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Posted by DJ-Studd on Jul-10-2002 06:01:

GDay all, i've been a regular reader of the forums here for some time now, but this is my first post, so take it with a grain of salt

I do a lot of live mixing for bands, and the EQ couldn't be more important. The levels of each channel plays a big part, but getting the frequency ranges tweaked is just as important imho.
Each instrument and vocal channel has it's own settings. If they were all to be left at 0, the mix would be rather... dull...

Just my 2 cents

Posted by Dj Thy on Jul-10-2002 12:48:

Agreed, but there still is a major difference between mixing prerecorded tunes and mixing a live band. With the live band, it's up to the engineer to make the balance. You decide how loud this or that instrument/vocal will be, how it will sound (EQ'ing, compression, effects)...

This is still important with prerecorded tunes, but don't forget here the mixdown and EQ'ing (if the tune has been made professionally, even hours have been spent on this part...) has been done for a great extent already. You don't have as much freedom as with live bands.

So I still stand with my point of view, use EQing for tricks or smoothening the mix (with that I don't only mean on a mix, but overall, the sound must stay homogen). Not to compensate for the lack of frequency response of your speakers. If that's the case, I suggest you do that on the end of the chain. And that applies for live PA also (most of the time there are one or more graphical EQ's on the end).

Posted by DJ-Studd on Jul-10-2002 13:20:

Posted by MERiDiAN5i2 on Jul-10-2002 20:09:

quote:
Originally posted by Dj Thy
I would even be so crazy to claim that in fact you should be able to perform a good blend of tracks without even touching the EQ's (keep in mind guys like Carl Cox started of with mixers without EQ's). Look at the EQ's as a tool to either do tricks, or either make a smooth mix even smoother. Don't use EQ's as a cover for every mix, just because it's "a consensus" to use the knobs.

EXACTLY!
When I first started learning to do transitions, I had no EQs... given, it was not even on turntables... my first experience came from MP3 djing with an application which only provided pitch, level, and crossfade - so I had to make all my transitions with nothing but the crossfader and level controls... and I made some decent mixtapes. EQs can actually make the transition sound worse, especially on low-end mixers where the EQs can grossly color the sound and dont respond smoothly...

I use the bass eq the most. the current track usually stays about +2db on the EQ and the incoming track starts at -15 or so db on the bass... the incoming track is faded in as I turn up the bass a little.. fader hits center, and the bass eq for the outgoing track goes down as i bring up the bass on the incoming track towards +4db. I usually mix straight into the breakdown of the incoming track, and kick the bass back down to +2db when it breaks. for alot of mixes, this whole process happens in 2 to 4 beats or sometimes just jammed into an instant (my style of mixing can be aggressive as i dont mix epic/dolphin trance..... mostly hardtrance ala paul janes scot project paul glazby hennes 'n cold, etc etc) if the incoming track has clashing or very agressive highhats, i'll dull them down a bit with the treble eq or use the lowpass VCF set around 8khz (I mix on an allen & heath mixer w/ VCF filters)

speaking of highhats: dont forget to make sure the highhats are beatmatched AS WELL AS the bass [this really helps]!

-mer

Posted by Dj Thy on Jul-11-2002 07:29:

I use the hihats to beatmatch. Hihat's are usually shorter stabs than bassdrums. So I feel it's more precise. Using that method to beatmatch, there is no difference at all between mixing trance, techno, or even d'n'b.

Posted by MERiDiAN5i2 on Jul-11-2002 08:19:

agreed. highhats make the mix beatmatched tighter.

i just seem to have a real problem beatmatching on the highhats to start with - cant seen to train my ears to deal with it. i think my high-frequency hearing really isnt that great... i seem to hear bass better.

so i match on the bass to get it pretty much matched.. then i use the sound of the highhats to tweak the mix... i guess i could beatmatch quicker if i just went on the highs. hopefully someday my ears will get used to it.

-mer

Posted by Dj Thy on Jul-11-2002 17:59:

Try to get hold of some drum and bass tunes. Beatmatch those a couple of times, and I guarantee your hihats/claps beatmixing will improve in no time...

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