The One Thing I Always Do When Mixing Vocals

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In this episode of MakeMineMusic, Marc Daniel Nelson shares the one thing he does to every vocal while mixing. If it’s too much lo end, muddy or too much harshness, dynamic eq will tighten and clean the problems in your vocal recordings.
Multiband compressors and dynamic EQs are some of the most useful tools available to audio engineers. They allow for dynamic control of defined frequency ranges, providing some of the functionality and benefits of both EQs and compressors. Their ability to correct “problem” frequencies in a detailed and generally transparent way makes them extremely helpful for balancing a single sound or a full mix.
However, these two processors are often confused with one another, as they function on similar concepts and are used in similar scenarios. In this article, we'll cover the technical differences between dynamic EQs and multiband compressors, general uses for the two, and instances in which you should use one over the other.
Digital multiband compressors are designed to function as their analog counterparts do. First, the full signal’s frequency content is split into several bands, usually three or four. These bands allow certain sections of the frequency spectrum to pass through, and on most plug-ins look like band-pass filters on an EQ.
Dynamic EQ is quite similar to multiband compression, with many dynamic EQ plug-ins using common language found in compression.
Dynamic EQs and multiband compressors are extremely similar, and it’s no wonder that they’re often used interchangeably.
The absolute simplest way to differentiate them is that a multiband compressor functions mostly like a compressor, but with some aspects of an EQ. A dynamic EQ functions mostly like an EQ, but with some aspects of a compressor.
Multiband compression functions like normal compression, but can act independently upon separate frequency ranges like an EQ. A dynamic EQ band functions like a standard EQ band, but processes signal non-linearly like a compressor.
Whether you end up using a dynamic EQ or a multiband compressor in your next project, both provide advantages that make a mix engineer’s life much easier. These processors can be used to control frequencies in a way that is transparent and musical, and using them in the proper circumstances is way more time-efficient than writing in gain and EQ automation.
The balance that these processors can help achieve and the time saved can make both your mix and the production process a whole lot smoother.
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[@Producelikeapro]

What do YOU do to every vocal? Let me know below!

[@rudolfbaethge282]

I use Reaper Spectral Edit to DeEss harsh sounds manually.. Prefer that a plugin. To me it's more precise and natural. I also work the vocals first before any track. Like to get the overall feel and work around it

[@davidasher22]

I always high-pass vocals first.

[@RegebroRepairs]

I always sing them badly.

[@Fuse_the_band]

I use three compressors. 1st ratio 2 fast attack just 1-2 db compression. 2nd ratio 4 fast attack slow release 3-4 db compression. 3d ratio 4 slow attack fast release 3-4 db compression. This way the compressors grabs the signal nice and even. What do you think of this?

[@Lettsbet]

I would love to hear more about adding the "perfect" reverb to vocals.

[@Birdieblogger]

I'm just a girl, standing in front of her DAW asking it to not rainbow wheel. Trying to be that 2% in the industry with relatively old, but still sharp assed ears. You're my favourite 'teacher'. The only one who creates music around songs that I actually love and sound like I would want it sounding like. Thanks for doing these videos. They have really played a big role in my 'self-education'.

[@marcdanielnelson317]

Thank you, Roberta.. Nice of you to say!

[@domdraper3221]

That is a nice thing to say. I also really enjoy every video that this guy makes.

[@cyrillec135]

Roberta, I’m 47 years old ans pis de engineer since 20 years and continue to learning shit ;-)

[@tomrado5249]

Keep after it

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Roberta! So glad to be able to help!

[@fiddlefolk]

Man, the light just went on for me. If I understand correctly, you are surgically fixing the problem areas before it gets magnified by the compressor and then sweetening the EQ in the area where the surgery took place after compression.

[@kyleparfait61]

I feel like if I would have had videos like these 10-12 years ago, I'd be in a totally different place in my music career. It's unreal how great the resources are being able to "sit in" with guys like Marc just doing their thing.

[@rodferguson3510]

EQ-ing is quite an art. This brother has waded in pretty deep. Props.

