EQ to the rescue?

[brightpavilions]

I've been recording with my Yamaha MT8X cassette 8 track and I've been mostly pleased with the results. I'm working on rough mixes as we speak and I've run across a problem which is really irking me.

As a whole the takes and levels sound pretty darn good. I realize the limitations of my machine, but what I can't get around is the overall "mid-rangeyness" or "flatness" of all the sounds; from drums to guitars to vocals. There's a lack of brightness, and nothing really stands out. It's consistent on every mix

While there has been some signal processing (compression, reverb & some knob twiddling on the built in board) I'm wondering if some overall EQing would bring this thing to life? I was noticing a lot of my favorite 4 & 8 trackers (GBV, Jason Falkner, Apples In Stereo etc..) may all record the tracks at home, but more often than not mix them down in a proper studio. I'm wondering if that's where a lot of the EQing and playing around with all the studio toys come in!

So does anyone have anything to say about EQing recordings (either by track or overall) while at mixdown and do you have an suggestions as to how I can make these tracks shine a little more?

Thanks!

 

[chessrock]

I'd be happy to give you a few pointers, although I don't think they'd do you any good until you ditch the cassette-based 8-track.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Some ARTICLES of mine that may help you......

 

[jake-owa]

I hate to say it but a 64th inch of tape is not a hell of a lot of material for a signal to be recorded/reproduced with.

If you want things to be brighter use the a decent preamp and max the tape out reasonably. Eq with a good outboard parametric eq and rrecord your final mixes to something nice like 1/4" tape or a good digital setup. I'm not saying cassette 8 track can't sound good, its just not easy. You really have to get the most out of every dB availible to you.

Why not consider a 1/2" reel to reel 8 track? 1 16th" of tape gives waaay better results.