Hi guys. I've recently took over a "semi-pro" project. Some actors staring in a TV series were given a different opening theme song (modified lyrics to fit the quarantine situation) and they had this selfie-like video on their cellphones singing each on his/her own the new lyrics. I got all the good parts from each one and I cleaned their audio (mostly removing background noise , traffic , dogs barking etc) , leveled their vocals and corrected them in melodyne.Now my question is. Apart from comp , Eq , rev , delay and all this vocal sweetening techniques, what would you do to make room for each one and not make a muddy mix. I 've already panned them in different positions and I'm thinking of elevating or lowering some of them by a third or so (haven't tried fifth as I think it would be audible fakeness. The key is E maj. What would be your tip?

 

^ Hello @Producer
First things that came to my mind are : Don't forget about using a de eeser if necessary(for the vocals) & do m/s processing to clean the mix.Also use a bell shape eq to lower some frequencies around the 200-300hz if the mix is muddy.Play with frequencies around 1.83Khz to give the vocals
a nice boost/presence.Also don't forget to eq your reverbs/delays too ,doing this & applying a lo cut to them will give you a more clean mix.
I hope all the above helps you a bit,i can't think of anything else right now without hearing a small example of what you are working on.
Nice to see you back online btw ,stay safe ! & have a great day !

 

I wouldn't fake it too much & strive for authenticity (where possible & bearable listening to).
I once did a song like that, I remember I favored the better singer in the mix, in fact one really false contribution was dubbed by a better singer.
For aligning, check if Vocalign can be of help. Izotope's got a few vocal enhancing plugs as well, but don't overdo them.
Check your mix on Auratone, laptop/phone for suboptimal listening devices.

 

Thanks @SpyFx ✪ . As far as de-essing I've applied that after compression . FX eq-ing is done using the abbey road "trick" (low cut around 400 and high cut around 4-5k). I haven't really got into m/s and is a nice tip and also I'll check low mids and 1.83Khz freqs. What's left is the musical approach. I'm not that good with harmonizing . as soon as I have a go from the director I'll post a sample. Thanks again

 

Ok I'll try it.

Basically all they did was to have in ear the studio version so they could sing along, so the timing isn't a problem.
Thanks for the tips @boomoperator

 

Oh and by the way there are 15 actors there. 6 men and 9 women (one of them is the lead singer)

 

^ Get creative then with Izotope vocal synth2 (since you like Izotope/harmonizing) & also you can do amazing/very creative things for vocals with Soundtoys Alterboy & the awesome echoboy delay

 

Never tried them. I'll see what I can do. Btw thanks for the quick response.
I would prefer though, instead of adding more layers with harmonizing , altering the actors and making them sit upper or lower than the others. I mean I could have a core of 8-10 people singing in key and having then some of the girls singing a third upper and some of the guys singing a third lower

 

^ nice approach ,also as for the mix goes you could use an Spl Vitalizer or bbe sonic maximizer / & or Kush audio Clariphonic Eq to give your mix/vocals some nice finalized/polished sound (be aware not to overdo it with these ones)
Anyway wait for our good friend @taskforce to get online ,i'm sure he will have some great tips for you too !
Take care ! @Producer

 

Thanks again. It's been 2-3 years since the last time I used SPL Vitaliser. I think I will try it on the group busses. One for men and another for fem. Just to handle cpu overloading. Also in order to avoid that , I've done all the cleanup and leveling in RX for each vocal .

 

Hey bro. My approach would be closer to what boomoperator said.
Start with the fundamendals of a choir, you have your baritones, your tenors and your altos and your sopranos etc etc. Group those different categories so you can handle the individual groups easier in the mix.
Find the nice properties in each "singer" and make 'em slightly more present without sacrificing the overall balance.
Make sure each and every one of them occupies their own space spectrum and frequency wise. This way you make sure they sound "unique" but also when their voices are put together they make a proper choir.
If this actors' "choir" will be supplemented with music, i 'd start mixing the whole from the vocals to make sure the "stars" stay prominent within the mix.
Cheers

 

@taskforce Thanks bro. This baritone tenor etc approach is a bit "pro level" scenario. All I have is a bunch of 'em singing in the garden or in the kitchen and many of them are off tune. On the other hand , some of them are really good and 1-2 nailed it. I have a couple baritones let's say and a couple sopranos. All the others are in the middle area. But I've already cleaned as much as I could their recordings and fixed a few issues in Melodyne. Now all I have to do is

and also what @SpyFx ✪ said to try M/S approach. In the end I'll try Auratone (Mackie in my case) as @boomoperator advised
Thanks again for the tips.