EQualizing Vocals.

[UmbraVilla]

hey guys!

i need suggestions about Vocal EQ'ing.
a Low-Pass Filter? what will it give to the Vocals? is it appropriate to use?

 

[Massive Master]

hey guys!

i need suggestions about Vocal EQ'ing.
a Low-Pass Filter? what will it give to the Vocals?

It will allow the lows (below a specific frequency) to pass. Low - Pass.

is it appropriate to use?

That depends on if *you* think it's appropriate in the particular mix you're working with.

 

[Seafroggys]

The lower you set a low pass frequency, the more high frequencies are removed.

I very rarely use low pass filters, except for some virtual instruments with lots of high frequencies that clash with cymbals and sparkly vocals. High pass filters I use all the damn time though.

 

[FunkDaddy]

The only vocal take I can think of that would really benefit from low passing (barring a very strangely recorded one) would be a bass to low baritone male singer, even then only in the context of a vocal group where you want to give space to the other ranges and emphasize the bass of the low singer.

Low passing a vocal take unless the frequency cutoff is set fairly high will remove a lot of clarity and character from the vocals.

You might be confusing it with a high-pass filter which removes the lower frequencies...this is a common part of EQing for a lot of people on a lot of tracks, both vocal and instrumental, as it tends to remove a lot of muddiness without really affecting the truly audible parts of the track. (The basic idea being, if you have a lot of tracks with bottom end, even singularly inaudible, when packed on top of each other they will quickly become audible and add quite a bit of mud to your song)

 

[Bristol Posse]

Use your parametriic EQ to "Sweep" the frequencies.
Set a narrow band EQ boost. Bump up the gain and sweep it accorss the vocal. Make a note of which frequenciies sound bad and which frequencies sound good (do this in the context of the mix do not solo the vocal while doing this)
once you know which frequencies are sounding bad, use the EQ to cut a little at those frequencies and maybe boost a little at the frequencies that sounded good

A high pass filter maybe of use to cut the very low end to leave more space for the kick drum and bass

Even on the same vocalist this will never be the same on every song. With EQ you have to learn to listen for what is making the song sound good and keep that while using the EQ to get rid of what sounds bad.

It's that simple to say but can be diifficult to actually do.
Trust your ears

 

[mixsit]

Use your parametriic EQ to "Sweep" the frequencies.
Set a narrow band EQ boost. Bump up the gain and sweep it accorss the vocal. Make a note of which frequenciies sound bad and which frequencies sound good (do this in the context of the mix do not solo the vocal while doing this)
once you know which frequencies are sounding bad, use the EQ to cut a little at those frequencies and maybe boost a little at the frequencies that sounded good..

I'm gona catch hell for swimming against the grain here- but what the hell let's go for it. Should be interesting.

But I would advise not to use that as a go-to right off primary method for noobs -for mixing'.
(.. and maybe.. 'not noobs'. hmm..

As part of a learning tool sure, yes.

My caution (and the distinction) is similar but from a different form of 'gotcha- to the one for caution eq'ing in solo mode.

High Q, high gain sweep' looking for things that sound wrong or what ever- is the cart before the horse' sequence wise.

I would contend one would listen to the part(s) (and mix) and ask what sounds out of place, along with 'is it that track in question or perhaps the combination to other tracks? (The 'fault often is not where (or why) it might at first seem.


Second. High Q gain skews your fix' (ear) on what and where 'normal tone balance lies.
This can be overcome (compensated for) with some settling time back in 'no eq node -with the less radical the exposure, more experience, likely the easier to get your ear back.

Simply saying use high sweep (or notch as that may be what is called for often as well) to dial in on the tone center you have already picked out as your focus in question, not the other way around. (At least initially.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I'm gona catch hell for swimming against the grain here- but what the hell let's go for it.

I'm not going to give you hell, mixsit, but I am going to present the flipside argument. I don't think either one of us is completely right or wrong; I think it can go either way depending upon the engineer. And I think for noobs who are not yet set in any way, they can figure out for themselves what works best for them.

From my POV, parametric sweeps are just fine for the noob and the non-noob as early-in-the-overall-process techniques.

It's an easy technique for the noob IMHO because you don't necessarily have to have super-fine-tuned ears to catch the worst of the honker frequencies, they jump out pretty obviously even to the uninitiated.

