EQ'ing everything...

Amorican

Amorican

New member
Hey I was wondering about your thoughts, comments, and feedback in regaurds to my question.

I have a nicely recorded orginal tune by my band all set and done. Now I am transfering the tracks into my computer to my mixing and mastering programs.

I recorded as flat as possible, while really concentrating on getting great sounds first.

So is there any words of advice on what frequencies should be or are commonly boosted or cut, to make a nice track?

I usually always end up EQ'ing the drums and bass. The guitars rarely, and the vox never. In my experience anyways.

Thanks guys!
 
One track's valleys is another's peaks.

Cut unneeded frequencies from one track, it'll open up that space in the sound spectrum for other instruments to breathe. Especially important for bass drum and bass guitar.
 
Seafroggys said:
One track's valleys is another's peaks.

Cut unneeded frequencies from one track, it'll open up that space in the sound spectrum for other instruments to breathe. Especially important for bass drum and bass guitar.
Click to expand...

Perfect.

My general philosophy regarding EQ with some minor additions.

Add presence for tracks you want to bring forward or roll off high end for tracks you want to bring back in the mix (one part of creating depth).

Keep the total balance of the mix in mind, don't make one track overly bright and others dull.

EQ with the entire mix, use the solo button only when you need to address a specific issue about the track that is otherwise difficult to hear. It's how the track interacts with the mix that's important, not how it sounds on it's own (unless it's a solo intrument).

Don't forget to EQ aux sends to effects if needed.

If it's an EQ for effect (as in creating an old telephone effect or phonograph sound) most of the above goes out of the window.
 
Thanks so much guys! I will keep this in mind, and get back to you when I have time to fiddle around with the tracks! I will post it in the MP3 Section as well.

Some of my sad early attempts at recording are up at my sites now which are in my sig...I have a solo one, "Tony Nash", and my band one, "Redwater". I quit my solo thing and am Redwater full time now, though.

Again thanks!
 
Y'know it's threads like these that revive my faith in forums. People helping people, giving good advice.

You're quite welcome Amorican assuming that my comments were worthwhile in addition to the ones that preceded.
 
Amorican said:
So is there any words of advice on what frequencies should be or are commonly boosted or cut, to make a nice track?
Click to expand...
There is no "recipe" for how to EQ any given track. About the closest one may come are the following generalities:

- throwing a high-pass filter on tracks where the bass frequencies are not important can help reduce the build-up of low frequency "muddiness" when stacking tracks together, and help "make room" for the tracks like bass, kick or low synth which do most of their work down there.

- sweeping through the frequencies of any given track with a parametric EQ set at high-Q (i.e. tight bandwidth) and high gain, and noting which frequencies really "honk out" can help ID "troublesome" frequencies in that track. After noting them, going back and performing narrow Q cuts of a few dB on thise "honker' frequencies can really help smooth out the overall sound of the tracks and help them play well together.

- use EQ boosts to make a track sound different, EQ cuts to make a track sound better. (This one is a VERY generalized rule of thumb that has plenty of exceptions, but it is quite helpful to keep in mind. Often it can be more productive to cut frequencies than to boost them.)

- play to each track's strengths; don't try to use EQ to make them something they're not. For example, if a track isn't naturally inclined to sound bright, no amount of any kind of EQ is going to make it sound right carrying the bright part of the mix. Sure one can make it brighter, and that's fine, but listen to the natural timbre of the track and do what shaping and chisling is needed to enhance that natural timbre, rather than what EQ might be needed to make it sound entirely different. If you want it to sound entirely different, it's best to retrack it that way rather thanto try and contort the track you have into something it's not.

- as Tom said earlier, if you're looking for special artificial effect, all of the above advice goes out the window; then it's every man for himself ;).

Thare is more, but that should be a good start.

G.
 
well...

i worked on the song today and sat dow with the tracks. I only boosted some bass on the drums and the bass guitar. left all else the same. put a compressor and puncher effect on it and it sounded loud and nice and well mixed. I put it on my surround sound here at home and i hear some weird click or something every now and then. The surround sound is very unforgiven i think. i listened close for peaking out or clipping or anything and it sounded fine. and it sounded good on my folks big tv, and computer speakers.

i got more work to do on it. but it is at my folks house and i am at my new place, so i have to wait a few days.
 
Amorican said:
i worked on the song today and sat dow with the tracks. I only boosted some bass on the drums and the bass guitar. left all else the same. put a compressor and puncher effect on it and it sounded loud and nice and well mixed. I put it on my surround sound here at home and i hear some weird click or something every now and then. The surround sound is very unforgiven i think. i listened close for peaking out or clipping or anything and it sounded fine. and it sounded good on my folks big tv, and computer speakers.

i got more work to do on it. but it is at my folks house and i am at my new place, so i have to wait a few days.
Click to expand...

