How to Make Vocals Sound Professional

[@HomeStudioCorner]

▶︎▶︎ Free 5-Step Mix Guide here: www.5stepmix.com

[@HeryRakotoarisoa-f7s]

I’ve been searching for this content for 5 years 😢 thank you sirrr !!

[@johnbrusseau8145]

A perfect teacher. CLarity without the distractions of unneeded information. Vocal mixing was an inscutable mystery to me until this video. Now I can see clearly. The rain is gone.

[@timinglismusic6707]

I've never heard frequencies described as "little jerks" before. 🤣🤣🤣 Absolute gold!

[@fchiaroni]

Hey Joe. I'm a singer/songwriter and producer from New Zealand, and I found this video extremely helpful. I am in the middle of producing my third original song using Pro Tools, and I am still in the beginner stages of mixing audio tracks. Your tutorials are comprehensive, articulate, and honest. Thank you so much 🙂

[@gkswift1999]

Joes always got a great approach and easy to listen to. Believe it or not, that makes a huge difference in whether I listen to and watch a channel. There are so many that are not pleasant or interesting, or they are very self-servant in the way they speak, and it makes me leave the channel. Joe's a great teacher and that makes a big difference

[@travist.warren5824]

Best teacher I have found on YT regarding mixing. He sticks to the meat and taters, explains in a very simple way. Love this channel

[@youngeshmoney]

Joe is incredibly underrated and deserves way more followers, I'm happy to see he's grown to 250k+

[@mikebooth9619]

Love your no nonsense approach. It's not magic and that's the message you get across very well.

[@GaryMeadowsMusic]

The song and the performance is always the most important!

[@chemdrum]

Excellent video as usual! Another key take from this: You know you're on the right track if your vocal already sounds great even without effects such as reverb and delay. 🔥🔥

[@altermoremusic]

4:45 I'm using dynamic EQ thing for this frequency range ☺️

[@benit6913]

That overall volumen trick like it a lot, thxx great video

[@MrSonicAlchemy]

Yup. Best vocal mixing tutorial I've ever seen. As an experienced mixer I identify completely with every step and the explanation and examples make the concepts crystal clear. Excellent work sir!

[@Arian-abbas]

Great video.. You solved all my mix problems.. Thank you very much.

[@mikewaldron4492]

I always laugh somewhere in your videos. You Nashville guys have a great sense of humour. Would love to see you, if you haven't already, team up with Joe Carrell. He cracks me up too. Though I hardly learn something new in your videos (been songwriting/mixing since the early '90s), you always make me re-evaluate my workflow. Little subtleties and nuances as to why you make a certain eq (or whatever) move, you explain it so well. All the best dude!

[@PressuredSpeechBand]

We usually just hit the "enhance" button on Spotify and call it a day! Love the channel man!

[@K.Martin86]

Joe is in my brain! Always coming in clutch with the right topics at the right time!

[@sunnypeeGME]

Lovely and precise

[@thorstenengel5912]

Where were you 30 years ago when I started my recording studio?? Brillant.... the absolute best tutorial on vocal mixing I have ever seen!

[@GainingGroundWorship]

thank you sir, never had it so clearly explained

[@LesterWayneDobos]

Great sounding vocals man that tube compressor sounds fantastic. Very tight ratio, threshold and release. It's great to record vocals to instrumentals each day we improve ourselves in numerous areas from being an artist to fine tuning the engineering skills.

[@kkrause342]

Thanks Joe. The compression tip in particular really helped me get some extra polish on my vocal.

[@okay1904]

Fantastic tutorial. Thank you. Really good and very practical demonstration.

[@unstopology]

Great video, as usual! The moment someone taught me to cut before boosting anything, that was a game changer.

[@thomastaylor3517]

This might have been the fastest I have ever subscribed to a channel, looking forward to diving in!

