PROCESSING RECORDED VOICE

 
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Processing recorded voice 

 Voice acting, singing vocals, narration… just about any flavor of recorded human voice can benefit from signal processing. I’ve developed some typical things I do whenever I’m taking a raw voice recording toward a finished audio product. Audio practitioners should not seek recipes, but strategies instead. Each voice and project may need different approaches so there is no perfect EQ setting, no perfect compression preset that can be used every time. So consider this a set of strategies – ideas worth your consideration to use or omit with a great sounding voice as the goal.

Equalization

 

The secret to a great sounding dialog or vocal mix is a good recording: plosive free, without mouth noise, sans funky contributions from the room, and lacking sibilance. I suppose an inspired, well performed recording helps a little too. But let’s assume we have a decent voice recording and it’s time to mix/process toward the final audio program.

To that end I have a typical voice processing chain. I don’t see it as a recipe to follow regardless of the context, but rather a starting point to tailor the sound for each unique production.

 

My first step is probably the most important and definitely the most likely for me to implement: Frequency Cuts.

low cut filtering extremely useful tool, it can be used on several occasions to prepared your mix for final master session

Philosophically, I think of this as simplifying the signal closer to its essence. For voice there is usually low frequency information that gets recorded but we can’t hear. It is good to filter out that stuff. When directional microphones are used up close, proximity effect may be audible.

A shallow low rolloff might help. When the presentation will have a limited high frequency response, I like to use a high roll off too. If there are “ugly” frequencies in the recording, I’ll use a parametric to find and minimize those. Anything that doesn’t benefit the end result may be minimized using equalization.

Other cuts may involve spectrum that sounds fine for the voice by itself, but that won’t be important in the larger mix of elements. This isn’t a significant issue for voice-only or voice-dominated projects. But for song vocals, sonically busy scenes, and other source rich environments, additional cuts in the voice can free up spectrum for other sounds.
These may not be obvious at the very beginning of the mix, but instead tend to be uncovered over time. While contextual cuts are less obvious, they can be just as helpful toward a great sounding result.

 Post Compression

I seem to boost frequencies after compression, rather than before. Because when I EQ after, boosts work more intuitively.Boosting EQ into compression can make the compressor more responsive to the louder frequency range. And since compressors fundamentally reduce gain, boosting into compression can have the opposite effect sometimes. When I boost after compression it feels normal, natural, and obvious.Conversely I like to cut before the compressor so it doesn’t respond to undesirable stuff. Sure there are times I may break these norms, but it’s pretty rare.

When I first started reading about compressors I was hopelessly lost. The terminology was technical in an almost mean-spirited way and I couldn’t make heads or tails of what was being written. To keep things simple, I think of compression as a way of evening out the loud and soft parts of any vocal or instrument so that its behavior is a bit more predictable. In other words, compression brings up the really soft spots and tames the really loud spots so that you’re not constantly reaching for the volume fader on your mixing board (or virtual mixing board on your DAW). In its simplest form, a compressor, whether a hardware unit or a plug-in, will squeeze the audio so that its highs and lows are less pronounced. This allows you to do things like bring down the volume level of the compressed track without fear that its softer parts will get lost, or bring up the volume level without fear that the loud parts will jump out. It might help to think of all compression settings (attack, release, ratio and threshold) as ways to squeeze your audio more or less aggressively. Not enough compression will leave tracks that jump out of a mix at inappropriate times or get lost in the sound of the other instruments; however, too much compression can make a track sound lifeless or uninspired. My rule of thumb is to be less aggressive compressing audio on the way into your DAW (because you’re stuck with whatever you do) and more aggressive with my plug-in compression (because you can always dial it back).

Simple visualization of how compression can make your recording even

Warmth

 Because most people record with directional microphones, proximity effect leaves many voice recordings with plenty of bass. But when a recorded voice sounds thin, I raise a parametric EQ 3 to 6 dB and sweep through the 80 to 200 Hz region listening for warmth. I tend to start with a moderately narrow Q: 2 to 4. If things sound good through a wide range then I’ll open up the Q. I’ll back off the gain until it feels warm, but not tubby.

In addition to listening for warmth, I’m also listening for weird room resonances (which will overhang past the voice like a short reverb) and other, less pleasant characteristics. I don’t want to trade a solid low end for another problem. So it’s a combination of finding warmth without also accentuating something problematic.

Just north of here, in the 200-350 Hz region, things can sound thick. I don’t tend to boost here because it can make a voice sound nasal, chesty. I’m more likely to cut here than boost. Unless it actually sounds good (which is occasionally does), in which case I will boost it. Any audio “rule” should be considered breakable. Ultimately, how it sounds matters more than what you’re supposed to do.

FX chain

In your face

 

The old Academy Curve had a presence boost in the 2-5k Hz range. When you need more “here and now,” this is the range to sweep. As with warmth, I like a moderately wide Q and a boost of 3 to 6 dB to go hunting for this flavor. In the lower part of this range things can honk. As you move up things can get sibilant. Find the presence frequency while avoiding honk and/or sibilance; try not to trade presence for a bigger problem.

Sometimes boosts in this range will exaggerate mouth noise. If the performer was sticky and click-y, you’ll be hard pressed to boost in the 2-5 kHz range and not bring out mouth noise in the process. In my experience EQ isn’t going to help you get rid of mouth noise, but it can definitely make it worse.

If you know the mic used to record the voice, this may influence your frequency choice for boosting. For example, the Shure SM58 tends to give a lot in the 5-6k Hz region (see graphic below). If the voice is miked by a 58, you probably don’t need to boost any more in that range. It’s far more likely that you need something below that to get more presence (and/or cuts are needed somewhere below 300 Hz, and/or the mic position is bad).

  Vocal Compression in the Mix

 

Once the vocal is in the mix, I go to a plug-in compressor to further help keep the vocal present in the mix without jumping out too much in the loud spots. My recommendation would be to find a compressor that has a smooth, transparent sound that allows you to squeeze the vocal just a little more (approximately -3dB of gain reduction at the loudest spots) so that the vocal maintains it’s presence. I set my attack at 26ms and my release at around 300ms.  If the mix is a particularly full one where the voice needs to cut through a bit more and show a little more sparkle, I’ll use a frequency-specific compressor (like the Waves C4 on its “pop vocal” setting) which is a little more specific in terms of which frequencies it chooses to compress. In this case, 40hz, 500hz, 6khz and 16khz.