When do I EQ?

O

OldCopper

New member
Newbie question! My recording 'studio', AKA my home office, is pretty reflective and smallish and semi-full of stuff. I know 'deadening' will help but I really think I'm going to need some EQ to get it right. (I'm using OK mics: EV 857's and Shure BG 4.1's to mic voices and acoustic instruments.) My question is: is it appropriate to do EQing at the time of recording (channel by channel) or can/should it all happen at the digital 'track' level?

I sure appreciate the help.
 
I think it's a judgement call. I usually try to record tracks as "flat" as possible (little or no EQ). If an acoustic guitar is really boomy, I'll cut the low mids a bit before hiting the recorder. If something else is obvious, I'll try to fix it a touch up front. But saving most EQing until mixdown is a good idea, overall. If you cut too much lows while recording, for example, those lows won't be in your audio track. You can raise the EQ all you want, but if it's not in the audio, the EQ can't boost it.

[This message has been edited by pglewis (edited 06-02-2000).]
 
I agree totally. As a rule, I try to get the best sound I can w/o EQ while tracking by just moving the mics around. The better you get at working the mics, the less EQ you use ... even during mixdown. On the other hand... if I were recording to analog tape (especially cassette-based), I'd EQ while tracking. Mostly if I want to brighten something. I figure that I'd rather have a bit brighter signal on tape so I don't wind up cranking tape hiss during mixdown. It worked well for me when I used a Tascam 238.


[This message has been edited by BigKahuna (edited 06-02-2000).]
 
BTW, if you have a bookcase in your office/studio ... try arranging your speaker set up so that the bookcase is behind you while mixing. That would act as a good diffusor.
 
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