John P is one of our associates and we recently had a discussion on mixing for voice… He offered some great tips…

First - Learn EQ and Compression backward and forward. That is the key to mixing.

When it comes to mixing its always better to take away then to ad. Also, learn your frequency range…usually males fall in the 2500-3200 range. Also, theres just many frequencies allowed in the spectrum, so if you have a song that peaks around 2800 and your voice is peaking in the same range you have to cut the frequency of the music in that range. Makes sence huh. So basically you are making a whole for your voice to fit in. That way you dont have to duck the music that much.

In the same respect, the human voice is only audible in the 150- 15k range ( any lower and your Barry White) so try cuting your voice with a high pass filter around 80-120, then compress it bit to even it out and your gold. It may sound thin, but remember the low end in the music will make up for it will cut through. Most TV spots are mixed exactly that way. Sometimes cutting it around 200 or even more. You have to play around with your voice to see what sounds best.

Second: Compression, the most over used tool in the industry. Compression if used right will make magic, wrong and you got crap!! Compression is more then setting a threshold and ratio. With the wrong attack and release time you can really mess things up. (TIP: Fast attack slow release for voice: Attack around 25-50 ms Release around 200-250. Mastering…attack 100 release 300) recently I have set up a templete in audition so I dont have to do much, I really like it and it has loosenup my work.

Just remember your work has to pass through the on air processing chain so if it sounds awesome in the prod room… chances are its too mastered or processed for air.

Compression and EQ–learn it, love it, live it. The rest is easy!

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