Any tips on taming vocal harshness using SSL 4000 plugs and/or Logic EQ?
My 17-song project is exhibiting harshness on the vocals. This is my first real mixing project where I am sending it straight to the mastering house before duplication.
I have Logic's de-esser set to 8800Hz. To avoid the lisping effect, I've kept the attenuation to -3dB. The problem is that the sibilance is very harsh sometimes both above and below this level.
Using the Logic Channel EQ, I have also tried dipping the 3k range as that's where people say the harshness lives. When I really tame things with cuts of 6dB or more, it takes the life and range out of the vocals.
I bought the Waves 4000 collection a couple years ago and finally pulled it out on my vocals. I've experimented with just using it to pass the signal through (with no eq tweaks or compression), hoping that it will impart a better (?) sound. I can't really tell if it's helping or hurting.
Also, I've slapped a Logic Channel EQ across every individual track within every single song, with a HPF at 50-100Hz and a LPF at 17k. Is that overkill, or totally insane mixing technique? Am I causing artifacts to build up? I am mixing on Ultrasone HFI-550 headphones as well as Tannoy Reveal 8D monitors. The mixes don't sound harsh in my mixing room, but I can definitely tell that there is "buildup" in certain frequencies that I wouldn't call painful yet, but definitely keeps my ears perked up and kind of in defensive mode. Do you know what I'm saying?
I'm wondering if I'd be better off just sending it off to the mastering house like it is. Are mixes supposed to be sent off to the mastering house totally perfect? I feel like I should be able to correct this situation before springing for the mastering and duplication because I know that there's only so much that a mastering house can do with a stereo mix.
Any ideas, directions to head in, or leads would be most helpful.
Part of my problem is that I'm not really hearing the harshness when I'm mixing at my computer...only afterwards on the 16/44.1 mixdown. I've played it on my iPod, iPhone, car stereo and Bose mp3 docking station.
I have Logic's de-esser set to 8800Hz. To avoid the lisping effect, I've kept the attenuation to -3dB. The problem is that the sibilance is very harsh sometimes both above and below this level.
Using the Logic Channel EQ, I have also tried dipping the 3k range as that's where people say the harshness lives. When I really tame things with cuts of 6dB or more, it takes the life and range out of the vocals.
I bought the Waves 4000 collection a couple years ago and finally pulled it out on my vocals. I've experimented with just using it to pass the signal through (with no eq tweaks or compression), hoping that it will impart a better (?) sound. I can't really tell if it's helping or hurting.
Also, I've slapped a Logic Channel EQ across every individual track within every single song, with a HPF at 50-100Hz and a LPF at 17k. Is that overkill, or totally insane mixing technique? Am I causing artifacts to build up? I am mixing on Ultrasone HFI-550 headphones as well as Tannoy Reveal 8D monitors. The mixes don't sound harsh in my mixing room, but I can definitely tell that there is "buildup" in certain frequencies that I wouldn't call painful yet, but definitely keeps my ears perked up and kind of in defensive mode. Do you know what I'm saying?
I'm wondering if I'd be better off just sending it off to the mastering house like it is. Are mixes supposed to be sent off to the mastering house totally perfect? I feel like I should be able to correct this situation before springing for the mastering and duplication because I know that there's only so much that a mastering house can do with a stereo mix.
Any ideas, directions to head in, or leads would be most helpful.
Part of my problem is that I'm not really hearing the harshness when I'm mixing at my computer...only afterwards on the 16/44.1 mixdown. I've played it on my iPod, iPhone, car stereo and Bose mp3 docking station.
Mac Pro 3.2 GHz Quad Core, Mac OS X (10.6.5), Logic 9.1.3, PT LE 8.0.1 Firestudio Tube 003 Factory BFD2 AutotuneEvo
