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How to EQ a female voice

musicman7722

musicman7722

Feb 12, 2007
3,012
1,381
Hampton NH
www.chrisparkersound.com
#1
Help Please

I have a very good female singer in my band and I am having the hardest time getting the eq to justify her voice. We do mostly pop style music and I feel she has very good mike technique. On a scale of 1-10 I would give her at least a 7. He frequency range seems to competing with two guitar players that are lound and proud. Their quotes not mine. I have tried both presets on the Mackie DL1608 but both leave me satisfied. Her voice seems to be thin with no real substance to it. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the new mixer it has a 4 band parametric eq on each channel.

Can any of you pros out there help me with some generic advice when approaching a womans voice?

Many thanks.

Chris
 
#5
You might experiment with using a different mic for her voice.

Edit: for instance, the proximity effect you get with directional mics benefits a lot of singers. That's one reason so many people like the Shure SM58; get close on that mic, and you boost the "meat" in the tone.
 
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#7
Well, you're trying to get her voice the right "size" in the mix, if I understand you correctly. If you've got other mic choices (or can borrow a few different ones) it'll be worth experimenting, IME.

As far as asking the guitarists for an accommodation, take a bit off their presence controls.

Best suggestions I can offer...
 
#9
Is your PA just 15's and horns and passively crossed over? Sometimes a female voice in a PA like that will fall right in the insertion loss notch in the crossover and you can't hear her very well even when you have her earsplittingly loud. I encountered this with a band I was FOH guy for. We added a pair of midrange speakers (full range drivers high passed at 100Hz) to the PA and we could suddenly hear how amazing a vocalist she wasn't. :D
 
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#11
I really am impressed with my Beta 58 after using SM 57's and SM 58's for 25 years. Much more output (than an SM 58), better gain before feedback and all around the best stage mic I've used.

If she is to keep up with 2 guitarists with volume issues she MUST stay right on the mic. Try a few different mics, whatever you have, but if you can get a newer Shure Beta 58 you may find it helps in loud environments.
 
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#12
I went back and re read the OP and didn't see anything about what mic she is using, a cheaper mic will show its limits with a 2 guitar band. My present pop group came with a set of beloved (by the guitarist/owner) Digital Reference brand $25 mics and when I came in with a box of SM 58's the singer thanked me but the guitarist persists on using his and we all suffer for feedback and poor noise rejection issues with our monitors (and FOH).

In short make sure she has a GOOD mic, it makes a BIG difference. I am experiencing regularly the reason why good mics cost at least $100, they just work that much better...
 
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#14
Probably has as much or more to do with the two guitarists than the singer. After an over zealous cymbal bashing drummer a distorted guitar is about the best vocal cover upper there is.

My suggestion, cut the guitar distortion by 1/3 and their volume by a 1/3. You and your audience may appreciate hearing the vocals. For many of them that is why they are there.

My band has one guitarist and a male singer with pipes and we still struggle with this depending on the song. It is very easy (and tragic) to cover up vocals if you want to.
 
#15
When I feel that midrange instruments are fighting with the vocals, I prefer cutting at about 500-600 Hz. Works better for me then cutting higher frequencies. I feel that this way I don't have to lower other instruments level, resulting in a full mix while vocals cut through.
Also, some panning will help.
 
#18
Make sure her mic isn't picking up the guitar amplifiers; aim the guitar amps away from her mic if necessary.

If guitars are going through FOH, make sure they're not in her monitor mix.

Have her try several different mics, even if it means a field trip to the microphone store.

Make sure gain levels on her vocal channel are properly set throughout the signal path, and that there are no phase anomalies.
 
#20
What do those presets you are using do exactly?

Ime there's often a tendency to eq to many of a broad spectrum of high frequencies into female voices. I tend to focus on finding the right eq for the middle frequencies and afterward only boost a relatively narrow band around 5/6 khz. Also the 3khz area can mess up female vocals fast.

And as others have said: it might not just be eq. My singer swears by her beta 58 and it really does make a difference.
 

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