EQ a thin Vocal?

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timmyg
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EQ a thin Vocal?

Post by timmyg » Fri Feb 27, 2015 4:00 am

Hi all,

I have recorded a vocal that sounds too thin and I reckon it's most likely down to the mic being too far away from the singer. Re-recording is not an option as the singer is now in another country!

Can I use the channel strip to EQ the vocal to add warmth & presence or would I have to invest in a more detailed EQ like Pro-Q?

Every vocal is different but most importantly I need some ballpark settings to start from and I'll tweak accordingly from there. I've not had this issue before when mixing so I'm not sure of the frequencies as I usually use my ear not my eyes.

cheers

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Anthony Alves
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Re: EQ a thin Vocal?

Post by Anthony Alves » Fri Feb 27, 2015 9:49 am

@TimmyG. I noticed your first statement was that the vocal was too thin but you then asked if you could add warmth and presence with the PsP EQ. These can be 2 different needs. First the thin means not Fat so that can be done with compression and some eq. But remember eq only adds to the frequencies that already exist so if the vocal lacks these warm frequencies they can't be raised by the eq. In that case a plugin that adds warm, fattening and presence is FabFilter Saturn, PsP MicroWarmer and even Fabfilter Volcano has some great BBE Enhancer Presets that really do this well.
Yes if your mic is too far away from the vocalist and in the end you actually want to mix a close-up vocal sound you will be fighting this effect to no end. Mic placement is the first decision of production as is any input. What you do get from this distant micing technique is natural compression so I wouldn't over compress this particular recording and you may find that expansion may work better. So try the expander in the PsP channel strip. As far as some general settings ? that would be the default setting in all the plugins because unless I can hear that vocal track I can't tell you what those would be. Don't be afraid to move the dials and expieriment. Always save your plugin setting first before messing about so that you can always return back to where you were. I save multiples durring a session. Cheers and good luck. ~~_/)~~~*

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martygras
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Re: EQ a thin Vocal?

Post by martygras » Fri Feb 27, 2015 11:16 am

There have been several times where I thought a vocal was too thin, but once it got in the mix, it fit better and sounded fine. So I have tempered my need for warmth to some degree, because it used to cause me some extra eq time making the vocal fit in the mix.

Just another possible option.
Marty Schulte [I'm a drummer. So, there's that.]
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timmyg
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Re: EQ a thin Vocal?

Post by timmyg » Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:40 am

Thanks Anthony.

I'd planned on purchasing MicroWarmer soon to add to the master strip as part of the mastering process so it's handy you mentioned trying this on the thin vocal. I'll look at the presets when i get it and take it from there.

beas
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Re: EQ a thin Vocal?

Post by beas » Thu Mar 05, 2015 1:31 pm

One other potential strategy might be to do some artificial widening. You could copy the vocal to a second track. On the second track, delay the start of this track in comparison to the original track by 20-30 milliseconds. Then, pan the original hard left and the doubled track hard right. This will widen the vocal with some natural chorusing. I suspect the vocal would sound thicker. Just a thought.

Ohmnoise
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Re: EQ a thin Vocal?

Post by Ohmnoise » Thu Mar 05, 2015 1:54 pm

To double the track came into my mind too in the first moment. Another trick to let sound a thin vocal more thick is to add a little lower pitch-FX, like ReTune can do. If you like to have your vocal in the centre of the panorama, just copy the vocal track without any delay and add into inserts the ReTune with 100 % FX-Balance. You control the "thickness" with FX-pitch-parameter and the channel-fader. If you have a free subgroup left, assign both channels into and try to give it a final touch with some eq and/or compressor.
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timmyg
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Re: EQ a thin Vocal?

Post by timmyg » Mon Mar 09, 2015 9:16 am

I tried the doubling method but kept both tracks panned centred...sounds really good now.

I also added a small bit of EQ in the mid-range which helped.

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