The EXACT Science of Mixing Vocals

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Hello, I'm Nicholas Di Lorenzo, Studio Owner, Mixing and Mastering engineer at Panorama Studios.
I'm an Italian-Australian born and raised in Melbourne. I've been a creative professional for 10 years managing some pretty awesome projects for artists, labels and producers all around the globe.
What motivates and drives me?
My family,
Good food,
Great coffee.
You can find me on many platforms:
Instagram: / panorama_mastering
Facebook: / panoramamastering
Twitter: / panoramamasters
Kit: kit.co/Panoram...

[@alisynn]

i’m not gonna lie, i saw the title and almost rolled my eyes because i see titles like this on youtube so much. but this video was absolutely PHENOMENAL. your way of articulating the reason WHY you’re doing something is so clear and concise, one of the best videos i’ve seen on this platform.

[@Baller-qe8sq]

Even this guys videos are cringe bro if u want tutorials that are actually thorough, and easily digestible, 0 cringe, look up alexmadeit he leaks audio school material

[@Octxvius]

I’ve seen thousands of comments like this on every video about mixing.

[@ShubhamMehta]

that's so true

[@Triplo9vBeats]

YES!

[@Axtonn]

Great, now i can mix vocals, AND I'll be able to hear "I've been feeling like a fooOoOoOoOoOOol" in my dreams forever

[@panorama_mastering]

enjoy ;)

[@TieTenxion]

Nah fr

[@Emsall017]

That’s how it goes

[@Baller-qe8sq]

Even this guys videos are cringe bro if u want tutorials that are actually thorough, and easily digestible, 0 cringe, look up alexmadeit he leaks audio school material

[@uc_greywalker]

😂😂😂😂

[@junovue]

0:00 Intro - Vocals Fundamental's 0:30 Relationship with vocals and sub instruments 1:52 Before and after vocals comparison 2:13 Vocals Mix Start 5:10 Secret sauce to help automate vocal 8:17 How to level vocals with bass line 10:11 Ozone tips for vocal chain 13:55 Parallel chains overview 15:00 Parallell 1 (Andrew Scheps Trick ) 16:58 Parallell 2 (Reverb 1) 19:17 Parallell 3 (Slap Delay) 19:44 Parallell 4 (Widening) 21:42 Parallell 5 (Tape) 22:29 Parallell 6 (Reverb 2) 22:46 How to use parallel's with main vocal 24:44 Before and after processing recap

[@panorama_mastering]

Amazing! Thanks for time markering these!

[@junovue]

@@panorama_mastering I needed to come back and watch when I have my DAW open, figured this would be easier! Thank u!

[@joshuadelaughter]

I have been through so many different channels, forums, vlogs, etc about music production and I'm absolutely blown away by this channel. By far the most practically useful source I've come across.

[@RoodyCall]

I love that you don’t follow mixing KZbin trends, like recently I feel everybody did a video on the nls jaycen joshua trick and before that everybody was making a videos on the 1176 la2a vocal technique

[@panorama_mastering]

I am just taking sessions (With client's permission) from real life projects and showing how my sessions work; .... next week I have a wild one! I did something yesterday which impressed the fuck out me!

[@RoodyCall]

@@panorama_mastering can't wait!

[@Baller-qe8sq]

Even this guys videos are cringe bro if u want tutorials that are actually thorough, and easily digestible, 0 cringe, look up alexmadeit he leaks audio school material

[@richertz]

Love the method of turning it all down and balancing vocals at low levels with the bass. I honestly think I need to get a session with you to sort out a few mix issues!

[@panorama_mastering]

Things happening in the future where we can do something like this!

[@MicahCory]

No way did I just find an ACTUALLY GOOD tutorial that's in depth yet easy to follow. Hats off to you sir.

[@finance_nex953]

I like to use the sidechaining method on the vocals with soothe because you have the ability to just sidechain the mid low signal of the dry vox and with right attack/release time it creates a cool effect where the reverb fills in the mid space between the dry vocal empty spaces :)

[@Mixbywheeler2024]

I just found this channel last night finally some one on you tube that knows what the hell there doing. This guy need to run a mixing course. Big up to you bro

[@panorama_mastering]

Thanks man! Appreciate the love!

[@django3108]

Been recently compressing first and I'm starting to enjoy it, when the vocal doesn't have an overload of low end in it, it just sounds better, i cannot explain why

[@HeroesCinema9503]

Been working hard to make my dry vocals sound cleaner and exciting b4 reverb delay chorus and saturation And that’s wow Worth spending time on that

[@tawidave7092]

This tip 05:47 with setting the range, is genius. This saves so much time with fiddling.