[@dugl]

You just opened my eyes after 3 months of pain trying to fit vocals in my song, I didn't even know what I was doing. with your instant demonstration using your own voice to make actual sounds that represent those problematic points on eq spectrum is so simple but it's exactly what opened my eyes. And compression, turned out all this time I needed to know why I need compression at all, and you showed that perfectly too. And also using de-esser after compression, I can't believe I put attack at 1 on compressor because just one day hearing all those unwanted sounds from month an esses. My de-esser was at the beginning of the chain. And also when you boosted that low mid-mid to show that boxy sound and high mids to show nasal, it was like a thousand needles put through my head because I heard this sound all these months constantly every day, because without it my vocals kept drowning in mix, and it actually problem with other instruments that I need to solve. I have cheap monitor headphones and earbuds, the next big thing I need to buy is definitely expensive monitor headphones. I hope I didn't damage my ears and I hope I stop being so stubborn

[@alfieholloway]

I've been using a slower attack time on my vocal comp but gonna try this faster attack

[@carkymane]

This right here is the ideal tutorial.

[@johncostopoulos7741]

Greatly appreciated! Excellent tutorial

[@Friops]

Your tutorials are always so easy to follow and understand! They are very hepful, thank you 🙏

[@lilian896]

Beautiful voice!

[@mindhive625]

Bro your voice is silky smooth. I could fall asleep to this

[@Luxury_SA]

I came to the comments to talk about his voice.

[@seansullivan420]

Great vids. Concise explanations without getting too far in the technical weeds.

[@precisionsoundworksstudio]

Key compression terminology… make it , “berr berr!” 😂🙌🏻 Great vid, Joe!

[@joon.giorachoi]

thank you, bro.

[@sorrytopart]

Big Thanks Joe

[@mbanini6848]

Great lesson!

[@erolex19]

Thanks Joe! Great video!

[@jeremythomas2865]

2:17 is the best thing in this video. Always great content Joe. And I’ve always liked your vocal sound while you’re speaking to us. Great to point out what the source vs the end sounds like, even for your voiceover mic.

[@juggernautlila]

Where has this video been. Thank you sir!! Incredibly helpful

[@edgarsnake2857]

Great tips. Thanks, Joe. The mix you were using to demonstrate sounded great.

[@L-M-MOfficial]

Fantastic video - thank you for sharing this! Definitely got a new subscriber here!

[@setordziprincedoe4576]

I really love this video... God bless you. Imma gone work on myself 😊 Greetings from Ghana

[@Vedran-Music]

You're awesome!

[@noahseeton]

Thank you Joe, just used the de-muffling technique on a track I'm mastering and it turned out way better.

[@ishbeck]

I looove bonus tip No 7!!! Thank you!

[@iamjostified]

Joe, Youve been my coach since so many years back, Wow you sing so good

[@MattBenDaniel]

Excellent, taught me a lot. But no reverb? I use MixCraft.

[@alynfordmusic]

Thanks good tips

[@johnlance3860]

Joe! Thanks for demonstrating how useful and great sounding the Tube CB is! I have most of the popular compressors available today and I still use the Fat Channel Tube CB all the time. It's really a great compressor.

[@JLawrence-n7x]

Great tips - really appreciate this solid advice

[@PaulieBrierley]

The most helpful and concise video I have ever seen on this subject. All well described instruction, no fluff.

[@rcprod9631]

Thank you for the video. I may try a bit of higher mid removal on a vocal I am working on now which has a similar sound as you referred to in this video. For vocal compression I use a 1176 style compressor set to 1 to 2 db of reduction, and then an LA2A style of compressor set to 6 to 7 db of reduction. Also, referencing tracks while I'm mixing is essential to me. I'm still learning, but these techniques have worked for me. Cheers.

[@bhavjeetbasson]

Dude...amazing video!!!

[@satisfying4k444]

thank u my teacher, greetings from turkey

[@pintaniibak6301]

Apart from the tutorial, the vocal together with music sounds so amazing. where can i download the full track?

[@ronaldgordon982]

Great advice- you can put into practice right away with any DAW.

[@rickdixontn]

Helpful video. I love that you use Studio One. That is my go to software. Just a quick note on guitar tone. After 45 years of playing guitar and listening to others play, I believe that 90% at least of guitar "tone" is in the fingers of the player. A good guitar player can make any decent guitar/amp combo sound awesome and vice versa.

