How To EQ Vocals

5PiECE explains how he uses EQ on vocals in a mix.
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🔊 PLUGINS USED IN THIS VIDEO 🔊
FabFilter Pro Q3 - bit.ly/3q5B6k2
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🎥 TUTORIALS MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO 🎥
3 Ways To EQ Vocals - • 3 Ways To EQ Vocals
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🎸SONG USED IN THIS VIDEO 🎹
“Rent Free” by EverythingOShauN - ffm.to/rentfree
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⏰ TIMESTAMPS ⏰
0:00 Introduction
2:22 Low Cut Filter
5:08 High Cut Filter
7:35 Cuts
16:34 Boosts
21:22 Additional Considerations
21:56 Conclusion
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Copyright 5PiECE Music 2021

[@michaelrice6620]

Man you are literally the best at breaking this stuff down. It’s literally the small details you put in here that most engineers sharing info on youtube never mention.

[@5piece]

Thank you Michael! Appreciate the love 🙏🏼 and more importantly: glad I could break it down for you 🙌🏼 excited to help more in coming videos

[@gregpoland4876]

Thanks! My eyes open more and more everyday, thanks to guys like you! I love the different techniques and opinions. I found gold in yours.

[@rooshiemusic]

I'm so glad that I found your channel, your tutorials are soooooo good! Thank you for all your effort you put in these videos to teach people like me for free. I'm really grateful!

[@kickilicoff]

Very good video. I always use two eq's for this. One surgical and one for Colouring.

[@iamnyron]

Learned so much about EQ with this one video after all the videos I have watched over the years. Thank you 5!!!

[@richardsmusic5577]

What a well done and CLEARLY explained tutorial. Subscribed. Keep up the good work 👏

[@lamontcurry8289]

I listened and watched a lot of tutorials.....some good, most terrible...I listened to your tips ONE TIME, and that's all it took to take me to a higher level... Your precise, patient, descriptive and user friendly..YOU EARNED MY SUBSCRIPTION..... Thank you

[@lloydcooke5503]

Love the way you break down the frequencies into an easy, understandable way. This is very helpful. Thank you 💯👌🏽

[@nitroville4899]

excellent, thorough, structured to the point and not a word to much. Bravo!

[@memphiskash]

man this was such a concise video. instant sub. super helpful

[@user-yq6nx9sy8f]

Happy to be here it have helped me alot

[@Marvinostin]

Man thank you so much maestro from years my lowest weakness been EQ vocals as beat maker was never much into recording but as I’m doing the transition to being behind the booth this was prob if not the best class I’ve seen ❤❤

[@wesdalelio]

W channel and a W video. I'd call myself a strong musician and a weak producer. I learned a ton from this, and never felt like you were talking down to me. Excited to see whatever else you've posted

[@cabramacho5940]

Best video I’ve seen on understanding EQ

[@amigazo3972]

Just discovered your channel and I am loving it. Like an university for sound engineers, but understandable to mortals like me. Thanks.

[@lens8933]

amazing. thank you

[@TenpennyTower]

very thorough brother great stuff

[@5piece]

Glad to help! 🙏🏼

[@NashawnRaines]

Best explanation on KZbin for EQ

[@LaliBhandari]

Great Tutorial

[@NikolasHatzi]

Thanks Man!!!!! you're a real teacher!!

[@5piece]

Anytime Nikolas 🙌🏼

[@Purpleboo6875]

Thanks!!

[@sannibrodas]

Hmm, best EQ tutorial 😋 weldone man

[@JustinSerranDigital]

Great video! 🙏🏻👊🏻

[@5piece]

Appreciate you bro!! 👊🏼

[@TheMeatball23]

Yea buddy! You are amazing

[@GAMEBANGINGMEDIA]

Great video bro

[@interposeproduction5686]

Very very good info you are very best 💯

[@5piece]

Thank you so much 😀

[@loni9848]

SWEET SPOT BABY

[@WFPCo]

Great and informative video - many thanks...BTW, did the guy in the song ever specify what he actually wanted? There's a loy of 'don't wants' in there ;-)

[@shulumusic]

Great

[@ThisMichaelBrown]

Thanks!

[@5piece]

You’re welcome! 😄

[@Esenabros]

After listening to this vocal for like 50 times during this tutorial I had to go and listen to the song for closure😂

[@MissionFireMix]

Best on KZbin 👍

[@5piece]

🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@firmans12]

Damn thanks man. Vocal is tough to eq.

