I Wish I Knew This When I Started Out Mixing Vocals

Whenever I place a mixing poll online, vocal eq confusion always comes near the top of home studio challenges. The sheer diversity of the human voice makes it impossible to add any hard and fast rules but it is possible to learn more about certain frequency bands and how they generally affect a vocal when applied.

From applying a high pass filter to remove unwanted rumble through to learning where nasal sounds of the vocal typically live, how applying presence can cut though the heaviest of guitars and what exactly is the air band?

All of these can be uncovered, learned and used as constant guide to make sure you're not stabbing in the dark but working with understanding and method when mixing.