Mixing A Lead Vocal Using Waves Vocal Rider Plug-in

Mixing lead vocal tracks can be a challenge as we often put ourselves under immense pressure to get them balanced tastefully within a mix. Mixing a lead vocal track is generally the last process most producers and engineers address in a mix as it’s the cherry on the cake, the feature, the main element that our listening audience’s ear will latch onto, sing along with and most importantly connect with emotionally. Those points together illustrate how pressure can start to build up when we mix lead vocal tracks but what can we do to make our lives easier when all we want is to get a great sounding vocal sound?

Setting a tasteful amount of compression is more often than not the main reason why so many struggle mixing vocals. Too much compression and a vocal can sound strangled and lifeless, too little and a vocal can sound dynamically intermittent or disconnected from a mix. How then can we process the dynamics of lead vocals outside of traditional approaches that can help us sit vocals purposefully in a mix?

In this series of videos we explore four different ways that you can use to process the dynamics of your lead vocals. Each of these approaches can be used individually on lead vocals or indeed you can blend several of these together to produce great sounding vocals in your next mix.