4 Magic Frequencies for Mixing Vocals

[@ZilnichProductions]

This channel focuses more on universal eq moves and compression settings rather then trying to shove all these plugins down your throat. My fav mixing channel.

[@marshallore6869]

Exactly

[@ThomasKaneMusic]

These magic frequency videos are brilliant; no nonsense advice and useful rules of thumb, unlike most mixing advice on KZbin. Appreciate your work.

[@MrMusicopath]

is pure gold, you can hear the big change in a sec

[@fmajor_music]

I totally agree with you that when you start cutting frequencies out before even adding, in the end, you almost have nothing left to enhance. This is by far the best approach to mixing. Thanks!

[@MountainViewStudio]

I agree with all except the 200Hz cut, most of the times if I need to cut a bit it's closer to 300Hz. I just feel that around 200hz is a more warmth tone and 300hz more like boxie sound

[@SupernovaSun77]

300 area is loved by Jason Joshua

[@alfieholloway]

How long I’ve waited for this video

[@abdessamadben2025]

300hz to to 500 are boxy frequencies and u might find even muddy frequencies there

[@peteshifter]

It's not a 200 Hz cut. It's a shelf. So it cuts under 200 Hz.

[@TachyBunker]

@@peteshifter it's less a cut than an attenuation of it, it doesnt really cut below hz it just makes it quieter.

[@TomAtkinson]

I like your style. You have taught me to EQ the harmonic content of vocals rather than so much the fundamentals. I like this 1.7k boost approach (and 8k is nice treble that doesn't hurt) whereas I was often boosting 800 hz trying to affect the fundamental tones - your way sounds more transparent as you can then just use the volume knob to bring up the fundamentals.

[@Daysofsamara]

I actually use almost the same technique, instead of boosting 2k and 5k + hi shelv and low shelv, I cut 200-300 (woofy), 700hz (nasal) , 4k (harshness) and just bring the gain up with some saturation + a little hi shelv if the vox need some AIR. it's basically the same "curve" with a cutting approach (FOH mixer style) :)

[@Sorkinish]

This is exactly my approach👍

[@tomverstappendrums3423]

Its interesting because I've gotten much better results when I know when to use a boost approach or when to use a cutting approach. Sometimes Its easier to hear what you don't like in a sound and vice versa. The things that are good in a sound will find their way out easier either way.

[@alessandrosummer]

Maybe 5k is better for the lead vocal, but I think it's too aggressive for doubles/harmonies/gang vocals

[@nigelsmith721]

My voice has some garbage at 725hz that I can't tolerate -a decent cut centred there is always required regardless of the instrumentation.

[@WickSounds]

i finally found a eq guide that works! I got your mixing cheat sheet, i followed this video and now my vocals really stand out in the mix

[@zayemusic]

I've been intimidated by this plug in for so long and glad. I started using it. These video was a big help cleared up the mud real quick.

[@jaydurmac]

I love your approach to mixing. Before i used to be a very defensive mixer, but after watching your videos it has give me "courage" to be more agressive and experiment with mixing. It also helps to know more the limits of the plugins since this approach is much more focused on SOUND and not on watching numbers or eq curves :D

[@AS-mt2we]

Did it make any change?

[@Melvin7727]

Great way to look at it. Same for me. One of the biggest changes I made to my mixing was "going on offense." No need to baby every plugin knob.

[@julianrussell2119]

Love watching your videos and randomly hearing my old band 😂. RIP The Longest Year.

[@endlichjura]

You guys were great!

[@ReddenDoom]

4 min covered a lot of the struggle I've found in mixing a live-stream from using live performance technique on the bands part. So much cutting live is dependent on feedback and monitor issues but if you apply the same thing in a stream setting, its like you said, you'll have nothing left or a super thin but piercing vocal. Lately I've been using the UAD 6176 channel strip and its been helping me correct some of these issues. Big top boost, small bottom cut, and a separate digital EQ for anything else - this has worked far better than trying to use live techniques on a busier channel strip vst.

[@1VERZHN]

I have to say bro. Your advice just works. I get so much better mixes with your tips than anywhere🤘

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

Yessss, thanks dude!

[@WickSounds]

same, nothing worked until i tried the tips in this video. A+

[@dstagl]

Something you might mention in one of your videos--if you haven't already mentioned--is an 8k shelf on an SSL style EQ is not the same as 8k on a lot of other EQ's. For example, with a Pro Q3, you need to be more in the 2.5-3k range to get something equivalent with the Q in the .3-.4 range, and the slope still isn't quite the same as the SSL.

