Awhile back a friend did a vocal track during a songwriting session that came out really well. I'd like to incorporate this vox trax into the mix. The problem is that during the session, he was just recovering from a cold, so he sounds a little nasal.

My question is can this be corrected to any degree via EQ or other studio tricks gadgets etc.

Redoing the track is not an option, since he has moved and does not have a home studio.

toucher,

Don't have chin whiskers as a lot of you, but "Uncle Google".

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&biw=13...=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43287494,d.aWc&fp=219c7106cd7322ab

Lot of information, doesn't mean its good, but maybe it will help this
valuable track. Second link "6 different frequencies" and #4 on the page does have suggestions.

Good Luck!

I don't consider myself a pro or guru but here's a suggestion that may help.

As you play the vox "sweep" the eq at a fairly high db through the frequency range until you hear the freq where it sounds the worst - could be really honky around 1k or elsewhere. Then narrow cut - bring down the eq there. You might also try sweeping again to hear which freq sounds best and boost slightly. Trial and error. Just go back to the original some with your eq disabled to compare and keep your perspective.

Maybe that will help.

Generally there's not much you can do to fix something like that. Once it's printed to the track it's hard to remove it.

Playing with EQ may help.... also putting the vocal back further in the mix so it's not so "upfront" may help.

A better option would be to get someone else to record it for you again.

I have tried over the years to "fix" bad recordings and it's really extremely difficult to do. To fix it would require replacing the bad data with good.... essentially creating it out of thin air. For every good action, there would be an equal and opposite reaction. While you might gain on one area, usually something else would happen.....

One last thing you can try..... do you have Melodyne Editor? It is probably the most amazing software available at a reasonable cost to attempt to fix a bad vocal track. It is good, but there are things it can't fix. I've used it to fix all sorts of things in vocal tracks but never tried to cure a cold with it.

Here is a link to the fully functional 30 day trial version. http://www.celemony.com/cms/index.php?id=demos&L=1%25D0%25A0%25D0%2586%25D0%25A0%25E2%2580%259A%25D0%25A1%25D1%2599%253FL%253D1%25D0%25A0%25D0%2586%25D0%25A0%25E2%2580%259A%25D0%25A1%25D1%2599

Get it and try it. Nothing to lose.

IMO...

I'm no guru and I only have some experience as an old person.

I agree with the first statement in the above post.
Having to bury this vocal because of a poorly printed vocal track would not work for me.
In general, that defeats having a good mix for a song as having a good vocal is paramount.

"EQing"...remotely possible only.

I will wish the OP luck in his quest.

Carry on....

The "nasal" sound is likely part of the timbre of the entire vocal range. I don't see a satisfactory fix but I'd try the EQ sweep as Sundance suggested. A bit more reverb than typical might help the vocal bleed into the mix.

Usually with a cold, the nose is blocked and words are not pronounced correctly and cleanly.

There is no fix for that kind of track.

I have had singers send me tracks for vocals that they wanted me to work with and possibly put better music to the track.
It was impossible.

On one, the singer was recording her voice on a cheap mic and she was obviously too far from the mic. Room noise was horrible and vocal quality was abysmal.

Another one, didn't record the vocal to anything that was tuned standard (A-440) nor did that singer bother to use a click track or metronome.... timing was all over the place. Stuff like that simply can not be fixed and singing with a bad cold falls into that same category.

I had to decline both asking them to redo the tracks a bit more professionally if they wanted a polished sounding project.... never heard from either again.