Do you eq on your tracks

B

BrianCRX90

New member
Just curious, since I am using a digital recording program (Audition) and do not have a mixing board, is it normal to put eq in each recorded track? This would pertain to my tracks I recorded with a mic, not from my computer though I guess could do that also.

Also, on the master track is there a purpose to placing eq on that or it that totally pointless as you could get the same eq range on all tracks...pre mixdown.
 
Not sure to understand your question, but there is no law in recording. You put EQ where you want it.

I record my track clean, I add one or more than 1 EQ on the track on my DAW. I can add EQ after only on a specific place on the track.

I add EQ on master track to colour or clean the whole song.
 
You're allowed to move the faders during the mix as well.
:D Just kidding. But it has come up- '.. help can't find settings that work throughout the song' sort of posts..
 
The only reason not to eq each track would be if each track sounded exactly the way it should and fit into the mix perfectly.

If you were using a different daw, you wouldn't be asking the question, since most have an eq built into each track, so you don't have to insert one. It's perfectly normal.
 
I DO have the ability to add EQ at the tracking stage but I never do it. I record everything flat and effect free.

When mixing I often do add EQ but certainly not always--it's a conscious decision. There are two main reasons I might choose to add EQ:

First, it may be because I want to alter the sound--more clarity in a voice or a less thumpy bass...that sort of thing but there's all sorts of reasons.

Second, even if I'm happy with the sound of an individual track, I might apply EQ to help it sit better with the rest of the mix. This might be something like a bit of midrange cut on an instrument to help a voice stand out--again that's just an example.

EQ at the mastering stage is, for me, more of a technical exercise. I try to get the mix to sound just right--but then might filter it a bit to help it sound okay on a wider range of playback gear and locations.
 
Greg_L said:
I EQ as little as possible. Try to avoid it if you can, meaning, track better sounds to begin with.
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Well I unfortunately have to agree but not by choice. Last night I got a couple of free vst eq's and set them guitars, acoustic guitar and drums with different eq settings. It actually crashed the program and windows.
After you place too much fx Adobe gets very laggy to the point you can't really hear your mix.

I found a very good tube eq with some nice settings but I realized what is the point of even putting it on the master when I can just put it on the mixdown and use the effects rack and have the same results without any lag or crashing.
 
mixsit said:
Eqs crash a system? 'Ten reverbs, yeah. But eq..?
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lol actually was 4 tube gain eq's, 1 parametric eq, 2 voice enchancers and it was when I tried using Audition's parametric on one of the vocal tracks to get a tad more mid-high it crashed, blue screen of death and spent the rest of the night doing a system restore.

This is a newer computer too and did it on my old one. Adobe cannot take too much fx rack adding otherwise gets very laggy and can crash. You can add the fx to the wave track and save it that way (but once you save it it's saved) but can only take so many live effects on the rack at the same time on the mix.
On the mixdown I can add 20 effects and 40 more eq's to the rack to it if I wanted with no problems.
 
Mr Clean said:
I try and use as little EQ as possible. When I do, it's usually to cut some lows from tracks. :thumbs up:
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^^^^^ pretty much what I do, cut a few lows and maybe some mid if needed and I try not to add highs unless it's really necessary. I always try to get the sound I want during the recording by mic position and the sound of the instrument. The eqing is when I may have to change something later to fit the mix better.

To answer the OP's original question, it would be unusual not to eq a track is some way, the trick is to record the sound good in the first place so that minimum eq is required.

Alan.
 
BrianCRX90 said:
lol actually was 4 tube gain eq's, 1 parametric eq, 2 voice enchancers and it was when I tried using Audition's parametric on one of the vocal tracks to get a tad more mid-high it crashed, blue screen of death and spent the rest of the night doing a system restore.

This is a newer computer too and did it on my old one. Adobe cannot take too much fx rack adding otherwise gets very laggy and can crash. You can add the fx to the wave track and save it that way (but once you save it it's saved) but can only take so many live effects on the rack at the same time on the mix.
On the mixdown I can add 20 effects and 40 more eq's to the rack to it if I wanted with no problems.
Click to expand...

I also suspect that one of the free VSTs is badly written. Generally EQ isn't a big overhead on a computer--I've certainly never had Audition crash because of too many effects--it just get's a bit slow and glitchy but that's only on the largest of sessions with tons of effects. Don't forget that you can "freeze" the effects on tracks to minimise the processor overhead--you can still go back and change things because it's non-destructive but it aids playback.

Greg_L said:
I EQ as little as possible. Try to avoid it if you can, meaning, track better sounds to begin with.
Click to expand...

Agree completely--it's always best to get the track as near perfect as possible. But, no matter how hard you try, EQ can often improve the mix.
 
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