How to mix vocals on BandLab
1. Record it clean
Mixing starts at the recording. Record in the quietest, softest room you have (a closet full of clothes works), keep the phone or mic a hand's width from your mouth, and keep the level out of the red. A clipped or roomy vocal can't be fully fixed later.
Starting settings
| Stage | Start here | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| High-pass filter | 70–100 Hz (deeper voices) or 100–120 Hz (higher voices) | Removes rumble and mic-stand thumps you can't hear but your mix can. |
| Mud cut | −2 to −4 dB around 200–400 Hz | Clears the boxy, cardboard sound most home recordings have. |
| Compression | 3:1 to 4:1, attack 10–30 ms, release 50–100 ms, 3–6 dB of reduction | Keeps every word at the same level so the vocal stays in front of the beat. |
| De-esser | 5–8 kHz, 3–6 dB of reduction on the S sounds | Tames the sharp S and T sounds that compression and brightening make worse. |
| Presence and air | +1 to +3 dB around 3–5 kHz, a gentle shelf above 10 kHz | Makes the words clear and the vocal sound expensive. Go easy, this is where harshness lives. |
| Reverb (on a send) | Plate or room, 1–1.8 s decay, 20–40 ms pre-delay, mixed low | Puts the vocal in a space without washing it out. Put it on a send, not on the vocal itself. |
| Delay (on a send) | 1/4 or 1/8 note synced to the beat, 15–25% feedback | Adds width and movement. High-pass the delay so it doesn't muddy the beat. |
2. Tune it
Add Auto-Pitch to the vocal track and set it to the key of the beat. If you don't know the key, try the common ones until the vocal stops sounding off. Fast correction for the rap and trap sound, slower for singing.
3. Clean it up with EQ
Cut the lows under about 80–100 Hz. Then cut a few dB around 200–400 Hz, where home recordings sound boxy. Listen with the beat playing, not solo.
4. Compress, then de-ess
Compression keeps every word at the same level. Aim for a few dB of reduction on the loud words, not a squashed sound. Compression makes S sounds louder, so follow it with a de-esser, or a narrow EQ cut around 5–8 kHz.
5. Add space, carefully
A little reverb and a delay synced to the beat make the vocal sound finished. Turn them up until you can hear them, then back down a bit. Too much is the most common BandLab mistake.
6. Balance with the beat and export
Set the vocal so every word is clear but it still sits in the beat. Pan ad-libs a little left and right, lower than the lead. Check on your phone speaker and in a car if you can. Then export the full song.
Want KhiFlow to mix it? Export the vocal on its own (mute the beat first) and the beat on its own, then upload both. The BandLab Plugin page shows the export steps with video.
Or let KhiFlow do it for your voice.
Presets are made for somebody else's voice and mic. KhiFlow listens to your vocal and your beat, then sets the EQ, compression, de-essing, delay and reverb for you. Upload your BandLab vocal and beat and hear it mixed in about a minute.
3 free mixes a day, no card. Works with BandLab, on a Mac, Windows or your phone. Keep the songs you love from $6 each.
Questions
How do I mix vocals on BandLab mobile?
The same steps work in the phone app: Auto-Pitch, EQ, compressor, de-ess, a little reverb and delay, then balance with the beat. Do the final check on the phone speaker.
How do I make my vocals sound professional on BandLab?
Record clean first, then use the chain in this order and keep the reverb low. Most "amateur" sound comes from a loud, roomy recording and too much reverb.
How do I blend vocals with the beat on BandLab?
Cut the vocal's low end and mud so it doesn't fight the 808, compress it so it stays steady, and turn the beat down a little rather than pushing the vocal louder.