Equalizer

  • Thread starter Thread starter Trumpspade
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Trumpspade

Trumpspade

I'M BLESSED.......
How does a stand alone equalizer relate to recording when it is seems to come into play after the recording?
I guess my question really is, is it needed for recording or just for listening to it on your own home stereo.
Should I just use EQ on the recorder only, or is there any way that I can patch an external one to enhance sound quality of my recording?

My brain locked up on me, Sorry!!!!


Trizza
 
Trumpspade said:
How does a stand alone equalizer relate to recording when it is seems to come into play after the recording?
I guess my question really is, is it needed for recording or just for listening to it on your own home stereo.
Should I just use EQ on the recorder only, or is there any way that I can patch an external one to enhance sound quality of my recording?

My brain locked up on me, Sorry!!!!


Trizza
Click to expand...

bridge it in before or in front of the recorder, eh?
 
Be very careful about using EQ when you record. With acoustic recording you want to get the microphone to capture the best sound possible, so it needs no EQ.

Overzealous use of EQ turns recordings into garbage. The trickiest thing is figuring out how to EQ instruments so they sit well in the mix, which is usually a VERY different thing from making them sound great on their own.

Biggest newbie mistake I've heard is eachinstrument is EQ'ed so, when solo'ed, it sounds like the voice of God. You put 12 tracks of this together and it sounds like a Holy War.
 
Todzilla said:
Biggest newbie mistake I've heard is eachinstrument is EQ'ed so, when solo'ed, it sounds like the voice of God. You put 12 tracks of this together and it sounds like a Holy War.
Click to expand...

That quote is simply priceless... I know this is a recording board, but I simply had to point out the comedy in your wit.
 
I track with eq applied to tracks all the time.

The trick is to know WHY you are doing that, and to not over-do it, and to not confuse using a few dB cut/boost in a certain range to correct something mic placement will never correct, and using the eq to correct horribly bad mic placement, or a mic that is not suitable to the job it is being used for.

John Sayers long ago mic'ed up an acoutic piano with a SM-58 with some eq applied and a AT 4050 with no eq applied. The mics were right next to each other, so essentially picking up a VERY similar sound from the piano. He post two mixes, one using one track, one using the other and asked people to guess which track was which.

He even stumped me! NOBODY got it right without admitting that they were just guessing at which was which.

Indeed, the tracks sounded a hair different, but which sounded "better" was debated, and all agreed that either track was quite usable, just that they had their preference.

The bass roll off on your LD mic's is a sort of equaliser. The High Pass filter on many mic pre's are a sort of equaliser. Nobody claims you shouldn't use those do they? No. People use them freely when their use applies.

I would probably be very careful using something like a Behringer or Mackie eq while tracking. But, if I felt that a bit of eq from them got me closer to the sound I wanted on tape, I would not hesitate at all using it.

Again, you have to know the difference between bad mic placement and/or the wrong mic for the job and a little corrective eq.

Also, I would much rather improve the sound captured using an analog eq while tracking than resort to a cold sounding digital eq to do the same correction.

Good luck.

Ed
 
sonusman said:
I track with eq applied to tracks all the time.


John Sayers long ago mic'ed up an acoutic piano with a SM-58 with some eq applied and a AT 4050 with no eq applied. The mics were right next to each other, so essentially picking up a VERY similar sound from the piano. He post two mixes, one using one track, one using the other and asked people to guess which track was which.

He even stumped me! NOBODY got it right without admitting that they were just guessing at which was which.

Indeed, the tracks sounded a hair different, but which sounded "better" was debated, and all agreed that either track was quite usable, just that they had their preference.



Ed
Click to expand...


Ummmm, you're wrong their about no-1 being able to tell which was the 58 and which was the AT40!

If you look at that thread, I was the only 1who picked the which 1 was which!!!
 
An good outboard eq is a must have piece of gear for anyone into recording.As mentioned by others, you should only use it when it's really needed.
 
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