I need help with creating a vocal chain that is a great skeleton to add other flavors on later! As aesthetics and color(saturation) are more artistic integrity and project based ,I'm looking for a good chain that is clean and has the right amount of compression for leveled vocals that still have enough dynamic range to be flexible. recommended plugins and setting would help a ton!Even basic help and mechanics of breaking through the mix. im great at mixing instruments/drums but when it comes to vocals I just lose power and dynamics in the mix. I use a TLM 103 Mic . I have a 1073 ,1176, LA2A, Cl1b , 610 b ( UAD) amongst other things. I understand what preamps to use in regard to matching up with what vibe im going for and what would match the singers voice but as far as the right leveling im having a really tough time breaking through the mix....ive been very influenced recently by late 60s - late 70s production and instrumentation and vocals. I would prefer more fundamental principles esque advice then a 1 plug in cure advice. This is the last piece of knowledge I need to level up ,lol thank you in advance gamers!

 

"Breaking through the mix"? Sounds like you are thinking about it wrong. Instead pull down everything (music), except the vocals. Let the solo'ed vocal have about 10-15dB of headroom. Then mix in the music underneath the vocals, rather slowly. If the music is too loud, turn it down again. Don't touch the vocal(s) fader(s).
This is subtractive mixing. You turn down what is too loud, rather than turning up what is too weak.
Do you even need the fancy compressors? Listen to hear if the vocals are too dynamic. Maybe you can fix this with fader riding/volume automation and clip-gaining (on the vocal), so that the compressors (several in series) have to work less.

 

Thanks! ill check that out!

I have many plugins that can achieve most things you would want to, my problem is more of the settings ,fundamentals to break through the mix.

I need the right setting or chain that gives the right power and presence while im tracking but still upholds dynamic range.

I understand that depending on the instruments im using ill have to tweak vocals accordingly but im looking for a solid clean starting point that will give the the right power(presence ) to start w for most projects ( like a go-to default)

 

Thankyou! This is what I was looking for!

I understood everything you said and will bookmark as reference to apply it.

Now as far as tracking is concerned is the piece im missing . What would you recommend (using as little as possible) preamp, compressor , settings wise to get a solid foot into the door as an entry point into the song vocal wise ( Pre-automation)

Thanks btw

 

Thankyou!

 

Yep, this is a tried and true combo, and hard to mess up provided you don’t hit either too hard - 1176 shouldn’t be working all the time, literally just on occasional stray peaks, and the la2a doesn’t really need to be doing more than about 2-5db, unless you’re going for obvious squish.

Also, while @No Avenger has said “fast” settings on the 1176, remember that an 1176’s attack is incredibly fast - even on 1 (slowest) it’s still plenty fast for vox. But experiment with the attack, because I find that anything from 1-6 can work depending on the vocalist and sound I’m after.

Also experiment with reversing the order of the comps - I’ll often track with an la2a (or tla100) and then use an 1176 after (often in parallel). Again, different vibe, you pick what’s best for the track.

Personally I tend to track vox more often with optos rather than 1176s. If you’re going for a more retro vibe, the UA / Retro 176 can be a fantastic option, but it can be a bit fiddly/temperamental to set up just right for tracking - maybe it’s just me, but I find it’s margin between “just right, and awesome” and “congrats, you’ve just fucked the take” to be quite narrow lol!


As alternative comps - you can pretty much always make a Distressor work - either start in opto mode (10:1, attack 10 release 0), or on 6:1, attack about 5.5, release somewhere around 3-4.5. Play with dist and filter/peak settings to tailor the tone (although I usually run it with dist off for tracking).
You can smack it pretty hard without sucking the life outta the vocal, so see what your vocalist is responding best to during tracking.

I already mentioned the tla100, which is one of my faves. It’s a bit darker than something like an la2a, but it sits a vocal in the track so well, and is hard to screw up - start with attack on fast, and release of fast or med, and hit about 7-10db.

In the mix, don’t forget rvox - it’s literally one of the best vocal compressors ever made (imo) and on the right vocal/track, just a couple db will bring a vocal to the front like almost nothing else. (Rvox works on loads of other stuff too, esp bass).

Kush AR-1 is another fave of mine, but you need to spend time with it to really get a feel for it. Once you do though, it’s insanely good - I use it on everything from pop, to singer-songwriter, to rock.

A couple of dbs of L1 can sometimes be a vibe too.

 

Last edited: Aug 3, 2022

Completely agree. I think the following video can help you.

 

Getting "the right power and presence" could be using simple subtractive EQ on your music, so that the vocals can come through. Vocals have thickness/muddiness around 250 and body around 500. A lot of forwardness in the 800 (honk) to 2k. The presence is in the 3k area. The clarity is around 6k. Sibilance 6-11k. Air above 10k. If you have music that is accupying and overlapping/masking in these areas then the vocals will have trouble pushing through.

Try to rethink the way you percieve sound/mix/mastering so that you go for a more subtractive (composition, mixing AND EQ'ing) mindset. How will you fit a hundred people in a small room? You have to ask some to leave and shrink the others. You don't try to make the room bigger, as it's a fixed room size.

If you change your way of thinking you might NOT need those "presets" or "starting-points", as you can mix by ear (and have made your own workflow that works for YOU). It takes a while (years) to get good at, but in the end you will make better end results with stock plugins than other will with expensive plugins (not knowing how to work the tools).

About preamps and recording, it's mostly about the vocalist and the (dead) room/booth. Sure a good mic and a good pre (I love my neve 1073lb) helps. But even then, one mic might not be suitable for all singers/genres/styles/etc.

Edit: Side-notes: How loud (dBSPL) are you mixing? Try mixing at comfortable (conversational) levels.

Learn where our ear are most sensitive (Robinson-Dadson loudness curve).
Learn how we percieve louder as "better", which will most often trick our brain into making the wrong decisions.

Ok, derail over.

 

Last edited: Aug 4, 2022