Ok, I tweeted this tip earlier…
“If a vocal take is not good enough to be upfront in the mix, it’s not good enough”
I say this because whether you are singing or rapping, there is always some kind of message you want to get across to your audience.
There are a few common mistakes in this area.
– Letting an artist do a weak vocal and hoping you can tune it/edit/mask it with effects
– Making an instrumental so full, there is no room for the vocals
– Placing the vocals too low in the overall mix.
Personally, I’d rather get a good vocal take with lots of feeling, than a pitch perfect one with little emotion. By the way, don’t be afraid to give guidance on how vocal phrases should be approached for the best end result.
Making a beat without a song is ok, but once there are vocals on it, again don’t be afraid (or too proud) to strip stuff out to make room for the vocals.
Lastly, once you’ve got the vocal ready, make 2 or 3 final mixes of your tracks, where the lead, and possibly backing vocals are brought a bit forward in the mix and see which one ‘sits’ best.
There’s a lot more of these tips coming, so feel free to comment here, ask questions or let me know what other tips you’d like to see!
Phil's Blog 
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