hi pass filter question

davecg321

New member
Every article/video I've read/seen says to cut the lows on most tracks to clean up the low end of a mix.

However, what about sparse acoustic material? (guitar/vocal)


I find that my recordings/mixes are sounding much better in general using many of the techniques I've learnt, but sometimes feel they sound overproduced, shiny and clean. Think 'Fleet Foxes'....
I love the sound of modern folk productions but am leaning back in the direction of 60s-70s stuff, Nick Drake, Dylan etc

I can't imagine any drastic e.qing for the latter artists.

any thoughts?
 
Do whatever sounds right. Sure, they all say to high pass everything but the bass and kick. That's what I do in a live mix because of all the bleed, but I don't do it automatically for studio mixes. I do find myself doing a fair bit of low shelf cutting. I feel that often takes care of things just fine. Maybe once in a while I'll high pass something if it seems to need it.

But you need to have monitors that go low enough to be able to make that call.
 
Every article/video I've read/seen says to cut the lows on most tracks to clean up the low end of a mix.

However, what about sparse acoustic material? (guitar/vocal) ...
Yep. More or less, the more crowed the soundscape, the more you might need to shoe horn' things to fit.
The less dense or crowded, the more sonic room available, 'per instrument or what have you.

I see it as the analog to playing in a group -with a lot of players, vs 'a few. In the first case your contribution would tend to want to be more 'economical than you otherwise would be.
 
I think you're overestimating how high the highpass is they're probably referring to. Not everything needs to be cut at 100hz, but the more you put into the mix, the more buildup you'll get with those live recordings, the less clear the stuff you actually want down there will be. What's good in a guitar track at 45hz?
 
Do whatever sounds right. Sure, they all say to high pass everything but the bass and kick. That's what I do in a live mix because of all the bleed, but I don't do it automatically for studio mixes. I do find myself doing a fair bit of low shelf cutting. I feel that often takes care of things just fine. Maybe once in a while I'll high pass something if it seems to need it.

But you need to have monitors that go low enough to be able to make that call.

I'm with Boulder--if you have monitors on which you can hear the difference, judge it by ear rather than applying any kind of "every mix" rule.

Not to go into detail but, even if you vocal and guitar tracks don't seem to go down under 100Hz or whatever, there are time when cutting off the low frequencies can give you a cleaner, more detailed mix by eliminating harmonics etc. They only way to decide which you prefer is to listen.
 
I would also suggest you may be thinking of cutting at too high a frequency, low cut for clarity is usually used to get rid of unwanted rumble from a/c , traffic , etc-not the low end of the guitar. The rule of thumb when low cutting or shelving I generally go by is to start at lowest frequency and raise slowly until it actually affects the sound, them back off until it just stops being noticeable. Monitors capable of low end repro make it easier to judge
 
I think, as ever, it depends!
If you were recording a concert then the 'natural' low frequency ambience* lends greatly to the realism of the event. Naturally the listener has to have suitable reproducing equipment and room but it would be extremely bad practice IMHO to deny such frequencies to those that can 'use' them!

But of course not all sounds are wanted, traffic/train rumble and random bumps and clumps, it is even possible for 'infra-sound' to compromise system headroom so in general, certainly for HR work whack in the HPFs! LF instruments are bass G and keys and these are in any case almost always better DI'ed?

*It was standard practice to record 'the room' yonks ago. This 'silent ambience' could then be spliced in to avoid the deathly hush horror of blank leader!

Dave.
 
Filtering off/out unwanted junk', content that doesn't contribute.. or worse detracts,
Vs 'How much weight (and where) shall this track carry.
:)
 
Using high and low pass filters will definitely help out when cleaning up a mix, however, for acoustic dynamic instruments such as piano and guitar - it must be used sparingly.

Too often those tools are chucked onto a stem without thought and take out so much dynamic potential which is a shame.

Better to use it at the bare minimum and clean via EQ and stereo field experimentation. Of course, every context is different so would dictate a different mixing process.
 
I've had some tracks with some <1hz rumble that would push out the speaker in slow motion. Which is cool if you're going for a lava lamp type effect, but otherwise I'd high pass that. If you're high passing just for getting rid of trash, you won't necessarily hear the difference on a single track, but if you can be bothered: try high passing every track and for the final mix print it with and without the filters and you should notice it. It's often just about not freaking out compressors on stuff that's inaudible, but if you're a bit more generous it can make your mixes sound a lot clearer.
 
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