In a vocal take with no compression, these differences will seem stark.Ĭompression helps even out the loudness, making the whole track more consistent with itself throughout the song.īut compression can also help ramp up the energy of a vocal recording. Think about it - a Singer can go from a soft and quiet verse to a loud and passionate chorus. Adding compression to a vocal track is one of the most common uses.

That’s the first thing that compression is good for - automating the volume control. This can allow you to make the track louder overall without the audio peaking or being damaged. Basically, EQ helps remove ugly frequencies and boost the pretty ones.Ĭompression takes a little more practice to understand, but it’s a crucial part of mixing vocals.Īt its most basic, compression takes the quietest parts and loudest parts of a track and brings them closer to the middle in terms of its dynamic range.

It can help tame harshness in a vocal or bring out the best parts in the Singer’s voice. If a vocal is too muddy, EQ can clean it off a bit. Carving out a space for each instruments’ frequencies helps them both stand on their own and sound great together.Ī third thing that EQ does for your vocal mix is control it. This can lead to the listener losing the full effect of one or both parts.

Let’s say a vocal is overlapping with an acoustic guitar (which is common). By using subtractive EQ, you can help separate overlapping frequencies. The more tracks/instruments you have in a song, the more likely it is to sound muddy, especially the vocals. You’re basically balancing the instruments with each other, making sure they all play nice together.Īnother important thing EQ does is to remove overlapping frequencies. EQing a track means you’re balancing frequencies - more of the good, less of the bad. One of the main things EQ does is balance the tone. You can use it to boost frequencies, but the key is to subtly subtract what you don’t want. EQ is a plugin that helps subtract unwanted frequencies to allow other frequencies to fill the space, making the whole thing sound better. When you effectively use EQ, it’s what you don’t hear that counts. It may be the most important plugin involved in mixing, yet it shouldn’t be heard. An Equalizer (EQ) is the first plugin you’ll want to familiarize yourself with.

Vocal mixing in fl studio