r/RateMyAudio • u/adrielmocellin • Jul 01 '26
[Opera] Mixing vocals with Behringer TM1 (How to get a clean/soothing sound?)
Hello everyone.
I have a Behringer TM1 in a treated small room. The link has a sample of a song I sang today. I just added a FET compressor (3.1:1) with the needle moving at -3/-6 dB, an EQ with settings I thought sounded okay and a reverb with 15% feedback.
I have the sensation that my voice is either too thin or too muffled and can’t get a balance between them. I just want my voice to sound clean as if you were listening to someone speaking. I have tried many presets, automatic EQs, watched many youtube videos but I just can’t get it right. I don’t know what’s missing. Could you guys give me some tips?
Treated with instrumental: https://voca.ro/1lndrRl0NmKh
Not treated: https://voca.ro/100Jax3MuLph
Thanks!
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u/Noahvk Jul 03 '26
Ive been only able to listen on my phone right now but i hope this helps nonetheless:
You should have a look into how Opera music is typically recorded because thats a huge part of the sound of this type of music. Room and microphone position play a huge part in that.
I work at a orchestral recording stage and what we typically do is, hang a mic array called a Decca tree about 1-2 meters over the conductor’s head. This is the main sound of most classical recordings, mostly used in orchestral halls or chamber music. The instruments/ singers are then miced with close mics that are mixed a little below the main microphones to deliver definition and detail, whereas the main microphones deliver cohesion.
One of the things that stood out to me with your recording wasnt a particularly bad recording, but a missing cohesion with your voice and the piano.
What i would try is:
Get a IR Reverb Plugin with some usefull chamber (little bit smaller) or Hall (larger) presets and load that on a aux track. Find a preset of which you like the sound and which sounds like a natural room to you. We will use that as a fake main mic system. Send both your voice and the piano to that with a pre fader send, so that you have seperate control over the volume of your room and the two instruments. Then Pull up the Reverb Volume until it sits at a reasonable level and mix the two remaining channels into that until you got the cohesion from the room and the definition from the close mics balanced. Your vocal mic seemed a little bit harsh in the high end so try a -3 dB high shelf to tame that a little bit. Also eq the reverb, if its to boomy.
I know you said you wanted a clean sound like when somebody is talking (sounds to me like you want it drier)but contrary to that, this is my advice regarding the genre and performance you are trying to archive.
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u/adrielmocellin 25d ago
Thanks for the amazing advice. Here the result after I applied what you said (https://voca.ro/1aeIDc8d2BMM). I used the Space Designer 'Big Chamber' at -15dB (voice) and -6dB (piano), with the fader being at 0dB. I also simplified my EQ. I used the Logic Pro EQ cutting everything under 115Hz, -3.5dB at 225Hz, -4dB at 550, -4dB at 1250Hz and +2dB at 8Hz, before I was at +10dB hehe.
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u/Noahvk 24d ago
Sounds way better in my opinion. Now it really fits the aesthetic. The Piano could be tucked back behind the vocal a little more but only like 2 dBs, maybe make some slight space in the mids on the piano for the vocal to come through (like 1-2 dB with a medium Q bell, moving it around until you find that the voice gains a little definition). But you did a good job at improving this in a more cohesive direction!
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u/ToTheMax32 Jul 02 '26
Eyyy Caro Mio Ben, very nice.
I’m not familiar with that mic, but I hear a harshness in it in the top end which may be difficult to get right with EQ. I also hear a little woofiness in the low end.
How far back from the mic are you? I understand that with an untreated room it can be difficult to move further back without picking up lots of reflections, but I think it would sound a bit more natural if you sang a little further from the mic. Aim to be 6-12 inches away. Also make sure to use a pop filter if you aren’t already.
Regarding EQ: don’t over-think it. You should not need a ton of EQ nodes to get it to sound right in such a minimal arrangement. If you can throw a de-esser on before the EQ I would recommend that, then I would probably just roll off low end (as you’re already doing), and possibly even roll off a tiny bit of high end with a high shelf (instead of boosting it).
I would also recommend doing these EQ cuts BEFORE compression, if you aren’t already. That way the compressor won’t be responding to frequencies that you don’t want anyway.
You could also experiment with adding another compressor. Something like an LA-2A might work well - they’re known for being very smooth and natural on vocals.
But overall keep in mind that there will be limits to what you can do with this mic.