How do you personally decide deep vs. wide on eq?

I don't even know what "deep vs. wide" means in an everyday sense.

I listen, I adjust. Usually without anything actually playing for that matter (but that's for another thread).

I turn the recording on and go "Hmmm... A shallow cut a couple dB down at 150, a wide cut a half dB centered around 2k and a bit of a wide boost around 8k maybe..."

Then I turn it off, make those adjustments and turn it on again. If I listen and don't feel that it needs further adjustment, I leave it alone.

Now if we're talking about mid vs side (a.k.a. mono vs. stereo), that's another story entirely. But it's the same story also. "Hmmm... A nice cut at around 400Hz on the side info might take some of the nose out of those guitars while a 3k notch in the mid information might make a little room for the background vocals..." Still, the same technique. Listen, do, listen again, tweak or move on.
 
I'm not sure I would even make 'deep' or 'wide' at the mastering stage. If you're making that much of adjustment go back and revisit the mixes.
 
Chili said:
I'm not sure I would even make 'deep' or 'wide' at the mastering stage. If you're making that much of adjustment go back and revisit the mixes.
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Well, your eq is going to have some kind of depth or width.

I was asking regarding eq at any stage.
 
brassplyer said:
Well, your eq is going to have some kind of depth or width.

I was asking regarding eq at any stage.
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I actually have no idea what you are asking. The terms you are using are not the language I speak.

Please explain in more detail what you are asking. :)
 
brassplyer said:
Well, your eq is going to have some kind of depth or width.

I was asking regarding eq at any stage.
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Panning's described in terms of width. Reverb and delay can be described in terms of depth. But EQ isn't described in terms of either width or depth. Bright or dark, sure. Deep or wide, nope.

So when you say deep and wide in regards to EQ, what are you referring to?
 
No, no.... you can describe EQ settings as deep or wide. It's really describing the Q factor of the curve. C'mon, you guys remember that stuff from high school statistics. Width of the curve at 50% of the RMS value??? No????

Based on the advice I got from here over the years, I notch out or do a wide boost. A notch has a high Q which means it is deep and narrow. A small range of frequencies and a lot of attenuation. A general boost has a low Q which means it is wide, across a lot of frequencies... and generally not a lot of boost.

And you can reverse them too, though I wouldn't call a spiked curve "Deep", I would call it a spike. But I would call a wide cut "wide". Yup, yes I would.
 
Ah, got it! I notch narrowly for ringing tones and reduce as much as it takes to reduce or remove the ringing. When I boost, I always have a Q of about 1.0, maybe 1.5, and seldom boost more than 3 dB. The times I need to reduce a wide range of frequencies, I tend not to use a parametric, but go for a shelf instead, and it can be anywhere from .5 to 5 dB.

As for the process, I sweep frequencies to home in on the exact frequency I'm looking for, but basically I just listen to it and if something needs attention, it usually suggests itself.
 
dobro said:
Ah, got it! I notch narrowly for ringing tones and reduce as much as it takes to reduce or remove the ringing. When I boost, I always have a Q of about 1.0, maybe 1.5, and seldom boost more than 3 dB. The times I need to reduce a wide range of frequencies, I tend not to use a parametric, but go for a shelf instead, and it can be anywhere from .5 to 5 dB.

As for the process, I sweep frequencies to home in on the exact frequency I'm looking for, but basically I just listen to it and if something needs attention, it usually suggests itself.
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That's not only EQ in a nutshell, that's EQ in detail. :D
 
That, as far as I can see, is the same EQ - just a greater amount of cut.

FWIW, mastering expert that I am not, I've only to date applied generally wide, low cut/boost EQ (as in +/- 2ish dB) at mastering time. But I'm totally not a mastering engineer.

And I base the decision upon what I'm hearing and how it all fits in with whatever else I'm mastering at the same time.

If you're doing "Big EQ" at mastering stage as per your pic, then it's time to revisit your mix.
 
You don't have to "decide deep vs. wide on eq" because gain and width are independent parameters. That would be like having to choose between the steering wheel and gas pedal when driving.
 
(EDITED)

You use the settings you need on what you need. Every cut or boost is going to be "this deep" (volume) and "this wide" (bandwidth). How much of each is completely dependent on what you're trying to achieve.
 
Armistice said:
That, as far as I can see, is the same EQ - just a greater amount of cut.
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It's just a random example because Jimmys was expressing non-understanding of what I was talking about. I thought the terms deep and wide related to eq were self-evident.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
You don't have to "decide deep vs. wide on eq" because gain and width are independent parameters. That would be like having to choose between the steering wheel and gas pedal when driving.
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?

Not sure what you're talking about. When you apply eq you have to apply it over a certain frequency range (width) and a certain about of boost or cut.
 
brassplyer said:
?
Not sure what you're talking about. When you apply eq you have to apply it over a certain frequency range (width) and a certain about of boost or cut.
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I still can't figure what you're trying to get to in this. Surely it must be understood that how wide, how deep and where is need based (or our perception off it).
Can you be more specific- in the question?
 
brassplyer said:
?

Not sure what you're talking about.
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Now you know how everyone else feels. :D


How "wide"....just say frequency range...or Q....or bandwidth.
How "deep"...just say how much cut.

Now...there is now "VS" in any of that. There is no ratio or proportion. You pick the range of frequencies based on what it is you want to EQ...and you decide on how much cut based on....well, how much you want to cut. :)
Not sure why you phrase it as "VS".
Also, you seem to be leaving out "boost". It's not just about cutting always.

How you choose the range, the cut or the boost is all about the source and how you want it to sound.
THAT...is how people decide on the EQ choices...and that's all about listening, and not the graphic display.
 
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