Setting Vocal Eq

[Nick Richardson]

After posting before asking about how different people set foh graphics and getting a good response I thought I’d post again :)

 

What are people’s preferred ways of setting eq for vocals? What advantages and disadvantages are there of different methods?

 

Thanks for any/all replies

 

 

[azlan]

ideally start with a mic that suits the vocals in question and a PA that is setup reasonably to reproduce the sound you want in the first place...

 

then start with the EQ flat, listen and tweak until it sounds pleasing on its own, then try it in the context of the full mix and tweak further. the closest I have to a hard and fast rule is that I high-pass 90% of the vocals I get at somewhere around 100hz to try and get rid of noise from the stage floor etc..

[RustyBrooks]

High passes are the key to good vocals in my experience, and, in the context of a mix, even going as high as 300hz on a high pass can work wonders.

 

I start with high pass, then tweak to suit the singer, but as has been noted, its often better to change a mic to suit, than eq...

[TimmyP1955]

Take into account the horribly muddy frequency response of the mic when used up close (as it must be in a live situation)(see link). EQ with compensating for that in mind, and tweak to taste.

 

http://padrick.net/LiveSound/Proximity.jpg

[Funky Dave]

My answer depends on what job I'm doing. If I'm on FOH then I use the channel EQ to adjust to taste. Always a 100hz high pass filter maybe some of the bass or low mid rolled off if it sounds boomy or muddy. If I need some more clarity, then I might boost the hi-mid around 3-4k, 9 times out of ten I would reduce the low-mid rather than boosting any high-mid.

On monitors I would set the gain to 0db on the sensitivity, then check the mic in the monitor (only the monitor in front of that particular mic), at this point I'm checking for feedback. If the mic is stable then I will maybe cup my hand over it or take it out of the mic stand and waive it in front of the monitor. If there is still no feedback then I would turn the gain up a little. I would keep doing this until I have found the first frequency that is taking off. Reduce that frequency on the graphic and then check again. Having stabilised the mic and having only reduced one (or two at the most) frequencies on the graphic, I would then move on to the next mic and monitor. Having checked all the vocal mics individually, I would then try the main vocal mic sent to all the monitors, then with all the vocal mics on the stage live, after that I would try it through all the monitors and the FOH system. If at any point the mic produces feedback, I would EQ to reduce the feedback.

Having stabilised for feedback I would listen for clarity and adjust if it really needs it. I try not to adjust the EQ after setting for feedback and if I do adjust it, then I would do that on the channel EQ.

In reality the systems we use don't need much EQ, I use very minimal EQ at any point. I find a standard EQ on our Martin Audio LE700 monitors with SM58, would be 1khz reduced by around 3db, after that the mic is usually stable with loads of volume and plenty of clarity.