How to Select a Vocal Chain - Mixing With Mike Mixing Tip

[@noisyneil]

the main thing i get from this is that these decisions will probably be pretty intuitive once you have the ears for it. i don't have enough familiarity with these processes or listening 'into' the sound and knowing what there's too little/too much of. lots of work to do for me!!! thanks for these videos.

[@mixingwithmike]

+noisyneil Hi noisyneil, There is a lot of truth to that and only experience can give you the intuition. That said, you can still be sensitive to when a particular EQ or Compressor is not giving you the results you want and select another. Even if it is a blind decision, you will still learn something in the process. Thanks! Mike

[@xaosnox]

Hopefully you're well on your way 3 years later, but for anyone else at that stage (we're all constantly learning), puremix has an excellent video by Fab DuPont about listening to compression. Also, Andrew Zeleno has some free videos on KZbin, and he has an excellent way of teaching people. He describes exactly what he's listening for, and plays it several times until you really get it. He's a great teacher.

[@xaosnox]

I love the way you walked us through your thought process on this. Very helpful! You did it in the opposite order than I would have, which I think might have required a lot more plugins to get a good sound, but I love hearing how you work it out. I'm not nearly as familiar with the characteristics of the plugins as you are, so this is very valuable!

[@mixingwithmike]

Cheers!

[@MikeHeebz]

I watched this & tried all sorts of things out on my vocal chain. This is a great video & offered valuable information, thanks for showing your process on the vocals.

[@mcsweet1966]

Do you think that a Neumann M147 in a Avalon 737sp will sound old like 80 kind of sound

[@MikeyPressure]

Hey Mike, what satiratoris that?

[@acebass123]

That 1073 is gold

[@mixingwithmike]

Yes it is!

[@xaosnox]

Agreed! I throw that on just about every vocal first thing if I didn't track with it, which is even more golden! He could have saved a lot of work with those other plugs by just maxing out the drive and using an aggressive low end boost with that 1073. You can literally max anything on that and it still sounds natural and musical. Don't be timid with that one, and use it BEFORE you do all that other doctoring. I was just working on a vocal that sounded like they recorded it with a $22 Amazon Special condenser in a storage shed. By the time I threw that 1073, some Pultecs and an LA-2A Silver on it, it sounds like a Neumann/Telefunken U47! UAD are outrageously good. I'll give it some jump and make it pop a bit more with Pro-Q³, but why anyone wastes time with those Waves plugins he was using is beyond me.

[@charlesturner9011]

Hi Mike- Thanks so much for this! Are you using the Waves NLS Bus plugin by itself as the 2nd plug in the track, or is there an instance of NLS Channel lurking somewhere not shown in the video?

[@charlesturner9011]

Oh, and would you think the drive in the Waves TG12345 channel strip gives similar results to the "Mike" setting on the NLS plug?

[@DaMonstaMuzik]

Mixing with Mike! One of my favorite information sources ever! Like always i llok forward to and appreciate your videos. Even if i already know the topics i watch anyway, always room for growth. Great engineer and outstanding teacher!

[@bowentommy2587]

i know I'm kinda randomly asking but do anyone know of a good site to stream new series online?

[@quentinlucca6271]

@Bowen Tommy Lately I have been using flixzone. Just google for it =)

[@marlondavid1106]

@Bowen Tommy try Flixzone. You can find it by googling :)

[@pauldousemusic]

Nice video Mike. Its nice of you to approach this topic too man! Truth be told, so many of us aspiring songwriters & mix engineers start out with budget mics that become challenges in post to mix. (No punch pulled there. lol) Many of us have also benefited by it & have become better and better at mixing material recorded with common tools that people are recording with in their home studios. (cheaper stuff) Gotta love mix rescuing! I thought for sure you were going to end that video with a P.S.A. kicker line like: "...and knowing is half the battle".

[@mixingwithmike]

+Paul Douse Thanks Paul, Yea, a PSA at the end would have been fitting! Glad to hear the tips are helpful. Cheers! Mike

[@TimeMarchesOn]

Hi Mike I don't have Tube Saturator but I do use Waves Vitamin for that final rounding of the tone any thought there?

[@mixingwithmike]

+TimeMarchesOnBand Vitamin is more like an exciter than tube saturation but is excellent on vocals. You can get very similar results.

