Order of Effects in Vocal Mixing.

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UmbraVilla

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hey guys.

what is the best order of effects in Vocal Mixing?
what should come First?
next?
next?


-De-Esser
-EQ
-Compression
 
What you've got going there would be fairly typical. Correction first, shaping after.
 
Massive Master said:
What you've got going there would be fairly typical. Correction first, shaping after.
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Since it's a dynamic process wouldn't it tend to want to be level first then d-ess?
Just realizing how infrequently I use d-ess here.. :confused::)
 
I usually de-ess > filter eq > compress > eq > reverb etc. In my opinion, doing anything but rolling off highs and lows before compressions defeats the purpose of eq. If it SERIOUSLY needs eq before compression then you should probably re-track the instrument/vocal. But like I said, this is my opinion. Do whatever sounds good!

In audio the end really does justify the means
 
BCFoolin said:
I usually de-ess > filter eq > compress > eq > reverb etc. In my opinion, doing anything but rolling off highs and lows before compressions defeats the purpose of eq. If it SERIOUSLY needs eq before compression then you should probably re-track the instrument/vocal.
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+1. For me, it's EQ first to fix the "issues" that compression would otherwise reveal or enhance, then compress, then EQ to shape the resulting compressed signal the way you want it.

All of these steps, of course, only if/as needed. Actually for vocals, I rarely EQ anything at all. But then again, I'm not much into heavily computerized/effected vocals. I tend to work with/like vocals for whom it would be a shame to make too cartoonish-sounding.

G.
 
mixsit said:
Since it's a dynamic process wouldn't it tend to want to be level first then d-ess?
Just realizing how infrequently I use d-ess here.. :confused::)
Click to expand...
Generally, sure - Level first. But not compression -
 
I EQ my vocal channel by Lowering the DB of the low range and raising the DB of the Mid and High Range before I do anything.


Is their a mic technique that can simulate this effect without EQ?


Also the mic has a bass roll off switch I'm assuming


It's a straight line and crooked line switch that I keep on the crooked line
 
+1. For me, it's EQ first to fix the "issues" that compression would otherwise reveal or enhance, then compress, then EQ to shape the resulting compressed signal the way you want it.

All of these steps, of course, only if/as needed. Actually for vocals, I rarely EQ anything at all. But then again, I'm not much into heavily computerized/effected vocals. I tend to work with/like vocals for whom it would be a shame to make too cartoonish-sounding.
Click to expand...


so i can use EQ twice?
 
UmbraVilla said:
so i can use EQ twice?
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You can use anything you want as many times as you want.

But usually, the less you need to use to get where you want, the better off you'll wind up being.

G.
 
UmbraVilla said:
so i can use EQ twice?
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A lot of people do this, you want to think of it like this: compressors are affected more by low frequencies than high frequencies, so many people put an EQ BEFORE the the compressor to get rid of a lot of lows/mud, then, after adding a compressor, they like to eq it again to add some frequencies back that the compressor reduced.

Remember, it changes every time, every mix presents it's own set of unique challenges, so you need to determine first if the mix needs it or not before you just add it.

T
 
I dont know what other people do, but personally i compress first, then eq, then de-ess (if needed).

One thing to keep in mind is if you switch the order of the eq (assuming you have eq'd the track) and the compressor you are going to get different compression levels.

For instance if i want a telephonic effect on a vocal im going to compress after eq. I dont want the compressor reacting to all the bass in a persons voice if i plan to take it out anyway.

Food for thought if nothing else.
 
xfinsterx said:
One thing to keep in mind is if you switch the order of the eq (assuming you have eq'd the track) and the compressor you are going to get different compression levels.

For instance if i want a telephonic effect on a vocal im going to compress after eq. I dont want the compressor reacting to all the bass in a persons voice if i plan to take it out anyway.
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Huge +1 here.

That the order of plugins could radically change a sound even if you didn't touch the actual settings was one of those incredibly obvious realizations that took me an embarrassing long time to realize.

Look at it this way - an EQ is a frequency-dependent volume control, and a compressor is a device that adjusts the volume of a track in a specified way. They're going to interact with each other. If you have a track with some low-end rumble you want to EQ out for whatever reason, then you're going to want to EQ before you compress simply because you want it like that rumble was never there, so you definitely don't want it triggering your compressor.

Similarly, if you have an electric guitar you want to give a couple db boost in the 1.5-2khz range to help it poke through a dense mix better, then EQing before you compress will really almost defeat the point of EQing - that little poke in that frequency band will almost entirely get wiped out by your compressor. If you're compressing at 4:1 and have a 3db peak, then the actual effect is going to be to bump that frequency band up less than a decibel.

If I'm going pretty EQ heavy on a mix (some call for it, some don't), more often than not I'll be running a pair of EQs, one before a compressor for "corrective" EQ and one after the compressor to "sculpt" the sound into the mix a bit.

Anyway, this is kind of a long rambling post, but there's a reason for that - there's not a "pre-set" order as much as there's a reason for the way things end up getting ordered. Figure out what you're trying to do, and then the order of your plugins will suggest itself.
 
I learned about effects order long before recording or mixing. Putting a compressor pedal after a distortion never sounded right to me because the decay slope and the amount of distortion didn't track in a natural sounding way, since the distortion was level sensitive. It sounded weird for the distortion to drop off when the level was still there.

Now I almost always want the eq before the compression. I mix with the eq. That is, I set the level of an element in the mix based on a key part of its spectrum and then adjust the other parts to fit. Only then do I get into compression, and I want the compressor to react to the harmonic balance that I've set for that element. It's very rare that I need eq after compression to get the results I'm looking for. But I am aware while I mix that the eq "drives" the compressor, and sometime I'll have to adjust the threshold and/or the track level after an eq adjustment.
 
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