Have you ever mixed a song and really struggled to make the vocals cut through?
The typical tricks involve equalizing out some lows or boost some highs, but that doesn’t always work. Plus, sometimes all that EQ leave the original vocal feeloing flat and lifeless.
Another option is to really squeze the track with compression, but even still sometime that doesn’t have the desired effect, and even worse, there are times when the compression necessary to make the vocals heard just sounds aweful
Once these tricks have been exhausted, is there anything left? Absolutely!
Not long ago I was working on a project for a client and had this very problem. What worked for me? A little bit of distortion.
Now, I’m not talking about distorted vocals. Rather, I’m talking about using distortion to help the vocals cut through.
Joe Gilder is a Nashville-based engineer, musician, and producer who also provides training and advice at the Home Studio Corner.Note that Joe also offers highly effective training courses, including Understanding Compression and Understanding EQ.
