Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Im recordin another tune which of course will have 3 part harmony and I dread having to mix this becuase I can never get the levels right from part to part. I dont have a compressor going in (That would REALLY HELP I KNOW.LOL). Just wonderin if you guys normalize baritone and tenor tracks and may even the lead vocal.I gotta do something..
Everytime I do a tune like this , it takes a week to mix.It makes me ILL to listen to my 4 track work from 89 and hear how perfect the harmonies blend and hardly any effort was put into having to adust levels.I guess the natural tape compression really makes analog SO MUCH more forgiving. I tried copying the 1 st takes of the parts and just pasting them in their new places BUT, that really doesnt do any good becuase the lead vocal may not be the same DB at that point... Jesus, If I move my head 1 in, by gawd you'll hear it in the digital realm.Anyway, just curious how you guys work your harmony tracks.

Thanks ,
John

Record the part 3 times and change your vocal pitch each time?

Change the pitch?, OH , dont worry, If I sing ANTHING 3 times , the pitch WILL change.. . Im kinda sick and crupy..Got that oldman, emphesema cough. Hell, I just left it in the track so everybody would feel sorry for me.. ...Actually man, Im not really sure what eluding to with this technique? Especially changing the pitch?. (to create a chorus FX?)..Well, ONE THING I can do is mix the 3 vocals during the chorus to stereo, THEN paste that same mix at all the places where its sang.The end of this tune WILL be a B.If I could "ride the gains" like we did in the old days , I wouldnt even be posting about this. This B (computer) doesnt like common sense, she does EVERY MALFOULKIN thing to defy it.
Yeah, tell me what ya mean by the 3tracks with pitch change?? OH BTW, Normalizing didnt do SQUAT.

Thanks ,
John

Try spreading the vocal parts out in the stereo field, I always do this when mixing harmonies ex; high harmony panned 3 oclock, lead vocal in the middle, low harmony 9 oclock.

I mix each vocal track, one at a time, against the rhythm guitar.
Then I mute everything and listen to just the vocals, and adjusts as needed.
Then I listen to the whole mix. If all the vocals seem too loud, or too soft - I adjust all the vocals by1db, as a single unit.
. . . And then another db, and another, untill it's perfect.
.
Bass and other instruments should be adjusted after the rhythm guitar and vocals are balanced.
.
Don't spend too much time looking for a magic pill to swallow . . .
Dread it or not - great mixing takes a lot of careful work and patience.
Not everyone has the patience and determination required to do a good job . . . that's one reason why recording studios are still in business.

I am the thief in the night.

SANS, , I tell ya bro, ya keep me in stitches. Repunzel Repunzel, let down your golden hair.. Remember the movie "Airplane" where that bald cat keeps making comments having nothing to do with the current scene of the movie?. Yeah Alan, my prob isnt so much mixing in the realm of the panning procedure as far as "hearing" all the voices.Its more a problem of thier volume levels. The major triad parts are fine. Its the lil sus 2's and 4's and notes bending up/down that if not mixed perfectly, they lose thier intended effect. This tune is TOUGH..The baritone is a B and has to move with the lead vocal.The Tenor is fairly easy with alot octave/5th holding. My voice timbre is alot of it. I almost have to EQ each word sometimes. SO even if the DB levels are the same , the voice "timbre" can cause a part to overshadow another in the mix. THEN, add the other 6 music tracks and all hell breaks loose. Tape was SO MUCH more forgiving. Im tempted to just put up the 1989 recording (talk about chorused reverb.. )..I tried mixing down the 3 part vocal BUT , it changes when I add the music.. Cant mix the vocal while the other tracks are playin ... Im gonna re sing all the parts, maybe I can get lucky at gettin the levels closer going in.

Thanks for all the advice.
John