EQ Basic Tips

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Once you have recorded all the best possible vocal performances down in you digital workstation, you are now ready to start the mixing process. Mainly the first thing to do depending on personal mixing taste, is to equalize the vocal takes that have been recorded. Typically, you would want to cut all the problem frequencies first instead of boosting the good ones. We start of first in the low-end frequencies with a High Pass Filter around 80Hz to 150Hz. By doing this we remove, any low-end rumble and usually these frequencies do not contain anything important. If you feel that your vocal lack body or sound to thin, then most likely you would need to apply a narrow band boost around 200Hz to 600Hz. This will give you vocals a bigger sound and not so weak sounding. If you find that your vocals sound to harsh or crunchy sounding, then you would need to cut frequencies around 2.5Khz to 4Khz. By cutting the frequencies, you will soften the vocal sound. To add brightness to the vocal without adding that harness sound you would have to boost around 6Khz and above using a wide band pass filter. If you feel your vocals are still sounding harsh then a good place to cut frequencies are from 1Khz to 2Khz. This will smooth out your vocals more. If you find that you are stuck trying to find a frequency that is bothering you, the best way to find out if busing a large narrow boost and swipe the frequency ranges. Once you find it, simply cut that frequency. These tips will not always apply to every vocal, since every person sings and sounds different from one another. These basic tips are good to know because most of the time these kinds of problems usually lie around the stated frequencies.