Ideas for Mixing Harmonies

  • Thread starter Thread starter jaynm26
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mjbphotos said:
If you track correctly, you should not need to EQ each track. EQ should only be needed to correct a particular singer's vocal 'issues'. I'll EQ my own voice to get rid of the boxiness (I'm nasal as all h3ll), or to add a little high end brightness - this is on the lead vocal though, never on the BU harmonies.

I put all the BU harmonies in a 'folder', so that I can then apply compression to that group of tracks as 1. I create a send from teh folder to the reverb buss.
I never EQ the folder, although I guess you could if you wanted a particular sound (lo-fi, telephone, etc).
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I strongly disagree with this idea that if tracked correctly then you dont need EQ.

EQ sculpts the mix, as im sure you know mixing isnt about making everything sound their best and then mixing that together, its about compromise and gluing the parts together. If the backup vocals are EQ'd smiliarly to either the guitars, strings or lead vocals then they will sound muddy.. as we know mud and hiss come from overshared information space.

EQ isnt about making things sound better individually (sometimes it is) but its about making the mix fit together.


My technique is to usually roll off a decent amount of the bottom end and give a slight presence boost above or below the lead vocal (depending on if its a high harmony or low)

Usually compress each before sending to a bus aswell and then compress the bus slightly also.

And i usually always double/multi track all harmonies.
 
Hey Im free to be wrong as well I love being wrong because I learn when Im wrong i cant learn when Im right.

Ok lets go strictly ITB setup in pro tools no desk. Lets go no effects, no EQ, no Comp ect. Say we have 5-6 harmonies individual tracks and we send all 5-6 harmonies to a Bus/Aux the sound doesn't change at all not even in the slightest? Again asking an honest question.
 
As far as I know, that's exactly it.

I just opened a session and sent all the guitars to an aux track. Inverted the polarity of the aux and played everything back together.
No guitars. :)

I can't guarantee you that there isn't some minuscule discrepancy, but it certainly won't have a noticeable effect on your audio.
 
I EQ everything before, after. I own more hardware EQ's then anything.
 
CMB Studios said:
I strongly disagree with this idea that if tracked correctly then you dont need EQ.

EQ sculpts the mix, as im sure you know mixing isnt about making everything sound their best and then mixing that together, its about compromise and gluing the parts together. If the backup vocals are EQ'd smiliarly to either the guitars, strings or lead vocals then they will sound muddy.. as we know mud and hiss come from overshared information space.

EQ isnt about making things sound better individually (sometimes it is) but its about making the mix fit together.


My technique is to usually roll off a decent amount of the bottom end and give a slight presence boost above or below the lead vocal (depending on if its a high harmony or low)

Usually compress each before sending to a bus aswell and then compress the bus slightly also.

And i usually always double/multi track all harmonies.
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^^^^^ all of this ^^^^^
great post CMB.
 
Steenamaroo said:
As far as I know, that's exactly it.

I just opened a session and sent all the guitars to an aux track. Inverted the polarity of the aux and played everything back together.
No guitars. :)

I can't guarantee you that there isn't some minuscule discrepancy, but it certainly won't have a noticeable effect on your audio.
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Did you flip polarity with the stock EQ steen Im going to pull up a session now.
 
I stand corrected Steen, Just a level difference. I have 3 piano's tracked and bus to a bus, disabled all effects. I want to say there is a little change but the only change is overall dB level. I stand corrected.
 
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Cool. :) I don't know how useful that info is to you, but I hope it helps somehow.
 
jaynm26 said:
Mj I look at My two first EQ's as 1 because you cant fine tune cuts on a analog EQ but you can on a digital because you have Q's that get very fine, Pro Tools EQ's and Waves Ren EQ's. So yes I do all my cuts with digital EQ's first. I never boost with them. I follow my 2nd or 2nd part of equing with analog EQ I boost with Analog EQ's no cuts also the analog molded EQ's have their own distinct color and harmonics I like that.
My next EQ on the BGV Aux Yes, because when I bus all the harmonies to an aux the sound "CHANGES" sometimes I get a build up of mid (as for instance on a male vocal) or I get to many highs (on a female vocal). Overall the sound changes when all are grouped so I keep EQ at the ready to accommodate that. And yes sometimes I EQ after an effect because the effect changes the sound of the vocal and if it changes it in a negative way I use EQ to correct it. I admit I use EQ alot, Groups, buses, and after effects anywhere where the sound can change, is there a rule against it?
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Yes there is a limit to EQ, but that limit only exists in good quality productions.

You can EQ the fuck out of anything you want if you wish to have poor results.

EQing individual tracks and sending them all to a bus and EQing the bus CAN be okay if done sparingly and tastefully, but if on top of that you're EQing after effects again then im afraid you might start to suffer your quality a bit.

You'd be far better off EQing individual tracks, then treat the bus as 1 track and see where it needs to be molded to fit, and then when effects come into play, a lot of good reverb plug ins (such as logic pro 9's space designer plug in) have their own EQ built into the plugin to effect ONLY the effect of the reverb. and thats as far as i'd ever want to go with EQ... if you 2nd,3rd, and 4th tier EQ, my guess is you've gone too far and they are gonna start to fight.

Signal path is essential... pre-EQ before your effects... if you think there is too much low end after you run it through a reverb plug... then go back to the first EQ to compensate... dont make another EQ in the chain AFTER the reverb... you will get a lot better results.

OH! and the further you boost, the more artifacts you get and the sloppier you become with EQ.... mindful and tactful cuts will always prevail
 
I personally EQ all leads. When i bus my BG i EQ all as one. I feel EQ is important especially if im De-essing, as a lil presence does come out that i like to insert back.

It comes down to what works for you.
 
One effect I've had fun using when I want very smooth & airy BV's is to run them through a reverb set on a short to mid time setting (RT) then return only the wet signal and not the dry. So you're only hearing the wet output of the reverb. Really nice in ballads and haunting mixes. I've also used the same technique with a very short RT to mellow our instruments such as classical guitar. Fun to experiment with it.
 
Often times "Less is More" just good mix placement and not too heavy on verbs etc. pan for personal tastes...unless you are a "Mastering Facility" ready for the final polish those guys know exactly what will bring what out in the mix...speaking of which.. If you plan on having the final mix down "mastered" never use "too much" compression,eq or verbs on anything and keep the main output level -3 to -6 DB or else they'll have nothing to work with for dynamics and everything will get squished...i know that doesn't really coincide with the exact question and stuff for a different thread but something you always should keep in mind
 
Oh god.... I had some good laughs in this thread.

I don't really do much to harmonies. Maybe EQ them slightly and then pan them.
 
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