[@5piece]

Agreed. It’s the one thing that always varies in a mix because you HAVE to record it. Very different than say a VST which is a perfectly processed and programmed sound that may not vary as much. Hope this vid helped!! 🤙🏼

[@zac2b]

Heyy thanks for the tips man!! I was wondering, if I want to color the vocals afterward in my vocal chain using analog eq, is it better to not add or boost any frequencies in my first eq and really wait for that second eq to boost? Or it doesn’t really matter if I boost both? Hope I’m making sense. 😂

[@5piece]

This is a great idea for a video that I will do in the coming weeks 🤙🏼 to give a brief answer, what you proposed is how I would do it. I’d use a surgical eq like the Pro Q for cuts, then in a future she I would use an analog EQ like the Pultec or API for sweetening 🚀 basically breaking cuts and boosts into 2+ steps over multiple EQ plugins. Hope this helps!!

[@benyaeast4741]

can you do subtractive EQ first then compress the vocals then do additive EQ ? or is it all done in 1 EQ ? cheers for the amazing video 🙏🏽

[@5piece]

You can absolutely split it up. I do this often, typically with a subtractive filtering and some very light surgical eq (typically in dynamic mode), followed by a compressor, followed by another multiband comp for some surgical tightening of specific bands, followed by a “sweetening” or additive EQ. Of course this varies track to track, but I find this sequence to be fairly common amongst them. Hope this helps 🤘🏻

[@EFTOBEATZ]

brooo ty for the tutorial what webcam ure using? I want to make a video to promote my mix mastering for new artists and ur cam quality looks smooth n fresh

[@5piece]

Appreciate you man! Funny enough, its not a webcam but rather just my iPhone. I can't recall if I was on the 11 or 13 Pro at the time, but it was one of 'em!

[@EFTOBEATZ]

@@5piece xD didnt expect that, thank you man ! I will setup my phone then for the start.

[@PaulFisherMedia]

Do you do a DeEsser very first before doing the EQ (and then compression?)

[@5piece]

Sometimes yes sometimes no. The best way to think of it is: when exactly does the S become a problem? If it’s right away before any processing, then you put the deesser first ahead of EQ, comp etc. However, sometimes sibilance isn’t an issue until AFTER you do a process, like a boost with an EQ or some compression. In that situation you’d put the deesser on AFTER whatever caused the sibilance to become too harsh / poke out And often, you do multiple de-essers at different stages. It’s not uncommon for me to have one at the start of my chain, and the end, both working to control sibilance throughout. It’s cliche but use your ears and play with the placement to see what helps solve your sibilance problems. Hope this helps!

[@crisnla1]

Fire track. Did you mix the actual song? Sounds good. 👍🏿

[@5piece]

Thanks Sean. Yes, I mixed and mastered the whole thing - vocals and instrumental. You can find the link to it in the description if you wanna bump it on your preferred platform 🙌🏼

[@crisnla1]

@@5piece yup added it on tidal before I could even finished your tutorial. 🔥

[@5piece]

@@crisnla1 amazing. We appreciate you Sean!

[@RyanDB]

Do you have any specific advice for dealing with the low-end of a bass singer? If I'm using the bottom of my range, I'll fairly regularly go as low as D2 (74Hz), and there seems to be very little information out there about EQing those kinds of vocals

[@5piece]

Combination of low cut filter, with either a static band reduction at the source of the problem (like 74hz) OR more strategically, I'd use a dynamic EQ or a multiband compressor focused on the 74hz cut for more transparent results. I'll look at revisiting this topic fora future video as its been awhile now but hope this helps in the short term ;)

[@rooshiemusic]

It would probably work a little differently for female vocals, right? Because for example I always find the boxiness in my vocals around 640Hz.

[@5piece]

it will ultimately work different for all artists as everyone has their own unique range, including females. I was trying to provide general guidelines / ball parks but you of course need to use your ears and make calculated choices regardless of what I tell you. For example, after listening, you can ultimately decide what sounds nasally/honky and address it - even if it ends up being outside the range I mentioned

[@grimmcyph932]

In the beginning is their any additional processing like compression?

[@5piece]

Outside of their recording chain which was a microphone and preamp, there's no other processing on my end. To be fair, there's a chance they applied some compression during recording phase (OShauN records with an Avalon 737 preamp that has a built-in EQ/Comp section) but if there was, it was very slight as the vocal waveform still has a lot dynamics in-tact.