[@panorama_mastering]

Yes! I want to refine this process further! Most likely for a futur video :)

[@jeffray3]

The best tutorial on mixing vocals I've seen. Incredibly articulate, accurate and easy to understand because he explains the science. Thank you for making these videos, they've really helped improve my productions.

[@panorama_mastering]

Glad it was helpful! My pleasure

[@Baller-qe8sq]

Even this guys videos are cringe bro if u want tutorials that are actually thorough, and easily digestible, 0 cringe, look up alexmadeit he leaks audio school material

[@lloydbrothers3315]

"ALM" on Nectar for vocals... basically same function as vocal rider.

[@davidasher22]

That’s so crazy.. I literally opened up Vocal Rider last night for the first time in probably 2 years. I did the same exact thing you’re doing. I even wrote the automation and everything. I like how you committed that eq to the vocal sections with too much proximity effect. A bit time consuming but more effective than multi-band compression.

[@panorama_mastering]

Spot on! Now... do it to every single word!

[@justinfeldermusic]

Really like how surgical yet musical you are with your moves. Instead of using audiosuite, try the eq within pro tools clip effects (toggle at the bottom left of the screen). So if you ever need to go back on a move, you don’t have to add another eq or put in the old clip and do it again - you can just tweak the eq there and it’s embedded into your clip!

[@panorama_mastering]

YES! I must explore this! I fogot they introduced this for 2022 PT

[@nelsonrivera9635]

I’ve learn more in the last week of watching videos here then in the last 3 years!! Truly the best content online! This is incredible knowledge! Real theory with real application! Best online learning content without a doubt!

[@truegent68]

I've always struggled with the blending of parallel processing in the mix but this was a real eye opener for me (or should I say ear opener?) Such a brilliant video and a video I will watch many times again ,thanks for sharing ❤

[@WeissAdvice]

You nailed it. Those initial levels I start very low. I also go back to very quiet monitoring when I'm doing my Mixbus. I want everything to sound forward and present even when it's fairly quiet.

[@panorama_mastering]

Thanks mate; that was a great workshop that has stuck with me all these years later!

[@Baller-qe8sq]

Even this guys videos are cringe bro if u want tutorials that are actually thorough, and easily digestible, 0 cringe, look up alexmadeit he leaks audio school material

[@tyalexandercheng]

@@panorama_mastering Me too! I loved his courses! Highly recommend!

[@cekirdekci32]

he killed it. ridiculous. just woww. i m sorry but this was the best i ve seen for soo long.

[@AminoMakesMusic]

I really appreciate you going into detail like this. Too many videos with the same sort of title just don’t really give you anything special like this. Best video I’ve seen so far. 🤙🏻

[@nateowen]

The amount of detail you bring to your work is amazing. I love seeing you breakdown the work you did here ❤

[@panorama_mastering]

Thank you so much! it's always a pleasure working through your projects!

[@ralphfokkema2316]

Okay everyday you learn. 80 procent of my vocal chain, but with different plugs. But the deesser and mix the fx in without the vocals. Wauw great! Thanks for stop chasing my tail. Also not using so much compression because of the vocal leveling and parallel overdrive. This what I do on many more sources. Keep up the good work. You’re a great new resource for me and I think many others.

[@junovue]

This was a gem, thank you for you sharing parallel process ideas and going through each of them specifically.

[@panorama_mastering]

You are so welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Rhuggins]

Stellar. I’m a little surprised not to see much in-line compression, but the vocal does sound incredible and certainly sufficiently compressed already. I love using my Console One for parallel work, since it allows me to keep my send track’s faders at 0, and use the physical “send faders” themselves on console one to craft a nice blend, and can of course automate very easily.

[@willymvsic]

I love your contents because are for beginners and pros at the same time, its been almost 10 year since i started producing music watching yt videos and to be honest is very difficult for me to find something that i've never seen being explained about music production, but here now i know that i'll be finding out something new every video you post, i wanna thank you for doing this like a music lover (that's what transpires by looking at you explaining things and defining you as "crazy" for those little micro adjusting) instead of most commercial youtubers. I beg you kindly to please add subtitles 'cause sometimes i can't undestand some words ( 'bout other more technic videos) big up, keep doin this, you're doin it very well. cheers!

[@panorama_mastering]

Thanks for watching!

[@DaftFader]

I love a bit of emphasis and de-emphasis pre+post compression EQ. It's amazing what you can achieve with it.

[@howir0n1c2]

Wow man. This is already one of the most succinct and useful mixing tutorials I've ever seen and I'm only to the vocal rider part.

