Can you tell I’ve been doing a lot of voice/vocal work recently?

After you edit your vocals, you’ll probably be mixing them. I know in my last article I told you how to De-Ess your vocals, but often times that can fall under mixing more-or-less (especially when working with vocals for music). When doing V/O applications, you’ll mix your vocals to a clients specifications (for example, for my most recent work the client only wanted chops, fades, and normilzation: no compression, no EQ, no limiting).

Keep in mind this is just how I like to do things: different engineers do things differently and this is by no means a hard and fast rule. I don’t even do it like this all the time, but this is how I do it most of the time.

1. Subtractive EQ

First step is getting rid of all the garbage iny our recording. High-pass filter and notching out the stuff that makes your vocals sound boxy, harsh, or just plain bad. Spend some time sweeping around in the frequencies and pulling out the stuff you don’t want.

A general rule is when subtracting, you want a narrow bandwidth and pull the gain down to where you see fit.

2. Limit

I usually limit vocals just to get the levels in check and, typically, to make it a little louder for the client. However, I limit it gently. As you can see, I’m at a 4.2:1 ratio, a relatively soft knee, and getting around 2.5dB of gain reduction. Nothing severe.

I would generally advise people from lmiting in the mixing stage, but when it’s this light, you really can’t do much damage. Just be careful.

Also, I typically use the Massey L2007 limiter, but for some reason it wasn’t working/showing up in Pro Tools. That being said, you can absolutely limit with the above Digidesign compressor/limiter.

3. Additive EQ

While you use a narrow bandwidth in subtractive EQing, when adding, it should be a gently bump with a wide bandwidth. It really doesn’t take a lot to boost a certain frequency and the resulting sound it’ll make.

For this, I added 1.7dB at 100Hz. This is usually refered to as adding “warmth.” All that means is adding low-end and getting some warm rumble/depth. Adding a little 2kHz (1.4dB) in this voice gave the sibilance a little boost (in a good way). The frequency for speech clarity varies from voice to voice, so you’ll have to do some experimenting. A 2.5dB boost at around 12kHz is generally called adding some “air” to recording. Again, a buzzword, but yeah. It works.

Just boost until it sounds good!

4. Compress

Alright, so I’ve limited a little, but I still usually compress. 4:1 ratio, fast attack, slow release. Getting around 6dB of gain reduction. You can adjust the makeup gain if you’d like, but for this application I didn’t really need it.

You can squash the hell out of your signal or lightly compress to taste. Do wahtever sounds best.

5. De-Ess

This is somewhat optional, but I usually like to do this, especially on more sibilant voices. You should check out my previous article (link below) for how to de-ess your vocals.

This should get you started on your vocal mixing. Enjoy!

Past articles: Editing Vocals & De-Essing De-Mistified