Vocals

[raycarroll03Participant]

Have been told that while mixing on sq 6 that my vocals need to stand out more in the mix with clarity. Any suggestions to help with this?

[Heirloom AVMParticipant]

Bring down everything else.

[BelfastParticipant]

Volume is very rarely the issue EQ is the way to go

HERE IS A FEW HINTS

Get the EQ right
Of course, there’s much more to good-sounding vocals than simply volume. Vocals also need to be sitting at the right frequencies to truly stand out. While every mix is different, we can follow a general rule to begin: cut anything under 80-100 Hz and consider boosting the 5,000-9,000 Hz range for clarity. There are several more frequency bands than this, and each one highlights a particular aspect of the vocal tone.

For instance, “muddiness” occurs at the 300-500 Hz range, and should be carefully cut, just not so much that the vocals become hollow. Nasal sounds occur around the 800-1,500 Hz frequencies while breathiness stands out at the 10,000-16,000 Hz range. It’s good to know a bit about mixing with EQ to understand where these tones fall, especially in the context of the song. This way you’ll be able to really nail down the type of vocal quality you seek in the mix.

[Mike CParticipant]

Don’t over compress or process the vocal channels.
Maybe cut some in the 200hz ish area.
Are you high passing the vocal channels.

Are you dealing with a loud stage volume and loud monitor wedges.

What is the main PA system, how is it EQ’d, what is the room like your working in.

Same concept applies to any mixing board.

[raycarroll03Participant]

Yes, I am using compression on vocals at 5:1 threshold of 6 gain of 6. My worship leader says that he wants more clarity on vocals and making space in the mix for instruments. I have copied a link to our service and yes you see to acoustic guitars but the guy playing is the only one is going to the stream. Listen if you can and feed back is helpful. Have only been working with digital boards for about 3 years and they are totally different than analog.

[Heirloom AVMParticipant]

You might try subtle panning of each vocalist (between L20 – R20) relative to stage position and a bit wider panning of individual instruments in the stream mix to open up space. If you record multi-track then you can use that as a virtual sound check until you find the perfect mix. Is the worship leader basing their comments on the stream only? The live mix and stream mix can be completely different.

[raycarroll03Participant]

Off of the stream. We are using a matrix which is a copy of the mains to use as the stream.

[Heirloom AVMParticipant]

Here are a couple of good conversations on the topic:

Matrix or aux to video feed?

"Stereo Aux" versus "Matrix" for Streaming?

We use a stereo aux pre-fade for stream, but it does require managing a second mix. The stream is a much different mix than the sanctuary as the listening environment is not the same as a live room.

[BrianParticipant]

I think the worship leader’s voice is competing for a lot of the same frequencies as the instruments. I was going to suggest that you use the MultiBD 3/4 compressor or DynEQ4 plugin side chained to the vocal to reduce some of the frequencies on the instrument(s), but I researched a little before posting and realized the SQ series doesn’t allow side chaining on those plugins. (Hopefully I’m wrong and a recent update added this functionality, but I don’t think that has happened yet). That is a huge limitation to these plugins and I am disappointed to find out this is an issue. (We use an Avantis and use the side chain functionality on our dynamic plugins).

The other option is simply to turn up the lead vocal a little more. You might find some more compression could also help prevent the vocal from becoming too loud, but just be sure not to compress it so much that you take out all of the “life’ of the vocal.

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