Even if you're familiar with recording and using DAW software, stepping into mixing can be daunting if not downright confusing. There's a lot to take in. It's honestly easiest to start with EQing vocals because it's easiest to hear and understand the changes being made.
There's a learning curve with each plugin, and that's not even talking about how they affect each other and beginning to understand the general order of operations. Don't worry, I'm going to break it all down and make it extremely simple.
Another useful feature Voxformer has to offer is the presence boosting module, which you can use to add some shine and space to the vocals. As a finishing touch, Voxformer offers you a flexible easy-handling 5-band parametric equalizer (pre/post selectable) with a real-time output stage fast Fourier transform (FFT) spectrum analyzer display. Crunchman - Amp & Preamp. Crunchman VST & AU (V3.0) - Guitar Tube Amp. Oversampling 8x. Version 3.0 - power amp is added. Version 2.1+ - the new GUI by Luan Albani. Version 2.1 - the correction. Version 2.0 - the new technology of simulation. Version 1.2 - tone correction and added a CFF switch.
This step-by-step guide will not only tell you what to do, but how to do it. And every bit of it is useful when you step further out into tasks like compression, limiting, adding reverb and delay, etc.
The 6 Vocal EQ Steps
I'd like to point out, before we jump in, that your results are limited by the quality of your recording. The better the microphone, preamplifier, and converters you have in your audio interface, the clearer result you'l get out of your equalization.
And equally important are the acoustics of your room. You must take care of that to some level, whether using acoustic treatment or a DIY vocal booth. It's a fairly simple problem to fix, and one that you can't avoid if you want professional equalization results.
The one, indispensable tool you'll want for EQing vocals is a parametric equalizer. Since you found this article, I'm assuming you know your way around a DAW and know what that is (your recording software). The best DAWs will have a parametric EQ plugin. Find that and place it on your vocal track in the mixer.
Note: I'm going to give you specific frequency bands to work in, but you'll have to narrow those down or shift them slightly depending on if you're working on male or female vocals. And also, it depends on how dense or sparse the mix will be. A full song will require more equalization on the vocals than would that of an audiobook narration.
An additional note is you can have a visual analysis of your vocal's frequency wave on the screen of the EQ plugin as seen in the image above. An Logic Pro it's called the Analyzer and is found in the bottom left. This can help you as a beginner but you should abandon it once you're comfortable. The risk is you'll start to mix with your eyes instead of your ears.
1) Roll Off the Low-End Bass Frequencies
The first thing you'll do an any vocal track is to roll off the low-end bass frequencies. This is where a lot of noise resides, like electrical static, 60 Hz hum, rumblings from the mic stand or desk, self-generated microphone noise, and air conditioner sounds.
Male and female vocals will reach this low but contribute nothing to an overall song, podcast, audiobook, etc. And if you record too closely to the mic this bass in your voice will be exaggerated by the proximity effect. So let's get rid of it.
On your parametric EQ, the left-most band will already be designed as a low-end roll off. Make sure it's a roll off and not a low shelf or high pass filter (it won't be, but check and learn about those). You want a smooth lowering of the volume as you move deeper into the bass frequencies.
Starting Settings: Set the main frequency to 90 Hz with a 24 dB per octave roll off. A 0.71 Q creates a smooth asymptote so you don't end up with a boost to the frequencies above 90 Hz. Sweep the main frequency up and down while listening to find the best setting.
2) Reduce Muddiness & Boominess
Without a doubt, no matter how good your room's acoustic environment is, you'll accumulate some 'mud' in the 200 Hz to 500 Hz frequency range. It may not be noticeable as you listen to your vocals in solo mode, but with as few as 5 and up to 30+ tracks, it will become obvious.
Mud occurs because you're recording indoors in a small room and sounds are bouncing around off the walls. Small rooms always build up louder and louder in this range. We want to reduce it slightly, and the actual middle frequency for your Q setting will shift depending on the room and your location in it.