[@TimeMarchesOn]

Thank You

[@jimmydooley81]

how do you have the mix window to set up to show the bigger send views for multiple sends where you can see their faders? I didn't know that was possible, any info would be much appreciated thanks

[@mixingwithmike]

+jimmydooley81 Hey Jimmy, Command-Click on the Send Selector in the Mix Window. It is the Tiny Arrow where you select the send destination. (Ctrl-Click on Windows) Hope that makes sense. Cheers! Mike

[@jimmydooley81]

+Michael White I'm talking about how you have 3 sends showing my will only let me pick one to show from A-E and one to show from F-J I tried control clicking but it still only lets me show One

[@mixingwithmike]

I think that is a Pro Tools HD feature . That is why you are not able to do it on your system.

[@MuscleShoalsRadio]

Great video....who is the artist/group doing the song and what's the song's name please?

[@mixingwithmike]

The Hypnik Jerks - Heartache Assasin

[@lmacaluso94]

The title is actually just "Assassin" on Spotify!

[@lmacaluso94]

And its spelled "The Hypnic Jerks"

[@insanebiscuit1]

how do you get multiple send faders to show? I can only figure out how to show 2 at a time.

[@mixingwithmike]

+insanebiscuit1 Command/Click on the Insert Header. This is PT12 HD, not sure if the number of sends is limited in the native version.

[@mrmorpheus9707]

What telafunkin compressor is that? nice....

[@mixingwithmike]

+Shawn “MORPHEUS711” Waters Audified U73b Here is my review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/on7Ti6KuqbJ2g68

[@mrmorpheus9707]

the eq is awesome..never saw it b4! whats a link 4 that?

[@mixingwithmike]

+Shawn “MORPHEUS711” Waters Are you talking about the Surfer EQ? Here is the link to my review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o36TZGyhpcyMaaM

[@mrmorpheus9707]

+Michael White You really bought that vocal to life in this tutorial!!!! holy shit!!! im impressed!!

[@mixingwithmike]

Cheers!

[@thanoseolios8281]

Hi Mike! Is this NJ. Taylor singing?

[@lmacaluso94]

Its actually a group called "The Hypnic Jerks" and their song "Assassin" on Spotify!

[@igorkovalenko7425]

thanks Mike! very interesting

[@mixingwithmike]

+Garik Kovalenko Cheers!

[@persianchris2451]

Love Surfer EQ. Michael quick question for you - Do you know how many people own your car? Kidding, but serious - what are your computer specs? OS/Processor speed / Ram / HDD details.

[@mixingwithmike]

I thought I knew how many, but after working on this song, not so sure anymore! :-) I am running a late 2014 iMac 5K - 4Ghz Core i7 with 32 gig of RAM and a maxed out Video Processor.

[@persianchris2451]

Michael - Another question - Do you think it's critical to have the best graded Video Card for music production? I have a Lenovo T450S i7-5600u (2.6-3.2ghz quadcore) laptop with 20gb ram and a 2tb samsung evo ssd. Do you think that's good enough? I'm curious on your input. Thanks

[@nerdherdliveson]

Lol! Check out the actual song, it’s finished on Spotify, by “The Hypnic Jerks,” called “Assassin”

[@cassmcentee]

Good Vid! Thanks Mike!

[@mixingwithmike]

+cassmcentee Cheers!

[@nerdherdliveson]

Check out the finished product of the song on Spotify, “Assassin” by “The Hypnic Jerks” ☺️

[@chriskozeer]

Do you used preamp for recording vocals? I love your channel! x)

[@mixingwithmike]

Thanks DjCHRIS! Not sure what you mean. A preamp will be necessary with any mic for recording. If your asking which one I like best, that's a tough question. Which ever one sounds best. Cheers! Mike

[@mrakvag1258]

WHAT IS NLF-3C UNDER TUBE SAT2 ?

[@mixingwithmike]

That's the Pultec HLF-3C. It is a passive HPF and LPF from the 1950's. One of my favorites!

[@albertwangny]

I don't appreciate it very much. The simplest is the best. But I totally understand Mike's demonstration is for us to learn more processing.

[@iva5iver]

All I hear is noise and hum behind the vocals

[@peterhagerstrand1559]

The biggest problem with this vocal is the recording and the editing, not the singers voice