[@fivebyfivesound]

Vocal rider is a powerful tool. I use it to automate certain fx sends as well by side gaining to whatever source I want a particular effect to respond to-delays, reverbs, etc. This way, if I tweak the level of that source, the fx auto adjusts rather than having to go in and adjust the written automation of X number of effects.

[@panorama_mastering]

That’s a super smart way of using it! Nice!

[@shortcutDJ]

just in time for me to start learning to mix, what a coincidence

[@TheEndless560]

So glad to hear you say this with clip gain, I just naturally did this so it's encouraging to know I got it right 😂

[@panorama_mastering]

Many different ways to go about this! I will have to do a new video, because I’ve figured quite a number of ways to approach this.

[@spencermartin5622]

Some routing explanation on this would be really helpful too.

[@panorama_mastering]

Noted!

[@who_is_dis]

Funny you post this, yesterday I decided to upgrade my vocal rider and download it from my really old waves account. I really don't like Waves plugins, but I really can't knock that one - like you said, for the main vocal you can write it and adjust. Saves a lot of time. That tip about balancing bass with lower monitoring volume is pretty cool too, never heard of it before 🎯

[@SkinnEmannProductions]

Agreed RBass and loAir are terrible plugins as well

[@hate6ix]

this is great, my mixes have deifinitely levelled up because of this video

[@panorama_mastering]

You're welcome!

[@cassiusmeeches9513]

Using write automation from the Waves leveler is really smart. Nice tip!

[@panorama_mastering]

Glad it was helpful!

[@charisme1343]

the best tutorial ive even seen thx so much

[@panorama_mastering]

Glad it helped!

[@alexpick2028]

this video is insane. totally legit techniques and brilliantly explained. will defo be checking out all your vids!

[@panorama_mastering]

Thanks man!

[@Hoolagun]

Great explanation on Vocal Rider. I've had it for years and never got it to work how i wanted.

[@panorama_mastering]

Glad it helped! It's a fiddly plugin to get working; but once you do it's set-and-forget

[@Mr_Kri]

​@@panorama_masteringa great video again. Just a heads up, the link at the end of the video goes to the wrong video.

[@panorama_mastering]

Thanks for the heads up! I'll fix that!

[@sprunch_alox]

Am I trippin.. or does the thumbnail look like Ted Nivison about to deliver us a beautiful peice of art for our ears...

[@XoJupit3r]

The title made me question how informational this would be lol you’ve exceeded my expectations

[@ElSen6]

THANK YOU ! THIS GUY WENT STRAIGH INTO THE POINT!!

[@theycallmedub]

You don't have to keep changing it back to slip. Leave grid and hold command when you need to select of grid

[@panorama_mastering]

YOU SIR! have saved me hours and hours of time! Thank you!

[@graybronze]

This video was fantastic mate, loads of approaches I'd not tried before and really clearly explained, I'll certainly be giving this a try! Easily earned a sub for your work on this, looking forward to checking out more from you.

[@PetitePoppaBleu]

Good mixing video. Glad I’m instinctually doing some of this stuff 😅

[@panorama_mastering]

Glad you enjoyed!keep up the good work

[@fredbeckofficial]

That is another great explanation. I've been using Vocal Rider for a couple of years, but how you honed in the range is a great tip. I also really like how you mix the vocal effects in WITHOUT the lead. Great stuff here!

[@BOODA575]

would love to no if you would master your own mixes and also what your own mix sounds like in comparison to your master …. or just a video on how to master your own mixes

[@LKV089]

Bro single-handedly recreated CLA Vocals in his daw

[@kamilpaszko751]

Great workflow Mr!

[@MishazBts]

Most important things that you must have to achieve a top vocal in the mix: 1.AMAZING Microphone,nothing less 2.AMAZING Singer 3.AMAZING tuning skills

[@panorama_mastering]

Bang on

[@BaguaDude]

Great process and presentation. Personally tho i want that vocal way back in the mix.

[@adamlindall3208]

Wish someone would make a video like this in Logic Pro X. I probably have close to half of the plugins used in this video. Valhalla Vintage Verb, Vocal Rider, Waves CLA-2 compressor, SoundToys EchoBoy, and… nvm, definitely less than half. Such a great video on parallel tracks! Even though it was a different DAW I learned a lot about how to add vocal effects more discretely. Thank you!

[@thebeatmajors_yt]

Nothing in this video is Pro Tools specific. Can be achieved in any daw

[@SoLoudAudio]

Hey Nicholas, I'm looking for a video where you where balancing the tone of the vocal on the actual vocal clip. You know where like some parts of the vocal sound bright and other parts not very bright so you have to fix the tone on the actual vocal clip.... I dont know if I'm making any sense.