We're going to cut volume in this range, but we want to use a wide Q so it's a smooth transition and not obvious to the listener. It's also important to mention that you shouldn't be cutting or boosting more than 6 dB unless it's a roll off.
Things will sound very unnatural if you boost or cut more than that. If you need more than 6 dB, then you need to correct your acoustic problem and/or use a better mic. That may not be an option for you, but I just want you to be aware.
Starting Settings: I've yet to find a room the size of a standard bedroom up to a living room where 250 Hz wasn't the main problem. It's not just 250 Hz but the frequencies around it. Start with around a 0.70 Q width. If you can narrow down the problem frequencies tighter, try up to a 1.20 Q, but don't go much tighter. Use a cut of around -3 dB to 5 dB.
3) Brighten the Vocals for Air & Sparkle
Next let's target the high frequency range with two goals in mind. First we want to add some air and sparkle, which is mixing jargon to describe the sound of the air leaving the vocalist's mouth as well as bringing out some high-pitched character. Second we want to cut out the highest frequencies entirely.
In the image above, the rightmost frequency band is a high-end roll off, and the one to the left of it a high shelf filter. We'll use both. We'll use the shelf to boost all of the upper frequencies and then the roll off to cut out the extreme piercing frequencies.
You want to be very subtle here. Too much of a boost and you'll add too much sharpness which can actually hurt the listener's ears on certain sound systems. Car speakers often are too bright due to how small the 'room' of the car is.
Starting Settings: Try starting around 8 kHz for the high shelf and only boost 1 dB to 1.5 dB. For the high roll off, around 18 kHz is a good main frequency at 24 dB of reduction per octave with a 0.70 Q width. The goal is to stop all piercing frequencies that may slip through and to make room for cymbals in the mix.
4) Add Presence to the Vocals
For most vocalists, around 4 kHz to 5 kHz is where 'presence' resides, which adds a sense of firmness or solidness to the vocals. This makes the words being sung or spoken more intelligible and easier to understand.
This is a harmonic frequency, meaning it's above the core, fundamental frequency of the vocals which we'll deal with next. You can target it fairly tightly (but not surgically tight) with a thinner Q width. You'll hear when you go too far. Find the setting you like best and then back off half of a decibel or a full decibel.
When you EQ other instruments in the mix, this is a good candidate to slightly cut out of other instruments like rhythm guitar or keyboard / synthesizer. It will make more room for the vocals and keep them intelligible.
Starting Settings: Start at 5 kHz. It'll probably be fine, but you may need to sweep up or down between 4 kHz to 5.5 kHz to find the sweet spot. A 2.80 Q width and a 2.5 dB boost should get the job done. Definitely tweak it to taste based on your own recording.
5) Boost the Core Vocal Frequencies
You may or may not need this, which is why it's almost last in the list. Sometimes boosting (or even cutting) the core frequencies can smooth out the quality of the vocals. This will change depending on if it's a female or male vocal take, but the range is always the same.
We'll discuss the main differences for males and females below, but for now know you'll be hunting in the 1 kHz to 2 kHz frequency range to find this core frequency. Boosting it should add some clarity to the words being spoken, making it easier for the listener's ear to grasp on and hold on to the vocals.
Starting Settings: Use a fairly wide Q width of around 1.20 so you get a smooth boost. Sweep between 1 kHz and 2 kHz to find the best center frequency for your voice. I'd keep the boost or cut below or equal 2 dB max. You don't need much here and less is more.
6) Use a De-Esser to Reduce Sibilance
The final step is to remove instances of sibilance, which are the high pitched, piercing sounds you may (or may not) be hearing when the vocalist makes 'S' and 'T' sounds. It's a fast burst of air that our sensitive microphones pick up more than our ears do.
You can EQ these sounds out with an equalizer, but the problem with that is you're reducing these problematic frequencies for the whole take. Your better move is to use a de-esser, which is a compressor sidechained to an equalizer. It will only reduce the frequencies when they get too loud.
