problem in pro tools, my voice is in the back

[singerLara]

hi !

I am a total newby. I recorded myself today for the first time, meaning my voice. I have matrix - instrumental music from celine dion, the reason. its a very hard song to sing, very high notes.

the problem occurs when i start recording. the music from matrix gets louder. louder than my voice. i cant hear myself very good. i have to hear myself very good, very detail. otherwise i make a lot of mestakes in notes and my energy.

in my next attempt, i had my headphones only on my left ear, and was covering my right ear with my hand, so i could hear my voice.

when i was in studio, the producer/recorder made a "switch" so i could hear in my headphones on the left side the music on the right side my voice. the measure has to be just wright. i am sure we wasted half an hour on this, just to get it correct.

how can i do that ?

the second problem occurs when listening to what i have recorded ( voice+instrumental). I can hear my voice, but not very clearly. for a rock music it would be great, but for this kind of music, where the voice is the leader is realy bad. the instrumental "eats" my voice. how can i put down the instrumental music, so my voice would get more upfront ?

in my third attempt i recorded my voice with a instrumental piano, that i have played by myself threw midi. when recording i could hear my voice much better than compearing it with the first 2 attempts. and when i was listeting to what was recorded, i could hear my voice very clearly. the music was in the back as it should be.

So i am sure there is something i have to switch or edit the instrumental, but just do not know how.

I am useing the mic from Rode nt1-A and headphones dt770 pro.


oh, another question...When recording my voice i would like to record more times and than pick the best one or collect the best into one. Every time i try to record the second "attempt" i hear the first one too. If i put "S", meaning single track, than i do not hear the instrumental.  I have more questions like that. I was searching for a guide or video guide. Do you know of any kind ? The ones i have is very general.

[stainless]

I'm assuming the the instrumental music is a stereo track- import into ProTools as  non-interleaved Mono tracks (you'll bet a separate L and a separate R)

Pan the L hard L, the R hard right.

Pan your vocal straight down the middle (I'm assuming as you've only mentioned  one mic, it's a mono track?)  this should create sonic 'space" ...(however for final mix you will need to make further adjustments.)

Now it should be a simple matter of lowering the level on instrument tracks and leaving the vocal level up... however- if doing so causes the recorded level of the vocal track to be too hot, change the output of that track to ...analog 3/4 (again I'm assuming that 1/2 are reserved for the main/monitors)-  set up an aux bus on the track and send it to a new aux track, set the input to whatever bus output you have the send going to, and then put the output for this track back to the main/monitor (1/2)  you can boost/lower the level on this track without affecting the recorded level on the  actual vox track

Hopefully this doesn't cause any latency issues (you didn't mention what platform (software/hardware) you're recording on))

Now there is the issue of how the instrumental track was mastered-  if there's reverb on the instruments and none on your vocals (or a different type/level of wetness) then you may very well sound like your in a different place than the instruments are...

it is for this reason that folks who collaborate over the internet usually prefer completely raw/dry tracks with no effects so that any processing can be applied judiciously (and evenly) in the final mix

as to the multiple takes- most software allows you to record consecutive tracks and will automatically put the newest take on top 9and you won't hear the others)

If your set-up doesn't allow for this, then when you set upa new track to record on,  mute (M) the prior take(s) and you won't hear them

S means 'solo' and it mutes out all other tracks (unless they also are 'solo'd"

don't get frustrated... if it was eeasy we'd all have platinum hits