Your EQ is an essential tool for any of your mixes, and vocal tracks are no different. Whether it’s removing low end from your vocals, or boosting some low midrange frequencies, using the right strategy with your EQ is important so that your song sounds professional.

Both subtractive and additive EQ are useful techniques, despite the ongoing debate for which is better. We’re going to share with you how to use EQ on vocals and how to EQ vocals like a pro. Whether your query is how to EQ background vocals or who to EQ lead vocals, we’ve got you. Like we always do and will.

Eq’ing vocals can feel like a mountain to climb. There are frequencies that need closer attention than others, and finding those frequencies can be tedious if you have no prior knowledge.

So, welcome to our EQ cheat sheet for vocals. Let’s get started…

Frequencies You Should Pay Attention to

When EQ’ing, it’s ultra-important to be aware of what frequencies have what effect on the tonal quality of your vocals. By having knowledge of these particular frequencies, you can dissect your vocals with much more confidence.

These are average ranges, of course, and they will slightly change between vocalists. Producer Spot summarises them nicely:

  • 100 to 300 Hz: Warmth and fullness
  • 500 to 800 Hz: Boxiness
  • 800 to 1.5 kHz: Nasal tones
  • 3 to 6 kHz: Presence
  • 4 to 7 kHz: Sibilance
  • 10 to 15 kHz: Air

External things such as particular gear used to record the vocals and even the environment they were recorded in may also have an effect on the tonal characteristic of the recording. But this general guide should give you a nice idea of what to look for. To remember them, it is a good idea to load a vocal track and cut/boost the different frequency ranges have mentioned.

Environmental factors impact the recording, so recording in an acoustically sound environment is your ideal scenario, Source: Sound On Sound

Useful Tips for EQ’ing Vocals

Apply a High Pass Filter

A high pass filter should be one of the first EQ steps you take with vocals. It removes muddiness and any environment based noise to create a clean and clear vocal track.

Set your high pass to about 100Hz with a gentle slope so that you’re not cutting all frequency content below 100 Hz. This will sound unnatural. This subtle difference will clean your vocal mix up nicely!

typically, we adjust the frequency at which the high pass filter kicks in to be as low as possible without thinning out the body of the vocals. This is what we call the sweet spot.

Utilise a Singular EQ

You will always need to dissect individual tracks. This process allows you to identify any frequency content that needs further attention to make the channels right in the mix.

Individually EQ’ing each of your vocal tracks as needed will help make your vocal performances sound tight while eliminating any unnecessary frequencies. To make your vocals more dominant, a boost between 3kHz and 6 kHz will bring your vocals to the front of your mix.

However, don’t go crazy with your midrange boosting. Too much energy here can overcrowd your overall mix and it just won’t sound professional.

If your vocals are sounding harch, a cut in the 4kHz to 7kHz may well do the trick. But, in this range be careful. Too much of a cut can remove the brightness from your vocals.

Create a Vocal Bus

As well as EQ’ing individual tracks to find problem frequencies, creating a vocal bus preset will speed up your workflow in the blink of an eye.

A vocal bus usually includes tools such as a compressor, de-esser, and an EQ… sometimes followed by an EQ. We apply reverb, in most cases, via a parallel aux track though.

A bus allows you to create a vocal EQ chain and process any vocal tracks running through it in the same fashion. Thus creating a consistent signal chain throughout your music catalogue. The two areas to pay extra attention to are your high and low-end frequencies.

We can mop up muddy low end with a high pas EQ with a cut off point around 100 Hz – 300 Hz. Be cautious that you don’t cut out too much frequency content here as you may end up with a hollow vocal track.

You can also use the EQ bus to add more air between 10-12kHz by boosting this frequency range. This will give a brighter sound to your vocal channel

EQ Lead Vocals Separately from Backing Vocals

Separate your lead vocals from your background vocals for a more distinctive sound. Background vocals can include copies of your leads or additional harmonic vocals there just to fill up space, but you should EQ them differently if you want to avoid cluttering your mix.

We can use an EQ to place the vocals under the lead vocals neatly and can keep the listener’s attention on your leads. To do this, roll off some of the high-frequency content of your backing vocals by setting a low pass filter with a cut off point between 600Hz-800Hz. This’ll create the effect that the backing vocals are deeper in the mix than the leads.

Use Telephone EQ Parameters

This kind of EQ simulates the tonal characteristics of voices coming through a telephone. Countless artists have used this technique, but it’s most prominent in hip hop.

A lot of EQ’s feature these parameters as a preset setting. The goal is to filter out both the high’s (above 4000 Hz) and the lows (below 400 Hz) to leave us with the main body of the vocals. Then try boosting the mids and see how crisp they sound!

The effect is often used at the beginning of tracks and the filters eventually roll-off to reveal; the full frequency content of the vocal track. It’s often heard alongside additional vocal content (adlibs) that are panned hard to the sides or sitting in the background.

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