[@arieassa2186]

🤙🤙🙏🙏👏🏻👏🏻

[@romanboiarchuk2048]

5piece, could you say how you get so bright vocal before even EQ. Did the artist use some EQ while recording? 😅

[@5piece]

I know OShauN records with a Neumann TLM-103 into an Avalon 737v preamp before going into his interface / laptop. I find this combination to already be very bright so I'm often reducing high end with an EQ on his tracks, some more than others.

[@LetsTalkBibleOroville]

What headphones do you use to mix?

[@5piece]

I don’t typically mix on headphones, just use them for referencing and when shooting videos to avoid bleed My go to pair for awhile has been the Shure SRH 840

[@LetsTalkBibleOroville]

@@5piece do you have any recommended headphones for the artist to use as they listen to themselves in “real-time” while recording? Would you recommend the Shure SRH 840 for that also?

[@mysteryj8203]

Secret sauce to be fair cut with graphic eq and add and shape with analog style eq

[@lilxxblueskies]

my only issue with the vocals is there is alot of autotune

[@memeswillneverdie]

the low pass seems like a baffling decision, you've removed all the high end smoothness and caused a phase shift at the target frequency, alot of sharp cuts is just overprocessing and is causing some resonance issues since it's accentuating the frequencies between the cuts, I can still hear some strong resonance in the high mids, if you just used either a tilt shelf or a high shelf and attenute some of the high end slighty and add a de-esser after

[@5piece]

I hear you. Like everything I showcased in this video, much of it is situational. I hope people don't get confused thinking absolutely everything I did must be copied on their end (which I believe I clarified at several points in the video). Filtering in particular seems to be a hotly debated topic in mixing as I'm learning. A lot of people keep bringing up the phase aspect of the conversation. My question is do you actually hear phase issues, or are you just repeating something you read/watched online? I mean that genuinely. I just did a video about phase in particular, and its generally much harder to hear phase discrepancies within mid and high frequencies (aka where the vocal lives). Here's a short about that from the video I'm referring to that explains low frequencies vs mid/high frequencies and phase relationships: kzbin.infoIKnAcCm9aPM?si=CYjhrRMQCuPbIMgb Filter-wise, I'm rolling off some very high end above 19K - I'm not bringing that filter down to a point where the vocal becomes borderline unintelligible. Removing "all the high-end smoothness" is debateable - I can't say I hear things the same way you hear them and vice versa. Still got plenty of high end to me, plus the vocal recording chain is very high-end focused to begin with, with a lot of air and even harshness present. In terms of the lingering resonances in the mids - I'd argue everyone is sensitive to resonances in their own way but generally agree there are certainly frequencies lingering. My intention was not to go and address every little thing in this mix, but rather show you the most important areas to address one by one and let you figure it out and make decisions in your own sessions. Furthermore, this video was solely focused on EQ and not using other processes like de-essing, etc. Like all things in mixing, there's like 16 ways to approach a problem and you just have to choose one - so for this video, I chose this method but your tilt-shelf + de-esser method could be just as valid. Overall, you don't have to agree with my exact choices, thats why you have your own music you can mix and apply what I show you here to find out for yourself ;) Appreciate you watching and providing this feedback!

[@memeswillneverdie]

@@5piece I appreciate your detailed response. To the issue of whether myself (or just humans in general) can perceive phase shift. The answer is complicated but comes down to it being generally more audible in the lower frequencies and less so in the high end. My issue is more with the philosophy you may be unknowingly teaching others in that there is a cookie cutter solution to “how to eq vocals”. Yes there are general things that are done most of the times but I urge you to be aware of who your are targeting with this video; it is mostly beginners who do not understand nuance and instead usually will go “well X told me to remove low end muddiness and go hunting for resonances so that’s what I’ll do”. Ultimately in audio I think the most important philosophy to teach is to question your own decisions and always have a reason behind what you do. For instance, If I want to eq vocals, the type of decisions I make are ENTIRELY dependant on the source material; if my vocal is too bright then some attenuation in the high end or a dynamic eq might be best, if it is too muddy gently attenuating some low mids may be the answer. The difference between that and what you have presented is simply that, the presentation, I understand that it’s less easy to swallow the information that discusses the nuances of audio and you’d be there all day if you wanted to do it justice but that is exactly what I’m saying. Mixing is an extremely nuanced and situational topic where the decisions you make aren’t just dependant on the signal you are processing but the other things in the song and the intention of the song. To clarify, I’m not opposed to giving advice or techniques on these things but the extremely exaggerated over processing you were doing to show an example of good decision making will just either confuse or send beginners down the wrong path. My frustration is not with you directly and to your credit it seems like you want genuine engagement and as such I’m happy to discuss but the trend in the modern production and mixing space, audio engineering in general, is relying on “10 quick hacks to make you the best engineer ever” type click bait and the advice usually given, gives people the idea that you can mix in such a way that is essentially algorithmic in that if you just do these processes in this order your music won’t suck. What you said in the latter half of the video should have been the focus “my intention was not to go… let you figure it out and make decisions in your own sessions” it’s all about intentionality, such a simple yet foundational part of sound isn’t being taught generally and it’s making people do things for the sake of it.

