My band just finished recording this in my small home project studio, which I’m very grateful to have. It’s our interpretation of an R&B song by Sam Cooke.
I tracked and mixed it using an old Digi 002 with Pro Tools 7.0.
I’d really appreciate your ears on the mix. Do you think the vocals should sit more up front, or do they feel right where they are? https://youtu.be/WeqlD-rdYOI
Continuing the discussion from Tune Share (Share Your Sound!):
Nice work, especially for a home setup. I don’t have a strong take either way on the vocal level, but I’m curious how others are hearing it. How far were you from the mic when tracking, and were the vocals recorded at the same time as the instruments?
I am digging the live sound feel and perhaps there is a way to lean into that. Instead of trying to polish it, I’d think of ways to make it sound even more live. I was going to ask about vocal recording too. If you recorded separately, maybe you could push one of the vocals up a touch and even add a little saturation–get that old timey overdrive grit on the vocal, and have the other more touched with room reverb to act as more of a backing presence. Just an idea to mess with. Performances sound great!
Thanks Christopher. For vocals, I chose mics based on each singer’s natural range and tone. The female vocalist was tracked with a Shure KSM9, and the male vocalist with a Neumann TLM 49, as each mic complemented their respective vocal frequencies best.
I placed a pop filter about 1 inch from the mic, and had each singer perform roughly 6 inches back from their assigned microphone.
At first, I tracked the female vocalist live with the band and then brought the male vocalist in later to overdub his part. Technically it worked, but the performances didn’t feel like they shared the same space or moment.
I scrapped those vocal takes and instead re-tracked both singers together in the room, allowing them to interact and feed off each other in real time. The result was a much more natural, cohesive, and emotionally connected vocal performance. I used the drum shield and some acoustic foam attached to the top of the drum shield between them to minimize vocals bleeding into each other.
Thanks for your feedback Chris. Totally agree. I was trying not to polish the humanity out of it 
. I really wanted to keep that live, rough edge feel.
You nailed it on pushing one of the vocals up a bit. I was thinking the same. It’s meant to feel like a true duet, not lead and backing, and your comment confirmed what I was already hearing.
I’m going to revisit the balance and mess a bit with some room reverb and a touch of overdrive grit as you suggest to bring the vocals more up front. Thanks for the great ears!
Stoked to hear this resonated with you! Duets are tricky with balance – in the past I’ve always just based it off of feel and who seems to be owning that particular moment with as far as pushing one or the other vocal to the top. A very automated approach has felt the best for me; given those times have been a little less of a live sound, but I think keeping that in mind could still work!
Cheers!
Can’t wait to hear how it sounds with the vocal balance tweak.
From my listen through these sound like good raw tracks but if I were to mix them I’d rebalance some of the levels, Drums are a bit too forward, guitar needs some more room, and the vocals aren’t tucked into the mix quite enough. But mostly it needs what most of us call glue. It sounds like a lot of parts together right now, instead of a cohesive mix. You might be able to dial some of this in with a compressor on my master bus. And if you already have one on there, just push it a bit. It might help make things sound like they belong together more.
Arghhh!!! 
My computer went a little crazy this afternoon. Probably a clear sign it’s time to finally update my Pro Tools system. Once everything’s updated and stable, I’ll post a new remix for you all to check out. Thx.
Quinqunc, thanks for the listen and the solid mixing suggestions. I really like your recommended approach. I agree with what you’re hearing, and I’m going to try your recommendations, especially rebalancing the levels and adding a bit more glue on the master bus. I’ll report back once I’ve had a chance to dial it in. But first I am going to have to update my recording system since it has gone wacky as of this afternoon 
. I have been using it since 2002 so really I can’t complain. I have bled it for all it’s worth! But the show must go on!!! lol
Quick update: I’m finally upgrading from my old Digi002 LE Pro Tools setup which after over 20 years of use is begining to give me trouble. I’m making the jump to a Mac with a Pro Tools Carbon interface. I’ve been a Windows PC user for years, so I’m looking forward to learning the Apple workflow and getting back to recording. I went all-in on the system, since now I’m retired, and music is my full focus. Plus, I’m hoping this will be the last rig I’ll ever need until the good Lord takes me home. 