[@stanleyc.348]

2nd this, especially with the 4000e and g, any "professional" ssl plugin should have the inaccurate #s, Like true 100 is ssl 130. True 4k is like 4.2ssl

[@dannyday1984]

@@stanleyc.348 Happy to see someone point this out because nobody I’ve seen ever talked about this. Someone I was watching who did talk about it was saying it was a fault of the Waves SSL plug-in he was analyzing, but it’s not. That’s just how the SSL desks behaved.

[@OrangutanTradeSalesmen]

Interesting info here. Never heard this spoken about either.

[@TomAtkinson]

Actually yeah I was starting to wonder about this! Good point. His 8k seems too smooth? I like it how SSL trebs are so smooth.

[@Анатолий-ф2е]

friend! please make 4 magic EQ on heavy guitars.

[@drqhdebeer]

Honestly the best vocal EQ advice I've come across. Thank you :) Instantly better than the subtractive method!

[@yuli8897]

This is crazy, I came from a joey sturgis video where they say like the top 5 most annoying frecuencys and one of them is 4K and I found myself liking that frecuency it gives so much presence without going nuts obviously, and you right here use it, what I should believe ? I know, my ears.... but it's just crazy the amount of missleading tutoriales we have on youtube, but I believe you !!

[@zetazeroes]

Love this series. The snare eq video was a big help and I can't wait to try this one out.

[@ZacharysGamingExpOG]

Dude You've helped me out so much i struggled with EQ. I usually need it when it comes to recording instruments cause they're not like virtual instruments that don't require a lot of tweaking

[@The_Absurdistt]

Jordan, your channel is gold. I can't wait to join your pro production system. Currently saving up my time and pennies so I can do it correctly.

[@MrEverson7]

Hi there! Tks 4 the input, mate! And the Mixing Cheatsheet. Take care!

[@levicashrocker]

Finally, someone that mixes real music😮!!! Great Chanel dude.

[@Louis1996_1]

This is great info. Keep up the good work!

[@daveyvasquez8916]

found this song from this video, actually a really good song by this band that's now in rotation haha appreciate it man!

[@still616]

Nevermind haha you said it right at the very end 🙂 thanks

[@Warmwinterz]

Good advice. Alot of vocals that home producers cut are much more problematic than this. Especially in the low mids. Cuts always seem necessary in that area. Gonna try the not cut technique and see what comes out

[@chinoskateboardv]

It’s nice listening to a complete different type of vocal to see how mixing works for any vocal style lol

[@OrangutanTradeSalesmen]

High pass filter needed a mention here but great tips here thank you!

[@contratiempobolivia2851]

Can you upload a video with Magic frecuencies for Trumpet? Please

[@Melvin7727]

The progression of my mixing mindset in order over the years: 1) Where is the formula? What frequencies do I boost/cut to succeed? 2) Oh, it doesn't work like that. There are no formulas! Every performance is different. You never know where the best frequency choices will be. 3) Well, not really. Yes every performance is different and you may need to tweak, but the human voice can only vary so much; it's still a human being's voice. And the EQ spectrum itself isn't some magically-shifting thing always in flux. It's laid out with spots that are what they are, belong where they belong. So while you may need to adjust, and you ALWAYS need to be listening, you are allowed to recognize patterns!

[@TomAtkinson]

EQ is your main chance to colour things individually before the summing makes that separation impossible, sometimes I like to use it like panning to give each instrument a space. Always tasting before and after adding salt etc.

[@BojanBojovic]

It sounds good. On my vocal, in my room, this curve will open the door of the underworld. :)

[@TrevorWesleyOfficial]

I never understood the cut or add wars on vocals with frequencies cause at the end of the day all it is is volume... so If you cut and turn the track up... it's the same as if you add and turn the track down.... am I wrong?!

[@TheRealJPhillips]

I learned that it's better to eq/mix the music to the vocals. Move the Mid/low eq around until the vocal sits correctly, then tweak the vocals a bit after that.

[@alfieholloway]

I’ve waited so long for this video

[@GBANI]

Thank you for this one video. Will give it a try really soon on Rap vocals. I hope it works because this is a revolutionary statement, additive not subtractive eq.

[@losfrankos9853]

Song is Sweaty Palms by The Year, for those who want to know

[@gapingshanus]

For sure 100% on additive eqing. Mids get a bad rap. Especially in hardcore/metal, but mids are where it's at. Great video man!!!

[@SupernovaSun77]

Wonderful tips about boosting. Makes us mixers vs fixers. Fix after the boost. Make it sound good then handle errors after. Salute bro

[@flashes_of_ramfis]

Hello, I just download the MIXING CHEAT Sheet and in is AMAZING!! I JUST TRIYED ON MY VOCAL AND I FINALLY GOT THE INDUSTRY STANDARD VOCALS SOUND. So quick, so effective!! thank you very much for sharing!!Also, thank you for all you effort doing this videos for all of us, there is a lot of invaluable Info, I enjoy watching your videos. I have a question: SM7b, How to equalize it? I hear your voice trough and it sounds so clean and nice, very natural. How do you do that?