What brand of CDs are you using?
 
Seafroggys said:
One track's valleys is another's peaks.
Cut unneeded frequencies from one track, it'll open up that space in the sound spectrum for other instruments to breathe. Especially important for bass drum and bass guitar.
Click to expand...

I love that phrase.

I think this is a great thread with great advice.

EQ on a guitar amp is normally used COMPLETELY different from EQ on a recording. I think alot of people don't realize that. I hardly ever solo a track unless there is something I can't hear and I am having trouble with.


I think the guitar and vocals dont need much EQ because the drums and bass work around the guitar and vocals not the other way around.
 
Amorican said:
i worked on the song today and sat dow with the tracks. I only boosted some bass on the drums and the bass guitar. left all else the same. put a compressor and puncher effect on it and it sounded loud and nice and well mixed. I put it on my surround sound here at home and i hear some weird click or something every now and then. The surround sound is very unforgiven i think. i listened close for peaking out or clipping or anything and it sounded fine. and it sounded good on my folks big tv, and computer speakers.

i got more work to do on it. but it is at my folks house and i am at my new place, so i have to wait a few days.
Click to expand...

I would check how you are rendering to stereo first. When you listen to the stereo wav on your computer, do you hear the pops? Note where the pops are on your surround system then check the wav files... maybe with headphones on. If they are not there, then you know that the problem is either your media or your burning program.

What speed are you burning at? I stay below 8x, try to do 4x and will never go more than 16x.

There is always a chance that it could be your playback system in your surround room. Do the pops always happen at the same places?
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
- throwing a high-pass filter on tracks where the bass frequencies are not important can help reduce the build-up of low frequency "muddiness" when stacking tracks together, and help "make room" for the tracks like bass, kick or low synth which do most of their work down there.

- sweeping through the frequencies of any given track with a parametric EQ set at high-Q (i.e. tight bandwidth) and high gain, and noting which frequencies really "honk out" can help ID "troublesome" frequencies in that track. After noting them, going back and performing narrow Q cuts of a few dB on thise "honker' frequencies can really help smooth out the overall sound of the tracks and help them play well together.

- use EQ boosts to make a track sound different, EQ cuts to make a track sound better. (This one is a VERY generalized rule of thumb that has plenty of exceptions, but it is quite helpful to keep in mind. Often it can be more productive to cut frequencies than to boost them.)

- play to each track's strengths; don't try to use EQ to make them something they're not. For example, if a track isn't naturally inclined to sound bright, no amount of any kind of EQ is going to make it sound right carrying the bright part of the mix. Sure one can make it brighter, and that's fine, but listen to the natural timbre of the track and do what shaping and chisling is needed to enhance that natural timbre, rather than what EQ might be needed to make it sound entirely different. If you want it to sound entirely different, it's best to retrack it that way rather thanto try and contort the track you have into something it's not.

- as Tom said earlier, if you're looking for special artificial effect, all of the above advice goes out the window; then it's every man for himself ;).
Click to expand...

Damnit! Get out of my bag of EQ tricks! lol...

Quick intro...I'm Trell Blaze of an independent R&B duo, Coop DeVille (though I'm a producer/writer/enginer first...in exactly that order).

Even though my genre requires quite a different mix approach than most styles, the above quote is pretty dead on.

Personally, in most cases I only have to resort to HiCuts and/or LoCuts...with the variable being what frequency the rolloff begins/ends. I RARELY boost anything except to add a little "meat" where lacking.

I would advise that u roll off the bass on ANY non-bass instrument - including vocals - up to AT LEAST 90khz. In most cases I go much higher but like I said, I produce/mix R&B which requires that my kick and bass (both usually synthetic) eat up a s**t load of low end.

One approach I usually take is this: Before u even start, decide what instruments/vocals you want to occupy the low end, middle, and hi end. In most cases my vocals cover HiMids to LoHi's which is where u get most of the intelligibility...
 
Hi gang

I seem to recall a while ago someone posted a list of instruments (including voice and percussive elements) and the most common frequency ranges that affect the instrument. I can't for the life of me find it, but this kind of information was a good starting point for investigating what frequencies to tame/enhance.
Can anyone recall this and locate it for others to use?

....The grey cells aren't as sharp as they once were and this may have been posted on a completely different site for all I know :D

Dags
 
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