need help on frequency sweeping

L

LordSire

New member
of course im new to this. So i havent gotten a complete grasp on hearing sounds and placing the frequency ranges they fall in. I've heard and understand about the technique of sweeping an eq to find certain frequencies, such as for removing sibilance( S sounds).

The problem im having is i havent yet figured out what range of frequency my voice falls in. Is there a possibility to find this out through eq sweeping? And exactly what is it that i should be listening for? Am i listening for a volume change, or some other specific sign that will aid me in saying "there it is! That's my frequency."

And as a question in general: Whenever im sweeping, for whatever sound in question, do i raise a couple of dbs on the eq, or lower, before i start sweeping? And does it really depend on the sound that im working with at that time?

Any and all responses will be greatly appreciated. And if need be, i think i have some old work that i can post, if someone just wants to give a listen and let me know what my vocal frequency is. I would appreciate that as well. ;) . I'm on someone elses computer right now, so i wont be able to post something until later this evening, but ill make sure i do.
 
I think you need a little better understanding of how eq adjustments are used. The idea is not to sweep around and say "hey, there's my voice". The only source that will have a single frequency is a sine wave, which you won't be using much. The frequencies you will want to adjust are ones that conflict with other material in the mix. For example, you may need to adjust eq on a voice and/or guitar in order to get them out of each other's way. Therefore, you may not even adjust your own voice the same way song to song.

I recommend starting to learn by sweeping around vocals as well as instrument tracks to learn to hear eq regions. This can be done by creating a notch aka peak filter and raising the gain something large, say 9dB or something. "Sweep" by moving around the center frequency of the peak all over the place. You will hear that most tracks have content all over the frequency spectrum. Then you can start playing with raising and lowering certain areas to try to get a desired result.

There are many posts and books about common eq settings, but in the end it totally depends on the source material. For example, you might see a recommendation to raise 80dB on a kick drum. This can work very well, but you may have a kick drum track that already has tons of 80dB and raising it will muddy your whole mix.

There are no rules of how to use eq. Some people will say you should use as little as possible and they can get great results. Other people will use very radical settings and they can get great results.

This is not something that you will learn overnight. Practice, practice, practice.

Best of luck!
 
Record something really long. One note that lasts for several seconds. Lower eq by 3 to 6db, sweep *slowly* up and down. You will hear a lowering in volume. If you want to learn your voice *primary* frequencies, sing scales using letter "O". Then sing a note, but sing ssssssOOOOOO Find that ssssss before the OOOOOO. Also sing, or speak the famous "Peter Piper Picked A Peck...." Find that "P" and "B" Now, females will have a different *primary* vocal range, but the "S" and "P" and such will be pretty close for everyone. Did all that? Good, now do the same thing with 20 different instruments. Happy hunting!!
 
When Eq'ing it all comes down to taste and preference. If it sounds good, it is good. There is a common misconception that you need to eq, or use effects on every track. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

That being said, I generally subscribe to the less is more theory. I normally boost the signal by 15 dB with a narrow peak eq. Slowly sweep through the range and when you find frequencies that sound offensive cut them.
 
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