[@Producelikeapro]

Fantastic Rod!!

[@Birdieblogger]

I know this might seem weedy to some, ... like other aspects outside of my comfort zone are (bass frequencies for ex). But as a vocal producer it's like the shallow end to me! But I'm also a high level vocal coach and this has been fascinating to put a Hz number to the dreaded 'honk'. And my general dislike of low mids as well (including in my own voice). I help singers shape their 'shell'.. their formant- to help them EQ and compress their own voices in the moment. (Why producers love working with me when they track vocalists- especially for radio where the stakes are high!) to see how you can subtly curb some of these 'plug in' triggers before putting it through your chain, is seriously everything to me. The vocal formant for those wondering is like this... think of a trumpet mouthpiece and how your lips buzz against it and it sounds like a duck call. When you stick the horn on which is the resonator, the sound become that of a horn. Stick a larynx on the vocal folds and voila- resonance... but like every human, they come in all shapes and sized and the vocal tone and even pitch or pitch perception can be influenced. It's so fascinating to see the digital side of this. Great way to start a Monday. Grateful for this. Watched it like 3 X now lol

[@sbrown6434]

Dude this is the BEST tutorial I’ve ever seen on audio. The instructor is GREAT.

[@xxllx86]

He’s a genius! So many great videos

[@Producelikeapro]

Fantastic! Yes, Marc Rules!

[@Producelikeapro]

@@xxllx86 marvellous!

[@mickeymiguel2726]

This man is purely genius

[@CLdwyer]

He’s all the way right on with those dynamic freq edits. Amazing. Simple. Essential.

[@CLdwyer]

Marc always has vocals that breathe 💨

[@Producelikeapro]

Fantastic Collins!

[@LA610]

Being over 60 I usually have trouble hearing the difference. I heard this right off the bat. The clarity of his voice stood out. Thanks!

[@trv503]

Vocals are where the rule of EQ/Tone fix first, then compress twice afterwards...my next remix will get this treatment. Thx MDN!!!

[@one-eye1721]

I'm only a beginner at mixing but I always find vocals to be the trickiest thing to get to sit well in a mix.

[@phil42069205]

When it’s my vocals, I usually laugh, then cry, and finally delete and beg my children to do it for me.

[@gilbertspader7974]

My voice sounds like a dog being strangled and drowned while being run over by a train.to me. Other people say it’s fine .

[@MrVleker]

Mixing your own vocals is the worst thing

[@yens99]

Been there...are there...though I do think that all that emotion is supposed to be in the vocal performance, not the post processing guy...;-)

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha we've all been there my friend! We are our own worst critics!

[@jasonvotaw5966]

I cringe then hire someone on Fiver to do it for me

[@davefalk335]

I dug the first take with nothing added........but I could actually hear how the vocal came to life.......what a skill.......thank you for sharing.

[@TomBelknapRoc]

Honestly, one of the consistently-best mixing educators on KZbin, right now, is Mark Daniel Nelson. Great channel, full of such great content. Thanks, Warren!

[@chike1866]

I have a pre mixing ritual for my vocals too. 1) denoise, 2) declick, 3) pitch correction, 4) dynamic EQ, 5) saturation, 6) downward compresion 7) upward compression, then I bounce the track for mixing.

[@Lordsallakh]

NO NO!! the multiband compression is THIS and dynamic EQ is THAT! great video as always ty Marc and Warren

[@nickanton7983]

Making the massive mistake of watching this right before I was about to submit a final mix

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha I hear you!!

[@mlrdmn]

lololoo

[@crownorok289]

😂 😂

[@lazwid7879]

Fuck😂😂

[@figlermaert]

Lol. Very tempting to go back to old mixes. Just gotta always go forward. 😅

[@Amzegal]

Among all the tutorials out there on YT, I must say Marc's sound always blows me away. He produces deep excitement out of raw music. So great to watch him work. Thank you for sharing

[@danielmcnamara_]

Marc has very good ears - subtle adjustments that make a very audible difference

[@bernardofragale]

Hands down the best mix instructor out there. Thanks!

