Tutorial 2: Mixing Vocals in Pro Tools Series Part 2

[guitars4life123]

my school has those dynaudio monitors and they are mind blowing and honestly the most accurate representation of sound i have heard!

[19BARD85]

In this video I cover:

0) Boyz 2 Men

1) Mixing Background vocals!

2) Vocal doubling or stacking

3) Spreading Vocals in the stereo spectrum.

4) MONITORS! Your best investment.

5) Grouping Tracks in Protools for easy cutting/pasting/fading.

6) Blending vocals with a compressor!

[19BARD85]

WHO YOU CALLIN GHETOO?!!!!

[bangbangboogybaby]

so would you bus those groups harmonies using the sends or would you make their actual outputs a bus?

[purpose20]

LMAO @ 6:49. HOLDIN IT DOWN 4 THA GHETTO PPL HE LOVE.

[InstantClassicKid]

mannn this the best tutorial on youtube man, i highly doubt the word "ghetto" gonna make yall bounce, find a better one. i dare you.

[InstantClassicKid]

lmfaooo!! all yall.. GHETTO.. people..

[ILLSmith]

Lol why ya'll bent about being called ghetto people? if thats where you live, why is it offensive? "all you suburb people!" did that hurt? dope tutorial. thanks for taking the time to do it. i learned a lil sut'm sut'm. Peace!

[arthurdickson]

why is everone so pissed he said "yall ghetto people?" why dont you stop being a racist asshole and learn a thing or two from this great tutorial instead of pointing out something so stupid and turn it around as if he said it to denigrate black people. He probably has a bunch of black friends listen to how he sings. And you know what???? ghetto people do put fucking Zzz in all their shit. Its like being called racist for saying "black people like fried chicken. they do and thats a fact! peace.

[pressywessy]

yall ghetto ppl????

[diamondkavemedia]

YOUR TUTS. ARE EXACTLLY WHAT IVE BEEN LOOKIN FOR...THANKS ALOT ...KEEP EM COMIN

[fredrob7]

you really got some nerves to say all you ghetto people when you are ghetto for saying that.

[gizmoblack]

Ghetto People... Off that alone I just hit the stop button

[TheDymondusic]

Where are all thje videos on how to mix R&B vocal or POP vocals?

like really mixing

not just compressing and eq'ing

im mean a full song mixed from beginning to end

is there anything like that online?

if you can help me i would appreciate it

[elton2056]

Hello, I have one question about the doubling technique you describe for backing vocals. I don't understant why the centered lead vocal is less "cluttered" by the backing vocals when you double and pan them, since there is no "center speaker" : it seems to me that the energy going out the left and right speakers for the lead and the backing vocals remains the same , if your backing vocals were not doubled and panned in the center. Am I wrong somewhere ? Thanks

[MichaelXboxEvolved]

ghetto people eh?

[ynternal]

how much money should i spend on monitors?

[Sabercatfootball55]

Any comments aout the package of the mbox2 with protools LE 8 MXL 990 condenser mic and M1Active usb monitors? Thnking about buying im just starting out with home recording.

[OfficialPageOfVoice]

Dude you are AWESOME!!!!! You can sing and the tips are perfect I I am learning a lot... i am a starter when it comes to using ProTools and looking to build up my knowledge further on... Thanks..... Oh yeah question are M-Audio Monitors good....?

[pvcmanz]

desk ed

[pvcmanz]

man dunt need no pro tewls g man got a sick fown now yeah wot man got of manziz spabar wot niks fabonez annat an man rikordz on dat init g. sound nuf prow fesh g yeh getz man playd it one gyal now and she woz like yeah g yore bars are wabaytee chek gyalz`z nash init ahh ahh get me g fingad her an dat. pro tewls is for spods g get a fone an dat u get bare gyal yo. man ant got no monerters iyva g dee wack man goit a screen on fone init man dunt need no monerter g u must be a propa deskhead init

[snrose2002]

can u make explain how to do mastering with protools. or send me a link if possible. cheers

[galahadskeys]

Great tutorial. Am working on vocals for my new project with my new pro tools 8 le rig and this has helped tremendously :-) thanks

[ElectricStormRecords]

do yu recomend krks rokits? g2 for monitors



[isreal95]

could u do a tut. on how to setup ur inputs and outputs like the mic?

