasantly supprised when we get it right :)

Have both channels set to unity and both panned centrally - pop on the headphones again and go back into the "live room". Do not adjust the position of the Condenser Mic, that is find where it is, the easiest one to adjust is the dynamic mic (the SM-58), pick it up and move it about very slowly while someone else is playing the guitar - as you move the position of the mic, so the phasing will shift - it will sound a bit like a jet plane going overhead and sounds a bit wierd - eventually you will find the meeting point of the waveforms and as if by magic the signals will go "in phase" - go back into your control room and check it on the monitor speakers - you will know when you get it because the sound will no longer sound thin and lifeless, but all phat and creamy. If you have a very willing friend, it's preferable to send them into the control room to move the Dynamic Mic around while you listen on the speakers. Shout at him to stop when he finally gets it in the right position and the two signals go "in-phase".

Once you have got the two mics "in-phase" you must do your best not to move them - very slight movements shouldn't be a major problem - but large knocks will almost certainly move them enough to put the signals out of phase again - in which case you will need to go back and readjust the positioning (and hit the person who just knocked the mic's :)

Right, so we have a phat, in-phase guitar sound coming though into the mics - excellent, we are now ready to track this sound onto your recording medium (in my case, I use Cubase SX). Ideally we want to record both mics separately so that we can apply different EQ, compression, reverb, delay, and volume settings to each one if we need to. As we are only using two channels, you need not worry about using AUX sends or groups - just pan Channel 1 hard left and Channel 2 hard right - you will now have one mic coming out of each of the two speakers and with a it of luck into the respective Left and Right inputs on your computer.

And away you go, play along to the track, monitoring on your studio speakers - remember not to monitor too loud or it may bleed across from the control room into the live room - if you are getting a bit of "bleed" then you need to use more pillows, etc to block any gaps that the sound is travelling though, or just turn it down in the control room a bit. When you have finished your take you will have two separate recordings - one for each mic.

Hurrah - we're done, you can now pan these signals central on the computer and adjust the level of them and apply a bit of EQ to get the sound you are after. As far as the levels go I will start with the condenser mic up at unity and then mix in the dynamic mic signal until it adds the required amount of "grind" to the sound...

"Okay, this sounds pretty phat - but it's not PHAT! C'mon, you promised PHAT guitar sound!" :)

Okay, here are my tips to using that mic setup to achieve a REALLY phat sound - but these are my tips - so be careful who you give them out to :D

First up is the good old time honoured classic of double tracking. I double track every single guitar part that I record. This very simply involves playing the part as per usual and then going back and recording it again (make sure that you solo the first performance, as it may put you off if you listen back to it when you record the second). Then just pan the first take hard left and the second take hard right. Obviously your playing needs to be pretty tight for this to work, but as long as you (or your sessionist) is fairly competent it will work great - this technique along will improve the phatness of the sound by a great amount. There is also a trick whereby you flip the phase of one of the takes, thus putting it out of phase with the other - this creates a psycho-acoustic illusion whereby there seems to be a very large "hole" in the middle of the stereo field, you'll find that vocals, bass and drums fit beautifully in this gap - tho it is entirely up to you as to whether you like this sound or not.

Next up is the use of compression. I'm not going to give a detailed explanation of compression here, there are plenty of articles available on that subject alone. The things to bear in mind is that you are after a really "crunchy" feel when compressing electric guitar (especially the distorted parts).

Set the ratio to about 4:1 and have the attack around 18-25ms and the release to about 20-30ms. Now lower the threshold slowly - get it to just the right spot and the sound will become a damn sight crunchier, push it too far and it will become too "flat" and "smooth" sounding - this maybe what you are after, but I'm personally not :) Clean guitar sounds can sometimes benefit from a slightly longer release to exaggerate the playing - experiment with the attack and release to get the sound you are after.

Because we used two mics we have the option of either compressing them individually or compressing the combined result - I personally go for the latter option (by placing the compressor on a bus and bussing the two signals to that), but you can easily experiment with different settings for the dynamic and condenser mics. Bear in mind that the dynamic mic is meant to add "grit" and so leans to the side of "over-compression" where as the condenser mic is used to capture the "air" and "fizz" and so probably wants a bit less - however, let your ears be the judge.

