need some EQ advice...

  • Thread starter Thread starter maryslittlesecret
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maryslittlesecret

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Howdy, all. Though I've tried to avoid it, I think it's time I face my fear of EQ. I feel like my mixes are okay, but after reading a few articles, I'm thinking that the lack of separation in my instruments is because I'm overlapping frequencies (which I knew nothing about before doing a little research).

Anyway, I found what I thought was an interesting article that gave suggestions on the frequecies each instrument 'should' occupy (http://www.hairthieves.com/tip/eff/eq.htm), but I'm wondering if anyone out ther would be willing to expand on this and give me there thoughts on where things should 'be' within certain frequencies (specifically guitars, bass, and vocals -- I'm currently working with a drum machine so my EQ options there are limited).

I know EQing is a individual preference that can only be judged by your own ears, but if anyone out here can give me some guidelines and maybe expand on the chart at the link above, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

J
http://www.30SoS.com

P.S. If you want to see how my mixes seem to be kind of 'condensed' or overlapping in certain ranges, I have some songs posted at http://www.mp3.com/30SoS .
 
What kind of EQs are you using? Parametric? Graphic?
Sometimes its hard to determine eq placement because the micrphone may not have recorded the instrument frequencies accurately, so nudging this way and that way by experimentation might help. Its a boost n cut game, if you add 250khz here, then you have make sure you cut it on competing instruments. If you have a sweepable parametric it would be easier. Also panning in the stereo field on top of minor eq adjustments can make a world of difference.

Peace,
Dennis
 
I'm intentionally being very brief due to time, but I think that the essence of the article that you pointed out and other related articles is not that instruments should be shaved of ALL frequencies outside of their range. I think that the articles are saying that mixes work better when instruments are not competing with other instruments IN THEIR PRINCIPAL frequency range.
 
Look for a prog called gram.exe which is a frequency analyzer. Load up a .wav of the whole mix and you will get a graphical display of the frequencies in dB or RMS.Locate the peaks and room resonances and note them down by position and level(lets say guitar and keyboard are crowding the mids at a certain frequency,it will show in the display as a peak above the surrounding frequencies).
Take this information from the whole mix and then go back to your individual instrument .wavs.Use a parametric EQ to notch back the offending frequencies by half the amount of the distance from the average level to the peak.Do this 1/2 cut on both conflicting instruments in turn and the final result will eliminate the peak.
In general,turn down sounds you dont need.Like the bass frequencies in a cymbal track.There is no significant musical info there anyway so all you are doing is turning down hiss.
Tom
 
I think I got it from the download page of prorec.com.Lots of good stuff there.Also recommend Studio Buddy,a desktop reference of recording info and advise (compressor settings? mic placement?etc).
Tom
 
Very nice software. Play with the settings and you get a nice spectrum. I checked it with reference tones and they are spot on. File size is small, the way software should be.

The site dachay2tnr posted is version 5.1.7. The ProRec version is 4.12. I haven't compared them and don't know how different they are. Thanks for the links. You guys are the best!
 
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