[@RambowMusik]

This is pure Gold. Going from kinda annoying and pokey to well fitting and smooth in 4 simple moves :)

[@whisperthiefmusic]

I'm going to be honest, I rolled my eyes at the mere mention of dynamic EQ. It's another rabbit hole I thought I didn't want to go down. Another complicated 2 week research thing that I just don't need coz I want to make music damn it!! But you've managed to open my eyes and ears really quickly yet again Marc and I can see that I sort of do this already but with a couple of EQ plugins to cut and clean up the stuff i don't like before I get into the style and tone choices for the song. This is just a more sophisticated version of that, that seems to have way more accurate results than just plain cutting out information from the vocal. Thanks yet again engineering Yoda of mine!

[@EJCAudio]

Perhaps think of it as automated EQ? Static EQ is fine for a lot of things, but sometimes you fix an issue on one part of a song, then it causes an issue elsewhere. Dynamic/Automated EQ is a good solution for that. Doesn’t need to be scary or complex :)

[@petesawchuk]

Thanks Marc; I’ll be making use of the Q3’s dynamic EQ capabilities moving forward.

[@michaelbain6402]

Best mixing channel ever created!

[@THZORROMUSIC]

ohhh, new camera perspective! 💯💥🤘

[@Lettsbet]

I was just struggling a bit with my vocal mixes. This episode was perfect. Great info. Very helpful. Made a lot of sense, very quickly. Thanks!

[@officialWWM]

That guy is a really great singer!

[@paradossodelfallimento4317]

This will absolutely improve our productions. Thank you a lot!

[@Producelikeapro]

Fantastic!!

[@LeanBearMusic]

Good video. I use TDR Nova for dynamic EQ and TDR Molotok for compression. Sometimes Ozone 11 for additional EQ adjustments. Airwindows Slew2 for de-essing and PurestWarm2 for burnishing out the harshness of my USB mics.

[@jibeji]

Another very educational video by Marc Daniel. I am always looking forward to seeing new ones.

[@jarcauco]

Subtle. Sneaky. Tricky. Awesome. 🍀

[@Eyeder]

Hey, Marc! You can create dynamic bands in the EQ display by holding the Alt key (Option on mac i guess) while dragging the result curve or double-clicking in the display. =)

[@unklebilly]

It wasn't until you started talking about it that the 500hz resonance in your own room started driving me nuts! It's amazing what focusing your attention can accomplish.

[@MartinLang1625]

Excellent vid. I used to love the old Nectar and tweak it from there.

[@TMoneyWave]

As an artist i mix and master my music thanks for some key points!

[@stevewills735]

MV2 an unsung hero. Awesome video. Cheers!

[@Producelikeapro]

Great plug in

[@davidasher22]

It’s good to hear Marc doesn’t think there’s much difference between dynamic EQ and Multi band compression too. 😆

[@xxllx86]

Why would he? It’s basic.

[@davidasher22]

@@xxllx86 well, it’s not that basic. Dynamic EQs use their input audio signal as a sidechain source to trigger a parametric EQ that affects signal amplitude. Multiband compressors split their input audio signal using multiple filters, and the signal from each filter is run through its own compressor; these signals are then summed together to create the output signal.

[@rileyjordan8114]

@@davidasher22 thanks for that explanation, I had no idea that dynamic EQs used the whole frequency range as the input for compression

[@louierubio]

@@davidasher22 whoa. Thanks for the info. Does that mean they both excel at different tasks? Is there a reason to choose one over the other?

[@davidasher22]

@@louierubio I think it just means that dynamic EQ is more of a precision tool.

[@HUERITO818]

This dude just became one of my favorite mixing engineers.

[@andrem.musiek]

Always such a pleasure to watch and learn from the best

[@m2m]

I absolutely adore Marc Daniel's videos. Thanks Warren for sharing these!

[@histakes12]

I do the same thing on my vocals before processing them, but after manually leveling the raw wave track. Raise the lows, lower the loud parts, then C6 to correct the (room/mic) tone, then eq, comp, etc.