[@IntraVortex]

What a great tip on lowering the mid range a bit to accentuate the high. I was too egotistical to have thunk it. Too bad for me. But good for me now! Thx!

[@JimmyCooperAustralia]

Brother, this was excellently explained. Thank you. I really just enjoy music for the writing and don't have many aspirations beyond that, but this helped me straighten out something that's been bugging me for a long time. Do you have a similar video on adding FX? Modulators, harmonizers, overdrive, delays, reverbs, etc.?

[@JoeStuffzAlt]

I honestly was shocked how far people pushed compression, and it indeed made things sound better once I found it out. Without another one of your videos, I wouldn't have thought of using that strong of a compressor level. I do agree with the levels. Sometimes I hear an over-processed vocal and in the past, I thought that over-processed vocals were heavily autotuned (and they could have been). It turns out fx like compressors can make it sound autotuned as well

[@Theundisputedtruth]

Great video just wish would of elaborated more on the compression, for the green. And what, the fast or whatever option actually does , , didnt notice a difference or fully understand

[@HomeStudioCorner]

Yep. It takes time. You're not gonna understand it after one video.

[@Pradip.KumarDey]

Also reducing resonance helps a lot

[@humansaremonkeys]

You're a great teacher Joe. Thank You!

[@hgn2217]

EXCELLENT ! Your analysis on the vocal sound spectrum is very valid and the suggested applied sound treatments are effective. Many thanks !

[@paulfrank8738]

Fantastic information presented in a great way. But I did have a thought about compression. The compression you used seemed perfect for smoothing out the dynamic inconsistencies of a singer. But it made me wonder if that amount of compression would be too much for a style of music where vocal dynamics are a more important part of the music. (And, the singer would have to be good at performing those dynamics.)

[@mkultra_vii3283]

Basically, in short, no. Most of what you want out of vocal dynamics are the way it affects the tone of the sung parts in a recording much more so than the volume variance. The key is balancing the attack and release of your compressors (and using more than one to compress in chains) and you also typically want to have a parallel that’s compressed to death so you don’t have to compress your top line vocal as much, and that keeps that sounding dynamic and natural while keeping the volume consistent through the parallel.

[@mkultra_vii3283]

I also want to give an addendum here in that the sound of “dynamics” you hear in most modern, professional vocal recordings is how the transients in the vocal is allowed to shine through and maintain the punch of the words and phrases and is allowed to peak a bit. The attack knob will basically control that, a longer attack allows the transients to “pump” and hit a bit harder, whereas a shorter attack squashes them immediately and can contribute to that dynamically flat sound you’re talking about. Basically, if it sounds flat and overly compressed, you probably need to make your attack slower. If it sounds too all over the place volume wise or you’re clipping at consonants and other more impactful or louder sounds, you probably need a shorter attack. Final notes on this would be that I typically would go with a longer attack of around 30ms on the main top line vocal, then when I doubled it to layer in a parallel, that track would have the shortest attack possible.

[@marcotrosi]

when you mentioned Volume automation I had my own "oh that again"-moment, as I just came from the Audio Mountain youtube channel who just released a video on that topic. It's a new channel and I can only recommend it. And he also started using Studio One.

[@mattkeating1396]

Just found your channel / videos - really great videos - learning from the start and great explanations.

[@ekclay7]

Awesome Tutorial Man. I will implement this technique. Salute.

[@cdevils]

Thank you this is so helpful!

[@TS_Moss]

The tutorialis great ... but the voice is fantastic!!

[@wkelly-hn4kb]

I learned enough in my first 18 minutes i smashed that sub button.great stuff

[@RickRand00]

Joe I really liked your video. Not only for the content, but the way in which you shot it, Each and every adjustment on equipment was seen on screen with out having to squint at what you where doing. Very nice.

[@keithclark8030]

Thanks for the information.

