Vocal EQ guide

A little goes a long way when cutting low-mids on vocals. It’s easy to rob the vocal of its warmth.1

The first harmonic is where the warmth and body lies (e.g. if the fundamental is 100Hz, 200Hz is the first harmonic).2 Cutting here before Compressing vocals can improve clarity.3

Boost 300Hz if your vocal feels hollow or nasal.4

300-500Hz can sound boxy and have room resonance.2

400-500Hz is typically a muddy region.4 500-1kHz is a region where rooms tend to resonate.5 550-600Hz can be a trouble spot for female vocals.6

600Hz is another warmth spot, but it can sound boxy too.2 I like to bring this out in a Vocal reverb.

2k-5kHz is an area of vocal intelligibility.4

1k-2.5kHz is good for presence, but it can sound honky and nasally.2 I noticed down to 900Hz sometimes too. Billy Decker actually uses a de-esser on this zone. I can try a dynamic EQ.7

2.5k-3.5kHz is nasally at worst but present at best.2

Our ears are most attuned to 4kHz. This range can get harsh.2

You can Use a parallel high band to add intelligibility. Boosting the delays and reverbs can also add intelligibility. Gregory Scott argues this is because of our evolutionary propensity to cue in to sound reflections.8

6kHz is for clarity, but it can get tinny.2 This is often where constants lie.

7k-10kHz is sibilant.2

Boost 8kHz with a bell or shelf for sheen.4

10k-16kHz is where the top end sizzle is.2

Boost 12-14kHz with a shelf. You may like to follow this with a cut at 18kHz.4

20kHz is the air.2

Use a multiband compressor on vocals. Joseph sets this at a threshold where it only activates at louder moments.6

  1. [Mixing & Mastering for Singer-Songwriters Freeman Recordings](https://www.freemanrecordings.io/products/mixing-fundamentals-eq/categories/2149866024/posts/2156036512)

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  2. VOCAL EQ SECRETS of the PRO’s - YouTube ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  3. Benchmarks For Killer Vocal Mixing ↩

  4. Most POWERFUL Vocal EQ Tips - YouTube ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. The One Thing I Always Do When Mixing Vocals - YouTube ↩

  6. Deep Dive: Lead Vocals (Female Vocals) ↩ ↩2

  7. Template Mixing with Billy Decker ↩

  8. How to SEAT A VOCAL Down INTO THE MIX ↩

Notes mentioning this note

Mixing vocals
Mixing vocals [[Vocal EQ guide]] [[Compressing vocals]] [[Vocal reverb]] [[How to treat sibilants]] [[Controlling harsh high end]] [[Mixing background vocals]]...