Is there wa TRUE way to EQ and a FAKE?

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myhatbroke

myhatbroke

Cocktacular Member
This question came up when my friend was telling me that he set up his gear different Live than recording. When he record he makes everything flat and then eqs it on the mix. Then I was like wow. I try to eq everything exactly as I want it to sound and by that I mean...record, see if it sounds good then tweak the GEAR again until I like what I hear. Whats the TRUE way to eq things?
 
99% of the time I track with no EQ compression or FX.
Once in awhile I will track with compression just to tame the peeks on a kick or a snare.
 
You mean sort of like a true way to record a guitar solo and a fake way???
 
RAMI said:
You mean sort of like a true way to record a guitar solo and a fake way???
Click to expand...
Guitar solos with a guitar or guitar solos with a casio? :confused: :confused:
 
It is best to get a good sound to start with. But if the EQ you apply while recording negates any frequencies you want later, you'll have to do without those frequencies or re-track.
So I think applying less extreme EQ while recording is best. Make sure there is a full spectrum.
I know some guys turn the tone knob all the way down on the bass and wonder why it sounds muddy and purely susbonic in the mix. While, live at with a band at full volume it may sound and "feel" good. It can be completely different when recorded.
 
RAMI said:
You mean sort of like a true way to record a guitar solo and a fake way???
Click to expand...
Dude cmon your a cool guy, dont be a dick. AND NO its not a damn keyboard.

Anyways... Like I said, what I hear after a few tests is exactly what I want, no need for extra eqing maybe just adjusting levels. What methods do yall use? Especially you rami, i like your crisp clean sound. Although im more into a heavier tone.
 
You know, there's no less that TWO other threads talking about this right now.....
 
myhatbroke said:
Dude cmon your a cool guy, dont be a dick. AND NO its not a damn keyboard.

Anyways... Like I said, what I hear after a few tests is exactly what I want, no need for extra eqing maybe just adjusting levels. What methods do yall use? Especially you rami, i like your crisp clean sound. Although im more into a heavier tone.
Click to expand...
Ah come on, I'm just jabbing.... :p

I'm no expert as far as guitar sounds go, and still have a whole lot to learn. But what works for me is never boosting. I find that rolling off under about 225hz, cutting the muddiness somewhere around 400-600hz, and cutting around 4k-6k works for me most of the time. And my cuts are rarely more than 2-3db. Again, I'm still learning, so I might come back in a few months and give you totally different advice. Hope this helps at all.
 
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I say, try to make the source sound the way you want it to sound on the recording, but don't get extreme with anything for the simple fact that it's easy to cut stuff away that you don't need in the mix, but it's impossible to put it back.
Live sound is a totally different animal. It only has to work right there in the moment and there are several other factors impacting the sound. All the instruments pumping through their respective amplifiers, real drums playing in the room, and huge PA speakers have nothing in common with a mix of all those instruments playing through a pair of small hi-fi speakers. Don't confuse the two.
 
I generally try to get the sound as close to how I want it when recording. But I generally don't EQ or compress or process or whatever on the way in. I just try to get a nice guitar sound in the case of guitars. Then once everything is recorded, I set all the faders at zero and play it back. At that point I only use the faders to set the levels right.

Then I listen again for any conflicts that might need fixing, and fix it with some EQ if needed. Obviously a lot of it depends on the tune, but I usually roll of 150hz and below on the guitars, although again it depends. Sometimes I roll off up to 250hz, sometimes not at all. Then I do a frequency sweep on the guitars to find any frequencies that might be quite annoying. A small notch in the right place in the the high frequencies tends to get rid of any unwanted fuzziness for me, but again it depends. I often solo the kick drum and the bass guitar together to make sure they aren't wiping each other out in any way, and make cuts on whatever is causing itself, or the other, not to cut through.

I usually only use subtractive EQing. The way I figure it, and this is my opinion, its better to get rid of unwanted frequencies than boosting the wanted ones over the top of the unwanted. I know I've used this analogy before, but its kinda like if you have the tv and the hifi on at the same time and you want to hear the tv. You would turn the hifi down rather than trying to drown it out with the TV.

I also am still learning, and this is what I have picked up along the way, so maybe I'll do things differently in time, but I figured I'd chuck in my tuppence.
 
This is a very old argument/discussion. I personally don't like to eq at all going to ye olde harddrive because I simply don't trust my own ears after helping tweak loud instruments, and besides, I'm unfortunately not in a situation where I have complete isolation in the control room. On the other hand, there's a great introduction that Tony Visconti (Bowie, T Rex...tons of others) wrote for the Tape Op book. He was saying that back then, they'd eq on the way to tape for sure. The advantage to this is that it kind of forms the way the track will sound as it's being done and when the overdubs start happening, the sound of the basic tracks steer the performances that are added later.

I see advantages to both ways. When I'm on the way to a harddrive, I'll avoid eq. When I've managed to get some gutsy bastard to record to my 388, I'll eq on the way in.
 
The last 3 posts after mine were very informative and right on. I just want to say that when I mentioned eq'ing, I meant AFTER the fact. I don't compress or EQ on the way in. As the others mentioned, try to get as close a sound to what you want before even touching the record button.
 
I constantly track with compression and EQ. Than again, i am also producing a lot of the stuff i track, and my clients come to me because of what i add. I also have a rack of awesome compressors, as well as a large console with awesome EQ's.

Personally, I would try and use mic selection first, than mic placement, than mic preamp selection to get the sound you want as close as you can before EQ. Then add a little compression for flavor if you want, but NOT for voplume control. Then add some EQ. If you find it takes a lot of EQ to get what you want, then you should reevaluate to make sure you really are using the right instrument, amp, mic, placement, pre, comp, EQ etc.... and right on down the line. If it takes a lot, than you are either laying a really weird sounding track for a purpose, or you have made a mistake somehwere else in your chain, or your equipment/room options need some expansion. Usually this only happens because somewhere in the signal chain you have mad a mistake or overlooked something.
 
No EQ, compression, etc while tracking for me. I track with my source having the exact sound that I want. Then adjust EQ and what not after the fact. Mainly because after adding a few more parts I can start to see where I need to boost and cut, which obviously doesn't work too well while tracking.
 
I use fake eq while recording, and save the real eq for mixing. ;)
 
"Is that a Sears EQ or a real EQ?" - Frank Zappa
 
Hey, hat.

If you're talking about EQ setting ON THE AMP- then definitely use it! You should have the sound you want coming out of the amp then do what you need to get that same sound coming out of your monitors. More or less.

-C
 
I dont use compression on the way in or out. I love dynamic range . I do all EQ via mic placement and carefully chosen mic technique.I spend hours and hours placing mics and replacing them until I am satisfied. (I am a live Classical Recording guy) I get it as near perfect as I can. The only thing I do with EQ normally is remove HVAC or LF buildup (with pipe organs and orchestras) For this i use Algorithmix Linear Phase EQ.

I am a minimalist kind of guy. I see too much "well fix it in the mix or mastering" nonsense, people that dont focus on mic techniques or fundamentals. Sad really.
 
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