I personally wouldn't even touch EQ until you are doing the final mix of the tune when all the instruments are in place - go easy on the EQ, don't use too much and try to cut rather than boost - you may want to apply a Low Pass Cut under 120Hz to make a bit of room for the bass guitar if it's betting a bit lost - also, cutting at around 800Hz can give a bit more "thrash" to the sound.

Go _very_ easy on reverb on the Distorted sound. If you really want to use a bit of 'verb, then choose either a plate program or a small room program and send only a small amount - if you can hear the reverb then you have probably applied a bit too much - too much reverb will only muddy the mix, stealing frequencies away from the other instruments resulting in your mix sounding a mess. Clean guitar is a different story - clean guitar will sound much warmer with a bit of plate, room, or even chamber reverb on it - make sure the decay times are not set too high unless the piece is very laid back - stay under about 2 seconds, and again, don't send too much or it will sound messy and amateur.
Tap delays can also sound really good on clean guitar (not distortion!), use small taps (start with one at around 40-75 depending on the tempo of the track) (remember BPM x 0.6 = Time in Milliseconds) - you can add up to two or three taps before things start getting a bit messy, if you plugin (or outboard) has filters built in, use them to good effect to "filter away" the later taps - if you also offset the taps in the stereo field it can sound VERY pleasing.

As a last pointer, I will recommend that it is a good idea to do a track in "sections" - if there are both clean and distorted parts in the song, then do a first take and get all the distortion parts down, then go back and do another take and get all the clean parts down on a separate track (as in Lane) - this way you will avoid any timing issues or noises created by pressing pedals / stomp boxes - it also makes it easier to apply effects only to certain sections of the song.

Well, guess I've waffled enough - enjoy, and let me know how you get on.

A Powerful ‘N Punchy Guide To Mixing Your Drums Audio Issues

Your drum sound is one of the most important aspects of your mix. Mixing drums is therefore a number one priority for laying that solid foundation to your tracks, guaranteeing you a solid rhythm section.

Drums can be one of the most problematic instruments to get right in a mix.

If you did a great job recording the drum kit, then mixing your drums can only be a pleasurable experience.

BUT WHERE TO START?

Kick Drum Sound

Mixing drums starts with the foundation of the kick drum. The sound of the kick drum, along with the snare will be the defining factors of your drum sound. If you leave the kick drum sounding bad, the whole foundation of the song will lose its footing. The kick drum needs to be tight and punchy, with enough low end to fill up the bass range and enough mids to cut through the mix.

EQ

A boomy kick drum can also cloud up the clarity of your kick drum sound, so it's normally a good idea to cut around 200 - 250 Hz if you feel there is too much muddiness in your kick drum sound. A boxy kick drum sound is also a common nuisance, which can be fixed with Eq'ing out the boxiness that resides in the aread around 300 - 600Hz or so.

If your kick drum is all thump and no snap then we need to bring out the sound of the beater. We can usually find it around the 2 - 4 Khz area. Depending on the genre of the song, and the type of beater used, different frequency boosts in the beater area generate different sounds. A boost at 2.5 Khz is more of a typical rock sound as opposed to a narrower boost at around 4 Khz, which results in a Hardcore Metal type snap.

EQ is very important to me, which is why I spend a considerable time educating my email subscribers on the topic. From getting rid of muddiness to EQ'ing your kick and snare effectively, my newsletter subscribers get exclusive articles that help them get better at using EQ to create separation in your mixes. Take a quick second to subscribe right here.

Compression

When mixing drums, along with everything else, using compression is a subjective subject and everyone has an opinion on how things should be compressed. That said, there are a few guidelines you can follow to get a steadier kick drum sound.

How much gain reduction you want from the compressor depends on the genre, the steadiness of the drummer and the feel of the song. I usually start with a ratio of 4:1 or 6:1 and lower the threshold down until I'm compressing around 6 dBs.

Then I adjust the attack and release depending on what sort of sound I want. A fast attack clamps down on the transient of the kick drum, dulling the initial attack down somewhat, but a slower attack lets the attack of the beater break through before the compressor starts working.

I try to time the release in time with the beat, so that the compressor has stopped compressing before the next hit. It's easy to do this in modern DAWs because you are able to see the gain reduction meter working, enabling you to tweak the release perfectly in sync with the song.

