Maximizing of tones question

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NinjaStar

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Hey I have an odd question and I wasn't sure if it fits in this forum, but anyway...


I've always thought if instruments and sounds that they produce to have a dominant tone, which dictates the emotional impact of the piece of sound.

Sooo...
Q1: Does anyone know of ways to analyze this dominant tone and make it more apparent? eq and compression are the first things that jump out at me, but how.

Q2: Is it possible for a sound to have more than one of these tones that could be brought out or does a sound have many tones and the engineer brings out the ones that fit the mix?


One technique I know is finding the freq. of this tone and then finding the freq of the harmonics of the tone.

If anyone knows any sites I can read a little about this, let me know. Thanks
 
NinjaStar said:
Hey I have an odd question and I wasn't sure if it fits in this forum, but anyway...


I've always thought if instruments and sounds that they produce to have a dominant tone, which dictates the emotional impact of the piece of sound.
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But....during a song, it's never one dominant tone...it changes with the notes/chords...unless you are talking about the overall key of the song...?
Not sure if you really want to "chase" those tones throughout the song with EQ/Compression adjustments.

Highlighting the dominant tones and the key of a song is more about the arrangement and not so much the engineering...IMO.
 
miroslav said:
Highlighting the dominant tones and the key of a song is more about the arrangement and not so much the engineering...IMO.
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You are definitely right about that, I think thats what I mean. Do you know anything I can read on this topic.
 
I'm sure there are books and books and books on that topic AFA the theory, but just don't approach it like a rudimentary "process"...rather, it's up to the song to dictate how things should sound, and for that...use your ears.

IOW...if you want to highlight a dominant tone in a particular section...add more instruments/layers of that particular tone or use chord patterns/fingerings that "push" that tone forward.

You might want to study up on some basic melody/harmony theory as a starting point...any Barnes & Nobel bookstore will have enough for you to start with.
 
Also, to bring something out doesn't mean that you need to "add" to that something. It might be more useful to "take away" from something else.
 
noisewreck said:
Also, to bring something out doesn't mean that you need to "add" to that something. It might be more useful to "take away" from something else.
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Any specific examples? I have an idea of what you mean, but Im just looking to expand my knowledge.
 
NinjaStar said:
Any specific examples? I have an idea of what you mean, but Im just looking to expand my knowledge.
Click to expand...

Well, say you have a kick and bass. Somehow you find that they interfere with each other when they play together. You also find that kick's sweet spot is at a certain frequency. Instead of applying an EQ boost on kick, you might want to try applying an EQ cut at that same frequency on the bass instead.

I want to stray away from giving numbers and settings, because:
#1 they will likely not work
#2 I don't want to encourage formulaic thinking.
 
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