Vocal EQ

[milesyoung]

Hi,

I have a question regarding vocals in a mix and would really appreciate some tips!

I have a lead vocal and backing vocals which have all been sung by the same male vocalist and unfortunately he only recorded the backing vocals once so I have to use those left and right.

My question is, what is the best way to eq them or detune them or otherwise edit them to fit into my mix without clashing with the lead. I've tried fine tuning +10 and -10 cents but they are still not clear enough on either side.

Thanks

Miles

[jackruston]

Try this

Stick the part you have on the left. Set up a pre fader send feeding a channel panned Right. Send at unity. Stick a 100% delay on that channel. You want a single repeat with no filter. It depends on the part but I usually find that 20ms is too little and 100ms is too much. You will need to back the level off a bit on the source because it will seem louder than the delay even if it is the same level. That will turn one voice into 2, but it will very much sound like the same voice rather than a double track. If you can get 2 voices it will become slightly harder to tell. 3 even better. It might be worth getting someone to double the bv. If you cant get a good singer it might be worth trying with a bad one. If it comes to that, autotune and stick a high pass on those parts. The more you high pass, the less the poor singing will stick out. Even if you are just adding extra consonants it could make the bv bigger. This is really a last ditch approach and I certainly wouldnt recommend it unless you really must.
J