Denver Recording Studio

At CCM studios we record a lot of different genres of music and placement of the vocals in the song is critical in the final mix. Place them too low and they will get masked by the other instruments in the mix… place them too loud and they become an unbearable ear-sore. The most important thing to remember is how they operate within the song.As a good rule of thumb, the lead vocal should sit just above the snare. A quick and easy way to check this is to listen in at a very low volume, perhaps in mono if possible. For most band applications, the vocals are central and surrounded by the other instruments and are almost a bit under the snare, yet never engulfed. In contrast, for a singer-ballad the vocal is much more of a singular focal point and should be placed a bit louder than in a band scenario. Likewise, with most pop music the vocal is the center point and this should be reflected in the volume of the vocal in relation to the beat. To make sure the vocal stands out front, many times in hip-hop songs I will use a brick-wall limiter (Maxim) as the last plug-in on the entire vocal bus to squash it a bit more and make sure that it remains forward in the mix despite how big and energetic the beat may be.

Another way of looking at it… the heavier the music, the more equal the vocal and snare levels should be; the lighter and more poppy the music is, the higher the vocal can sit above the kick and snare.

When in doubt, make a copy and listen to it in your car and on your computer… between these two listening environments you should find vocal-volume Nirvana!

- Mike with the Mic

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