[@DDWyss]

I always see something I can use when I watch Marc's videos! Thanks!

[@AnnaAwe]

I looked up the band on Spotify. Great stuff!

[@jeffboyd7719]

Enjoy the simple effective advice while focusing on the song instead of the gear. I get so much out of these short to the point videos and a down to earth approach.

[@raybeeger1529]

Marc, this video is my anchor! I'm looking it from time to time to set my focus back on less and smaller cuts and a smoother mind set during mixing the vocals. Thank you!

[@brianturner4818]

I learn something new in every video that Marc does. Thanks Marc and Warren!

[@marcelpaige4134]

What in-ears are those they're cleannnn as hell

[@XnazxulX]

Great video. I love how you just made some slight surgical changes and the difference it made.

[@FADY-MAALOUF]

An incredibly smart, talented and gorgeous fellow ! Thank you for your great advice

[@TigroGumi]

another simple bit of gold

[@RC32Smiths01]

Being able to analyze and mix vocals sounds quite interesting in a variety of contexts! Cheers!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much RC32!

[@RC32Smiths01]

@@Producelikeapro Cheers!

[@normclemis1221]

Always something to take in with Marc's videos! Thanks Guys!!

[@MoveUpMedia]

As always...love your deep, deep attention to detail. You’re helping train our ears to listen for these things.

[@rudolfbaethge282]

As ALWAYS, useful, simple and precise. Tks Mark

[@antcall6779]

Thanks marc! You are the best my friend 🤘

[@lojoroad698]

I listened to the Sound Cloud version and the Vemo, the difference in the mixes are striking.

[@smattc]

Love the J160E in the chair

[@johnsammers]

As ever - brilliant advice and tips. Thanks PLAP and MDN.

[@kapitbanda]

this vocal treatment is a gem ! tnx

[@J-DUB-F1]

Sooooo many years of NOT putting time in with dynamic EQs !! :-/ ......better late than never I guess. Just a little bit makes things so much easier down the line!.

[@lourf]

Really helpfull. Short and straight to the point. Please keep blessing us with those videos I eat them for diner :)

[@garyh1296]

I use a tubetech mmc1a to track vox. This is amazing as I can do the multiband and use it as a subtle eq before I commit.

[@frankharley442]

I've been using TDR Nova for years. I let it listen and then select the dynamic deresonate feature. I start there then make adjustments as I see fit. It usually does a great job finding resonant frequencies.

[@massivebeatzz]

I looked, TDR Nova deosn't have that feature. That' s only for the TDR Nova Gentlemen's Edition aka GE aka paid. Where you referring to Nova GE?

[@frankharley442]

@@massivebeatzz Nova GE Yes

[@1siriuswolf]

Pure gold! Thanks so much gent's

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@evanfoster9078]

Thanks from Seattle Marc and Warren!

[@casimirdekkers-newtrackout691]

I was doubtful what the difference between multiband compression and dynamic eq was. I learned that the difference mainly is that a multiband compressor has crossovers, so a little less transparent than dynamic eq, and usually used for broader strokes. In the end it really doesn't matter what's used, no matter what somebody is saying. Using effects on what it's not intended for makes the most creative sound(s).

[@KyleValet]

Dude Thank You....you are always so concise and to the point when you teach something. Best on KZbin..I mean it!!!

[@scottfaircloff9530]

Thanks, Marc! Well done, again!

[@jorgerivera8238]

This one of my favorites channels to learn how to mix, thank you Marc!

[@Jon415.]

What a great video!! I tend to do corrective EQ, De Ess , Comp, back to EQ for color, and lastly dynamic EQ. But I think after watching this I’ll be using DynEQ first 😂

[@nichttuntun3364]

I think as you. No matter what they tell you. In the end it works. Great great enjoyable series. Keep it up. Love the feel approach fast away from the scientific approach. An artist's approach. Of course it's good to know theory in the background but the ability to go beyond can result in art. Cheers

[@igorsim8170]

I was actually using today MJUC for collor before I watched this video. I might be on the right track. Defo will look into that vox eq now. Thanks.