EQ and Compression are the fundamental processors for any mix session. If you understand how these two processors work, then you've solved at least 80% of your mixing problems.

Snare Drum Sound

Partner in crime with the kick drum, the snare drum is the other defining rhythmic factor to the song. It's all about the snare” an experienced engineer once told me, because it's what supplies the song with that steady backbeat. Since it's such an important aspect of mixing drums, there needs to be a lot of care taken with getting the best sound possible.

EQ

EQ-wise, there is not an awful lot you need below 100 Hz, so you can start by high-pass filtering all the low end away.

The body of the snare can be brought forward with a little boost at around 150Hz, if you feel like it's lacking some thickness.

I like thick snares so I often catch myself adding a little weight to the snare around that area.

If your snare has ringing frequencies that you find annoying you can try pinpointing them by boosting a specific frequency band with a high Q and sweeping the spectrum until they pop out. I find that sometimes the snare needs a little cut in the mids, either resulting from boxiness at 500 - 800 Hz or too much of a nasally attack from the area around 1 Khz.

Enhance the attack of the snare with a broad boost around 2 - 4 Khz and search for the sizzle of the snares in the higher frequencies.

Compression

Like I do with the bass drum, I try to make the snare compress in time with the song. By timing the attack and release I can get a nice steady snare sound that breathes with each hit. I normally leave the attack at a medium to slow setting so that the snap of the snare is unaffected, and time the release so that it stops compressing just in time for the next hit.

I start with a ratio of 3:1, often going way higher as it depends on the genre how hard I want the compressor to be pumping. You can adjust the threshold so that it is only lightly compressing the peaks for a subtle sound, or you can push the threshold down harder for a heavily compressed sound.

Snare compression is perhaps one of the most argued about subjects in audio production. Every engineer has a certain method to mixing drums, and I think it's up to you to experiment and get acquainted with the knobs and sliders on your audio compressor so that you can create the sound that you want.

REVERB

You can create a completely different snare sound by just applying an interesting reverb to it. Whether that's a rock arena reverb, subdued room or even a spring reverb, different reverbs can transform the sound of your snare drum.

Go through your reverbs and see what type of reverb sounds best with the song you're mixing. Are you going to add a bright plate reverb to make it stand out, or will you be mixing it into a specific room with a small room sound? If you are in a particularly adventurous mood, you can try adding some gated reverb to your snare.

Mixing the Toms

EQ'ing

If the toms are playing a big part in your drum sound, mixing them so that they sound punchy and powerful is crucial to a great drum sound.

Get them punchy with EQ. The best way to EQ toms is to find the unflattering frequencies with your equalizer. Normally, these are the middle frequencies, from 300 - 800 Khz or so.

Find the boxy and unwanted frequencies, cut them out and then add low end power and high end punch as needed.

When mixing drums like toms, sometimes you need to finely cut a few adjacent frequencies instead of scooping out a big portion of the frequency spectrum.

Compressing

By adding a generous amount of compression to your toms you can get a larger than life sound out of them. You can fatten them up considerably with some tight compression, and with the addition of a little reverb you can make them sound huge and powerful. If that's what you want to go for.

The same rule of subtle compression applies as well to toms if you only want to control the peaks and lightly color their signal.

Overheads

The overheads might be the most important microphones on the kit. The overheads are the microphones that are supposed to pick up every drum and give a complete sound to your drum kit.

There are two ways of mixing drums with the overheads; you can either use them as the primary sound, sculpting every drum around the overhead sound or you can use them to primarily accent the cymbals and air around the kit.

By adding the overheads to the mix early on, you can get a better sense of the full sound of the kit, making your drum mixing easier.

Just notice how different a snare drum microphone sounds compared to a snare that's coming from the overhead mics.

By adjusting the overheads with the rest of the close miked drums you can get a different sound.

By focusing on the overheads you can get a roomier sound, but if you want a close in-your-face drum sound you would rather use the overheads as complimentary to the rest of the drums, mainly using them to accent the cymbal sounds.

The Hi-Hat

Mixing drums is a selective process, meaning that certain elements of the drum-kit only need specific frequency ranges.

You only need a specific frequency range from the hi-hat. Considering that the hi-hat microphone is probably picking up a lot of bleed from other drums, some heavy high-pass filtering is in order. Filter up to 250 Hz at least, even higher if you feel that you aren't losing anything from the hi-hat sound with higher filtering.

