Adding depth to a song

[2caras]

Ok,, so I have already mixed the song and its practically where I want it.. the only problem is, it kinda sounds 'in my face'.. I want to add some depth to it, like, I want to push the 'entire song' away a little bit.. I hope I'm explaning myself right.... Any help would be greatly appreciated. [I'm using Protools 7.4]

[Kris Cain]

rearrange the levels of the elements of your song... you have the entire song laid out? like.. the beat and all the elements to the beat? or just the 2 track of a beat and vocals?

cuz you'll have alot more maneuverability if you have the full session of the beat.

[X-EMPT THE GOD]

If You Are Using Protools, And You Want The Vocals, Or Any Part Of The Song To Seem "farther Away" Use The Spreader. To Spread The Mono Vocals Onto Left + Right Channels And Allow Them To Blend.
If Theyre Still Too Close, Use Panning. Fade The Louder Tracks Either Left Or Right To Blend Them. You Can Also Use Reverb To "soften The Vocals" Thus Giving Them Ambience.

Adjust Your Eq's Correctly. Turn Up The Mids In The Vocals, And Down The Mids In The Instruments. You Can Also Use A Dimensional Enhancer To Force The Track You Would Lke To Blend Onto The "presence" Speakers In A Dolby 6-1 System This Would Be The Rear L +r Speakers.

This Gives A Wider Dispersion Of Sound For Those Track And Won't Be So "in Your Face"

If All Else Fails, Turn The Volume Down On The Tracks, It Is By Far The Most Important Setting In Mixing. And Dont Forget To Not Swallow The Microphone When Recording. If You Peak Out The Mic In The Beginning, Your Whole Song Will Be Peaking.

Adjust The Compression Ratio. Rap Vocals Should Be At About 8.0
But Watch The Compressor As It Plays Live, Nothing Should Hit Over A 5 .

I Hope This Has Been Helpful. If You Have Any Other Questions, Feel Free To Ask, I'll Be Here All Evening..peace...x.

[Kris Cain]

yo, 8 is way too high for vocal compression... lol. From my journeys I've learned that if you need anything above 4 you should probably retake the vocal if possible, or push the fader up and use a lower ratio if you dont run into noise issues. 8 is almost "crush" status.

[Opie M.]

8:1 is limiting.

[WareProductions]

if you want to add depth . delays and reverbs will help after initial level mixing

[Chris Black]

Play the song and record it on your mic Lol.

[2caras]

X-EMPT/Kris Cain and everyone: Thanks .. Turning the volume down was the key. At first I didn't think it was a good idea because the song's volume would be too low (for radio play etc) but it worked out pretty well. The line I quoted below by X-empt saved my life! I have read so much about reverb but all I needed to understand was that line...

Thanks for this Chief!
"You Can Also Use Reverb To "soften The Vocals" Thus Giving Them Ambience."


The line I couldn't understand: "Turn Up The Mids In The Vocals, And Down The Mids In The Instruments" how do you do this?


I uploaded the song to http://www.myspace.com/bufalo2caras "Pa K Tosan!" It's Spanish Rap though...
I'm going back to fix my other songs with the new given knowledge..

[Opie M.]

The line I couldn't understand: "Turn Up The Mids In The Vocals, And Down The Mids In The Instruments" how do you do this?

with EQ

[X-EMPT THE GOD]

X-EMPT/Kris Cain and everyone: Thanks .. Turning the volume down was the key. At first I didn't think it was a good idea because the song's volume would be too low (for radio play etc) but it worked out pretty well. The line I quoted below by X-empt saved my life! I have read so much about reverb but all I needed to understand was that line...

Thanks for this Chief!
"You Can Also Use Reverb To "soften The Vocals" Thus Giving Them Ambience."


The line I couldn't understand: "Turn Up The Mids In The Vocals, And Down The Mids In The Instruments" how do you do this?


I uploaded the song to http://www.myspace.com/bufalo2caras "Pa K Tosan!" It's Spanish Rap though...
I'm going back to fix my other songs with the new given knowledge..

Glad I could help bro! To turn up the mids in the vocals you need the master file, you cant just record over a beat thats already mixed down, you need to get ahold of the original artist that made the beat and have him send you the master file track by track. Then you can adjust the equalizers on each of the instruments individually and adjust whatever instruments might be over-powering the vocals.
Otherwise, just put an Equalizer on each of the tracks (vocals + Beat) and adjust the mid-tones down in the beat, and the mid-tones up in your vocals.

Hope that helps. If anyone else has anything they need, I"LL be here..holla peace...X.
Hope I have helped