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2:16 am
September 2, 2014
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Okay, confession time. I have only ever once legitimately EQ'd a vocal track. It was for a singer that I recorded that was outrageously nasal. Other than that I've always left everything flat. I remember reading one forum post that offhandedly mentioned keeping a vocal flat and I just went with that. My purist biases liked that and took that as a rule when it is not. I'm now noticing everybody is talking about EQ'ing vocals!
One person recommended I try a high shelf on my vocals. What else do you guys like to do? Is it a bad idea to EQ the lower and mid frequencies? I recall toying with it but it would always just sound weird, maybe because that's where all the vowel resonances are happening.
My original music:
https://soundcloud.com/owen-korzec
https://www.facebook.com/owenkorzec
All kinds of stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/user/owenkorzec
8:22 am
September 8, 2014
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If an explanation is given hopefully it works for you. I will read it and "hope" I can get something out of it but I doubt it. I've been down this road before (recording for dummies) and nothing works. For me it's just like math; I just don't get it no matter how I try. And I'm talking about "recording" in general, not just EQ.
When I record I connect my interface to the laptop and then bring up audacity and load the song track. I set the volume on audacity for vocals to around 7 and then sing a verse. Then I stop and play back. If the volume is ok I leave it. If not I adjust. Then I start again. I hit record, sing, save to a file and done. I have no clue how to do anything else. I never even touch the knobs or volume on the interface as I have no idea what they do. And I certainly don't touch anything else in audacity other than the vocal volume.
My recordings suck I guess and I suppose it hurts me a bit because sometimes I may be singing good but the recording leaves it sounding like crap. But on the other hand, I don't care. I don't particularly care for perfect recordings and todays modern methods of "fixing" things and autotune, and cut and paste etc. I like live and when I record I am thinking live. It's raw and has all the rawness of live, mistakes and all. I like hearing that in others also. It's a truer perspective. But I've done songs live that become my real go to songs as they go over very well. Yet if I record them they flop. I sing them the same. The recording just doesn't bring that out. So If somehow I were able to grasp a little knowledge of recording it may help. But I have pretty much given up. I'm missing a the part of my brain that understands technology and recording, and the like. I've heard a lot about EQ so may that is something. But I've tried...I don't even know what it is even after it has been explained and I've been pointed to a couple of supposedly "simple" tutorials.
"It's not how many notes you know. It's what you do with them."
9:33 am
September 3, 2014
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Hi Owen, I usually do a high pass and low pass, cutting as much on the lows and highs up to the point where it starts to sound different on the context of the mix. Then I usually boost a little bit around 7/8K with a broad Q to give a bit more of clarity, not much else. I usually don't mess around on the mids, lows, and presence range.
Felipe Carvalho
Singer and Voice Teacher in Brasil - São Paulo
1:08 pm
September 2, 2014
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Felipe Carvalho said
Hi Owen, I usually do a high pass and low pass, cutting as much on the lows and highs up to the point where it starts to sound different on the context of the mix. Then I usually boost a little bit around 7/8K with a broad Q to give a bit more of clarity, not much else. I usually don't mess around on the mids, lows, and presence range.
Thanks, hopefully I can interpret and apply that correctly.
My original music:
https://soundcloud.com/owen-korzec
https://www.facebook.com/owenkorzec
All kinds of stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/user/owenkorzec
3:00 pm
September 5, 2014
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I like to always do a high pass filter just like Felipe mentioned but depending on the context of the mix I may cut more low-end out of the vocal so that it leaves an audible effect. That really depends on what microphone I am using because some, on my voice, have too much low-end happening.
In addition I do what is called sweeping through the frequencies. I take a very small Q and I lift it up as high as the EQ can go and I drag it across the frequency spectrum to listen for any ugliness and when I find those frequencies I do a precision cut of those nasty frequencies.
I also really like brighter vocals so I do a high-frequency shelf at around 10 K.
I hope that helps give you an idea of what you can do with your vocals in terms of EQ
3:14 pm
September 2, 2014
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Adam Mishan said
I like to always do a high pass filter just like Felipe mentioned but depending on the context of the mix I may cut more low-end out of the vocal so that it leaves an audible effect. That really depends on what microphone I am using because some, on my voice, have too much low-end happening.