Now if you feel that there is something lacking from the hi-hat, or that you want to bring out the gong sound, you can find it in the 200 Hz area. So if your hi-hat needs a little more gong to it, you will have to sacrifice that aggressive filtering. Like everything else, just filter until you start hearing the sound becoming compromised and then back off a little bit.

Cutting at 1Khz can reduce the cheap jangly sound from the hi-hat, but you can enhance and give it some sparkle with a boost from 7 Khz or so. Use a high shelving EQ if you want to enhance the high end with some air, but a parametric bell EQ if you just want to accent a specific frequency area.

Room Mics

Room microphones give a different sound to the drum kit than the regular overhead mics.

Due to the distant miking technique most room mics are recorded with, we get a full sound of the drum-kit as well as a great amount of the reverb of the room it was recorded in.

Which, depending on the sound of the room, can either sound amazing or horrible.

Mixing Drums With a Roomy Sound

But let's assume our recording room is great. With a nice room mic picking up the complete kit we can try a few different techniques. We can apply some heavy compression to the room mics to get an even punchier sound.

We can EQ the kit as to draw out the most important elements, such as kick and snare and we can add it underneath an already great drum sound for that final touch.

Mixing Drums Into a Room

If the drums weren't recorded in a nice sounding room and sound quite dead when they come from the recording stage, it's time to add some space to our drum tracks.

A good way to add some ambience to our drum tracks is to add a 0.5 second drum room reverb. You can add a a nice amount to the overhead tracks, and maybe even a slightly different reverb to the snare to make it stand out. Go through your reverbs to try to find the best sound to your particular track.

I actually want to stop the article here and give it up for my buddy David Glenn of David Glenn Recording. He has a really cool video on mixing acoustic drums, especially when it comes to creating space and reverb using some nice plug-ins:

He actually has a cool video series on Mixing Drums if you want a complete, 7 hour in-depth tutorial on the matter.

Conclusion

Mixing drums is a challenging but enjoyable aspect of audio production. Since there are so many different ways of getting the drums to sound with EQ, compression and other mixing tricks there is no actual right way of mixing drums.

The only solid piece of advice I can give you for mixing drums is to experiment with all the tools you have on hand. Get every element to sound as good as possible and then try to mold them together to make them sound like a complete whole.

As always, there are trends in the music industry as to what sounds good right now, but being able to get whatever sound you want, whether it's huge 80's toms or a 90's arena rock snare is an important aspect of being a well rounded mixing engineer.

We've gone through quite a long journey on the different aspects of mixing drums, which I hope you enjoyed.

Recording & Mixing Bass Guitar

Bass is the backbone of your music, and in many cases - particularly with more modern styles - the whole metaphorical house would collapse without it. Lou Reed once put the importance of bass across rather well. I wouldn't want to hear Beethoven without beautiful bass, the cellos, the tuba. It's very important. Hip-hop has thunderous bass. And so does Beethoven. If you don't have the bass, it's like being amputated. It's like you have no legs.”

Just like building a house, it's essential to build on solid foundations. When done correctly, your bass should work with the rest of the band to provide a punchy and tight solid backbone to your music. Unfortunately for the beginner, recording great bass can seem like a dark art, with many results sounding muddy or unbalanced. Thankfully, like most things, it's easy when you know how. In this article, we'll get you up and running with great results, fast.

Setting Up

It goes without saying that you need a great bass player to get professional results, but it's equally important to set up your instrument first. As described in our post about recording acoustic guitars , we highly recommend you invest in setting your instrument up properly before doing anything else. As an absolute minimum, you should check the instrument action, its intonation, and consider a string change. Finally, and most importantly, always tune the bass before and between takes.

Bass Recording Methods

There are 3 main methods for recording bass guitar: 1. Recording direct using a DI box, 2. Using a Microphone, 3. Using a combination of direct and microphone techniques.

The method you choose depends on a number of factors. Below we'll consider each option in more detail.

Should I DI My Bass Guitar?

Unlike electric guitars, it is common to use a DI to record bass. Although this technique delivers a good solid clean sound, it can also lack life. If you want to capture a more ‘real' sound, there's nothing quite like micing up a bass cabinet. DI's, however, do have other distinct advantages.

