Vocal and backing track sound need help!

[puffymaster]

Hi!

I am so thankful for this forum and everyone's advice and suggestions. Big thank you's!!!

I just got my micro br and have recorded my second song, but I'm having some serious mixing and mastering questions.

I've using an accompaniment track on TRK1 and I have vocal track on TRK3v4. I recorded the vocal track with an external Shure mic.

When I listen to the mix through headphones it sounds pretty good, but when I master it and play it through on the computer it sounds so unbalanced. The music is too low and the vocals sound thin and sharp.

I read in an earlier post about adjusting the vocal EQ and boosting it to 180-200hz...where do I do that?

As well, since I don't have much flexibility on adjusting the instrument sounds on an accompaniment track, should I be panning it or anything?

Thanks in advance!

[SteveG]

You should be loading your backer onto the MBR in stereo, ie: to tracks 1&2 v1, linking these 2 tracks by pressing the TR1 and TR2 buttons at the same time, and panning them full out (+/_ 50). As for your mastering problem, make sure you are mastering to a pair of tracks too. Leave your vocal at pan 0. Check that and come back, gotta be something in the mastering stage if it plays ok before that?

[puffymaster]

I've gone in an reimported the tracks to 1&2. When I pan them out it, should it look like L50=R50? When it's like that I only hear music from the left speaker?

What is the balance that I should hear in the headphones?

Sorry...I'm such a newbie!

Tx!

[Icewind]

Another noob jumping in here, but I think he means you'll need to re-record the backing on Tracks 1 and 2.  My guess is when you "reimported" you only had one channel trying to import to 2, so it defaulted to the left.

The above text is worth exactly what you paid to read it.

[puffymaster]

Oh, should I have linked the two tracks AFTER I reimported them in?

Because as of right now they're linked and I hear full sound in the headphones, but that's without touching anything in the Panning screen.

Before panning anything the tracks look like this C000=C000. Then I pan, cause I don't know what "panning them full out" means and so if I try L50=R50, only the left side gets sound.

I know, I'm doing something wrong here! Ugh.

[SteveG]

The track you are importing is stereo? The volume is on on the track you cant hear? Does it play in both sides from the MP3? Does it play ok from the PC? Have you tried it with a different MP3? So frustrating, if you were here It would be so much easier lol!

By full pan I meant 50L, 50R so that's right. Maybe go through it step by step...

Ok ... you have connected to PC and dragged an MP3 to the MP3 folder.

Create a new song... Utility, SNG, NEW, EXE.

Import MP3 ... Utility, TRK, >, IMP ... select MP3 using +/_, NEXT, Press + to change Import to TR1 to TR12, TIM ( or MEA), NEXT, YES.

Press TR1, > to pan screen. Press TR1 and TR2 together so the = sign appears between them. With cursor on TR1 press - to set pan 50/50.

Monitor on headphones, this should play back in stereo.

When you master it should default to TR12v2. Change the v track to an empty pair, but keep it on 1&2, do not change to 1 for example or you will not have stereo.

[puffymaster]

Thanks Steve!...I finally figured it out and got the panning working correctly.

When I did master it, it didn't default to TR12v2. It actually went to TR4v1. I wonder why that happened. I'll go back in and master it again and see if I can change it to those two virtual tracks instead.

[SteveG]

We got there  . No prob' mate.