In addition I do what is called sweeping through the frequencies. I take a very small Q and I lift it up as high as the EQ can go and I drag it across the frequency spectrum to listen for any ugliness and when I find those frequencies I do a precision cut of those nasty frequencies.
I also really like brighter vocals so I do a high-frequency shelf at around 10 K.
I hope that helps give you an idea of what you can do with your vocals in terms of EQ
Thanks Adam.
My original music:
https://soundcloud.com/owen-korzec
https://www.facebook.com/owenkorzec
All kinds of stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/user/owenkorzec
9:12 pm
August 19, 2014
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Here are the things I've found from studying the Systematic Mixing Guide by Ermin Hamidovic (excellent ebook).
0Hz to 150Hz: Can generally be filtered without issue.
200Hz to 400Hz: Prone to containing ‘mud’ from the mic and proximity effect. Consider attenuating in order to open a vocal up.
500Hz to 800Hz: Very common area to need wide reduction. Will help the vocal sound more ‘3D’.
1kHz to 2kHz: Telephonic mid-range. Can be useful to boost in order to cut through very dense mixes, but will make the vocal sound somewhat unimpressive by itself.
3kHz to 5kHz: ‘Presence’ range. This is where the vocal lives in your mix. Be very mindful of what is contesting this region. If the vocal needs to be boosted too much here, other elements in your mix may be eating into it too much. Decrease this region to increase the ‘depth’ of the vocal, at the expense of drowning it out in the mix.
5kHz to 8kHz: Commonly contains sibilance.
8kHz+: ‘Air’ frequencies. Can be boosted to add a nice sense of liveliness to the vocal.
Do I always make drastic changes to these areas? Nope. As I'm sure you are aware, you make changes based on the individual needs of each song and voice. It is always a bit different. Sometimes I don't make any changes similar to you. I am still learning. I have found less tends to be better for me.
@PhilMoufarrege
Online Vocal Coach, Singer/Songwriter
Grow-The-Voice.com | PHILMOUFARREGE.com
9:39 pm
September 8, 2014
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"It's not how many notes you know. It's what you do with them."
10:34 pm
September 2, 2014
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Thanks Phil. I already know the frequency range sounds well just curious on how they applied to the voice in practical application rather than the theory. Some of that extra description is helpful though.
Also I agree less is generally better in a mix but as I'm learning I'm starting to think that can be a bit of an easy noob cop-out sometimes. Not to devalue the power of a minimalist mix, it works maybe 80-90% of the time in my experience, but I'm interested in learning about that other 10-20% - especially since my current artistry can get me caught into some things like dense arrangements, singing up higher where it's harder to hear the words, etc. - that makes mixing it to hear the details again all that much more difficult and technical sometimes.
I used to do a lot of more less conservative mixes actually but they took many months of ongoing trial and error to get right and I was working more with instrumental stuff so I didn't get enough practice on vocals I guess?
My original music:
https://soundcloud.com/owen-korzec
https://www.facebook.com/owenkorzec
All kinds of stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/user/owenkorzec
10:15 pm
September 4, 2014
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a really nice trick is to make a duplicate of the lead add a high pass so its just high frequencies and blend it up into your mix with the original. great trick
11:57 pm
September 2, 2014
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Thanks Dan. I once tried to figure out a certain effect my favorite singer used to give his voice this extreme trebley buzz and through trial and error I figured out it was that hi passed trick and a chorus effect on the hi passed track. Didn't really think of scaling that back as a simple way to EQ a vocal though. Thanks for the idea I'm sure I'll have a use for it sometime
I recorded a female singer yesterday and I'm going with a hi pass filter somewhere below 100hz I think, and a slight wide boost at 9.5khz - all BEFORE the compressor. I definitely dig it now. I'll be looking forward to seeing how much this approach changes in future projects with my own voice, other singers, other mics, etc.
Thanks everyone for the guidance
My original music:
https://soundcloud.com/owen-korzec
https://www.facebook.com/owenkorzec
All kinds of stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/user/owenkorzec
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