Highpass, Lowpass, Bandpass

[James HE]

I have a vague idea about how these types of Eq's work, but I'm having trouble getting practical use out of them. (using Cakewalk guitar tracks) If any one could shed some light on the subject, it would be greatly appreciated. For instance I have A drum track (all the drums are on on track) so how could I use them, and which one should I use, to emphasise the Kick a little more, to cut out some of the shrill of the cymbals and hats?

-jhe

[Shailat]

I use a Highpasss for eliminating hums,backround noise that leak into my mic's.

Lowpass for drums specificly I use sometimes to minimize cymbal leakage into my tom tracks. Or getting rid of high unnecessary high freq's on my kickdrum.

[Tapehead]

Lo pass filters, when engaged, filter out unwanted high frequencies. (This always confuses people. Just think of it this way: lo pass allows the lo to pass through.) If you're recording bass guitar, you'd use lo pass to cut out unnecessary high frequency noise in your mix. And hi pass filters, yup, filter out low frequencies. Use then on anything that doesn't have deep bass (maybe 120 hz or below). It cuts rumble, reduces proximity effect on dynamic mics, etc.

[Rev E]

James HE,

I use filters to clean up my tracks like most of the other post responses. I mainly use band pass filters to clean up stuff. Just think of it like this: a band-pass filter allows a certain "frequency band to pass" unchanged. So a high-pass filter allows "high" frequencies to pass unchanged while cleaning out low frequencies. Low-pass filters allow "low" frequencies to pass unchanged while cleaning out high stuff.

Uses. It depends on the music, but I use a high-pass filter (set from 75-120 Hz) on background vocals, lead vocals, hi-hats and other cymbals, snare drums, rumbling guitars and thick keyboards. It will clean up the mix and get rid of unnecessary low frequencies to clear space for the bass.

I use low pass a little less often. But I will usually use it on bass, kick drum (depending) and other real low stuff to take out unnecessary highs (usually, above 10 kHz is totally unnecessary for many of these instruments). Remember, this is just a ballpark that is dependent on how you recorded it and the style of music.

After using band-pass filters, you can then use other eq's to lower or raise other frequencies.

I hope this helps.

[This message has been edited by Rev E (edited 03-23-2000).]