[@benwaveproducer]

Very good Video, pretty "chirurgic" approach of you

[@yochillsmith]

I’ve never considered putting a de-esser on my reverb 😮

[@panorama_mastering]

Game changer.

[@Triplo9vBeats]

incredible content, thank you very much!

[@TEXTUREBLADE]

best vdeo i seen

[@natus49]

Amazing tutorial, so useful

[@panorama_mastering]

You're welcome!

[@audioishmedia]

great work flow

[@panorama_mastering]

Thanks m808!

[@DON_XAVEY]

Thank you for everything. I think you just enabled me to make money out of it

[@74goldenjet]

Thanks for sharing these cool tricks. Very usefull! Great channel, I'll be checking out more of your vids for sure!

[@maseylorenzo5475]

great video! but i didn't understand why in the final part of the video you gain staged the aux muting the lead vox

[@DaveChips]

Have my popcorns ready when sage releases his 😏😎

[@mathiesvandenbulck727]

could you make a video on how to properly use the vocal rider? i've had the plugin for a while but i never really got the results i wanted...

[@AnwaarAliOfficial]

The best vocal sound I've ever heard is Post Malone's songs from his album 'beerbongs&bentleys produced and mixed by Louis Bell.

[@panorama_mastering]

Nice vocal!!

[@OfficialADONISMusic-bv3qe]

I'm confused as to jow you set your threshold in the middle, because it doesn't look like it's in the middle. Is that something you chose to do on purpose? Great video by the way❤

[@tillkaefert]

Amazing video 🙏

[@d0grent]

great info, but I would love if the before/after was gain matched!

[@oliverlabani7511]

I had to subscribe great content your approach is Golden

[@RicherPodcast]

Love your output mate! Thanks again Quick one: Do clients want MASTER bus processing on TV and InstOnly tracks too, or mix bus processing only?

[@panorama_mastering]

Master bus if you're delivering the finals;

[@RicherPodcast]

@@panorama_masteringtop man, thanks fella

[@anonymousbrowser4448]

great video!! thank you

[@panorama_mastering]

Glad you liked it! Thank you for watching!

[@clintyoung9902]

Couple of things: 1) how does you going in and adjusting the clip gain not mess up the gain staging you and Ethan showed a few vids back? 2) Vocal Rider = OG. Very interested in a future deep dive vid into your setup

[@DaftFader]

You're adjusting clip gain to manually get more consistant levels. It similar to what a compressor would do except you retain the dynamics. It's not like he's turning the quiet parts down 10db and the louder ones up 10db, but if there's a loud part of the vocal that is 2db higher, he's manually bringing it down in line with the rest of the vocals. This has 0 effect on gain staging and in fact makes later processing react more evenly, which is the entire goal.

[@MeVoilaMusic]

Hi really great content, helped me a lot. About the first parallel chain with Pulltec and LA-2A, is that trick achievable with UAD's LA-2A and the H/F trim ?

[@espenstoro]

It's a hell of a process just for one vocal, but well worth it. Sounds lovely! Btw, from the bag of parallel tricks, sometimes it's cool to send a brutally de-essed signal into a vocoder with just white noise, hi-pass it to oblivion, maybe run a phaser on it, and get som fake modulated "air" in there with some width. It's a weird sound, but it really works sometimes.

[@sonpmusic7317]

I feel like I have been doing everything wrong after watching this. This is the best video on mixing vocals..

[@panorama_mastering]

Wow, thanks!

[@AKC-MUSIC]

You ROCK!! Thanks so much for sharing bro.😚

[@panorama_mastering]

My pleasure!!

[@gabriel_levi]

This was excellent. So many gems in this video! Much appreciated. 🙏🏽

[@panorama_mastering]

You're so welcome!

[@EdokLock]

Why is the raw Vocal Soooo good i have to mix mine just to reach that level ?😅 Any tips on pre-mixing vocal editing/ correction

[@sussmusic8173]

Thanks for this tutorial. Just a quick question, at what decibel level did are you listening at to do the bass and vocal balancing trick? And at what level do you have your spl meter when balancing out the parallel effect channels. Cant get my reverb to sit right with the vocals and in the mix generally. Thank you so much

[@panorama_mastering]

Bass and vocal balancing; AS LOW AS MY SPEAKERS WILL GO! Balancing parallel effect channels; this is the "least scientific" part of my process; it's purely just about levelling them into a pocket where they sit behind the main elements of the mix; sometimes doing this in mono helps too!