You'll typically locate these frequencies in the 5 kHz to 8 kHz range, and it will change depending on the gender of the vocalist. Sweep a tight boost on your EQ to locate them, then use that info in the de-esser.
Starting Settings: Once you locate the problematic frequencies, set them as the target and reduction frequencies in the de-esser. You'll have to set the threshold (try around -25 dB to -30 dB) and then set a volume reduction value. Try around -10 dB to -15 dB there. Too much will sound unnatural.
Best EQ Settings for Vocals
Now I want to show you the accumulative work you've done. You don't need a separate parametric EQ plugin for each step. The first 5 steps can all be done on one single plugin, which will look like the image below. You can take this as the best EQ settings for vocals like a template to start with.
To re-cap, the general steps and round about values look like this:
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- Roll off the low-end starting around 90 Hz.
- Reduce the mud around 250 Hz.
- Add a high shelf around 9 kHz & a high roll off around 18 kHz.
- Add a presence boost around 5 kHz.
- Boost the core around 1 kHz to 2 kHz.
- Reduce sibilance around 5 kHz to 8 kHz.
That's a roundabout tutorial you can always follow once you understand the basics of using the Q and how much or little to boost or cut. Even if you did exactly that on every vocal track you'd still end up with pretty good results. The specifics will vary on each track though.
EQ Frequency Range Characteristics
When vocal EQ, you can think of the frequency spectrum as six different segments with their own characteristics. While there is some blur between them, you'll find most problems fall right into the ranges provided below:
- Low-End Noise - 20 Hz to 80 Hz
- Boominess - 80 Hz to 300 Hz
- Muddiness - 250 Hz to 500 Hz
- Nasal Honk - 800 Hz to 1.5 kHz
- Presence - 4.5 kHz to 9 kHz
- Breathiness - 10 kHz to 15 kHz
You'll find other words that describe these characteristics too and can adopt whichever you like. But you want to be familiar with them all because other professionals may use differing terminology. So 'Breathiness' may be called 'Air' and 'Presence' may be called 'Clarity.' Mud is often called 'Boxiness.'
How to EQ Vocals Professionally: Conclusion
It's all really this easy. While, of course, there's some decisions to be made within each step about how much to boost or cut and which frequencies to target, this six step guide gives you parameters to work within and start from.
With the info above, even if you don't get it 100% perfect, you'll still get to around 80% and that's a lot better than nothing at all. And in time, with practice, you'll master the art. And these steps that every professional uses is the outline on how to EQ vocals.
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The piano is one of the most important instruments in music production, not only because piano keys are used as the map for MIDI controllers, synthesizers, and other instruments, but also because it sounds great and can be used for a ton of different purposes.
It’s a versatile instrument that’s great for compositional purposes, however, sometimes it’s hard to get it to sound right in the mix, which can be ameliorated by a few Channel EQ settings.
To EQ a piano, adjust 20Hz to 80Hz for power and boominess, 80Hz to 180Hz for boominess and bass, 180Hz to 300Hz for fullness or muddiness, 4000kHz to 1000kHz for depth or boxiness, 1000kHz to 5000kHz for definition, clarity, presence, and air, and 5000kHz to 20,000kHz for sparkle and brilliance.
In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to go about using the Channel EQ piano presets to make your own, and then we’ll explore each frequency range and how it pertains to the piano.
by the way, I have a list of all the best products for music production on my recommended products page, including the best deals, coupon codes, and bundles, that way you don’t miss out (you’d be surprised what kind of deals are always going on).
Using Presets to EQ a Piano
Garageband and Logic Pro X both come with a ton of great piano presets that are actually quite good. Both software includes literally hundreds, potentially even thousands of presets for the instruments, dynamics processors, and effects plug-ins and these presets can also be applied to plugins.
