any way to get lead vocal softer during mastering?

[village1]

The good news is that I'm working with a great singer. The bad news is that I may have fallen in love with her voice and put the vocal to far up in the mix. Is there any way during mastering to get the lead vocal a bit softer relative to the band
without having to go back and mix it all again? I'm using t-racks for mastering.

Thanks,

Giovanni

[IOP Drummer]

Some compression and EQ might work, but might not work within your limitations....what I mean is you can do it but it might not sound so good. There would have to be compromise, but then again I have not heard the mix. Here's a helpful tip I learned from Jeff Poe (engineer of Santana/vanessa williams/guns and roses, etc.) When mixing, do a vocal+instrumental mix, a vocal UP+ instrumental mix, a vocal DOWN + instrumental mix, and an INSTRUMENTAL ONLY mix and finally a VOX ONLY mix. Remember, you have Pro Tools, and you can line up the vocals again if need be. (For example if it's mixed don to DAT, or any other outboard media.) If the mix took a long-ass time, do a whole bunch of stem bounces. Drums only, rhythms only, etc. Some mixes just happen, and it would be a shame to lose that uniqueness, fatness, and balance because the vox is 2dB too loud. Good luck, and hope the advice prevents potential problems for all in the future!

[Corey Shay]

Use the Waves S1 plugin. You can decode the mix to M-S, and then if you don't want the bass to lower with the vocal eq the M channel so that the vocal range goes down while leaving the bass intact.

[billrog]

You could try using a multi-band compressor plug-in with selectable crossover points (eg McDSP MC 2000), find the exact band where the vocals sit and you will be able to reduce the vocal level and compress it to taste as well.

Bill.

[Zep Dude]

From a purely EQ standpoint, if you add more low end (assuming your mix can take it), pull out a little presence (3k to 5k) and play with the Q to find the right "notch" you will effectively reduce the vocal. It's your judgement if this is adversely effecting the mix. Also, a multiband compressor set up to notch out the presence freqs might do the trick.

Good Luck

[gh10606]

Just curious: did you mix in ProTools? If so, did you save your mixes? Why not just go back in, leave everything else the same, and turn down the vocal a little bit?

I know I'm being a bit obvious here, but I just couldn't stop thinking about it as I was reading this thread. One of the main reasons I bought ProTools was its totally recallable mix automation.

Good luck,

Glenn