[@patriotbarrow]

A pop filter in front of an SM5B... what an age we live in.

[@5piece]

I'm confused, do you think its silly to use the pop filter with the SM7B? The truth is I use it and I don't, really depends on the day, artist, situation etc, BUT I can say WITHOUT IT I run into a lot plosive problems at times depending on the artist's position and what not, so the pop filer helps mitigate that when in use. Do you never have plosive problems when recording with the SM7B?

[@MoneyRouteRay]

Why do I always see people cutting a lot on the lows out I see lots of people cutting around 140 to 200 but then I will see people only cut around 60 through 100 It confuse me

[@5piece]

I can’t speak on everyone because we all have our preferences and approach, music is subjective afterall. I find a cut up to 200hz would really thin things out. That may be cool for a BG or adlib but not good for a main vocal that needs body and warmth. 60-100hz is more reasonable, but even on some tracks I’m not filtering as much. Ultimately I break down what you should be listening for when filtering in the video. Don’t worry about the numbers or what other people are doing, focus on the sound and reducing the problem. If there is no problem, then don’t use a filter. Simple as that! All the best 👊🏼

[@mik1533]

It depends on the range the vocalist is singing in. I wouldn't cut a Bass/baritone voice more then 80-100 hz, because thats where the fundamental frequencies of many notes they sing lie. On the other hand, you can cut a girls voice 150hz or higher, because they sing higher.

[@SO_DIGITAL]

4000kHz!?

[@thetransposedheads]

Dont you think this vocal is too much nasal?

[@5piece]

Yes, in the actual mix I treated this vocal for being more nasally than I’d prefer. This video is an overview of how to EQ in general, so I focused on some frequency areas over others. I have entire videos dedicated to that topic (fixing nasally vocals) as well

[@thetransposedheads]

@@5piece Ok, btw nice, helpfull videos! :) I saw "vocal reverbs tips" also, and i have an ask. Can you make a video, how to set reverbs like in weeknd blinding lights? Reverb in this song is like on sibilances or something, and its making some kind of "magic whispers". Maybe you know how to get this effect? :)

[@raycochrane3971]

#1 - don't use a mic renowned for it's high noise floor, that requires huge amounts of gain and has a pronounced proximity effect simply becasue it looks cool/pro. #2 - do what the voice requires in the mix. #3 - don't rely on someone else's preset.

[@5piece]

Agreed with all your points, but many starting out have no idea what to look (or listen) for. This video is a guide on many aspects to consider as it relates to EQ specifically. I would HOPE that by watching people learn how I'm THINKING about the problems outlined in the video, and by seeing me address it in real-time, develop a framework to do the same for themselves.

[@supjay3945]

The lyrics were hard to digest

[@agencky]

You couldn't have chosen a worse vocal track, except those of Makumba singing on autotune 🤦

[@RonnieVaiArovo]

How to not EQ 101

[@5piece]

Did you actually watch the video? I'm curious as to what exactly your gripes are with it to make you say such a baseless thing. I literally showcased Vocal EQ techniques that I've used countless times on tracks I've mixed and mastered for YEARS now. We're talking mixes that have amassed MILLIONS of streams, been played all over radio and TV on popular shows including Mayor of Kingstown, NCIS: LA, Heels, Sex Lives of College Girls and so on. Men lie, women lie but the numbers do not lie here. You can say "how not to EQ" but YOU seem to be the only one who believes that 😅 Look at ALL the people in the comment section who not only found this helpful but said it elevated their own mixing in ways no other video had prior to. What's funny is if your favorite producer or engineer posted an exact copy of this video, you'd probably stan about it and say its the only way to EQ - BUT because its me, someone you clearly don't know and aren't familiar with, you say something silly like this without providing any specific critiques, insight or feedback to justify what you're saying. Basically, you're just hating, and its lame. I don't understand how that helps you, or your channel, but OK. Feel free to let me know what exactly is wrong here so I can improve for next time, and help others watching in the process.