3 ways to NOT have a harsh vocal in your mix

1.Use Multi-band compression

Vocals vary with frequency. Period. You can get pretty far with just eq but Multi-band
compressors save a lot of headache! Position the range so that one of your 4 bands on
the Waves C4 is in the range of the harshness. Usually that is between 2k and 5k. This
is where the vocal can get really edgy and can take away from the FULLNESS. Use a
fast attack for a smoother sound and slightly slower than fast attack if it doesn’t sound
natural. Bring down the range depending on how harsh the vocals are. The more you
bring the range down, the more you will compress once you bring down the threshold
on the next step. Bring down the threshold. When you hear the harshness lessen... you
may hear that the vocal is a little bit muffled. If it is, then bring up the gain on that band a
few DB. If you need more help with Multi-band compression you can check out ​The
Power of Multi-band Compression​.
2.Over-Compressing vocals

When you over compress the vocals, it brings forward excess harsh high end. The
sibilance and overall presence of the vocal is amplified. Now there is no set amount of
gain reduction so I cannot tell you that 3 db of gain reduction will be enough every
single time, but we can use our ears to let us know if compression is being over-done.
You will know if you are over compressing if it looks like the image above with 20 db of
gain reduction, but sometimes a good 8 to 12 db of gain reduction across multiple
compressors is needed with a really dynamic singer. Keep in mind vocals can be harsh
because they were recorded that way but if the vocal doesn’t sound harsh without the
compression, odds are you are over-compressing.If you would like to watch a tutorial
showing you a quick vocal mixing chain, go check out my video ​Quick Vocal Mixing
Chain Tutorial​ ​on youtube!

3.Balance with EQ
If you look at this chart you can see that certain frequency ranges can help you FIGHT
against a harsh vocal. Thickness will help you fight. Warmth will help you fight. Even a
little mud will help you fight sometimes. Get out an eq and try subtle boosts in the
frequency ranges. After each eq movement that you try out, bypass the eq and turn it
back on to see if it made a difference. Eq is totally a balancing act. Even if you added a
little “sheen” it may balance out the high end to help the harsh frequencies be less
harsh. If you feel you need a guide to help you mix and understand what I am saying
more, go check out ​The Ultimate Vocal Production Handbook.​