Relative EQ-ing?

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pikupsoldier

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Ive heard a lot about say the guitars coming in the snare's way, bass overpowering the kick etc, you get the idea. Always read that you can notch out those particular frequencies that cause that but I dont exactly know how to go about this.

Do I put individual instruments through an Analyzer(say Waves PAZ Frequency) and get data and work on those frequencies? Also, say some of my snare snap is coming from around 200-300hz and so is my guitar tone warmth..so if i want the snare to stand out without affecting my tone, how do I do that?

The post is kinda ambiguous but I hope you get the idea. Please share any suggestions/methods/tips/techniques.

P.S : I hope the senior members share their techniques as well :).
 
I get bashed for this but I believe the guitars have plenty of mids to spare so i tend to cut them. Not so much only a very little until the snare cuts through (a db or a few).
 
TheChikenMaster said:
I get bashed for this but I believe the guitars have plenty of mids to spare so i tend to cut them. Not so much only a very little until the snare cuts through (a db or a few).
Click to expand...

I'm not surprised you get bashed for this :)
 
pikupsoldier said:
Do I put individual instruments through an Analyzer(say Waves PAZ Frequency) and get data and work on those frequencies? Also, say some of my snare snap is coming from around 200-300hz and so is my guitar tone warmth..so if i want the snare to stand out without affecting my tone, how do I do that?
Click to expand...

The snap of a snare is much higher than 200-300hz. From 200-500hz is usually where the meat of the snare is. Getting separation between snare and gtr or bass and kick is all relative to the arrangement, panning, recorded sound/eq, level, etc.

Using an analyzer sometimes will only confuse the issue. Listening and making educated eqing decisions on an honest playback system will help get things to sit better.
 
the idea is that the complimentary or subtractive EQ tends to tonally unclash tracks. think this way first. tracks have bass, mids and highrange. Do u know how this ranges sound when ok, little or too much?
now lets have some practical approach. the kick and bass are important chiefly in the bass region. a guitar can harbor some bass which for all sense is not really needed for it to sound ok in the mix. when learning u can confirm this with the analyzer. for experienced u can really tell by jus listening. So do most close miked traxx like vox( Proximity FX). this un-natural bass can greatly compete with the kik and bassline sonically resulting in some "mud".
the solution is varied in many techniques. First we can really lower the volume of the guitar in conjuction with panning it off center while keeping the kick and bassline centered. that can improve things. but a shaving a bit of the bass from thistraxx can add that extra professional touch. add some mild compression and everything sounds well tucked in.
now we cut the guitar in the lows. what if we give the guitar prominence in the low mids/uppermids? we can thus also cut a bit of the same from the kick and bass.

hope u getting the idea.

repeat this for traxx that seem to be stepping on each other sonically.

oneother use of analyzer could be when complimentarily EQ the bass and kick. an anylzer can help u to clearly see the exact peaks of each of these traxx.

thats my thot
 
beatspinazz said:
the idea is that the complimentary or subtractive EQ tends to tonally unclash tracks. think this way first. tracks have bass, mids and highrange. Do u know how this ranges sound when ok, little or too much?
now lets have some practical approach. the kick and bass are important chiefly in the bass region. a guitar can harbor some bass which for all sense is not really needed for it to sound ok in the mix. when learning u can confirm this with the analyzer. for experienced u can really tell by jus listening. So do most close miked traxx like vox( Proximity FX). this un-natural bass can greatly compete with the kik and bassline sonically resulting in some "mud".
the solution is varied in many techniques. First we can really lower the volume of the guitar in conjuction with panning it off center while keeping the kick and bassline centered. that can improve things. but a shaving a bit of the bass from thistraxx can add that extra professional touch. add some mild compression and everything sounds well tucked in.
now we cut the guitar in the lows. what if we give the guitar prominence in the low mids/uppermids? we can thus also cut a bit of the same from the kick and bass.

hope u getting the idea.

repeat this for traxx that seem to be stepping on each other sonically.

oneother use of analyzer could be when complimentarily EQ the bass and kick. an anylzer can help u to clearly see the exact peaks of each of these traxx.

thats my thot
Click to expand...

sounds familiar....
what are traxx?...oh you mean tracks:)
 
sounds familiar....
what are traxx?...oh you mean tracks
Click to expand...
Don't you mean, what is thot?

Lol.
Actually I think Spazz hit the nail on the head about the eq. Good post.
 
RAMI said:
No. You use your ears.
Click to expand...

Beat me to it. :)

Definitely use your ears. I started asking hyper-dyper technical questions of a successful home musican friend, I've known for twenty-five years. He said:
"I just plug my guitar into this here amp, turn some of these knobs 'till it sounds nice - and press one of these pedals..."
______________

I like to make a sort of inverse 'bell curve' with any virtual drums that sound metalic or plasticy. That usually gets them sounding a lot more natural. I tend to grab a slider and stare into space, focussing on what it sounds like; not what it looks like. The result usually resembles some kind of valley.

Dr. V
 
Last edited:
Thank you all for your inputs!

Sorry my bad on the snare 'snap' part.
 
pikupsoldier said:
Ive heard a lot about say the guitars coming in the snare's way, bass overpowering the kick etc, you get the idea. Always read that you can notch out those particular frequencies that cause that but I dont exactly know how to go about this.

Do I put individual instruments through an Analyzer(say Waves PAZ Frequency) and get data and work on those frequencies? Also, say some of my snare snap is coming from around 200-300hz and so is my guitar tone warmth..so if i want the snare to stand out without affecting my tone, how do I do that?

The post is kinda ambiguous but I hope you get the idea. Please share any suggestions/methods/tips/techniques.

P.S : I hope the senior members share their techniques as well :).[/QUOTE

You should know where each instrument sits in the sonic spectrum. For instance, bass guitar has mostly all of its energy in the low frequency as well as kick drum. To make these two fit into a mix, either the bass drum or the bass guitar have to be "on point" This means that one has to sound "clicky" and one has to sound "boomy". Usually the kick drum has the "click" sound and the bass guitar dominates the "boomy" sound. You have to consider all the instruments in a mix that sit in the same frequency range and adjust out the weak energy of each instrument. If you do this carefully, your mix will "widen" considerably. Merely soloing and making each instrument sound full is the biggest mistake made. This takes plenty of practice to get a mix that is balanced, clear and powerfull.

Good Luck.
Click to expand...
 
mci is making me feel better about cutting mids on the guitars:)
 
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