[@eddysmusic9191]

That"s great, especially along with the Cheat Sheet. Thank you so much.

[@HongFeiHo]

Thanks, and thanks for your cheat sheet. Very helpful as a general guide!

[@particlejones]

I would like to also point out that this applies to well-recorded vocals. I agree with the minimalist approach I always felt this way honestly, people are always doing way too much and it destroys what you recorded.. if you recorded something well through a nice signal chain, it sounds good from the start. So you are just enhancing something that is already sounding great. The only reason to do any drastic cuts, is for creative needs/sound design .

[@AdamEzraOfficial]

True but if you have a bad recording you get the vocalist to re-record, cant make shit smell nice, know what I mean?

[@particlejones]

@@AdamEzraOfficial yea i agree partly, not always an option to rerecord in the real world, cant redo a live recording for example. Obviously that's best case scenario, but not always possible

[@particlejones]

@@AdamEzraOfficial if u spray enough febreeeeeze lmao

[@AdamEzraOfficial]

Haha im dead! 😂

[@antonylepage]

Man was I skeptical when I seen this video, just tried it on a mix. That changed everything. I dialed in the vocals in the mix in 3 sec vs cutting frequencies I hated for hours with my previous version. Awesome tip!! I have to say I tried it with those vocals only which were recorded with SM7B (which tends to be very dull mic without processing) but looking forward to try it and see how it goes with some other vocals I recorded with Neumann TLM103 (probably will need less top end).

[@corey4448]

If you don't mind, can you share your experience with SM7B and how hard it to mix compared to some other mics? Would be grateful! I'm just bedroom prod, recording and mixing stuff with my friend rapper, at this moment - as a hobby and for training my mixing skills. Being searching for some good mic, not too cheap and not too expensive, just right with okay sound, and SM7B seems like a good choice, but I've seen some posts and comments with complaints on how it can be tedious to mix vocals, and hard to make it glued together with a beat.

[@slugtoenail]

I love the sm7b as an inexpensive vocal and do all mic. I am not primarily a mixer though. I have never heard a complaint about the vocal mic choice from professional mixers either. It won't give you the depth of some more common and expensive choices, but it's a go-to for me.

[@YVNGSHMIRV]

This is amazing! 💯🔥🏆

[@nikolanikolic5180]

It would be very nice to do a full vocal processing from recording then lvls of recordning,then mixing process but with all decisions that you making and why when you do it :))

[@nilanshgaur]

Glad that i found your channel. Amazing, quality content. Straight to the point and really helpful. Thank you.

[@austinsmithofficial]

I am so glad I found this series. I would love to chat with you some time if that is a possibility. Thank you so much for sharing. Best wishes!

[@greenman9123]

These videos have been so helpful. Thank you 🙏

[@GuillaumeFilieux]

This is an underrated tutorial

[@GustafWestin]

Those are some pretty aggressive moves. You really pushed them far. I will have to try that out.

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

Gotta mix without fear my friend!

[@stanleyc.348]

Its also interesting when you use the bertrom frequency analyzer tool, the interaction between bands is actually more substancial then tyou think, and a 9db cut on low mids and 9db boost on high mids will have a more moderate shape then if you did it manually in pro q

[@ptbempire]

Solid tips my guy you got my sub

[@AdriSkynet]

Hi, Jordan. What's the name of the second song used as example? Thanks.

[@DeejayRach0]

Thank you

[@spencerb2631]

Hey Jordan, I’ve been digesting all of your content for the last couple of weeks and my mixes have gotten so much better! One thing I think is missing from most similar mixing channels is showing the actual process of mixing. For example, where to begin a mix. Do you start with getting the drums to feel good? Vocals? Then adding and processing other elements one at a time? Going through each channel individually and examining what you did in hindsight is only so beneficial when we can’t see why you made those choices in the context of what you were hearing in the moment. Just some constructive criticism I think might help make for a great video or even series of videos.

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

Hey dude, I hear ya! I could do a video on the overall workflow. That's definitely what I go in depth on inside my full program.

[@a.j.c.m5912]

What plugin do you use to eq vocals? ​@@hardcoremusicstudio

[@leolovetoparty]

Such a great and succinct video - thank you!

[@FdUpNews]

Great video.... thanks for the download!

[@still616]

Is this with the EQ before or after the compressor? Does it matter?

[@Heafyshiu]

This helped me a lot. Thanks.

[@michaelshreve6455]

Thanks bro! Great information!!

[@danmagee5]

How do you determine what Q setting to use?

[@titoramirez5198]

lovely content thxx man!

