Blending Lead & Background Vocals
While lead vocals are typically front and center, you can try all sorts of different ideas with backing vocals.
Spreading them across the stereo field is great for widening your track, but try not to get too wide – 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock is enough for most mixes.
With most backing vocals, effects can be your friend; a bit of hall and some chorus can do wonders for blending parts with each other and within the mix.
Panning the backing vocals left and right and leaving the lead vocal in the center is a commonly used technique and works well in most cases. But for something just a bit different, try slipping the lead vocal just a hair to one side and the backing vocals to the other side.
A Few More Things
Don’t be afraid to be asymmetrical with your mix by placing elements to one side or the other. Particularly with string patches and other heavily chorused pads, panning them very widely can cause them to dominate the mix even when they’re not very loud.
Instead of panning a part at, for example, 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock, try a more narrow panning like 1 o’clock and 3 o’clock. Of course, you’ll probably want to introduce some other element on the other side to balance things out, but it’s a great way to keep things from getting too swimmy and lacking in focus.
In fact, it’s a good idea to make sure at least some elements of your mix stay in mono. While those lush, chorused pads and reverbs may sound great on their own, piling up track after track of them is a great way to turn your mix into an underwater mess. Always keep at least some parts in mono to give them a sense of localization. Using a mono reverb will give them an ambience without destroying their directionality.
One very effective trick is to use delayed reverb instead of just panning for a more natural sounding ambience. Pan the original track to one side at about 9 o’clock or 10 o’clock, Add a short delay (less than 10 ms) and pan that to the opposite side; then add just a touch of reverb to the delayed signal.
The results will be a bit more natural-sounding than just using the pan control. Here’s why: our ears and brain perceive a sound source using a number of auditory clues, including differences in timing, level, and even tonality between each ear. A pan pot only addresses the difference in level.
Delaying the sound on one side and adding a bit of reflection creates a more natural ambience. Try shaving off just a touch of high end on the delayed sound as well to replicate the effect your head creates as it masks some of the sound.
Another trick for widening a track is to pan it to one side and add a stereo reverb; the result will be a natural ambience with a bit of extra “splash” to one side. Or try adding a very gentle mono chorus effect to only one side of a stereo track. The movement between the speakers can add an interesting depth and spaciousness that’s particularly nice on strings and other pads.
Of Course, There’s More
Even though I’ve tried to stick with very general concepts, mixing is a subject that can easily fill many hundreds of pages. But let me leave you with two important points.
First — it’s always about the song. No matter how many cool technological tricks you introduce into a mix, if it’s not right for the song, it’s not going to work. Listen to the song, and only give it what it needs – nothing more.
And that, once again, brings me to my second point, a tip I offer in almost every column — your ears are your most important tool. Learning to listen is truly the most important lesson in music, whether playing, recording, mixing, or mastering. Don’t be afraid to get in there and try new things. And as always, let your ears be your guide.
This article is courtesy of Universal Audio.