compress all of the harsh frequencies out of vocals?

[OH SO L3G1T]

So I've been spending hours trying to eliminate all of the harsh frequencies in some vocals, but every time i do this, the vocals end up sounding cloudy/muffled/not crisp. On one song I made, the vocals came out perfect (crispness wise) and I never heard complaints about the song, but when i listened to the song on my car speakers, there was a lot of harshness. What am I doing wrong?

 

Is there a way to compress out all of the harsh frequencies/ do you know any other methods besides EQ?

 

Thanks in advance!

[chellstrom]

I'd suggest using EQ. Unless it's an overall harshness in the vocal, try automating the EQ to cut the offending frequencies only when needed as to not take away from the overall sound of your vocal.

 

You could also use side chain or multi band compression to dial in the frequencies and try to tame the harshness that way.

 

Hope that makes sense, I'm fighting a cold and I'm heavily medicated at the moment.

 

.Chris

[camillo jr]

If it's a de-essing problem, check out the Lagerfeldt De-esser, made from Logic's own comp - it's very good. Other possibilities..... you may have too much going on in the 2K area. Or you've been too aggressive with the low cut filter, either setting it so high so that there's not much body left in the vocal or the filter is set too steep and it's causing ringing at a higher frequency. 12 dB per octave works for me, and then I slide it around until I have just enough body in the vocal but not so much that it gets in the way of other things. Another possibility - the vocal might simply be too loud in spots. Much of the vocal might be just fine but you need to ride it in a few spots with volume automation. That can actually make quite a big difference. Anything can sound bad if it's too loud so you've got to get it sitting right in the mix.

 

Also consider the fact that modern condenser mics in tandem with the "what goes in is what comes out" digital technology may be making recordings that are too "real". There's lots that can be done about that both in Logic and via a whole host of third party plugs that are designed to impart some analog warmth to chilly digital recordings. I often use Tritone Digital's Colortone for this very purpose, using IR's from their collection to round out, soften, and otherwise impart a smoother high end on my vocal recordings.

 

Don't hesitate to do lot's of comparing of your music to other recordings; it's a great way to learn.