What is Vocal Intelligibility?
Also called: vocal clarity, lyric intelligibility
Vocal intelligibility is how easily listeners can understand the words of a vocal in a mix. A vocal can be loud and still be hard to understand if its consonants are masked or smeared.
Much of what makes words understandable is in the consonants, which are short and sit in the upper mid and high frequencies. If guitars, synths or cymbals cover the same range, or reverb blurs the starts of words, the lyrics get lost.
Common fixes are making space for the vocal with EQ on competing parts, controlled compression so quiet syllables do not drop out, careful de-essing, shorter or filtered reverbs, and, of course, a clear performance.
Intelligibility also matters for accessibility, for listeners with hearing loss and for anyone listening in a noisy place.
Put it to work
Analyze how clear and understandable your vocal is in the mix.
Analyze Vocal Clarity