EQ info for latin percussion like timbales

smg

Member
Been looking around online to find info about this w/no results-
Wonder if anybody knows where the fundamental frequency is(re-tuning range)as well as where to cut/boost...Any info re-other L/P instruments like agogo also appreciated....compression approach as well....was able to find info on congas/bongos but that's it....
 
Why don't you spend the time with the eq rather than reading on-line. I don't think I have ever discovered the predominant frequency of ANYTHING by reading, but sweeping an eq peak takes less than a second and identifies where the energy is so simply. Frequencies are impossible - frequency ranges are the key, as they are tuned quite differently for personal preference, so just because one has a peak at 250Hz, doesn't mean this is reliable. In fact, my eq overlays the curve with a display of where the energy is, which makes it even simpler.

250, just below 400 and then lots of overtones is what tends to happen - so like all eq decisions, it's one for the years, not eyes.
 
Appreciate the reply-actually I did end up doing this ...working w/the Comp/EQ settings on a ZOOM RT223 which has specific. adjustments in terms of Hz you can set for 3 bands and then its own parameters for compression and EQ (not specific like usually found i.e.threshold etc settings for compressor, just general amt applied and the same type of thing for EQ-amt of each band in mix + amt of each band)...however in addition to the ZOOM built- in Comp/EQ I have a sophisticated compressor on my TASCAM DP-001 and a 1/3 octave Samson S curve I just got so I can get into this stuff in detail....

Being new to this stuff I like to have a frame of reference to use whenever possible I.e.where the lows are usually cut up to or where to boost/cut to get a specific type of sound for drums kit components....and I've been able to find a lot of this online so working w/kick settings for ex.has been done w/this kind of info....

Are the #s you use above just an example of an approach to finding frequencies or specific settings you use for timbales?

Most of the info I've seen is about miking techniques for live recording only....
 
There seem to be people who automatically dial in certain frequencies without thinking. Remember that seeing eq, with real accurate frequency readouts is really quite new technology. Many analogue mixers had a knob that maybe said 300-1K-3K-6K-15K spread around the dial, so you kind of got into the habit of listening to say the snare, and dialling lots of boost in, and then sweeping the frequency knob till the crack kind of leapt out at you - you then went back and forth till you settled on the middle of the main snare energy - you then dialled back until it sounded good. With multi band eq, you would get to know your eq pretty well and know which one to head for first. To remove nasties - like tom rings, you'd get them to bash it and then dial in maximum cut and sweep till you found the ring. `Then you tweak and tweak and tweak.

The other thing is that every kit is different and your room will add things that maybe you want to address. I'm not good a drum balance, it's dfamn hard and although I get there - I take a long time. Live I am much better and quicker.

On Youtube there is a great video comparing Ddrums with cheap drums using excellent mics - well worth it even though it's metal thrash stuff. The guy is experienced and the drums well tuned, and while he would always be in the right ballpark with eq, he'd still have two use his ears - and that's a good skill to learn.

Please - in recording do not think there is always a certain correct way to mic and eq. Your ears will tell you what to do and you need to learn this as early as you can.

Mic technique for live tends to be much blunter - more cut, more boost, more radical eq in general. More compression, much more gating that kind of thing. In the studio it's much more gentle and controllable. Live - you might remove overlap from some instruments to clean things up - like slicing off the bottom of the overheads. In the studio, you're more interested in a starting point, then just results.

Now we do things by numbers, I find a few people who head for 328Hz, and suck out 6dB to remove a nasty ring, because that's what they ended up doing last time, and they wrote it down, or stored it. What they didn't realise was the drummer tuned his toms, and the 328Hz is now 297Hz!

Timbales because they're not very common can be tuned all over the place. If the music is genuine latin, they might be tuned quite high, but as a sort of effect in nearly latin, they might be spread even more widely. I think all newcomers should be banned from compression until they really develop an ear because compressors can be gilding the lily, but more commonly a way to squeeze all the life out of a recording.

I use Cubase if it helps.
 
Thanks for the perspective-
Again since I'm new to this and trying to develop a sense of what's what ,#'s are being focused on across the board,not just what I'm finding online but whatever settings I use ....keeping track of everything...just to get a sense of how this stuff works....but definitely always make the final decision based on how something sounds.....

I think I'm developing a sense of frequency ranges and how different ones affect the overall sound...i.e found one of those" 20Hz-20k test "YouTube sites and been getting used to things w/them..being a musician it's easier to think in terms of note ranges and go from there ....

Actually haven't started applying things to the 1/3 Oct EQ yet just been using the ZOOM to get some basic settings that I'll tweak w/specifics once I get into it...up to now I'd just been focusing on the pitch of the drum kit component but now I see how to get different sounds and can think in terms of reference tracks +
matching a given sound...

W/timbales I find it used a lot for pick up/intro patterns for the kind of 90-second commercials I'm making a lot of tracks of for marketing so I want to get as good a sound as possible given what I'm using...although I also have some longer instrumental tracks where it's used for solo sections as well-the person whose playing I use as an example of how things should sound is Jose Chepito Areas from Santana etc...
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