getting rid of muddy vocals

[chalz2502]

i wanted to know if anyone know the best solution to getting rid of muddy vocals. ima recording engineer that know enough to getting my mixes sounding decent, but still needs work on understanding a few things that can make me better. this is one of them, trying to understand where to start and how to go about it. I'm working off of protools 10. i didnt record the person, they sent me they're vocals. the vocals were recorded in protools but they recorded on a very cheap mic with no recording booth. i can tell they recorded in a very unisolated area with no preamp. me on the other hand, i have a preamp, expensive mic and all the right tools, my gear would have made it allot easier to mix but this is the kind of situation i need to be prepared for. it may come a day i don't have this stuff to work with or engineer other peoples music, so now is the time to learn. what do i do and how do i do it?

[JFreak]

Wihtout having the source material to listen to, here are few suggestions:

- first set up a high-pass filter. As high as you can without losing "the body"
- then set up a high-Q eq boosted as much as you can. slowly sweep higher from below HPF until you hear boominess (I would guess around 400Hz) and take that filter to max cut. repeat until you've swept the whole spectrum
- at this point it is normal if your vocals sound weird; so one at a time, take a close listen when you ease that high-Q on your problem frequences. when you begin to hear the problematic boominess, back off a little and leave it there.

Now your vocal track should sound "decent" and you can start doing some nicer things with it

[nst7]

To add to what Janne said, it is usually good to do this stuff on your vocals while the mix is going on. It may sound odd if you solo it, but as long as it sounds good in the mix, that's what counts.

[JFreak]

It would be, but the OP already said the material has been recorded elsewhere, not an option anymore.

But you're right. I myself wouldn't hit record if vocals are muddy. Perhaps 25 years ago but not now

[JFreak]

On another note; once you have "decent" vocal track, you could try Aphex Exciter or some other harmonic process to get the better part of the track more in your face...

[chalz2502]

what frequency am i sweeping?

[nst7]

I think I worded my post wrong. I just meant that he should make those EQ decisions in the context of the mix, rather than soloing the track.

[chalz2502]

maybe i can send one of yall the session with just that one take and you can tell me if its fixable. and if we are hearing the same thing

[JFreak]

Maybe you should