[motorboatinsob6969]

Name your tracks. consolidate audio files. be professional.

[HenrydeBeli]

Great video man, How do you feel about yamaha hs50 monitors? Cus that's what I have. I'm still saving to get the subwoofer though

[Jdup2]

BOOOOORING!!!!

[tube4andy]

i followed you right up until the end when you started talking about buses and IO... what's this?

[Kward1718]

Question.. When recording rap vocals.. How many duplicates do you recommend? Pan one left one right and one center? How many would you recommend?

[WindowsFANBOYS]

Thx for the upload dude

[DjKatRevolution]

if you're sending your vocals to an eq and a compressor (at the end of the video), what happens to the dry signal? Its still in the chain, with no compression and eq.... I see your doing parallel compression and eq but why not eq and comp your individual ones?

[WirSindRocker]

@DjKatRevolution

Imagine, having about 7-8 Channels of Backing Vocals. that means: 16 FXInserts just for the Vocals!!

I always group everything.

Drums, Bass, Guitar Clean, Guitar Dist, Guitar Solo, Keys, Vocal Main, Vocal Backing..

Of course you can Eq and Compress every single Background-Vocal but i prefer eqing and compressing the groupchannels of them. If you do it right it will sound better than eq/compressing every single backing-track.

[WirSindRocker]

@DjKatRevolution Btw: Compressing the Group of BackingVocals makes them more compact and easier to listen/mix.

[CoGnAcDiPpEd1]

I disagree with monitors before room treatment because you can have the most expensive monitors and not be accurate. How are you going to know what speakers are best for you if you are not hearing the truth. For example you can test out monitors from a music store that has treatment placed randomly with big and small panels and bass traps every were and go home to hear something different. Like they say Fix before you Mix

[mic1one]

well heres the thing. you CAN mix with good monitors in an untreated room. You just have to do so very quietly as to minimize reflections and bass modes. A good engineer with good monitors can mix anywhere, really if need be. But a good engineer with crappy monitors can't really do much without TONS of trial and error.

[CoGnAcDiPpEd1]

i think if i reply towards your comment again we'll go back and forth i'll just agree to disagree thanks for reading my comment and responding

Peace!

[DigiRarefaction]

I agree with you. If you try and mix in and untreated room at a very quite volume, you will not get an accurate representation of what was captured. No way man, it ain't natural. Sure, it is important to avoid early reflections and standing bass, that is why we treat rooms. mic1one, would you mic a bass cabinet at a quite level? No you would crank the volume and mic the cab. So mic1one, mixing at a "very quite" is not natural or accurate. Mixing at a NORMAL volume is.

[neothaon3]

dig the video - and agree with your assessment on monitors - mic/mic pre are only going to do so much for you - but in order to get a proper mix, you need to be able to hear the minutia - BTW Name your tracks! your files are being saved as "Audio01.1" etc etc - big no-no! if you need to find a file in your region list you are in for a headache

[mic1one]

haha thanks! yes in REAL sessions i name everything. this was just a quicky session for the purpose of this video. But I agree!! NAME YOUR TRACKS! Good advice!

[trophyscar]

I agree with DigiRarefaction. The important thing is that you know your monitors, and use reference songs(songs you have heard many times before in a variety of places). Here is a list of what you need in order of importance: (the first is a tie)

1. The best mic you can get.(TLM 103 or AKG C414 are good starters)

1/2. Mic pre(something in the 7-1k range is good)

3. A/D converter (mytek, apogee, benchmark, lavry, or RME)

4. Monitors- the most common that i have seen in studios are yamaha

[mic1one]

the thing though is that if you don't have good monitors, nothing you buy will make sense. you can't even hear the difference between a 400 and 1500 dollar mic with cheap monitors. I agree with the rest of what you're saying though, but I would put converters at the bottom of the list. Today consumer converters are 10X better than what they had 10 years ago....