[@davidvalens3337]

i wish you would make vocal presets for blue cat audio patch bay

[@EMAD01]

How were the vocals tracked, the raw material you worked with is quite commendable

[@Jennyshalfmusic]

Obviously a noob question but I don't understand how you can just mix the effects in on there own? I've tried searching how to do this but only get FX channel sends or ducking. But with them it seems i have to have the master vocal on so defeats the point. I don't even understand how to ask the question but How do you get to hear the FX channels with the main one muted!?

[@alfredmbenedictf.b7998]

He's not doing something very new...but his approach and explanations are 🤌

[@panorama_mastering]

Thank you!

[@jacksp8de]

This is extremely valuable! Why are the vocals in stereo though?

[@panorama_mastering]

Exported from prod as stereo

[@otokogariz5064]

Then there’s me trying to mix on my phone where I can’t slit and mix very small details in depth 😭so I just try to sing the words as soft as possible to level it with the beat, i hope my experiences in making music like this helps when I get real equipment

[@user-rw4bn6zl7k]

Is there a reason you don’t use a hi-pass filter? If you do use one, where would you put it in this chain and how would you set up the slope/cutoff?

[@sq7507]

The fletcher munson trick doesn't make sense to me. At low volumes we're hearing way less low end than mids and highs. What is this for?

[@panorama_mastering]

No, you relatively hear more low end than upper mids at lower playback volumes

[@sq7507]

@@panorama_mastering no, at lower volumes the curves indicate that you need more volume to hear lows at the same intensity as you're hearing mids and mid highs

[@sq7507]

@@panorama_mastering so knowing this, i think the trick isn't valid right?

[@thebeatmajors_yt]

No because you have it backwards

[@YoungFox20]

Any post processing for that mic? What type of mic is it?

[@sommaiya]

THIS IS PHENOMENAL

[@JayTheYTGuy]

10:40 What is your experience with the latency with Ozone 11 on mixes? I never thought to put it on vocals because of this. Thanks, and also, I never though to de-ess before the reverb. That is such a great gem! Thank you. Have you tried inverting the phase on your reverb as well?

[@panorama_mastering]

Delay Compensation enginer in PT I never stress with latency when mixing;

[@JayTheYTGuy]

Ok, latency impacts the relationship with the rest of the instruments is why I asked.@@panorama_mastering

[@jonautry]

Curious as to why you use AS for your corrective eq moves, as opposed to clip fx? Habit, interface, or maybe so that there’s actually a processed file there for peace of mind?

[@EdokLock]

Soooooooo what about the science of mixing everything but the Vocal, Bass, Drums 👀

[@MadsGranumMusic]

Awesome video!! What is the name of the plugin you use for widening your vocal? Looking forward to seeing more of your content.

[@denisauherova119]

supercool video! thank you

[@panorama_mastering]

Glad you liked it!

[@dgthegreat6618]

I wish that people that made these type of videos would talk to us like babies and just assume that we have no knowledge about it. Cuz I’m sure this video was very helpful for people that understands what he’s saying but for someone with little knowledge it’s just so hard to follow. I know this video doesn’t say “for beginners “ but even the ones that do , they do the same thing .

[@joechapman8208]

It's hard if you don't know any of this, but he can't really stop to explain what EQ is or how a compressor works at every stage either. However, it's a great map if you wanted to pause and make a note every time there's a thing you don't get, and then find videos that are just about that topic. Still, I would say that if this all seems like a mystery, you're not really ready to mix vocals like this. That would be putting the cart before the horse. Get to know some mix basics first, such as how to mix bass against drums, otherwise none of this will work for you because it'll be impossible to apply it.

[@baenowkear]

ive purchased your template: however, can you create just a mix vocal template? Some of us just mix vocals. The extra instruments make it a little confusing.

[@spencermartin5622]

Holy crap! I just learnt so much very quickly. Thank you!

[@panorama_mastering]

Glad it helped!

[@JazzyFizzleDrummers]

Have you tried silk yet? It has been saving me a lot of headaches when dealing with vocals that have been sent to me with tuning but no room correction.

[@this.is.gozart]

This video really helped me a lot! Really appreciate what you did .< can you tell me what is the effect you used in SHINE Aux? It is located between CRUSH Aux and REVERB Aux. I'm curious about it because I didn't see you mention SHINE Aux in this video...

[@MarcusVinicius-px4rj]

Hey, might be a dumb question, but could you tell me how do you create this overview tab to group all your lead vocal channels and aux?

[@panorama_mastering]

Highlight channels, right click, create folder

[@JonRedeye]

Did you produce this?