4 Power Moves to Fix Harsh Vocals
Tired of fighting with harsh vocals that could shatter glass? 🔊 We've got your back with 4 game-changing techniques from mixing legends Stuart White, Leslie Brathwaite, Marc Daniel Nelson, and Darrell Thorp. No BS, just pure mixing wisdom to keep your vocals powerful yet smooth. 🎯
Mix with the Masters
Taming harsh vocals with multi-stage notch EQ
Stuart White demonstrates how to remove harshness from vocals using multiple instances of Notch EQ in series, employing plugins like FabFilter Pro-Q 2, MDW MDW5B, and Waves Q10. By making small, incremental adjustments rather than drastic EQ changes, White effectively smooths out harsh frequencies, such as those around 2800 Hz, that can be piercing at high volumes. This technique ensures the vocals remain warm, thick, and even, allowing the mix to be played loudly without discomfort. White emphasizes the importance of identifying and removing these problematic frequencies to achieve a balanced and pleasant listening experience.
Mix with the Masters
Remove harshness with Notch EQ
Leslie Brathwaite demonstrates how to remove harshness from vocals using the Avid EQ III. He starts by boosting the frequency and narrowing the bell curve to its tightest point, then sweeps across the frequencies to identify the most annoying, harsh sound. Once found, he dips the frequency all the way down to hear what it sounds like without it. From there, he brings the band's gain back up to the point where it reduces the harshness without making the vocals sound hollow, ensuring a balanced and pleasant vocal tone.
Produce Like A Pro
Smooth out a vocal with dynamic EQ and de-essing
Marc Daniel Nelson demonstrates how to smooth out a vocal using dynamic EQ and de-essing, focusing on reducing sibilance and unwanted frequencies. He starts with the Waves DeEsser to tame the harsh sibilance around 5-10kHz, followed by the FabFilter Pro-Q 3 for dynamic EQ to address additional sibilance and honkiness around 500Hz and 100-250Hz. Nelson emphasizes the importance of careful de-essing to avoid making the singer sound unnatural, and uses a wider bell curve on the EQ to subtly reduce low-mid muddiness. By addressing these issues before applying compression and further EQ, Nelson ensures a clean, balanced vocal that integrates smoothly into the mix.
Produce Like A Pro
Smoother vocals with Soothe
Darrell Thorp demonstrates how to achieve smoother, less harsh vocals using the Oeksound Soothe plugin. He highlights the simplicity and effectiveness of Soothe, which can be applied to tracks with harsh frequencies and adjusted for depth and resolution to suit the needs of the mix. Thorp showcases the plugin's ability to target and reduce harshness in the 3k range, resulting in a noticeably smoother vocal sound with minimal effort. By switching to ultra mode, he maximizes the plugin's performance, making the vocal feel more polished and pleasant to the ear.