[llorhan]

@mic1one also the best speakers wont matter if your room is very poor

[evorex99]

Thanks for these video's =)

[Mishlin1]

very helpful

[DigiRarefaction]

I agree with some of the things you said to a degree. Though i do not think spending too much on monitors should be a priority. $500 would get some good sounding, precise monitors. Also if you treat the room properly, it will help lots. A/D converters are very important. I bypass mbox ad convter. I got an external A/D converter and it made a HUGE difference!! Spending a good amount on mic pre-amps really helps. $500 for a mic in my opinion is more than sufficient. Good vid.

[kind1277]

hey what is the converter? i mean wat it does? and wat is the mic pre amps bro?

oh god i thought im good but after reading all of these info i realized that i still have way to go plus do i really need monitors? good speakers cant do the job??

[amanzorecord]

thank you very much very useful wish you could upload more videos

[hiller20]

Ghetto People?

[DaShackEnt]

@hiller20 yea i caught that also..great lesson...bad statement!!

[heatherasteele]

Great tips, thank you!

[gravesignal]

nice one there...thanks

[fary007]

useful...thx :)

[shadav21]

Good Tutorial

[GODxSON8]

cool vid....except for that "ghetto" part

[232laser]

mmmmmmmmm que interesante mmmm pero ponlo en espanol, saludos.

[KadoAtVT]

6:50 haha

[Arizers]

Pretty basic stuff honestly.

[bigdaddybrazil]

You mentioned getting monitors, but what about HEADPHONE monitoring? I use my DJ headphones to mix and stuff, and they're pretty good (Technics RPDH1200), but I'd still like to know what headphone will REALLY make everything sound beautiful (if you know).

[Kward1718]

Hey just a hint but Headphones never give you a true replica of your mix... You need monitors to listen to it and hear how other people would hear it.. When mixing correctly you need monitors placed in the right way... Just a opinion

[Hypeishere1]

Exactly

[Hypeishere1]

You dont want to MIX through headphones. The end result in cars... homes... or even your own studio when you get monitors won't have the sound you expected. Get monitors bro.

[keonem]

Audio Technica K40 Studio Headphones For Studio Monitoring.They are studio standard

[bigdaddybrazil]

Did you mean AKG K240? I can't find any Audio Technica K40's....

[keonem]

Yea AKG got those to A-words mixed up lol sorry. But yea, those are them! They will make everything sound clear. Many mixing engineers use those for full productions

[Jd07281]

thanks so much i've been trying to find info about all that you talked about and it's all in one video. thanks! : )

[joellouisfire]

You're awesome!

[rochelleUK]

Thank you for being so informative. Rochelle Arthurs (UK up and coming artist).

[rochelleUK]

Thank you for being so informative. Rochelle Arthurs (UK up and coming artist).

[MyProjectFishGrease]

haha GHETTO peoplez ... dont catch a "pro" sized ass whoopin ... LOL

[nasq2]

lol for realz huh lol

[Mleo43]

when i install it it says something like: no mixing hardware found...can someone help me?

[bbunters]

When you use Pro Tools, it will only start up if you have a matching hardware device(e.g. an Mbox). The hardware acts as a dongle carrying the license.

[MyProjectFishGrease]

did you get an m box with the program. the hardware works as a key to open up the software... no mbox=no pro tools

'

[tdstewart21]

Fa all yall Ghetto People!lol!

[afait]

My question is this, Where did you record your vocals? I have a make shift recording area in my basement but I cant get anything as crisp as the sound you get even before your compressing and eq

[Briarstudios]

Part of they key is to use a really good vocal mic Sure have been the front runners for a long time now. Of course, you can make an average mic sound profession but its always best to start out with the best source recordings that you can.

[ChoZenPoet]

where you using Protools 8 LE?

[stoopidband]

hey thanks alot!

i just got pro tools last week and this was very helpful, ive never used aux tracks. AND NOW I KNOW WHAT THEYRE FOR! thanks man

[mesaboogieamps]

Yea I just need some in detail tutorial on mixing vocals, setting up vocal tracks on aux channels as well as bus-sends......... thanks though man

[mesaboogieamps]

Not really that helpful I must say you kinda just keep playing your vocal track over and over instead of going in detail about some specifics..................mak­e a better video buddy

[mic1one]

if you are looking for a tutorial about settings look elsewhere. I teach concepts that you can apply to your own music.  I usually address the common problems, such as not panning vocals, not doubling, and not grouping such vocals. The content is always outlined in the description on the right.

