How to EQ Difficult-to-mix Vocals

[@ToneJ_Official]

Wow! great video I literally was dealing with this issue today. Im gonna try this out and see how it goes thanks

[@CameronForbes]

Definitely agree on the don’t mess with the mids in most cases. As far as balancing the highs and the lows, I’ve had success using the C4 and there is a preset called like Low/High limit or something along those lines, where you can basically low or high shelf the sounds then compress as necessary. Kind of a one stop shop for anything too tilted in one direction or the other.

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah I mentioned this previously in the video, before this segment. I have a couple band specific compressors going on that you didn't hear about.

[@fleshtonegolem]

I wish I knew the "don't best with the mids" tip years ago. I have spent far too much time fitting vocals in the mix because situations like the one this video addresses. Thank you for reinforcing this concept!

[@saam6768]

I think the "don't mess with the mids" and the "minimal moves" advice fall into my number one mixing philosophy (which you definitely touched on). Don't leave it for mixing. Produce it the best you can while you're tracking. With that said, I definitely go with minimal moves. For boxy vocals, a strong HPF and a high shelf boost. Maybe the high shelf isn't a typically rock vocal sound, but it definitely doesn't sound bad and there's plenty of room in the highs to spare.

[@approachableactive]

Always put a deesser first in my chain and I use its 3 band eq to do exactly this. Broadly correct the microphones failings and lose the nasty siblence. Then you have a nice starting point to work from. Great advice.

[@creativesoundlab]

Nice! Yeah you might have noticed I did the same thing in the channel strip but it was before the clip started. The one on the bottom was for lows in a band. Top was also a wide band I believe focused on 4kish.

[@jasonshaw8616]

Great video man. Currently at the bottom of a very deep mid range rabbit hole so this was perfect timing. Great advice - thanks

[@paulstefanowicz4236]

Helpful, thank you. I normally take out a small piece of whatever is the most unflattering but this is a new approach. Picking the best mic is a really good reminder.

[@yaye606]

I had a similar experiance and used a dynamic EQ and an EQ to make the vocal track sound good. Never would of thought of this really

[@fredtrippster333]

My first inclination would have been to reach for a dynamic EQ like the F6 or Pro Q3 to adjust your lows, mids, & highs only on the words or syllables when they offend & the return to threshold otherwise. This is a nice solution though, using EQ to essentially turn your mic into a ribbon after the fact. Always enjoy your videos & thought process Ryan.

[@markszymanski1177]

Was just working on a classical/bossanova thing with a female singer. Recording was a little sibilant ( my bad ;( ) and besides dynamically notching some out around 10k, I found gaining down my 20k shelf a little while boosting some 3-5k really helped balance the vocal and make it more strong/emotional. It was a bit counter-intuitive as I've been getting sucked into this whole boosting air band freq thing but I'm starting to reconsider that move more and more.

[@ddsrecording]

I use the Manny Triple D for getting out boxiness and harshess from vocals. It's amazing as a fast insert before heavy broadband compression. It does more then just multiband compression or dynamic eq. It's a combo of processes that i can't figure out how to replicate without spending hours trying to get there. Must try! (and a must have for me now). Makes ho-hum vocals instantly sound hifi if dialed in right. Use your ears!

[@loopaxerecordsmusic]

Many ways to skin a cat :) In this scenario I would distort or over saturate the vocal before eq and also use a different eq..there might be an unheared build up in the lower frequency range somewhere. After eq I would remove or lessen the distortion or saturation back to taste. I do agree however, that if nothing at all is working, to consider re tracking, although that would be the very last resort for me personally.

[@recordednowhere]

so what youre saying is you use the distortion to magnify problem frequencies? if i got this right, please elaborate. interesting approach!

[@recordednowhere]

@@loopaxerecordsmusic ok i thought you were using this as an alternative to "eq narrow q boost and sweep" to find problematic frequencies (esp in the lower mids..). havent tried this technique yet, but sounds like it might actually work. will file under "obscure stuff to try out". :) thanks for the explanation & inspiration!!

[@creativesoundlab]

This is quality guys. I’ll have to come back to this when I’m not in the middle of a McDonald’s with a 5 year old.

