frequency range

[djclueveli]

when mixing, how do keep something in it's own frequency range? like how do you know what frequency a paticular instrument or vocal occupies. i use the waves PAZ frequency chart. is an instruments frequency whatever frequency it takes the most space of?

 

[metalhead28]

Things do not have specific frequencies. Just about any instrument may occupy the entire frequency spectrum. You could narrow down a range where an instrument's fundamental sound lies but why exactly are you asking this question? You don't have to keep something in a specific frequency range when mixing. You may end up trying to make each instrument have its own space in the mix with careful eq'ing but you are not trying to constrict something to a specific frequency range. For instance you may cut a little out of some guitars in a specific range where the vocals have alot of presence to let them cut through, or a little in the bass guitar to let the kick drum cut through, but that doesn't really seem like what you're getting at.

 

[Farview]

If you really restricted and instrument to the frequency of the note it hits, it wouldn't sound like that instrument. The reason you can tell the difference between a note on a piano and the same note on a violin is the overtones and harmonics that the instrument gives off.
If you have a keyboard, take a piano patch and play middle C and record it. Now take a high pass filter and a low pass filter and set them to 262Hz. (that is the frequency of middle C) Does it still sound like a piano?

Likewise, Low E on a guitar is 82.41Hz but most of what we hear as low end on an electric guitar is the first harmonic (164.82)

There is a lot more than the fundamental frequency going on.