A reader writes in with a question about vocals:
"I love the warmth of low-mid sounds, yet I hate the way that it affects my vocals. I can’t seem to figure out how to reach a happy medium, even when carving out between 250-500hz on my vocals."
If you're running into the same issues, here are some ways to add warmth to your vocals without cluttering up the low-mids.
Beware Cutting Too Much
Cutting the entire area between 250 Hz and 500 Hz might be overkill. That area can in fact add fullness and low-mid fundamental presence, so cutting it out might accidentally thin out your vocals.
If your vocals are muddy or boomy, I'd look lower than that. I find the low-mids between 150 - 250 Hz to be where you can add a lot of nice thickness. But at the same time, too much of a good thing just makes your mix muddy so it's a delicate balance.
Add Saturation Instead
Instead of boosting a bunch in the low-mids, some subtle saturation might help instead. Throw a tape or tube emulator on the vocals and see if they won't warm up a bit without feeling too thick.
Use Parallel Processing
Instead of adding all the processing on the track itself, experiment with parallel processing. I like a good LA2A in parallel on vocals, sometimes with an analog-style EQ that's boosted in the low-mids. Added underneath, it can give your vocals all the warmth you need.
And if you need to take it 10% further, some tape saturation after the compressor and EQ can really bring out the low-mid fundamentals.
How to get expert vocals?
As you can see, just using EQ, compression and saturation goes a long way to making your vocals warm and full. Those are the top processors that every professional engineer uses to make professional mixes, and the reason I made my Mixing With 5 Plug-ins course.
It's a great choice if you want to level up your mixes with only the 20% of the processors you have available, but if you're focusing on vocals exclusively, my Expert Home Vocals course is a good choice as well.
I hope that helps your mixes going into the weekend!
Cheers,
Björgvin