How Should A Vocal Be Processed Before You Master ?

P

Paris Davidson Jr.

New member
Im just now starting to get the hang of leaving headroom in a mix and not having things so loud which has made a big difference. But im having trouble getting my vocals right, i tried to master a song i was working on and the vocals got really harsh. In the mix, the vocal peaks to about -3 dB, should i turn the vox down or is there something else i should do.
 
Hmm... Well, if I understand your question correctly, it seems like you are looking to EQ the vocals. You can use a spectrum analyzer to figure out where the peaks of the audio are at, (for instance, if the vocal has really loud frequencies at 4000 Hz, you would use EQ, and decrease the volume of the frequencies at 4000 Hz (or whatever the frequencies are). There may be more than one frequency making the vocal sound harsh too, so you may have to decrease the volume at several different frequencies.

In my experience, when the vocal has been really harsh, EQ has helped out many a time. (Although I'm still a little unsure of what the question is exactly.)

I'm unsure if your DAW has an eq or a spectrum analyzer, but if not, you could try a third party EQ and spectrum analyzer. Izotope is a really good plugin for eq and mastering. I'm not sure if it's free, though.
 
i eq'd the vocal while mixing and took out the frequencies i didnt want and it made it much clearer until it came down to mastering the track , it wouldnt make sense to take out more than i need to so im confused at this point.
 
Hey Paris,
I don't know the ways you're mastering your music, but keep in mind, that the compression and limiting in the mastering process are boosting quiet parts of the mix.
For example the vocals are getting louder and frequencies which were not really audible are boosted, too.
So you may find out which frequencies are disturbing. If there's something harsh you may take a look at the high frequencies.
 
When I mix, my final mixes are about 12dB quieter than a 'mastered' song. Pretty much nothing will peak at -3dBFS. And the mixes sound like a finished record. When they are mastered, the only obvious change should be increasing the volume with a limiter. Anything else will be subtle as hell.
 
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