However, in the case that you’re not using either of these programs, I’ll include some screenshots of the Channel EQ presets for the piano here. You can use these as guidelines for the EQ plug-in in whatever DAW you’re using, however, I recommend using Fab Filter’s Pro-Q EQ from Plugin Boutique because you can solo frequency ranges to hear what they sound like in isolation.
Grand Piano
For this pre-set, I altered it slightly by bringing down that boost between 1000kHz and 5000kHz by 2-3 dB.
Piano Bright
This preset is also quite extreme in the high-end. I dropped this one down between the range of 5000kHz and 20,000kHZ by around 2-3 dB.
Piano High
For this one, there is a boost right around 220Hz that I attenuated by just a bit, just because I find that range doesn’t need to be boosted much on the piano.
Piano Low
For this one, I slightly changed the location of the attenuation around 200Hz.
Piano
This one is kind of strange, in the sense that it’s almost like a volume boost. There are some variations in the frequency spectrum, but it’s mostly a boost right across the board with the exception between 200Hz and 500Hz. I changed this one a little bit by making it a little less extreme and more varied.
It’s important to remember that these are presets, and they’re meant more to be a guideline than anything else. As I’ve explained before in my EQ guide, how you EQ your piano will depend a lot on the notes you’ve played, the type of piano, and how it was recorded. I explain more about this later.
1) Set Up the Preset in the Channel EQ Plug-in
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Down in the smart controls, you have to go into the drop-down menu after turning on the plug-in and you’ll find the Channel EQ plug-in in the “EQ” option. Make sure you’ve selected “Track,” instead of “Master,” because if it has been set to the latter, you’ll change the EQ on every single instrument.
2) Bring Up the Channel EQ and Then Go Into the Drop-Down Menu
To bring up the actual plug-in’s interface, you just have to double-click on the plug-in in the list. From here, it’ll bring up the interface of the Channel EQ plug-in, and then you can select the drop-down menu to find all of the presets.
3) Choose the One That Sounds the Best to You
There are about 19 pre-sets to choose from and what preset you choose depends a lot on the type of keys you’re using. For instance, there is a big difference between an organ, a ragtime piano, and a grand piano, and how you set up the EQ will change accordingly.
Quick Tip:
Truthfully, I think there are two important things to keep in mind when selecting the preset:
1. The type of Piano
2. What octave the piano is playing in.
What Type of Piano?
There are three primary types of pianos, including the grand piano, the upright piano, and the electronic piano like this great Yamaha model from ZZounds. To be completely honest, whether you use the “Piano” preset – which I assume is meant for the upright piano – or the “Grand Piano” preset, it’s not going to matter a whole lot.
The way you play the piano will have a much bigger difference on how it sounds than whether you use the right channel EQ preset, which is one reason why I recommend people to take piano lessons via PianoForAll (from their website), which is the cheapest and most efficient way of doing so, but I digress.
The primary difference between the grand piano and the upright piano is that the grand piano’s strings are hit by the hammer using a horizontal mechanism, with the weight of the hammer returning back to resting position, compared to an upright piano which is done more vertically.
The result of this is that the grand piano tends to have a much smoother vibe with a more relaxed attack. Grand pianos are often known for having much better sustain (how to increase sustain in my guide), which is a term describing the way that notes can ring out for longer and more naturally.
Additionally, there are electric pianos, organs, clavinets, and other keyboard instruments. Garageband and Logic feature presets that accommodate a number of types. With all that said, you really shouldn’t overthink this. Just choose a preset that you think makes sense.
Piano Playing Higher Notes
For example, if your piano is mostly playing higher notes, it would be best to choose something like “Piano Bright” or “Piano High.”
Piano Playing Lower Notes
But if your piano melody is playing low notes, you would choose something like “Piano Low.”
