Need advice on taming harsh female vocals!

[doubledre]

so i'm starting to mix my band's tracks and i'm having trouble with the vocals. I got it to sound decent at the moment (atleast to me), but its still sounds off. I notice it sounds too harsh around the mids or highs?....which causes it to sound piercing when listening at higher volumes. But I want it to sound upfront in the mix so i'm not sure how to achieve this. I'm using a an M-Audio Sputnik with a Great River ME 1NV preamp.

Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Sorry I couldnt' post any links yet cause im a new memeber. I can PM anyone links if interested.

[james@refinery]

Have you tried using any other microphones when recording? The right microphone and some E.Q / compression should sort this right out. Try Sweeping a High Pass up in the 15/20,000khz region to see if you can shave some nastyness off as well.

As long as it sounds good in the mix thats what matters. Also do a mix and have a listen on a few different playback systems and get a few different opinons.

---------- Post added at 07:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:33 PM ----------

I'm also happy to have a listen as well if you want to email me some links.

[Dre Major]

What I would suggest is that you identify the frequencies that are harsh using a narrow q on a parametric eq. Notch them out a much as tolerable and use another parametric eq with a wide q to gently balance out the notches you made. Remember that nothing is right or wrong in mixing.

[bandcoach]

If the vocals are harsh try a mic that you would usually use for a kick drum or other low bass instrument - you will be surprised at how quickly the harshness just disappears.

Alternatively, you are most likely looking at reducing the impact at about 1.5kHz and around 3-4 kHz; drop the eq at theses points and sweep just to catch the right spots and you should have them together in no time. If uncertain, use a parallel compression technique first just to make sure.....

[epotts06]

well the sputnik boost at 5-18k in omni and around 8k in cardioid soo you may not be able to do much about it... but try what dre major said and see if it helps

[BeatComMusicGRP]

What kind of music does the band do???

[everbeatz]

in mixing stage you might try frequency dependent compression

[Snareman]

Chloroform.

[ThaFaktory]

also ive lurned that yu can use a Low Pass Filter and set the Cut off around 8k- 10k and yu will be surprised at what it tames.. try it out!

[L_Houdini]

^ LPF is a good idea. If that's too drastic for your mix, run a side-chain compressor with an HPF running around 7 or 8k up, give the compressor a strong ratio to flatten it out, 10:1 I recommend, and the threshold use accordingly. of course, same philosophy as de-essing. for mids with a side chain comp just change the eq to a band press, give a decent Q like a 2, and choose your frequency. another thing, next time tell the broad to back away from the mic while recording. the harsh mids have happened to me when some high ass rapper is up too close yelling into the mic .