[@Mio-fu1sr]

hey Marc,nice video,I've been playing with MJUC and i stumbled on something very interesting that i think u r going to like it...put it on mk1 and where it says TIMING put it on 5 and than play with the mix knob...it takes away harshness especially on strings and trumpets,horns etc. and it's so natural,i even tried it on a vokal,works like a charm...

[@marcdanielnelson317]

Nice tip. Actually have found that myself a few years ago!

[@kevinm8370]

Thanks, master Marc.

[@kenselcer]

Thanks. I wouldn't mind if you spent more time on before and after scenarios: ex, here is what it sounds like before I applied dynamic eq and here is what it sounds like after.

[@AntiTeatarMusic]

Great video Marc! I do a similar thing at the start of a vocal chain, filtering using ProQ3 hi pass and lately using Gullfoss to tame the problematic areas and Soothe to de-ess and then going into parallel compression chain consisted of 4 or 5 different compressors to up the lower parts without crushing the natural dynamics. All summed up in a Aux Bus I later automate and process it further if needed.

[@xxllx86]

Marc, Bro, I’ve watched your video on your vocal chain. Here are some sort of the same plugins. Love to see you sticking to some core elements of your mixing process. You are a great teacher. Thks

[@Nopleaseandthanks]

Love Marc’s videos . Very useful ! Thanks

[@BassByTheBay]

Your advice is so direct and practical -- no fluff or BS. Thank you!

[@sin_phany_tv]

Is there any chance you can make this as a preset and send it to me because I can’t see I’m blind and can’t seem to fall along any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[@michaeltravis1524]

excellent information (again). you helped me save a superb vocal take I did. It had a lot of proximity issues (is that the right word?). Basically I was not keeping proper distance from the mic and it sounded very nasal and honky, but with careful dynamic EQ and compression, I was able to make the best of it. thanks for that. Im just a bedroom producer. Music is my therapy. Your channel is a sublime source. being able to virtually sit with you as you discuss your philosophy, approach, and technique is just....amazing (and that's the RIGHT word).

[@elijahaaron]

Dude, you’re the king.

[@pauldavey57]

Mate! I love your segments! So good

[@markbeeson5674]

Great tip. Thanks Marc.

[@BlackenedNL]

What a great tip! I think I have watched every Marc Daniel Nelson video online lol, love his way of explaining and the awesome sounding mixes he does

[@HitTheRoadMusicStudio]

Fantastic tutorial and great teaching style! And you even said the dangerous word "Dynamic EQ" 😂 Love Dynamic EQ's, so helpful!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Ady!

[@hotter99999]

Fantastic explanation, Thank you

[@oscarherrerar.3496]

wow great work on that one

[@azuraldotv]

This man is a studio killer!

[@Producelikeapro]

Agreed

[@amusik7]

This was solid gold! Thanks for this video - it goes enough to detail to really add value :)

[@belgradeboy1977]

This is pure gold

[@greatfoxmusic]

Aww he seems like a nice dood. :) I like the peace sign at the end. Oh, great tutorial too!

[@miss-1073]

thank you so much for this wonderful tutorial to learn from your experience

[@blakeeaster609]

Man he’s awesome.....great video.

[@harryjiang73]

Thanks for sharing. This track is so good!

[@johnwright8994]

More gold from PLAP & MMM ❤️

[@AlexeySolovievMusic]

Love this series a lot! Thank you so much Warren and Marc!

[@TantraJames]

Another great video. Your mixes really do sound amazing! It's nice to be reminded of these tricks. Thank you.

[@michaeltablet8577]

Great video! Thanks again so very much!

[@robheaney661]

Spot on.great info Marc. you always open some great tips for tools that make100% sense. Great rid of the nasty shit 1st and everything down the food chain will work. Appreciate your insight!!

[@thecart1594]

Wow that was awesome..and thats a good song too.Thanks