This Noob is in deep: seeking some feedback

[Moosebear]

So I'm inventing my own process here, and I'd love some advice from someone more Able-minded than I.

I've got a rough arrangement in Ableton 9 suite, I created it by entering the chords and form of our song into Band-in-a-box, generating an arrangement, exporting the 5 tracks of midi and "Real Drums" audio track into Ableton, then assigning new sounds. It sounds surprisingly good, if a bit cluttered: it's denser than it needs be, but I think I can pare it down.

I've started refining it, making it simpler and punchier but then I realized: this is musical theatre I'm writing, an elecronic musical.

Given that it's theatre, the voice has to stay more prominent in the mix than it does in most pop.
Does it make sense to sing my vocal lines first, (I'd then tune it in Melodyne) and then refine my arrangment around the vocal? Given that I want the voice to really stand out?

Any tips/tricks for that?

Also with my BIAB arrangement, I generated another version with no "rests", i.e. all instruments playing all the time. I placed those fuller midi tracks below the main ones I'm working on, my idea is that I can pinch pieces of midi from there as well, dragging some ideas up into my main tracks to play with as needed. Does that make sense? Any tips for making this easier?

Thanks for any help!

[synnack]

Given that it's theatre, the voice has to stay more prominent in the mix than it does in most pop.
Does it make sense to sing my vocal lines first, (I'd then tune it in Melodyne) and then refine my arrangment around the vocal? Given that I want the voice to really stand out?

Any tips/tricks for that?

I don't really see how it matters what you record first. Having the vocals stand out is more a matter of mixing. Particularly eq and dynamics.

[Moosebear]

Thanks Synnack. I now have tuned, EQ'd and compressed the vocals. I have 5 instrument tracks, mostly midi. Is there an easy way to get all 5 tracks to stay out of the way of the vocals, or do I have to mix each instrument individually in relation to the voice?

[synnack]

Every track needs to be considered on its own, and in relation to every other track. That's mixing.

[bodhi71]

High/Low pass filtering can do an amazing job in "opening" up the mix as well as panning and level.