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-- question about subtractive EQing

question about subtractive EQing

hey guys. so ive been hearing that most of you mainly use subtractive EQing. ive been doing the same thing in Reason but when i do a low shelf i do cut out the lower freq part of it rises over the 0db at the spot where i start to cut it at. now do i want to level that of or leave it. i noticed that it brings the db level of the track up a bit, so im guessing i want to level it off , otherwise it isnt really subtractive EQing ??....

im not to sure if EQs in other programs do this. i actually find it to be a bit strange.

thanks

also i was wondering how you guys EQ your percussion. like claps hihats , and shakers.... i was watching a video on Eqing that someone posted on this site. and the guy was low shelfing (i think its called) all his high percussion sound. so i was wondering what is a safe freq range to do that. thanks


yeah i just watched it again and thet guys is shelfing his hihats and cycmbals at around 1Khz. and then snaers claps and bongos can be cut around 200 - 600Hz? does this sound right?

I dont understand you're first post. The second post, what I would say is there is no right or wrong frequency to cut. Whatever sounds okay to you.

Yes you should remove any low frequencies you dont need with percussion. Just how much you remove depends entirely on the sample. I tend to remove as much as possible without removing the main body of the sample. Sometimes I can go very high. Sometimes not. Its good to get a good balance of percussion samples, some will only have very high freq's, some will have lower freq's. I tend to find the lower ones can sound more techy but thats just me. Its really up to what you like the sound of.

Put your sample on loop (solo), set the hipass cutoff point so that you just about hear the low end being rolled off. Then, if your mix calls for it, do more eq'ing. Otherwise, try to keep the samples as they are.

quote:

Originally posted by G-Con Yes you should remove any low frequencies you dont need with percussion. Just how much you remove depends entirely on the sample.

but how can we know which are the low freq's

Low freqs range from like 20hz -> 250hz

ish?

quote:

Originally posted by benoster but how can we know which are the low freq's

this is going in my sig. this is brilliant lmao.

quote:

Originally posted by G-Con I dont understand you're first post. The second post, what I would say is there is no right or wrong frequency to cut. Whatever sounds okay to you. Yes you should remove any low frequencies you dont need with percussion. Just how much you remove depends entirely on the sample. I tend to remove as much as possible without removing the main body of the sample. Sometimes I can go very high. Sometimes not. Its good to get a good balance of percussion samples, some will only have very high freq's, some will have lower freq's. I tend to find the lower ones can sound more techy but thats just me. Its really up to what you like the sound of.

i like nice high energy , driving drums, traditional trance style. (Stonface & Terminal always have my favorite drum and bass style)

but anyway sorry about the first post i was in a bit of a rush. what i ment was: first say the eq line is level out at 0db. when i cut the lower freq with the low shelf nob, the mid range rises up over the 0db line when i move the Q nob. so i was wondering if i should flatten it out so that it doesn't rase past the 0db line. thats what ive been doing cuz it seems to make more sense to me. so i was just wanting to see if you guys do this as well. i hope that makes a little more sense.

Aha. Yes, the MClass EQ has that dial to boost around the cutoff frequency for the low pass eq. If you just want to cut away frequencies down low, set that dial so there's no boost at all.

Please, just think about this logically, in terms of what you're trying to do.

If you just want to cut, set it so it just cuts.

If you want to cut, plus also have a big boost around, for example, 200Hz, then set the dial so it boosts there.

If you see a parametric eq display showing the eq going over the line, it's boosting frequencies there. It's your decision whether or not you want to do that. In general, for what we're talking about here, removing unnecessary low frequencies, you don't want to boost anything down there.

A good technique to use while eqing is to use a spectrum analyzer to see what frequencies your sample is taking up in the mix. I use a spectrum analyzer over the whole mix. Then you can solo tracks and see where they are in the frequency range. You can do this for each individual track and eq to your preference. Remeber these are tools not fixes.

lowski.. what you're talking about is the resonance of the high/low pass filter. The more dramatic the cut, usually, the more resonance results. For simple filter circuits it seems to be a compromise. The higher 'Q' (quality) parameter can make the curve steeper, but at the compromise of having a higher resonance peak.

Anyway, I've found that if i'm just trying to do high/low cuts to eliminate frequencies, then I try to avoid that resonance peak. If I want a steeper curve without resonance, then several high passes with low q (broad curve, low/zero resonance) will result in a superposition of a steeper curve.

On the other hand, some resonance can give character to cuts on a synth or other tonal instrument. Also, when doing dynamic filter sweeps some resonance can accentuate the cutoff point and make the effect more apparent.

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