How to Mix Vocals in a Recording Studio

In many genres of music, vocals are a large part of the sound. Whether you're recording pop music with flashy, up-front vocals or drama-rock with furtive, background vocals, adding voices into the mix is a critical part of blending sounds in a studio. There are many ways to accommodate vocals in music, and sound mixing is an art in and of itself. Every soundboard expert has his own strategies for how to get vocals into a patchwork of sound, but some general rules can help in any studio space.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Get tracks organized. Have vocalists sing into specific tracks and label your input. You'll need to know whose voice you're dealing with when you go to mix everything together.

2. Keep your vocalist front and center and manage "mic distance." Getting sound levels right is a huge part of the vocal recording process. As much as possible, coach vocalists on the perils of fluctuating volume and keep them from moving around behind the mic.

3. Use equipment like dynamic mics and compressors to manage wild sound levels. These systems help to control the audio as it comes in, re-structuring it for better recording.

4. Account for trim level. This is the gain applied to your mic to help manage audio decibel levels.

5. Utilize pitch processing and other tools in the post production phase to edit out inconsistencies or flaws in a vocal track. The range of things you can do to improve a track in post production is impressive. The sounds of splicing, audible background or even pitch can all be changed with digital tools.