Frequency Ranges

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I'm fairly new to home recording. I'm using a PC based set up with Cakewalk. I've talked to several engineers and they tell me that frequency placement in a mix essential. This all sounds good however I'm not sure as to what instruments should be in which frequency range. I'm trying to record by bands demo projects. We have your basic arrangement of drums, guitar, bass and vocals. Once I know the frequency range how can I tell which frequencies
these instruments are recorderd at. Keep in mind I'm only using a stereo drum mix for the time being because I don't have a sound card that has more than (2) inputs.
 
Good links from Gidge.

Keep in mind that the total sound of an instrument, especially with harmonics, usually covers a wide frequency range. You can't say that guitar "lives" at a certain frequency, for example. Guitars put out frequencies pretty much across the whole spectrum. Thus, you can't just cut a certain frequency in a stereo mix and lower the guitars in the mix, per se, as you'll be affecting content from other instruments as well. Sometimes that's what you want... if there's a big "bulge" somewhere in the overall recording you can tame it a little. Again, I'm talking about a stereo mix and not individual tracks in this case.

On individual tracks, I find it useful to "carve out" sections with some EQ to make room for everything in the mix. Low-end below 150Hz can sound big and full on guitars when they're solo'ed. But put that in the mix with everything else and you might find that the bass and kick have to fight through all that low frequency guitar stuff to be heard. Cutting some lows on guitars might sound thin when solo'ed, but in the mix you may discover that the bass and kick fill-in that low end. And not only that, they come through nice and clean 'cause theres room for them in the frequency spectrum. I often find that my solo'ed tracks use EQ settings I'd never think to use on the track by itself. But it works great in the mix.

It's also really really handy to train your ears to recognize what frequency is what. Those frequency charts are handy starting points, but every instument has it's own character. I've been slowly getting better with this, and keep working to improve. I want to reach the point where I can listen to a mix and just know that I want to cut the snare a little at, say, 1200Hz just by listening.

If you're completely new to EQ, you should learn the different types of EQ's and what they do. Fully parametric is your friend when mixing. You not only have good control over what frequency you boost or cut, but how wide that boost/cut is.
 
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Unfortunately, the frequencies of all those instruments overlap bigtime. That's the way she goes!

Be careful with EQ...try instead to get the right mix of sounds recorded, and then use EQ to touch up. Getting a bunch of sounds that only sound good on their own and then expecting to EQ them together is a recipe for disaster! (been there, done that, hehe)

Slackmaster 2000
 
They may work for some people, but I could never find any value at all in those damn frequency charts.

Find the ugly or muddy shit and cut some of it out. That's how i EQ. I actually do better when i can't see what I'm doing. Try EQ'ing blindfolded - you'll probably get better results if you DON'T have a preconceived idea of what frequency you "should" cut.
 
the charts are good starting points when you know nothing, but the arent the Bible and arent set in stone.....

the best exercise for this is to record a single track...play it back and set the EQ with a real narrow Q ( .5 or so) with a HEALTHY boost (20db) and sweep through the frequencies...you will be able to see what all the frequencies sound like for that particular recorded track.......
 
Good posts guys
I would sweep each track with a narrow Q boost with a para EQ and listen for the stuff that (when boosted) really sounds bad and cut those frequencies 5 dB or to suit.Immediately unsolo that track after EQing to test the fit in the mix.No matter how good a solo'd track sounds,its the fit in the mix that is top priority.
An example would be how electric guitars can be rolled off below 200Hz.When solo'd,the guitar will sound thin.But in the mix with a punchy bass track,the emphasis on the higher frequencies will make the guitar track shine.
The kick and snare have powerful fundamental frequencies and then more subtle overtones that are nevertheless very important.It is helpful to know that your kick is mainly 58 Hz and the snare 125 Hz or whatever.This helps you EQ the bass to jigsaw it all together.If your recording software doesn't have a built-in frequency analyzer,get a stand-alone program like http://www.prorec.com/prorec/downloads.nsf/filename/9D5FF38808567DC9862565F70062B014 Very handy and,when used with your ears and those EQ charts,will soon help you learn where the various instruments live.
 
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