# Vocal Stems



## DOMC (Mar 17, 2010)

So I have been working on some stem mastering this week. A nice enough RNB track . the stems I were given were vocal stems. I couldn't quite get it right - got the "backing" track right but just really struggled to get the vocals sitting right in the track. The producer was having the same problem hence why he sent me stems and asked me to have a go.

so...

after much listening and re-listening the thing that glued everything together was a reverb. A very very subtle reverb on the vocal tracks helped to bring them to life in the stereo field. I used the VSS3 Stereo Source Reverb on my powercore 6000. ditched the early reflections and just used a blend of the main mix and subtle upbringing of the reverb tails...

if your struggling might be something to think of. with careful listening I was able to still maintain the forward presence of the vocals - just helped to sit them in the mix a bit better.


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## jonathanm (Mar 24, 2010)

What was the reverb like on the rest of the track?


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## DOMC (Mar 17, 2010)

I did try it on the whole track but found a lost a little clarity and punch to the drums so I just ran it on the vocal stem


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## jonathanm (Mar 24, 2010)

didn't the backing already have some verb on it?


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## DOMC (Mar 17, 2010)

not much and the vocals were almost completely dry


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