What's sweet spot, Master Volume setting for strong vocal?

[MoxieMagee]

Fairly new to Pro Tools. I'm looking for guideline for what Master volume should bet set for vocal audio track - strong vocals. The less I have to "fix in the mix" as a newbie, the better.

[TheElement]

Welcome!

if you are looking for an all in one solution to slap on the vocal buss then check out Waves CLA. I've heard its great and simple to use. Its on my wish list but for now I've been using Waves Maserati and been doubling the vocals track..one dry and one wet then bussing to another buss where I have Waves Renaissance Axx and ValhallaRoom Reverb on it.

saw a vid where The Chainsmokers used just CLA on the vox on their hit song "Roses". It works for them. So I'll be checking it out.

Not sure if that answers your question. but might be of some help.

[WeWillWriteUaSong]

There definitely isn't a "rule" on vocal level. It's gotta sound good to your ears. I like keeping all my tracks at -18 dbfs before mixing. You can use a free analog vu meter plugin to calibrate that..

As far as vocal plugin choices, I Agree with waves cla also. I don't use it but my brother uses the cla bundle a lot. The cla guitars is great too. Also you can check out Waves Vocal Rider (for auto leveling), GW VoiceCentric, or iZotope Nectar2. Nectar is an all-in-one you may like. Check out the website. Also as far as waves bundles the Renaissance is great too.

My personal fav chain at the moment is Fab ProQ2, CA-2A, RVox ( or sometimes using my 1176 emu depending on vocal material).

[jamesnorth]

Best way to avoid having to fix in the mix is to have an excellent vocal performance. Great dynamics, great use of air and microphone technique can avoid need for anything other than basic EQ and compression in a chain.

This is true of all musical performances as well, and if people paid more attention to that fact, I think recorded music would sound better generally.

Vocal level is so subjective that there are no rules, but if you are restricted to plugins most of the LA2A plugs will work (I use the latest UAD emulations) for a bit of levelling and anything surgical can be done with most good graphic EQs (I use Equilibrium).

[mojobone]

Vocal dynamic range runs from a whisper to a Roger Daltrey scream, so it's helpful to find ways of reducing a natural singer's dynamics. You might want to read that last bit again, because musical dynamics are generally held to be a good thing, but if you're working with someone who's possessed of what we call an instrument, you might have some trouble shoehorning them into your mix, unless they've had some training, or at least some instruction. If they haven't had the training, they'll need to get the instruction from you, unless you have a vocal coach on retainer.

A trained singer who's well-rehearsed will likely require little more effort than setting a comfortable level at the mic preamp; unfortunately, I can't tell you what that level is, cuz it depends on the mic, the room, the singer and a few other variables. The main one you'll be working with is mic distance; a singer with waif-voice will pretty much have to be miked close, but Broadway and operatic types, not so much. Mainly, you just need to listen. Listen to what the room is doing to the vocal, listen for preamp distortion and for whether the mic capsule is getting crushed, or a limiter being engaged. (It sounds like fffffffff, you'll hear it on old Aretha Franklin records) Some singers can break a mic ribbon, some produce horrible plosives, mouth and lip noise, an indication they're too close to the mic or will require the use of a pop filter, and maybe more than one.

When you have a singer who's all over the map with the dynamics, you'll likely want to use a compressor and a limiter in series; the compressor to bring up the low-level stuff and the limiter to catch the peaks. (a limiter is just another compressor with different settings, usually the ratio and threshold will be set higher than on a typical compressor, cuz it's there to suppress digital overs, which you generally don't have to listen for, because they'll be obvious) You have to be careful here, because the compressor, while bringing up the weaker spots will also magnify plosives, fricatives and lip smacks, which will sound unnatural, because we don't normally listen to singers with our ears next to their lips. This is why experienced audio engineers prefer fader riding to compressors, but I wouldn't recommend this to a beginner, particularly in the heat of a session that's on the clock. There is such a thing as a vocal rider plugin, which you may or may not find useful; I theenk most engineers use that after the takes have been recorded, and with most DAWs you could do that with automation.

There's lots more to know about vocal production, and I'm not gonna give a dissertation here, but there's tons of helpful "vocal production tutorials" on the Youtubes.

[lesmac]

I agree with all the posts above.

Dont overload the mic, preamp, converters{-18dB or so}. Check the levels on your interface as well as the pro tools fader when recording.

Bus your audio vocal track to an aux track for processing. It gives you another level of automation. ex; do your rides on the audio track.

Google pre/post fader metering and inserts in pro tools to get a better understanding of signal flow.

You could start your mix by setting the vocal level and then bring the other instruments in.