I've been using Audacity for a few weeks but I can't figure out how to blend my vocals within the music. My voice is hard to hear when the music is playing, even when adjusting the volumes. Sometimes I can hear my voice at the beginning of the song, but for example if it hits the chorus, and the music gets louder, then my vocals is too low. So basically I'm asking how to blend my vocals perfectly within the music so that both the music and vocals are being heard. Thank you.
2 Answers
If there is an imbalance of volume along the timeline between the different tracks you are trying to mix, you can use Audacity's Envelope Tool to automate the volume fader behavior of each track along the song.
Audacity's fader automation is not as powerful as that of the major DAWs in the market (e.g. as far as I know it does not allow real time automation recording, just manual editing of the each envelope). But with a bit of patience you can set the relative volumes of each track at each moment in the song with great precision.
You might try some EQ, a 3-5db boost at around 4khz on the vocal. At the same time you might try cutting that (or other) frequencies in the music. This helps the t,k,s sounds in the vocal cut through which are important for comprehension of language.
Try compression on your vocal track to even out the dynamics. This will help the vocal "sit" better against the music instead of the volume of the voice dipping below and spiking out above the music on a random basis.
If you're not sure about compressors, just get on youtube. :)
Then it's just trial and error. Being heavy handed with these things is the sign of an amateur, so be careful.
