One of the most common task when mixing vocals to the free hip hop beats, is to find out how loud the vocal should be in the track.
If the vocals are too loud you can lose the energy from the beats and it will sound boring, and if the vocals are too low, it can be hard to hear the words.
First you need to compress the dynamic of your vocals with a compressor. Most recording software has several compressor plug-ins. When mixing vocals I like to go with vintage sounding compressor plug-ins, like the UAD L2 plugin. They are easy to adjust because most parameters are already fixed for the most common task. You don’t have to worry about setting the right attack or decay. It has a fixed setting that sounds wonderful on vocals. All you need to do is selecting the amount of compression. Be careful though. Don’t compress too much when mixing vocals. Look at the VU Meter when setting the compression level. I like to compress hip hop vocals 4-6 db on average.
To find the best level for the vocals, you should compare your mix with some of your favorite songs. Always listen a low to medium volume. If you listen too loud, you ears will fatigue, or even worse, you can lose some of your hearing over time.
When finding the right level, I like to listen at low volume on small speakers when mixing vocals. Compare with other similar recordings and make sure the overall level of the song is the same as your mix. Listen to the music first, adjust your mix so the level feels the same, and then slowly increase the level of the vocal until you clearly can hear the words. Compare again with your favorite songs, this time listening to the vocal level of the song. Try to match it as close as possible.
Mixing vocals is one of the most important tasks to master. Because the vocals will usually be the loudest component of your song great care has to be applied to make sure it sits perfect in the mix.
Good luck mixing…
