How to eq frequencies from vocal sample
- Thread starter :=:
- Start date
Aproh
New member
Hi there ! I'm no pro but I have done a fair number of recordings of myself and others in the past. I could try and give you some advice on recording and mixing for voices.
First thing I'd say is you have to take into account the instrumental you're using. Is it a very dense instrumental with a lot of things going on or does it have just your basic drums, bassline, and (relatively) discreet sample?
In these two different scenarios, this is how I like to proceed:
- First option: if the instrumental is quite full and doesn't have a lot of space, I like to record 2 main vocal tracks (recorded in the most identical way possible, otherwise you'll have to make some annoying editing and cuts). I then pan one to the left and one to the right (not too far though). Usually this works quite well and I get the feeling that it blends in nicely with the instrumental. For backing vocals I do the same (although both backing vocal tracks don't HAVE to be identical, I sometimes like to vary the tone of voice and/or the words I choose to back up). I then pan those backing vocals left and right to the max.
- Second option: If the instrumental does have space, you can still try the above method, but personnally I usually go for a basic and simple approach: 1 main vocal track (centered) and two backing vocal tracks (panned left and right but not to the maximum, just a bit so that you can hear all three tracks nicely).
Now i'm not sure if you actually needed all the information above, but hey, it could help who knows.
Now, for the actual mixing part of the vocal track:
Sorry, still gonna talk about a little recording before! First thing I'll say is this: no amount of editing, mixing or modifying will fix a badly recorded track. So your main priority here is to actually make sure that you get a clean recording. You should make sure that your soundcard is tweaked so that your microphone records the least amount of noise that's going on around you, and of course, try and record in a place that's reasonably quiet and that doesn't reflect sound too much (big room is not a great idea, and an enclosed space that's too small won't be great either, at least in my experience). Also, when recording, you wanna make sure that your voice doesn't saturate and isn't too low either. Best thing is to be a little under the limit of saturation, but not right at the limit either cos you wanna give it some room.
Now to the actual mixing (finally): personnally, I find that I don't really use EQ that much for voices. If my recording is clean, I usually add a bit of reverb to the voice and maybe some other effects depending on what I want to achieve, but that's all taste/personnal preference/creativity. In the end, a lot of the mixing part is just tweaking things to see if you wanna reduce something or emphasize on something. One notable thing you might come accross is too much sibilance (sounds like "sssss" when you say certain words). For this, you can try and use a "de-esser" type preset if your EQ has presets, or try reducing some of the volume around the 5kHz/8kHz area (although I've read it can go above that).
I don't think I have much else to say other than try and experiment different things for different tracks, that's the way most people learn (I think). Again, I'm not a professionnal, but all of this info has helped me personnally.
I'm sure I'm probably missing a few things, but it's nothing that Youtube tutorials or other people on this forum can't teach you.
Good luck !
First thing I'd say is you have to take into account the instrumental you're using. Is it a very dense instrumental with a lot of things going on or does it have just your basic drums, bassline, and (relatively) discreet sample?
In these two different scenarios, this is how I like to proceed:
- First option: if the instrumental is quite full and doesn't have a lot of space, I like to record 2 main vocal tracks (recorded in the most identical way possible, otherwise you'll have to make some annoying editing and cuts). I then pan one to the left and one to the right (not too far though). Usually this works quite well and I get the feeling that it blends in nicely with the instrumental. For backing vocals I do the same (although both backing vocal tracks don't HAVE to be identical, I sometimes like to vary the tone of voice and/or the words I choose to back up). I then pan those backing vocals left and right to the max.
- Second option: If the instrumental does have space, you can still try the above method, but personnally I usually go for a basic and simple approach: 1 main vocal track (centered) and two backing vocal tracks (panned left and right but not to the maximum, just a bit so that you can hear all three tracks nicely).
Now i'm not sure if you actually needed all the information above, but hey, it could help who knows.
Now, for the actual mixing part of the vocal track:
Sorry, still gonna talk about a little recording before! First thing I'll say is this: no amount of editing, mixing or modifying will fix a badly recorded track. So your main priority here is to actually make sure that you get a clean recording. You should make sure that your soundcard is tweaked so that your microphone records the least amount of noise that's going on around you, and of course, try and record in a place that's reasonably quiet and that doesn't reflect sound too much (big room is not a great idea, and an enclosed space that's too small won't be great either, at least in my experience). Also, when recording, you wanna make sure that your voice doesn't saturate and isn't too low either. Best thing is to be a little under the limit of saturation, but not right at the limit either cos you wanna give it some room.
Now to the actual mixing (finally): personnally, I find that I don't really use EQ that much for voices. If my recording is clean, I usually add a bit of reverb to the voice and maybe some other effects depending on what I want to achieve, but that's all taste/personnal preference/creativity. In the end, a lot of the mixing part is just tweaking things to see if you wanna reduce something or emphasize on something. One notable thing you might come accross is too much sibilance (sounds like "sssss" when you say certain words). For this, you can try and use a "de-esser" type preset if your EQ has presets, or try reducing some of the volume around the 5kHz/8kHz area (although I've read it can go above that).
I don't think I have much else to say other than try and experiment different things for different tracks, that's the way most people learn (I think). Again, I'm not a professionnal, but all of this info has helped me personnally.
I'm sure I'm probably missing a few things, but it's nothing that Youtube tutorials or other people on this forum can't teach you.
Good luck !
michaeldaro
Freelance Engineer
guy above me gave u a great answer, but make sure your recording is clean (just like he said), i try not to eq vocals but i do put a high pass filter to cut out unnecessary low end that isnt really there, then i just make sure that they are sitting in the 1-4k range. depending on the voice, males (can be as low as 800hz) and females (can be as high as 5khz). just maybe boost those a bit to make it stand out a bit more. use a eq analyzer to be sure where the vocals sit in the range
Waltz Mastering
www.waltzmastering.com
Sibilance is usually one of the biggest problems to come up when dealing with vocal recording and mixing.
Using a good mic and pre and having good technique helps to avoid the issue on the front end,
but learning to use a de-esser after the fact can help clean it up.
The most common frequencies I see daily are 7-8K,
but it really could be anything and change through the song on
different consonants ie: c's, f's, k's and t's ..
So finding the right frequency is the key.
That can be done by ear, the listen function of the ds'er or an analyzer.
Too much gain reduction will sound like a lisp..
Making it sound natural is the other key. gl
Using a good mic and pre and having good technique helps to avoid the issue on the front end,
but learning to use a de-esser after the fact can help clean it up.
The most common frequencies I see daily are 7-8K,
but it really could be anything and change through the song on
different consonants ie: c's, f's, k's and t's ..
So finding the right frequency is the key.
That can be done by ear, the listen function of the ds'er or an analyzer.
Too much gain reduction will sound like a lisp..
Making it sound natural is the other key. gl