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It sounds counter-intuitive, I know, but let me explain.
If It Sounds Good, It Is Good
Recently when I was making my latest How I Produced episode about Track 1.52 by Dumpweed, I realized that I had no EQ happening at all on the lead vocal. The chain had my usual two compressors on it, Fabfilter Saturn for some saturation, and that’s it. It looks like I simply didn’t hear a need for EQ, so I didn’t use any.
How Is That Possible?
Well, 90% of the reason I didn’t need any EQ came down to the performance and the microphone (a Shure SM57). Apparently, they went pretty well together which made mixing a breeze.
At the same time, I have to note the role that the compressors played in the chain. Remember that compressors don’t only affect a signal’s dynamic range. In addition to making a source sound more consistent, a compressor could tame harsh frequencies on a vocal, for example. That’s what happened in this instance.
My compressors and saturation just happened to take care of all of the weirdness, of which there wasn’t much to begin with, for me! This was because of the way I apply compression before applying EQ; a workflow that allows me to hear the effect a compressor has on a source before doing any further tweaking.
But I Like to EQ Before I Compress
That’s fine! So do I. The trick here is to leave the EQ before your compressor but apply compression before you start EQing. This way, when you do EQ, you’re doing so straight into the compressor and you don’t have to worry about how it will affect your signal after you’ve made your EQ moves. Think of it like mixing into a mix bus compressor and/or limiter.
Throw Out All Your EQs and Use Compressors Instead!
I’m kidding. Don’t do that.
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