They offer a back-up, allowing you to re-amp the signal should you decide to later.

When blended with a microphone signal, DI's can be used to help reinforce any frequencies not produced by the amp.

If you do decide for practical or budgetary reasons to use a DI on it's own, the result can be greatly improved by processing the signal using amp simulation software. Amplifier and Cabinet modelling software has come in leaps and bounds over recent years, to the point where even the stock options with programs like Garage band can reproduce very convincing results.

Recording Bass with a Microphone

For those that have the luxury of a great sounding bass amplifier, the best and most characterful results can be achieved using a microphone. The most important factors when choosing a mic for bass guitar are: (a) frequency response and (b) how well the mic handles high sound pressure levels (SPL). (a) It is desirable to have a frequency response shaped specifically for bass instruments, meaning it has a strong low-frequency response, with a scooped mid and a presence peak around 3-5KHz. (b) When it comes to high SPL levels, dynamic microphones will typically perform best; however, this does not rule out condenser mics entirely…

Can I Use a Condenser Mic on Bass?

As determined above, dynamic mics work great for bass guitars. On the flip-side, they also impart their own particular sound on the recording thanks to their strong, tailored frequency response. For those who prefer a more natural sound, it's worth considering a condenser mic; just make sure you keep the bass amp to a sensible level and consider using a pad if the signal is too hot. A pad can be enabled at the pre-amp or even at the mic if your model has this feature. Pads will typically allow you to attenuate the signal by 10 - 15dB.

Mic Positioning

There is no one size fits all solution here, so it's essential to experiment with position and distance. Listen carefully to determine what sounds best for your application.

First up, try experimenting with mic position relative to the speaker cone. Just like electric guitars, you can easily achieve a bright or warm tone depending on where you place the mic. As a general rule, positioning the mic toward the speaker cone edge will produce a warm tone while pointing it directly at the centre will give you more ‘bite'.

Secondly, microphone distance from the grill will also affect the tone. All microphones are different, so listen carefully for changes using a pair of good quality headphones. As you move the mic further away from the grill, the tone changes from a very dry, focused and non-reverberant tone, to a more natural and ambient sound. The other consideration here is proximity effect, whereby the bass frequencies become more accentuated as a directional mic moves closer to the sound source. Engineers will often exploit the proximity effect to thicken up guitars, but you might find that bass guitars benefit from a little breathing room; somewhere between 4 - 18 inches will usually work depending on preference.

Often overlooked is the floor surface. For example, if you place the amp on a solid floor, the reflections will result in a brighter tone than that of an amp placed on a carpet. Keep in mind that the further your mic is from the amp, the more significant floor and room reflections become. Generally speaking, a microphone placed further away from the speaker grill will be more representative of the overall amp and room sound. In other words, it will sound more natural. Depending on the style of music you're recording, this may, or may not be desirable.

A little info on Polar Patterns

By far the most commonly used polar pattern for recording bass is cardioid. In short, their directional pickup allows for greater rejection of room reflections or other instrument sounds. On the other hand, they also colour the sound more - most notably through the proximity effect described above.

If you want to avoid the proximity effect and capture a more natural tone, consider using an omni-directional polar pattern. As we described in our Recording & Mixing Vocals article, omni directional microphones will produce a more ‘natural' or ‘open' sound, but they will also capture more reflections. If you have a great sounding room, some natural reverb can be desirable; however, for most home or project studios, it is far safer to tame room reflections and add reverb during mixdown.

Recording a Blend of DI and Microphone Signals

Many engineers will insist on using a combination of mic and DI techniques to record bass. A blend of the two allows you to get the best of both worlds. In fact, some engineers will even record up to 3 or 4 tracks for the bass, usually featuring 1 DI track and multiple mics. For example, you could use a specialised kick/bass dynamic mic up close alongside a condenser mic placed further away and then combine this with a DI signal. When mixed together, it can be possible to arrive at a more diverse range of sounds suitable for many styles of music - just make sure you check the phase relationships between these different channels. The key here is to be patient and don't be afraid to experiment. Different bass guitars, amps and the room itself all call for a different approach. The import thing is to trust your ears, and remember that if it sounds good, it is good.