And using them early on has the advantage of giving you the clean instrument to hear and to work with *before* you start to decide how it really sounds and how it best fits in the mix. Get an instrument to fit in the mix before cleaning it up with a sweep, and one might easily find that after they clean it up, it no longer fits in the mix the same way.

IMHO, YMMV, Void Where Prohibited by Law, Etc.

G.

 

[mixsit]

I'm not going to give you hell, mixsit, but I am going to present the flipside argument. I don't think either one of us is completely right or wrong; I think it can go either way depending upon the engineer. And I think for noobs who are not yet set in any way, they can figure out for themselves what works best for them.

From my POV, parametric sweeps are just fine for the noob and the non-noob as early-in-the-overall-process techniques.

It's an easy technique for the noob IMHO because you don't necessarily have to have super-fine-tuned ears to catch the worst of the honker frequencies, they jump out pretty obviously even to the uninitiated.

And using them early on has the advantage of giving you the clean instrument to hear and to work with *before* you start to decide how it really sounds and how it best fits in the mix. Get an instrument to fit in the mix before cleaning it up with a sweep, and one might easily find that after they clean it up, it no longer fits in the mix the same way.

IMHO, YMMV, Void Where Prohibited by Law, Etc.

G.

I agree totally 'clean up is what you do first while you're working up a mix, trying out balances, getting familiar with it.
So just to get a second feel for this- not aimed at you necessarily, would this then be common to sweep most tracks as a matter of course looking for oddities if you will, even before you identify them as such in the blend?
I don't know, it sounds a little like looking for trouble' that may not be. Let alone so many things are a peaky' mess and that is their natural state' and partly defines their signature. (wrong words there..
Perhaps just being aware while looking at it like that is the ticket.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

would this then be common to sweep most tracks as a matter of course looking for oddities if you will, even before you identify them as such in the blend?

One thing that has been seeping through my cranium and into my head lately is that amongst the non-newbs that I know there are very few techniques in this racket that are common, or at least that are all used in the same way at the same time; which is why I said that neither of us is completely right or wrong.

Because most of the folks I know that really have their chops in the studio are mostly folks somewhere near my own age group (if not older), we're talking a lot of people who grew up without the influence of the Internet or really any other great source of mass information to influence how they learned to do this stuff. Because of that, they mostly have had to figure out their own favorite/best ways of doing things. Yeah, a lot of the basic tools and techniques are the same, but the way and when that everybody uses them varies from person to person.

For me, though, parametric sweeps are mostly for cleaning and sweetening an instrument's track, not for trying to shape the track to the mix. IOW, for me fitting the track into the mix comes after I've taken the bad stuff out of the track, which means taking them out with the sweeps comes first. depending upon the project, I might even do some sweeping before I even start the "faders up" rough mix listen. But that's usually only on those tracks which sound rather obviously that they're going to need something fairly strong in the way of parametric sweetening.

G.

 

[Dirk Lind]

In a general sense, something that really helped me (and of course, I am still learning!), was this: Take the vocal track and solo it. Loop a short section. Now, place a flat EQ on it. One by one, slowly take every parameter of your EQ to every extreme possible. Do it a bunch of times. Notice how each parameter's movement affects the sound of the track. This exercise will make it easier down the road to have a better feel for what's going on when you EQ something.

But my personal rule of thumb is, if you find you need to EQ the hell out of a vocal track, take a step back and try and address mic technique, room acoustics, delivery, mic choice, instead of killing yourself trying to find a mixing solution.

 

[jlewis]

but my personal rule of thumb is, if you find you need to eq the hell out of a vocal track, take a step back and try and address mic technique, room acoustics, delivery, mic choice, instead of killing yourself trying to find a mixing solution.

..........+1

 

[RevSwitchblade]

My opinion...

Remember, every voice is different and every song is different. I figure there are 3 main reasons to eq a vocal: 1) To help the voice sit better in the mix 2) To correct a specific problem 3) To create a specific effect (ex. A.M radio voice) If you're eq-ing for any other reason, make sure it is improving the mix. Try bypassing or turning off the eq once in a while while you're mixing to get perspective on the track, and make sure you're not going too far with an adjustment. Another basic eq-ing idea is to "cut narrow, and boost wide". Be careful with high-pass filters as it's very easy to remove too much body from a vocal. The main reason not to eq: Eq cannot make your voice sound like someone else's. Just a few tips that have worked for me through the years. Train and use your own ears, that's the best thing to do. Also pick and choose what hints you come across that seem to make sense to you and put them in your "kit". After a few years you will amass a lot of info.