4) Adjust the Preset to Meet Your Needs
While you could use a lot of the presets straight out of the box, I find it’s best to adjust them a little bit to fit exactly what you want which is the same thing I argued in my article on EQing flutes. For instance, I find that the presets tend to be a bit extreme sometimes in terms of their boosts and cuts.
If you’re anything like me, you like things to sound bright, airy, and clear, so I would choose the “Piano Bright” as my favorite piano preset. However, there is a massive boost at the end of this preset that is a little much, so I’ll bring that down by just a bit.
This is how I go about setting up the EQ on the piano, however, there are many cases where I’ll set up an EQ entirely on my own without any presets in mind. For this, I find it’s useful to have a guideline of what certain frequencies sound like on the piano.
The Frequency Range of a Piano
A great way to familiarize yourself with the EQ range of a piano is to take one of the Apple Loops in Garageband or Logic Pro X (by the way, I have a guide on how to use them), load it into your DAW, and then bring up the channel EQ plug-in to experiment with various boosts and cuts.
Using the brief guideline that I’ve shown you below, you can really see where certain parts of the piano sound on the frequency spectrum. EQing a piano is not unlike EQing a guitar; depending on how you’ve set up the boosts and cuts, and at which point those adjustments take place, the sound of the instrument can be changed dramatically.
20 Hz – 50 Hz – Sub Frequencies
At this point in the piano’s frequency range, there isn’t much going on, even if you’re playing the bottom register of the piano. You could probably go ahead and cut out this area by just a bit, but don’t cut them out completely because there are probably at least some lower-end frequencies cutting through this part of the mix.
50 – 80Hz – Upper Sub Frequencies
There are very minimal frequencies in this range, as well, even when playing the lowest notes of the piano. However, if you were to jack up the area between 70Hz and 80Hz, you may notice that some of the lower notes may boom for just a moment. EQing this range will play with the sound by just a little bit, but we still haven’t reached the point of the piano where the vast majority of changes could be made.
80Hz to 120Hz – Lower Bass
Now we’re getting to the good stuff. The range between 80Hz to 120Hz is where all of those boomy bass notes lie. If you want to bass-boost the piano and really get those lower notes to shine through and add a lot of warmth and “oomph” to your sound, this is where you want to be.
At 80Hz, there are some frequencies in there that, if boosted, will really rumble. However, it isn’t until you reach between 100Hz and 120Hz that the boosts really add extra rumble and bass.
120Hz to 180Hz – Upper Bass
We’ve entered the lower-mids at this point. I describe this area as a point where the bass combines with the mid-range frequencies. Frankly, this is an area where it can sound a bit messy if you’ve boosted it, so tread lightly in this particular region. Personally, I would opt more for attenuation of around -2dB at 146Hz or so to get the piano to sound good.
Obviously, this depends on the piano and how it sounds on the mix, as well as how it’s been recorded, what type of model, the room it’s in, etc. Regardless, it’s a good thing to try just to see what happens.
180Hz to 300Hz – Fullness or Muddiness
This area, like the range before, is another transition area. It’s a combination of some bass frequencies with a bit of the mid-range. It’s also where the muddy frequencies can be, however, not completely. I think a good guideline for this area would be to just cut it out a tiny bit.
This is going to have the effect of really cleaning things up a bit. I would go so far as to say that this area shouldn’t be boosted at all, because it’s going to sound the best if you’ve attenuated the frequencies a bit, rather than boost it. Give it a shot and see what you hear.
400Hz to 1000kHz – Depth or Boxiness
This is the area where the boxy frequencies come into play, or the depth, depending on you much you’ve boosted/cut. This part of the frequency spectrum is important for the piano. It’s a general rule to be sparing with EQ boosts and cuts, but I would say this area is particularly sensitive. Err on the side of boosting by just a tiny bit and not cutting it.
If you boost the frequencies in this area, you’re going to get that hollowed out, boxy sound, but if you cut them too much, on the other hand, the piano will sound dull and lifeless.