[@blakpmusic]

To me mixing vocals depends of the song you are working on, all that matters is to mix your vocals in contest of the mix but not in solo Sculpt around with the eq and find the sweet spot that makes the vocals stands out in with that approach you will know the right frequencies for your vocals that fit the song you are working on MHO 😊👍

[@roelgarcia]

Great tips!, thanks so much!

[@melissamorgenstern2030]

What’s the band and song in this example. Killer sounding song

[@billyhughes9776]

Fantastic -- thanks Jordan!

[@vloggingpractice8077]

Fantastic tips!

[@sethmonroe9603]

Interesting, i do a lot of hip hop, trap and rap music and I usually cut 3-4K, but they also use pretty bright mics where as dynamic mics are used a lot for recording this genre I’m assuming. Still, pretty broad statement to say that these eq moves “ always “ work. I think you may be leading people to mixing pretty harsh vocals if you don’t mix exactly this genre.

[@sin_phany_tv]

Hello, I am a blind producer and can’t follow along too well, I have all the UAD plug-ins practically and would love to know if there’s any chance that you can make this vocal preset and I could adjust it to my tasting if that’s not the plug-in that you’re using I have all the waves plug-in as well and currently I am using avid the most recent and logic Pro it would be so helpful if you could create this for me thank you so much

[@louiegroenewald]

Great advice. thanks

[@rgortega1285]

Would you please include altitude in which certain frequencies work. I move from northern Texas Panhandle arena to the higher altitude of Alburquerque NM Arena. There is a major differences! Although, you are mixing for a record label and your ears, which is great.

[@stevel5650]

Great video and the frequencies are excellent for male vocals for multiple genre that I mixed. I tried the frequencies on female vocals and it did not work out as well. So, do you have any idea on magic Frquencies for female vocals? Thanks.

[@PatrickObiang]

BRAVO! Very Useful. 👊🏿

[@whome806]

Do you use the ksm microphone in the thumbnail and if so which model the ksm32, 42, or 44?

[@danielosaswilson5894]

Thank you so much

[@RalphGuzzo]

very good ! love it

[@stupendousmusic4190]

Great if you’re using an SSL (or similar) ad you are, but this is not universal. Sounds really good just the same. 👍🏻

[@АндрейИршенко-й2ж]

Thanks, it works 100%

[@TNT-km2eg]

To be found in every Mixing and mastering for dummies manual

[@shaner36]

Please do a video on using gate for drums, panning and phase checking …..there are 0 videos on this.

[@marshallfairbrother7602]

Have you checked out his complete rock drum mix walk-through from a couple of years ago that might have some of the stuff in there that you’re looking for

[@alessandrosummer]

He pans the lead vocal, the lead guitar, the kick, the snare and the bass in the center, the rhythm guitar, the overheads, the rooms and the vocal layers hard L and R and the toms in between (about 60)

[@jasonalexander5253]

Great video. can this be applied to live vocals, kick snare etc. or more a DAW mix? I have downloaded your cheat Sheet & interested to also try on a live mix.

[@sonsofmedusa]

COOL!!! Now please do one for heavy distorted guitars.

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

☛ Grab my FREE mixing cheatsheet with the go-to starting points for mixing vocals & every other track in your mix: hardcoremusicstudio.com/mixcheatsheet

[@mariomaslik]

it also depends how the vocals are recorded

[@redburner]

Always the best tips on your videos! Curious do the same EQ moves apply to the vocal dobles or do they get a different treatment? Cheer!

[@maxkristiansen9391]

Your link to mixing cheatsheet is not working

[@Alexandrina-z4t]

this guy is lit AF

[@chuckyinges]

Nice video. Does it apply to female vocal as well?

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

Yup!

[@markusschnitzler-o2x]

thx

[@desolaramusic]

Name of the final song?

[@j.fernandes6585]

what is the song used for this tutorial?

[@CraigFlowersMusic]

You know something odd I noticed, about a year ago I found an old recording of a cover of Stairway, and I remixed and uploaded it . . . but I absolutely couldn't believe the amount of hpf I had to use on the vocal track. Something like 500Hz. But nothing else would fit. In the end it just sounded like singing in the room into a big condenser or ribbon from afar.

[@ajfedz]

CLA recommends boosting 2k, 4k, 8k and a 10k shelf.

[@charlesthomas12345]

what audio interface is this? you should say that first

[@47Libra]

More gold

[@dhjlinlnoigf]

Thanks a lot, the difference is huge !

[@muizznorazaman3561]

the EQ you've been using is a built-in or third party?

[@savanaviolenta]

I turn the knobs until it sounds right.

[@PGreco-ov8qe]

did you never gain matches your eq?it's hard to compare if you have a huge boost of volume when you turn on the eq

[@jamesaudio13]

How much of this can apply to female vox?

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

100%!

[@NickKing95]

This guy is great

[@kamilsliw19941]

Is the band in the first example “the Year”?