Mixing

In the vast majority of cases, getting a great mix starts with the relationship between your drum tracks and the bass. It's essential to get a good groove between the kick, snare and bass to build the foundations we talked about at the beginning of this article. Before you start any mixing, listen carefully to the groove and timing between the drums and bass. In many cases, the performance can benefit from a little tightening up. This process typically involves cutting, moving, and in some cases, time stretching some notes. Modern recording software has come a long way toward assisting or even automating this process; however, I find that some of this automation can remove the feel of your performance altogether. If you want to preserve the human element of your performance, try and keep editing to a minimum. Sometimes, the best way is to manually locate and edit the offending notes. If you find yourself having to make a lot of changes, it might be better to consider re-recording.

The key point to remember here is that something has to be the main reference point for timing. In the vast majority of cases, the reference point is almost certainly the drums. Listen carefully and assess the relationship between the kick, snare, and the bass; they should work very closely together to form the backbone of your track. If they don't, everything else you do after will be in vein.

Once you are happy with the final performance, you can begin considering how the bass sits within the overall context of your mix. The following are typical processes to consider:

EQ

Where you choose to boost or cut EQ on a bass guitar is essential to producing a controlled and clean low-end within the context of your overall mix. The best results are usually achieved by NOT boosting at the same frequency as your kick drum track. For example, if you applied a boost around 80Hz on the kick drum, try cutting a small amount from the bass at the same frequency and boost further up between 100 - 150Hz instead. It then also makes sense to cut the kick drum track at the boosted bass frequency. This approach will help to control and tighten up the low end.

Some bass tracks can benefit from a small high-frequency boost. If you decide to do this, listen carefully with a good set of reference headphones to determine which frequency gives it some presence or attack without clashing with other percussion tracks. Once again, it doesn't make sense to boost your kick drum attack at the same frequency as your bass; you need to give each track its individual space within the frequency spectrum.

Finally, if you haven't gathered already, making EQ decisions when the track is soloed is like stabbing in the dark. You need to hear the relationship between each instrument to make informed choices. Make sure you regularly reference your EQ settings against the drums and the entire mix.

Note: Check your Mix on Different Systems

With bass frequencies, it is particularly important to check your mix on a range of audio systems. A deep low-frequency bass guitar sound might sound great on a high-quality studio monitor system, but it could be completely inaudible on many consumer audio systems - particularly cheaper earphones. A bass sound with a good balance between low and low-mid frequencies will usually transfer better.

Also, remember that bass frequencies can determine the master fader volume as bass frequencies contain more energy than high frequencies. If you're having trouble getting the bass to sound audible in context with the entire track, try rolling off some low-end, which should then allow you to turn the whole track up without it peaking.

Compression

Compression is typically applied to bass as it helps to maintain consistency. How much you add will likely depend on how the track was recorded. For example, it is common to compress a DI bass track more heavily than one recorded with an amp and microphone. This is because the amplifier imposes a certain amount of natural compression - particularly if you have a valve/tube amp. Any amount of compression added should be enough to smooth out the performance and maintain a solid groove. Be careful not to set your attack too fast, or you will squash precious transients. Equally, make sure the attack is not so slow that it ruins the groove entirely. The release time will also need careful consideration to ensure you maintain dynamic range and groove. Set the release too low, and the compression will be released almost immediately after the signal drops below your threshold. Set this too high, and the compressor will be almost always compressing and could ruin the groove and strip the performance of any dynamic range. If your compressor has an auto attack and release function, you might want to consider using this if you don't feel confident. In any case, the attack and release settings will depend on playing style and the desired sound; trust your ears on this one.

Compression can be difficult to understand, and if you're new to the basic controls, it's well worth researching and fully understanding these before you apply anything. The video below goes a long way to explaining compression fundamentals for beginners - albeit from a drums perspective - but the controls and purpose remain valid.

Reverb

Last but not least, too much reverb on the bottom end can really muddy up a mix. The trick here is to use short reverbs with a little pre-delay to separate the bass from the reverb sound. Any reverb should be just enough to help blend the track in without sounding overpowering. As described in our recording vocals article, you can help to avoid muddy sounding reverb and retain focus by applying a little EQ to the return signal of your reverb.

Conclusion

There are no right or wrongs in most recording applications; there are, however, guidelines that usually yield good results. By following the fundamentals in this guide, you should be well on your way to building a solid base for your track - pun wholeheartedly intended.