1000kHz to 2500kHz – Definition and Clarity
I would argue that this area is where the majority of the higher notes on the piano lie. This is another important point of the piano’s frequency range, and any boosts in this area are really going to affect parts of the piano where there are any higher notes.
For instance, if you’re using a piano riff that is a few octaves up, this area is going to affect how the piano sounds a lot. I would almost never cut this area.
2500kHz to 5000kHz – Presence and Air
This is the point in the frequency range where you can get the piano notes to stand out in the mix in a big way. It’s also where you add some of those “airy”-type frequencies. To my personal preference, this is another point where I wouldn’t be doing too much cutting, simply because you’ll pull all of the air and presence out of the mix.
5000kHz to 10,000 kHz – Crystal and Sparkly
This is a range where you get the crystalized, sparkly, sound, as well as the hammer attack. To my ear, the hammer attack frequencies are between 8000kHz and 8500 kHz. That’s the point where the hammer is smacking against the strings and making the sound that’s characteristic of the piano.
Boost this area and you’ll get a lot more sparkle or a lot more of the crystalized sound.
10,000kHz to 20,000kHz – Brilliance
Similar to the lowest part of the frequency range, there isn’t much going on here. I wouldn’t go so far as to say you could cut it out or anything like that, but boosts and cuts in this area aren’t going to do much for you. I would say just to keep it the way that it is and let some of those higher frequencies, some of that sparkliness, to shine through.
Important Things to Note
1) The Differences Between Pianos
Obviously, there are a ton of different types of pianos, keyboards, and organs as well, so how you set up an EQ on the keys really depends on the type of instrument you’ve chosen. There are clavinets, organs, ragtime pianos, and organs, just to name a few, and how you EQ them depends on not only the instrument itself but also the notes that you’re playing on it.
2) Solo Piano
If the piano is a solo instrument in the recording, it’s best to go easy on the EQ, because there won’t need to be much added to it. If there some type of tonal problems with the instrument, it’s best to fix it in the recording stage rather than in the mixing stage.
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However, assuming you’re using a piano VST like what I’ve recommended in my piano VST guide or some other type of MIDI instrument, this won’t be an issue, or at least it shouldn’t be anyway. Native Instruments also has awesome piano and keyboard sounds as part of Komplete 13 which is the best bundle of instruments and samples you can get from zZounds.
3) Recording Your Own Piano
A lot of factors can influence the way the piano sounds, and it depends largely on how the piano was recorded. If you’ve recorded the piano in a large room, there is going to be a lot more reverb, and the sound will tend to have a distance or long-hall vibe to it. Smaller rooms tend to have a warmer sound.
Microphone placement is another important component to recording a piano, and even the specific type of microphone is going to impact the way it sounds in the final product. If you’re on a budget, I’d recommend Audio Technica’s 2020 or 2035 from Amazon because it’s great for everything and it doesn’t cost a fortune.
Another factor when recording a piano is where it’s actually sitting in the room. For instance, a piano set in the center of the room will sound much different from a piano recorded in the corner of the room. According to Audio Recording, pianos recorded in the corner tend to have a lot more bass.
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4) Don’t Forget About Effects
Things like reverb, delay, and ambiance make such a tremendous difference in how the piano sounds. There is something about the piano that just lends itself to things like reverb. It just seems like the piano is built to have reverb on it, and if you’re serious about that effect, you won’t be disappointed with a premium reverb like Eventide’s SP2016 from Plugin Boutique.
5) If It Sounds Good Leave It Alone
This one is self-explanatory. If the piano already sounds good to your ears, maybe there doesn’t need to be any changes made to it.
YouTube Video Tutorial
Conclusion
EQing a piano, like other instruments, really doesn’t take much work. You just have to pay attention to how it sounds and determine what changes need to be made if any. There’s a good chance you may not even need to use an EQ on piano, especially if you’ve used a VST piano, a sample, or even an Apple Loop, which tends to sound pretty good out of the box.