[UrukHai999]

"the best upgrade you can do to your studio is to BUY MONITORS"

great man.

[gamecock2122]

thanx for the help bro.

[whoever137]

yo please do more tutorials on mastering...cuz ur vidz (with a z cuz i'm ghetto.LOL) are very well instructed! thanks a bunch.

[realizm247]

cn you tell me the reverb and delay settings you used.

[IamHymn75]

Again, good stuff M1 (might have to send you some all a cappella stuff I've cooked up...ha haha)! I don't use ProTools just b/c...well er'body else does (yeah yeah I know about the so-called industry standard) lol!! Ableton Live 8 is pretty darn good and Sonar 8! Anywho, just some edification from you bruh...keep on doing you! Not bad voxz either! Some bad notes here and there, to me, add to the realness factor (as long as the are not crazy bad)! Usually get blended in naturally!

Hymn

[jspiteonline]

eq before compression or the other way around?

[mic1one]

both. depends what you want. Sometimes engineers eq before compression if they want to remove the low energy before it hits the compressor. Unless you have a sidechain your compressor will compress the highest amount of energy in the signal. sometimes you want that, other times you dont.

[yvens001]

can u tell me what microphone did you use to record that song ?

[joank89]

great tutorial! i'm argentinian and i've understood all that you've been explaining! reallly great.. perfect clean english!

my greetings from buenos aires!

[yaboijig]

im currently recording a song and on the cours i've dubbed some parts like 3 and 4 times but it sounds like me singing it that many times. what plugins should i use to make it sound like one full vocal???

[yaboijig]

i meant on the chorus i've dubbed ; )

[mic1one]

sing better! the trick to vocal dubs is to sing well, and make it blend.

[KLYang40]

Love your videos. Please upload more because they have been so helpful!

[lilzaey]

can you tell me how to make beats on protools?

[AnnexF]

You are a big help. I was wondering why my harmonies sucked all these years. I was not panning them. Any vocal effect tips. Reverb, Chorus, Delay, Echo, when to use them and how much. Thanks dude.

[datniccaro]

THE BEST

[EuphonyNotHate]

Excellent upload. Thanks for the service to all us newbies.

[basskeys129]

Mic thanks for reply, enjoying the logic pro 8 havent had any experiences to compare it to seeing i used to be a hardware guy.

[Cdank911]

This guy REALLY knows what he is talking about. I do this everyday at a studio and learned a thing or two watching his vid tuts. This is great!!!! keep them coming, a real service to the audio world.

[mic1one]

Thanks Cdank. More to come later bro just been busy in the studio lately!

[QuoteMe93]

does it matter wat version of pro tools u have??

[basskeys129]

I'm running logic pro but still gleamed a thing or two from your tutorial.

[mic1one]

Glad you were able to take something from it. A lot of the principles are the same from DAW to DAW, just dont differently. How do you like Logic?

[Shinique04]

THANK YOU!! Geez I've been looking for a tutorial on stacking background vocals all week. This is great.

[mic1one]

Thanks! Yeah you're not limited to just 1 double vocal stack. You can go as much as you want for that "wall of vocals" sound. I've heard some major artists go as high as 8 stacks per harmony!

[Shinique04]

Yeah I've done as high as 6x each in professional studios but I never knew how to mix & pan then myself so I'd usually just do 2 or 4x each at home. Thanks for explaining. Please do more videos. :)

[JSimms738]

Do some research on Eric Dawkins and Tamk for Backing vocals. They did alot of harmonies on omarion and Chris Brown, ruben Studdard Brian Mcknight, Joe, and Avant. They stack alot of vocals. This is who I study. all of they bridges in songs just takes you to another world. Vocals baby....oh yeah Brandy does the same also courtesy of LaShawn Daniels

[mic1one]

Brandy probably has the best vocal stacks in the business. I envy her engineers.

[crackcorn17]

This is by far one of the best pro tools videos on youtube.Thanks alot

[antyja]

Thanks so much for these. My vocals are popping now thanks to your help.

[mic1one]

hey no problem. A lot of the problem is people know to do vocal doubles but they leave them all center panned, which causes problems. Gald I could help you out.

[Eagle2233]

thx for tutorials it really helped me out

[mic1one]

no problem.