When should I add the vocals to my mix? 
Most mixing engineers agree that the vocal is the most important part of the track but there are no hard fast rules when it comes to mixing. Some engineers will work on a mix and start blending everything from the start, others will take the vocal and work on it by itself for hours until it sounds perfect on its own. The way i approach a mix will often depend on the style of music I am mixing. With a style like dance music you might only have a few vocal tracks and if they are not just right there is no place for anything to hide. Hip Hop on the other hand the vocals are still important but the crowd will rock to a beat that is hitting hard weather the vocals are good or not. Hearing the vocal for the first time will also help you make that decision. The better the artists is the less will need to be done to it. No one spent hours editing Frank Sinatra’s vocals in Protools and then pitch correcting them with melodyne or autotune. The recording engineer put a a mic in front of him, he sang and it sounded good. If a vocalist doesn’t not have a lot of talent then your going to start with the vocal. Try both ways and see what works for you. Go slow. Stop and listen.
Peter Weis
Composer, Producer, Engineer
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