Byron Jupiter

Remix Academy, Part 4 of 5. Built around the Dua Lipa “Training Season” remix contest from SKIO Music and Warner Records.

A dry lead vocal from a major label is a gift: already performed, already edited, already tuned. Your job is not to fix it. Your job is to seat it in a new world without losing what made it a hit. Every move below is gentle on purpose.

The vocal chain, in order

1. Clip gain first. Even out loud and quiet phrases by hand before any compressor sees them.
2. High-pass filter. Start around 80–100 Hz and raise it until the low end of your new track clears up without the voice going thin.
3. Subtractive EQ. Small, narrow cuts only where something rings or boxes up against your new instruments. Listen in context, not solo.
4. Compressor one (fast). Catch peaks: medium-fast attack, quick release, 3–5 dB of reduction on the loudest words.
5. Compressor two (smooth). An opto-style leveler doing 2–3 dB. Two light stages sound more natural than one heavy one.
6. De-esser. After compression, because compression brings the S’s forward.
7. Tone EQ. A gentle high shelf for air and presence, only if the new arrangement asks for it.
8. Light saturation. Just enough harmonic warmth to help her read on small speakers.

Space, on sends

• Short plate or room: low in level, high-passed. Glue, not a cathedral.
• Tempo delay: quarter or dotted-eighth, filtered and ducked under the dry vocal so it only blooms in the gaps.
• Throws: automate long delay or reverb on the last word of a phrase. That’s the professional sound people call “expensive.”

Make room for her

Sidechain your bass and pads to the kick so the low end breathes. Then carve a small dynamic dip in your chords and synths in the presence range, triggered by the vocal, so she cuts through without being turned up. Ride the vocal fader by hand through every section. Automation beats any plugin.

The master bus

1. Corrective EQ, only if the mix needs it. Fix big problems in the mix, not here.
2. Glue compression at 1–2 dB, slow attack so the kick still punches.
3. A clipper shaving a decibel or two off the loudest transients.
4. A true-peak limiter with the ceiling at −1 dBTP.

Club records commonly land somewhere around −8 to −6 LUFS integrated, but loudness is not a score. If the drop flattens or the vocal gets crunchy, back off. Check the contest page for the required upload format, and bounce a high-resolution WAV unless it says otherwise.

The final check

Car, earbuds, phone speaker, studio monitors. If you can understand every word on the phone and feel the kick in the car, it’s done.

Next in the series: Part 5, the last mile: calendar, rules and the Share Bounty.

Questions and answers

Should I pitch-correct the official vocal?

Usually not. A label vocal stem has already been tuned. Correct only a note that clashes with your new harmony.

How loud should my master be?

Competitive but clean, with a true-peak ceiling of −1 dBTP. If loudness costs punch or vocal clarity, choose punch and clarity.

Why use two compressors instead of one?

Two light stages control the voice with fewer audible side effects than one compressor working hard.

Official sources

• SKIO Music — Dua Lipa “Training Season” Remix Contest (upload requirements)
• SKIO Music — Remix Contests FAQ

— Byron Jupiter

Rendered with Renaissance Instruments

Continue the lessons at the R&B/Hip-Hop Interactive Virtual Reality Software Academy — the hands-on school behind this series: https://rbhip-hopinteractivevirtualreality.org/

More music craft at JUPE Magazine: https://jupemagazine.com/