Anyone shelf eq'ing vocals?

[leonardjamaar]

I don't know if this works well, but I was thinking the other day that most people's speakers don't reveal the entire 20-20k sound spectrum. So, if my recording environment (a small convoluted foam booth) gives me a good sound except the airy sound that resides in the high end, can't I just roll it off?
I tried this and my question now is, at what frequency can I start shelving so the voice doesn't sound too boomy? And if it does get boomy, can I compensate that somewhere else in the eq spectrum? If you've already tried this, please let me know how it works out. I'd hate to re-invent the wheel.

-L

[BrettB]

as I replied in the thread of recording techniques, I think vocals are the most difficult of all to EQ, they can easily sound unnatural. When you EQ vocals, my only tip is to do it while you leave the rest of th mix on, so you can hear immediately if it fits the mix or not.

And don't forget, if the frequency isn't in the recording, you can't boost it !!! it is no point shelving up when you haven't captured anything decent in the high areas.

[leonardjamaar]

I know there's a bunch of threads on this, but I searched and only three came up. Sorry if I missed yours.
What I'm trying to do is shelve down at a frequency that after which, the sound isn't really necessary to the vocal. I'm trying to go as dry as I can and then add a little reverb or whatever. My environment was boomy, but I remedied that. Now I just cant get rid of that airy sound to the vocals. any suggestions, or should I not shelve off at all?

[Teacher]

Originally posted by BrettB


And don't forget, if the frequency isn't in the recording, you can't boost it !!! it is no point shelving up when you haven't captured anything decent in the high areas.

i disagree...it may not be there but it does add 'air' i know with my speck eq when i'm tracking vocals and first doing the sound check i'll always start from 25k then work my way down and see which sounds more open...more often then not its 25K with a 3db boost..the lower i go the more sibilance i get...FYI i'm using a shure sm7 thru a rnp...i also you this technique on rap vocals haven't tried it on a singer yet...just got my speck eq like a month ago...and its fukkin amazing

[kylen]

teacher - which speck model are you using, sounds like a recommendation to me !
kylen

[mallcore pop]

Originally posted by BrettB
And don't forget, if the frequency isn't in the recording, you can't boost it !!! it is no point shelving up when you haven't captured anything decent in the high areas.

I agree. Like someone around here said, you can boost 3k all you want on a flabby kick for attack, but you can't boost what isn't there.

Same with mic modelers. You can't shape a transient that isn't there.

MP

[mixsit]

Originally posted by leonardjamaar
I know there's a bunch of threads on this, but I searched and only three came up. Sorry if I missed yours.
What I'm trying to do is shelve down at a frequency that after which, the sound isn't really necessary to the vocal. I'm trying to go as dry as I can and then add a little reverb or whatever. My environment was boomy, but I remedied that. Now I just cant get rid of that airy sound to the vocals. any suggestions, or should I not shelve off at all?

So if the vocal has too much high end you can certainly roll some off, shelf down, or dip out a peak. But these a tone fixes. Is the track is too bright, or are you trying to get rid of some noise? You mentiioned frequencies above that arn't needed, but a clean xtended high end (not necessarily boosted) is generally a good thing.
Wayne

[Teacher]

Originally posted by kylen
teacher - which speck model are you using, sounds like a recommendation to me !
kylen

http://www.mercenary.com/speckmodelasc.html