subtractive eq'ing technique

  • Thread starter Thread starter mindsound
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Of course, to each is own....I think our ears are always adapting. I'm also still tempted to find the problematic freq. in solo. It sounds more fast and easy.
But I think it's more dangerous to trick our ears when working that way. In example, an electric guitar track on it's own often seems to have too much 300 hz (approx.), so it's tempting to cut there. But working in the full mix, maybe the whole thing need that 300hz contribution of the guitar!
Also, sometimes you hear a certain freq. peaking in the mix. You are sure that is, say the bass. In solo, you'll find that freq. on the bass track and cut it out. But what was happening sometimes, is that I finally found the next day that it wasn't the bass track, it was the piano, or the acc. guitar....Tough, when I was eq'ing the bass track, I was "convinced" that the problem was there. To sum up my point about eq'ing (and even identifying problematic freq.) in solo is that a lot of times you may end up chasing your own tail. What seems to be the good decision yesterday appears to be the wrong move the next day. I strongly believe that mixing have a lot to do with our psyche at work....so at every corner, our brain (and our mind) are there to trick our ears. I'm not about all that kind of anti-rational thing, though.

But in the end, what's count most is the result. And if someone is happy with his results whatever the way he took, that's fine.
But I humbly think that it worth at least to try the way I suggest. Who knows what can happen when trying other stuff.
Anyway, the conversation is really cool. There's always something to gain...interesting this idea of running the freq. and boost/cut at the same time with 2 hands!
and Rami, I do the same thing when 2 freq. are close. That's why I love so much the oxford eq with its 4 different kind of bandwith settings.
 
Like I said...there's different ways to get where you need to go.

I think some of the points you bring up may be good for the newbs to consider...but also, the more you mix, the easier it is to cut to the chase, and a lot of the EQ decisions are based on previous experiences, so you are not easily fooled by soloing tracks.
IOW....we develop our hearing over time so that we don't have to approach every EQ move as though it is the first time we are doing it, and be cautious about it.
After doing lots of mixes, we learn/know how guitars and other things generally sit in a mix for the production style we are using, and that's why it's not that risky to use the solo approach to get to that point quickly, and then fine tune afterwords within the context of the whole mix.
 
mindsound said:
Of course, to each is own....I think our ears are always adapting. I'm also still tempted to find the problematic freq. in solo. It sounds more fast and easy.
But I think it's more dangerous to trick our ears when working that way. In example, an electric guitar track on it's own often seems to have too much 300 hz (approx.), so it's tempting to cut there. But working in the full mix, maybe the whole thing need that 300hz contribution of the guitar!
Click to expand...

How I do this with guitars is run up the mix with not eq on the guitars (assuming that you recorded them sounding good in the first place) if the mix ends up sounding a little bottom heavy (frequency wise not too much bass guitar or kick) I will then solo the guitars to see if there is too much bottom end, then shelve some and then put the mix back up if its better then that's good if not check the other instruments for low build up. The same rules apply to mids and highs and other instruments. Of course if it's recorded right nothing will need much eq boost or cut just a bit of fine adjustment.

As mindsound said, it's what it sounds like in the mix that counts. A prime example is the acoustic guitar player that wants a full bass, mid, high sound, drop it in a rock sound and it will be lost and full of mud, so maybe cut some lows / low mids and sparkle it up a bit to cut through, however in a folk ballad the full acoustic sound may be just what you need.

Alan.
 
Where is subtractive eq'ing??? There are only proofreading suggestions.
 
ZoelVazra said:
Where is subtractive eq'ing??? There are only proofreading suggestions.
Click to expand...

It's when you cut unwanted frequencies using eq to make the remaining frequencies sound louder as opposed to boosting the frequencies with eq that you want louder.

Hope that made sense?
Alan.
 
Really interesting point of views guys! Cool to hear your techniques in the details.

As for Zoelvazra, maybe you were asking where you can find the article? If it was the case, you'll find it at [url]www.mixingforindies.com [/URL]
 
Subtractive eq is only necessary if you are using a bad sounding equalizer.
 
There are other reasons to use subtractive eq of course. Among them, improper gain staging.
 
To be more clear, I was giving my thoughts on when you NEED to use subtractive eq over additive.
 
KNL said:
Why? Can you explain?
Click to expand...

Actually, I was going to ask you the same thing. You made a statement claiming that subtractive EQ has something to do with a bad equqlizer and bad gain staging. EQ is used even on the best of tracks with perfect gain staging and a great equalizer. So, as I said, your statement makes no sense to me. Feel free to clarify.
 
I just think that the better eq you use the less you HAVE to use subtractive eq. With proper gain staging the more headroom you have to boost without distortion or thin sounding tracks.
 
Just to add weight, I don't understand this either.
I've never had to use subtractive eq to compensate for the quality of the eq itself, or for bad gain staging.

Bad mic position? Sure....
 
The OP was stating that it is better to use subtractive eq. Am I wrong?
 
I was merely pointing out that if you're getting better results by using subtractive eq, maybe it's because of distortion due to boosting without proper headroom. Also, cheap eq's sound better by cutting than by adding.
 
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