So, yesterday i was experimenting with my vocals and EQ, trying new stuff (as always experimenting) and i realized my vocals sounded quite nasally, i do growls and that crap you know, typical death metal stuff; so i took the stock parametric EQ from FL Studio and did a HUGE cut around 400-500hz of -9db or so and it sounded insanely better... that nasal shit was gone, and it sounded more "radio-like", it also was fitting more in a mix as well.

My question is, its this a common practice around pro mixers? because i know that "if it sounds good, then its all that matters" but i want to know if i discovered something that mixers were doing since forever.

I was "scared" of doing too extreme cuts on vocals or any other instrument, but since there are no rules, maybe i discovered what death metal mixers were doing all this time.

My mic its a Behringer XM8500 which is one of the better Shure SM58 clones, so its not that bad, that nasally tone was also present on more expensive Condensers i tried too.

 

It's because you can not do it so well but many metal vocalists do have this problem. Bring me the horizon or old suicide silence for example.
Very often it's the case that there is a resonance around 500hz. But in the mix it's not a problem if you can fix it of course.

 

Last edited: Jan 2, 2022

Pretty much, yeah!
Not just on vox though.
500 hz an be a problem area with lots of instruments. For me, it's often EP.
You're only ever going to discover what has already been discovered.

 

Likely that you were too close to the mic.
Here, read this might help you gain a better understanding of what just happened, friend:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_effect_(audio)

 

No need to, tiny imbalances, tiny corrections, big imbalances ... Just think of a notch filter.

 

i'm not a huge fan of 400 - 500, i tend to whittle it down a bit from a lot of different audio sources, vocals included. if you like the sound of that region scooped out but feel uncomfortable making an "extreme" cut during mixing, experiment during the recording process so the mic is capturing less of that region at the start. try a different mic / polar pattern, position in your room, room treatment, proximity to the microphone, EQ on the way in, etc. if you can knock a few db down that way, you'll be able to make more subtle adjustments during the mixing phase

charts like these might help! good way to try and quantify what you like or don't like about a particular sound

 

I know Suicide Silence old vocalist (RIP Mitch) used to cup the microphone, in studio and live. In studio he was not cupping the mic but was doing the same with a condenser like 50cm away from the mic.

Really, i was about to talk about this too, the 400-500hz are some nasty frequencies for sure lol. I find myself removing them from almost everything. In the snare (depends on the snare too) some 400hz helps to give it more body, but on guitars with distortion, its annoying. Even though, i remove some 600hz on distorted guitar to get rid of that nasally-modernish tone.

Yeah i was really close to the mic, but dynamics tend to work better when you are close to them for the signal-to-noise ratio.
Also i feel more comfortable being close to the mic opposed to be 10 or even 20cm away from it haha.

Well, the 500hz nasal sound is still present if i sing away from the mic anyway.

Totally, i find myself following too much "rules" for this stuff, when its not necessary, every mix its different.

 

Don’t kill it. Tame it… Soothe can work wonders

 

-9 db? how narrow or wide?
I have mixed tracks with this mic, an aggressive high shelf boost and aggressive low cut puts it in the right spot for me.

 

Oh jesus I just got vietnam flashbacks of my first microphone reading this
Wasn't a Behringer one, but JustMusic's brand which is just as bad in terms of SNR.
Dude, the moment I got my SM58, that pathetic excuse of a microphone hanging previously on that stand made beautiful love with my trashcan <3

 

Nasality is around 1k otherwise. 500-ish is body. If there's masking/overlapping, try instead turning down 500-800 on the "music only" bus and leave the vocals untreated.

 

yes. Many secrets are hidden at 500-800 Hz

 

but add too much right below it and your kick starts to sound like a cardboard box.

 

Some growl techniques use more of your nasal passageway to complete it's sound and it's even desirable. Maybe try another type of growl. When the more your lips make an O shape and the higher your raise it to make it a 0 shape is the more you include your nose into the process imo.

Not insult to you because I need it too but you have to take time off to practice your screaming.

The wider your mouth the less it's nasaly. If that makes sense. Like say for example you curl the tip of your tongue under your bottom teeth to push out a false growl. But of course still do your magic with EQ's and all that afterwards to further shape the growl.

Also this doesn't have as much to do with your post; but when I speak to random people, they naturally sound more nasally than others without trying. It's just how their voice sounds.

 

@Ghaleon777 I just saw this, thought of your thread.
Video is called "F*** These Freqs".

 

Which is where the subtlety of mic position comes in.
A few mm difference in pointing at the nose or pointing at the throat.

 

It was not too narrow, but i already was cutting low end, however...

lol yeah maybe this Behringer i got its not the best for this kind of stuff, but its the only thing i can get right now. I would love to get an SM58 someday.

I tried this, and the result was not so good. And yes, i know nasally is around 1k but when i remove 1k i remove the aggressiveness of the vocal.

it seems like it!

I am doing growls since 2014 bro, i dont need to better my technique, i already got a sound, similar to Barney´s old growl vocals (the guy from Napalm Death)
Anyway, the sound i make the most its totally different to a normal growl, have a listen:

That is from my project´s EP. (obviously using pitch shifter in the main vox. I realized that cutting 500hz before adding pitch shifter also removed that nasal tone, that maybe its not so apparent, but its way more when doing the normal growls)

 

you should HP at about 500hz, every single track but the bass and kick drum, I also LP everything at around 15khz I saw it on youtube tutorials,

 

Totally, i was doing the same and got nice results from doing a drastic cut with a HP at 400-500hz too. If you listen to PRO records, you can ear that the vocals for example, have almost no rumble/bass frequencies. I think the trick they do its doing a separate bus, adding bass to that bus instead.

 

Please don't listen to this guy.