HOW TO MIX VOCALS TO A MASTERED BEAT?
It always gets tricky when you have only a beat and vocals to mix but you can definitely mix your vocals to a mastered beat.
It wouldn’t sound as good as a well-balanced and spaced mix that has instruments shaped around the vocals already in the instrumental track.
There are still some things that you can do to make it sound good that I’ll discuss in this blog but that does not promise you professional quality.
So, bear this in mind when you have only one instrumental beat and vocal to work with.
LEVEL ADJUSTMENTS
As the mastered beat is already at the maximum volume, we will have to reduce its volume using a gain plugin in your DAW until the peaks are hitting around -10db to -6db.
It will give us enough headroom for vocals to sit on top as well as when we are remastering the whole track.
Set the vocal level by ear, normally we would set it slightly lower than what we want so that after applying all the effects and processing it would hit the desired vocal level. You can always go back and set it as you like.
HOW TO EQ VOCALS?
I have already touched upon this topic in my last blog so you can check that out if you want to eq your vocals to clean it and make it sound professional.
Because this post is all about making the vocals sit on top of a beat, I’d not be discussing the vocal cleaning part.
EQ TO MAKE THE VOCAL SIT ON THE BEAT
Eq can be used to create separation between the beat and the vocals.
Use eq to boost and cut at the same time at the same frequency.
Let’s say we want to give some clarity to the vocal so we would do a gentle boost around between the 5-10khz range and at the same time we would cut the same amount on the instrumental beat.
Once again, if you want to learn more about the problem frequencies in the vocals you can read my how to eq vocals post.
SIDECHAIN COMPRESSION USING VOCALS
To make the vocal and beat dynamically separate we will use sidechain compression.
This can be helpful to duck the beat whenever the vocal is present.
Simply place a compressor on the instrumental beat and set the external sidechain as the vocal.
Now use medium-fast attack and fast release to reset the compressor as soon as possible without getting any distortion in the lower frequencies.
Make sure to set the threshold to the point where you are only getting 1-2 dB of attenuation.
USE TRACKSPACER TO MAKE SPACE FOR THE VOCALS
Trackspacer is one of the best plugins out there for making space for the vocals in a mix.
Simply load up the plugin on the instrument and set the external sidechain as vocal.
Now set the amount knob as per your liking but be careful with that because this can be a brutal effect. Always remember that less is more.
Aim for less than 20%.
You can also tweak the high pass and low pass filter knobs to attenuate the instrumental in a specific frequency range.
EQ SIDECHAIN USING SOOTHE 2
Soothe 2 can come in handy when we want to reduce the resonance frequencies in the instrumental using the vocal as an external sidechain trigger.
Load up soothe 2 on the beat and set the external sidechain as vocal. Now use subtle settings to reduce the resonance in the instrumental beat making the vocal stick out.
APPLYING EFFECTS
Depending upon your track you can use various kinds of effects on the vocal other than EQ & Compression. The most common effects are as follows:
- Auto-Tune for pitch correction
- Reverb
- Delays
- Distortion and saturation
- Chorus
- Flanger
- & other stylistic effects
FINAL MASTERING
Now it’s time to do the final mastering of the beat and the vocals together.
Be careful and apply subtle effects while mastering otherwise it would ruin the full track.
CONCLUSION
As I’ve said earlier in the post, achieving a professional vocal mix with the instrumental starts right at the production stage.
So whenever possible, try to get the full session of the instrumental to shape the sounds around your vocals.
That way, you will get a much more professional-sounding cohesive mix than a vocal & a pre-mastered beat.
If you have any questions regarding anything related to this post or mixing vocals in general, do let me know in the comments. I’ll be happy to help you out.
If you want your tracks to be mixed and mastered professionally you can hire me.
Wish you all the best!
