I'd say his biggest vocal secret is not a secret at all; getting the artist to re-record until it's right. If the vocal performance is impeccable, and clear to hear, it outshines most mixing choices. Dre's added touches is just the icing on the cake.
The magic with Dre is his ear for everything to blend right, not just getting the best vocal takes. It's a concept he applies to every element and the sum of all parts. With that in mind, I think there have been vocal takes he used which technically might not have been perfect, but had the right feel and were the proper fit for the song as a whole.
Fax bro people don’t realize that when u take good takes the frequency also changes in the vocal texture making it easy for mixers to mix when we have good takes and I noticed this when I myself record
Dre's 2001 mixes are my go to references for vocal mixes. A lot of modern stuff now is too harsh, or too sibilant... Dre's just felt right. Sometimes I ref MixedByAli's work too since Dre mentored him.
I agree. Low-end in vocals are gone and they are too harsh. People are going way too wild on the high pass filter. In the 90’s early 2000 vocals had information down in 50hz. Good times🤌🏻
@@madsveslelia For real. Sometimes i do their type of "low-end" cut (if 80~100 is really low end as they preach) and it just feels like a ghost voice... then i not only avoid the cut but i add something like Helios EQ without any boost just to accentuate the 100Hz range a little bit. It just feels much better and UPFRONT than any of these super agressive cuts to give room to unatural and sibilant highs...
@@MILENIUMDID word! I started boosting 110hz a little bit on the way in, and then low cut at 50hz (in todays music that shit feels criminal haha). But it works for me. Cant stand those unatural high-end vocals
It’s not that modern vocals are worse or anything. It’s a moving target and it always will be. They weren’t aiming for iPhone speakers back in 2001. The question is, should you be aiming for 2001 Dre vocals in 2024? Consumer speakers are totally different these days. Personally I think Cardi’s WAP vocal from a couple years ago is stil just unreal. That’s gotta be the loudest, clearest most in your face vocal I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s on another level compared to those Dre records but the technology is different, the headphones, the earbuds. That was 20 years ago man.
@@Ryan-rn3cf well in my opinion most vocals from the 90’s sounds better than modern vocals on iPhone speakers. The «modern» sound of just taking out low end and cranking the high end sounds even worse and a lot more harsh on iPhone speakers or ear buds. No amount of soothe2 can save that. But J Cole - Deja Vu is a great example of someone using the «old» philosophy around mixing vocals. Warm, in your face, not thinned out and harsh/robotic
waves alternative: antares mic model + sheps 73 + waves DBX 160+ CLA EPIC + j37 abby road tape (i know its not all waves plugins but you gotta make do with what you have)
All those vocal stacks recorded thru analog gear, put up on the board with processing, feeding to tape, being sampled down by the MPC, put back thru the board (probably processed again), then hitting the tape again. Gaht damn!
Good job as usual my manl! It also shows once again how Dr. Dre is a caretaker of every aspect of his craft. Dre is the type of legend to actually deserve the title
I built my own 1073 preamp. Here in UK we have a store (AML) that sells the old St.Ives transformers (now called Carnhill) that Neve used and you can get the PCBs from Groupdiy. I saved over £1000 by doing it this way and it's not as hard as you think.
The Chainsmokers Vocal Chain would be interesting. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_hl51iSZP54.htmlsi=_J9Y7gzOkkYObifB (Part 1 and 2) They are recording with an Shure SM7B. What vocal chain would you recommend for that Mic?
Probably just to get the needle moving a tiny bit on loud passages. There is not much to tweak on a DBX 160 and the VU meter has wide increments, so a little of movement on the VU is already a lot.
Just came here to say that I don’t think too many people are looking to Dre for vocal mixing tips😂😂😂 That’s like having a beat making tutorial from lil Wayne
@@ianleone 🤷🏾♂️ Just saying, Dre is not know for his vocal production. I’d say he has some of the worst vocals of any of the big producers. Drums are a completely different story though
Monkey see monkey do. That Sony mic has way to many highs. It's only good for people who have low voices. Back in tha days they had a whole entire session just to see what mic would be perfect for tha artist, it was called a mic blow out. Eminem is tha LAST PERSON who needs who needs a Sony mic, his voice is already annoying.