[@xtenkfarpl]

My first reaction was, why would you ever use distortion on a vocal unless you are going for a very specific special effect? But on reflection I think, as someone else suggested, that you are suggesting using this as an analysis tool to try to locate frequency areas that need attention, rather than something that would appear in the final mix? I hope I'm right... not a fan of 'tricks' like adding low frequency buzz to kick drums, for example, as some others (no names, no pack drill) have suggested... ;-)

[@NostraBloom]

Sometimes if I remove reaally problematic frequencies and it causes the vocal to sound thin or weak, i put a tone shaper or a puigtec at the end of the chain and play around with the sound, it actually brings back more power and body and all the goodness to the vocal, but without the muddy frequencies. this is for really badly recorded vocals too, not those that barely need anything

[@jandymusic8221]

This was really great, BECAUSE, we just encountered this last night on a vocal track. Leaving the mids alone always goes better, since pitch canges carry with them frequency suprises. Notched out something might be good for a verse but make for strange results on chorus etc.. THANKS!!

[@adamfox9651]

He's got a great raspy growl to his voice. I'd find the frequency that emphasizes that raspy growl and give it a bit of a boost.

[@FreeRangeCaptivity]

This is a struggle of mine, I have to cut around 200 to clean up my vocals but that cuts a lot of my raspiness so it's a fine balance to walk

[@hdihiiehei]

Cool dreads. Do you wash it or not?

[@bboymac84]

Your right mic placement is half the battle

[@danielpetersen2147]

To me, the vocal ended up sounding a little buried. Definitely better though. Did you make any other moves afterward?

[@theshawnfussellband]

Yeah, I agree with Fred Trippster. An f6 is probably what I would of reached for. Maybe two of them and let each do minimal compression on the frequency your trying to tame so that the second one only gets the really aggressive parts. Might even consider limiting the second f6 to make sure it only gets as loud as you want it. Just my two cents. Thanks for the vids.

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah I had already had a band passed compressor (Two of them) in this lesson. My goal for this course was to keep to the basic plug ins that any DAW would have.

[@giordash]

I have encountered this problem more times than I can remember. While the best solution is changing the mic, if you don’t have that opportunity, you’ll have to rely on what you have at our disposal in the studio/daw. What I’m hearing in Flint’s vocal has a lot to do with what happens when he opens up. As he starts to sing louder, the resonant qualities of his voice change. And because he has a naturally gravelly voice, it all gets accentuated. If I were at the desk on this one, I’d be looking at a dynamic resonance option like Soothe. It’s literally purpose built for this kind of thing and it sounds absolutely ridiculous!

[@MrNEWDY]

I would consider myself a novice, but I would try multiband compression to compress some problematic issues with the low end boxiness to level it out or used the thrillseeker exciter and slickEQ to tame it.

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah that’s a great approach. I had done some of that before I EQed. EQ was my last step in the process for mixing the vocal. I’ll have to check out those plugs you mentioned

[@MrNEWDY]

@@creativesoundlab thrillseeker is just a clone of the aural Exciter I saw in your video about tom eq. The slick eq is like a free variation of Fab filter kind of.

[@adamwasthefirstman]

Literally just ran into this issue. I haven't tracked the singer in my band for a bit, and knowing he has a sibilant voice, immediately bypassed condensers and shot out between an sm7 and an RE-320. The 320 won out as it flattered his voice a bit more. Even with the 320, even he was saying it was still a bit bright. I have a GAP PreEQ73 that has low and high shelving built into the pre and did nothing but back down an 8khz shelf and there it was! If I need more sparkle later, i feel a parallel eq plus a de-esser will get me there. But who'd have ever thought cutting highs on a vocal was the way to go?!

[@schance1666]

clever fix! less is more. hey what's that RCA OP6-looking unit behind you!?

[@SupernovaSun77]

I’ve done this before and always thought I was stealing. I use a filter then add an exciter to bring in better hi’s.

[@TheAlexHJrShow]

just what i needed to hear right now! (tearing my hair out on a mix)

[@creativesoundlab]

Haha good luck!

[@catface101]

You could make it sound noisy and lean into the Eels/Tom Waits-y sound of his voice

[@justinmclaren4268]

I mix the rest of the band to the “unique” vocal. Instead of working back to front from the drums, I’ll work from the front to back. The vocal midrange is sacrosanct lol👍

[@Gretsch0997]

This is where one would have to re-track the vocal. Possibly with a different mic. I’d bet my house that a standard ribbon mic would be the solution here.

[@vadimmartynyuk]

What was wrong with that guy trying to sing on this recording ?

[@creativesoundlab]

Too much whiskey

[@TheHonestTruth]

He needs to stop using a dynamic mic.. Tracking engi messed up.