Not Understanding Parametric EQ

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MINDCRIME

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Okay sorry to post such a lame question,
But i am new to Matering, and when it comes to EQ im lost, My question is, when I read an artical or an answer to an EQ question It always says stuff like, cut or boost in such and such range, for instance, I read a bass eq question and it said to cut in the 100 to 200 Hz range, so now my question, I have a Parametric EQ and it has Low, Low Mid, High Mid, and High, so my question is, Where do I make these cuts and boosts? and what about Q settings? If I want to do a soft Picked acoustic Guitar where do I make my cuts?
do I make them on all for parameters ie, Low to High?
I read a great list on here about what cuts and boosts effect what Instruments, but it diden say where to make them,
any help would be Much apreciated
Thank you
 
Hey Mindcrime, for your first post, you might have been better off asking "what is the meaning of life?"

For the accoustic guitar I suggest that you cut about 87 db in the range of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. The Q setting is irrelevant.
 
Hi
Rather than compile a list of generic cuts,better to understand why and when to cut.First off,you need a good frequency analyzer to help you get going.click here
The frequecy analyzer will SHOW you the exact freq bands where your instruments in your mix are clashing.The lower mids is famous for this,where vox,drums,guitar,keys and bass all compete for many of the same frequencies.
For example it helps to notch the bass guitar at the range where the kick drum has most of its energy.Its like making a jigsaw puzzle where all the instruments fit in place.
The Q is the user selectable width of the cut.Depending on what your analysis shows you need,it can be as broad as on a graphic EQ or as narrow as a just few Hz surgically sliced away.
That said,there are a lot of those charts out there;boost bass at 100 Hz - cut at 200 Hz etc. But in the long run your EQ decisions will be more efficiently made if you use an analysis tool rather than a rule of thumb.
Tom
 
You gots alot of reading to do mister!!!

First thing to know is the difference between mixing and mastering. That'll also help you realize that this question relates to mixing instead of mastering, and that you should not ask this kinda question (I'm new to mastering, what's parametric EQ?) since mastering is one of those things that you need massive amount of knowledge and experience for. And great ears...

Then you gotta read on EQ. The difference between graphic EQ and parametric. This will explain make your question clear. Your question shows that you really aren't familiar with this... Reading a little and understanding how these things work will make all those articles alot clearer.

Now to really answer your question: those boosts and cuts can be made anywhere. You got four bands on your EQ (low, lomid, himid and high). You gotta use them as effective as possible. 100Hz to 200hz is low, so you do that using your lowest band. (You won't need any eq below that...)

Actually, you can use these bands wherever you want to use them, as long as you can get there with their frequency range. But they are made to be used in their specific region, so their they will work best. (High won't even go downto 200Hz, probably.)

I have an idea of where those ranges are, but can't really put numbers on them all... (ex. Low would be everything below 300Hz)
 
MC,

> Where do I make these cuts and boosts? and what about Q settings? <

You got some good answers, and one not so useful. :)

The best way to learn how to use an equalizer is to experiment. A good start is to load up a Wave file of a complete mix, or a single track of an instrument that has a wide range of frequencies like a piano or acoustic guitar. Set the Q to about 1, boost about 10 dB. or so, and sweep the frequency knob around. This will give you an idea of what the different frequency ranges sound like. Also, understand that EQ is used to cut offending frequencies (the stuff that sounds bad) just as often as to boost the stuff that sounds good.

--Ethan
 
How about an Example

Ok, lets say you recorded Live drums in a living room of your house, The bass drum is on its own track recorded with an SM57
when you mis all the trax together the bass drum is more of just a low end thud in the background, so lets say this is happening to you, you start from scratch
your EQ levals are all flat, you have,
LOW, LOW MID HI MID and HIGH,
what would any of your settings look like
if it was for a more pop rock sound,
Claptonish or something?
Please explain, I have a better undersatanding thanks to some of the replies but somtimes for me I need it written out in plain English or a visual
My learning curve has become more of a U turn, with age,
so please bare with me,
thanks alot for all the great posts
 
Re: How about an Example

MINDCRIME said:
Ok, lets say you recorded Live drums in a living room of your house, The bass drum is on its own track recorded with an SM57
when you mis all the trax together the bass drum is more of just a low end thud in the background,
Click to expand...

In this situation if the kick was really muddy I would throw a gate on it and use the attack time to give it the punch I wanted.
 
Re: How about an Example

MC,

> The bass drum is on its own track recorded with an SM57
when you mis all the trax together the bass drum is more of just a low end thud in the background <

A common solution is to cut out the muddy frequencies: Solo the kick track, set the EQ's Q to 1 and the frequency to about 250 Hz, and cut about 6-8 dB. Then move the frequency knob until the kick has a tighter sound.

Optionally, instead of cutting initially apply 6-8 dB. of boost and sweep the frequency knob until the kick sounds the worst. Then return the boost knob to zero and listen for a few seconds, so your ears get used to the original sound. Now that you've identified the offending frequency, apply some cut until the sound improves.

--Ethan
 
i'd forgoten about doing that EW. thanks for reminding me.
 
hey Mindcrime, nice nick! Killer record that was (though I always have to add bass when playing it back...)

Here's some stuff that may help you with your case of EQ Mystification (we've all had it at some point!):

A recent thread on EQing:

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showth...&threadid=46498

These may also be of some use:

"Why Your Mixes Suck"
http://prorec.com/prorec/articles.n...62566B9001EF763

"All Things Being EQ-ual"
http://prorec.com/prorec/articles.n...62565D6001E69A8

Most importantly, play around with your EQs on various tracks and get an intuitive understanding of how they work. You could get the best engineers to lecture you on the subject, but you'll never learn quite what you'll learn by doing it yourself. Play around with it, have fun. Good luck!
 
Just in case you havent heard this before here are a few guidelines for EQ usage.

1. Use the appropriate mic in the right position and you wont need EQ. (57 is not a good kick mic but we all work with we have)

2. Cuts are better than Adding and try to not to do more than about 5-10db of eq'ing unless you have a really good EQ.

3. When in doubt dont touch the EQ. Use the EQ as an absolute last resort. Bad EQing is much worse than no EQ. Dont EQ an entire mix unless you REALLY know what your doing.

4. Ignore all the rules and do what sounds good to you ;)
 
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