[@ejstonemusic]

Great tips and easy to follow 👌 now just need to train ears 👂 to hear what you’re hearing 😉👍

[@ChrisDerMann]

Thanks Joe for no bs and cuttin straight to the point, very good explanation! :D

[@tbtres]

luv yur voice Fya tips

[@Nahlidge508]

Watching your vids have been helping make a lot of stuff I've been learning click, and I'm starting to get a better sense of how to approach my mixes. Thank you for these.

[@benharrison7244]

Well explained at a good pace. Subscribed

[@TheBlissMagnets]

Well done, this was really helpful thanks.

[@IsaacPedrozaOFFICIAL]

You put the compresor after Eq or befor

[@herosbride2834]

Great video as usual Joe. You're my go to source for all things recording.

[@ThiagoCamposOfficial]

You deliver awesome tips in a simple manner. Great content, Joe, as usual!

[@Thetruth66399]

You have good lyrics

[@michaeltablet8577]

When I get ready to mix I ask myself. What would Joe do?

[@henrysmusic721]

Amazing voice Joe! 👏

[@shrijistudio5318]

Thanks sir

[@songperformer_NET]

Very well explained, thanks for the skill transfer

[@Ghostie.]

another banger video. You're definitely one of the reasons I picked Studio one to learn with.

[@gkswift1999]

I've been with Reaper for 17yrs, but seriously into trying studio one after so many great reviews. Is it free, or have a trial?

[@JohannesBraunias]

You have an excellent speaker voice. No EQ and compressor can create this voice. So sometimes, it's really a matter of the source 🙂

[@abaldaju]

Are going to hear another EP soon? Staredown was beautiful one 🙂

[@fingereze7202]

Great stuff here Joe! Thank you for sharing. 👍👍

[@VilchA93]

Thanks for video. Very interesting. I work in my own small home studio. After EQ, Compression and DS I have some "ZZZZ" noises in my vocal. Is there something that I did too much? 😢

[@davidtrig]

Usually that’s Too much compression lower it

[@2011studies]

Joe, do you double the vocal tracks or single take? Good tips.

[@Meesamitch]

Hey mate i have watched a few of your vids now and they are always helpful and you have a really good video style. Keep up the good work

[@TruthSurge]

3:31 once the compressor volume dies off, I can literally hear room echo. If your room is well-treated for beating down reflections, you don't have to eat the mic and get so much proximity effect. But if you do have to, then yeah you can subtract those low frequencies and eq to compensate or maybe better is to multiband compress those lows so that not only are they lowered in volume but STABILIZED just in case your face moves an inch closer or farther during singing. That was you singing? You sound like a radio DJ who should be singing bass register tunes! I also dont agree that compression is your friend. You can overcompress but then that is a thing that you'd need to have experience with. Getting a non-clipped recording with maximum volume is part of the process. Compressing/limiting is another. I would say you can run two comps, one to comp, one to limit or if your comp has limit built in, do that too. Keep attack set so you dont lose all your initial transients and use the least you can to get a clear result. Obviously, dense music like heavy metal might need more but anyway.... interesting stuff. 8:55 dayum, get that emphazeema checked out! hahahha just kidding with ya. clip that gasp out fo sho!!!!

[@BobDavidsonBerl]

Video idea, Joe. You said at the end of this one that you have to learn to recognize a good vocal mix. But for those of us who have never heard our own vocals properly mixed, we don’t know how to recognize them when they are “right”. It is easy to take a vocal track from a known artist and listen to what one mixer did to their unique voice and repeat it. It is another thing to come up with a good vocal mix on a vocal you have no reference for other than your own failed ears. Can you make a tutorial on how to make a mix sound good when you have really no idea where the issues lie? Thanks!

[@HomeStudioCorner]

It's not as different as you think. You're listening to pro vocal mixes for clues as to what's happening tone-wise. How much low end, how much high end, how much sibilance...that kind of thing. Buy yes, this is the kind of thing I cover in my mixing course. www.homestudiocorner.com/mix

[@hankfowler8194]

How about EQ for "Sultry" ? Like Smooth Operator by Sade ?

[@anayv11]

Excellent! Thanks Joe. Subbed and liked!