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-- Tip of the day: EQ and it's use/misuse

Tip of the day: EQ and it's use/misuse

Found this little gem in a EQ users manual:

quote:

This type of problem-solving also underscores a key principle of EQ: It�s often better to cut than boost. Boosting uses up headroom; cutting opens up headroom. In the example of solving the classical guitar resonance problem, cutting the peak allowed bringing up the overall gain, which allowed mastering at a much higher level � without using any kind of compression or limiting. (If you do this while recording, you can also record at a higher level.)

The magic of the EQ cut was lost upon my productions for the most part until a one day session with Paul from Marscruiser shed some light on the subject - significantly clearing out some mud in my mixes (and if you've heard any of my stuff, you'd know that I tend to layer up a lot of sounds).

If you haven't gotten to know your parametric EQ, I suggest doing so pronto. Even the ones is Reason are serviceable (preferably the Masterclass EQ though). Play around with it, get to know it. It's your most useful tool - even better than moar sidechain!

Lately I've been reading a lot of tutorials/guides about various topics (e.g. CM's Essential Guide to...) and time and time again the literature emphasizes that it's almost always better to cut than boost when EQing.

Maybe your post will help shed some light for those individuals who are mistaken about this fact

From the mixing engineer's handbook - boost to make something sound different, cut to make something sound better. It's a good general guideline, if one sees it as a guideline and not as a rule.

quote:

Originally posted by cenik ...it's almost always better to cut than boost when EQing.

I'm still not convinced that this is true. No doubt that most EQ work done in a mix will be cutting (particularly bass and some mid frequencies) but it's also pretty common to boost the mids/mid-highs in leads, pads, stabs, snares, etc.

It's just a tool - you can use it well or poorly and I tend to be mistrustful of anyone who makes a statement with regard to production that has the word "always" in it.

quote:

Originally posted by derail It's a good general guideline, if one sees it as a guideline and not as a rule.

I'd like to emphasize that as well. This should only be taken as a guideline as there are situations where it is useful to boost, such as bringing out the "sparkle" in the higher frequencies of a good reverb.

However, I almost always use boosting in a "creative EQ" type of a situation rather than a "mixing EQ" one.

I like to cut AND boost....am I a sinner?

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut I'm still not convinced that this is true. No doubt that most EQ work done in a mix will be cutting (particularly bass and some mid frequencies) but it's also pretty common to boost the mids/mid-highs in leads, pads, stabs, snares, etc. It's just a tool - you can use it well or poorly and I tend to be mistrustful of anyone who makes a statement with regard to production that has the word "always" in it.

Give it time young padawan, you will learn that this is one of the few blanket statements that's correct.

i don't agree that it's common (amongst well produced tracks anyway) to boost frequencies in all those sounds, especially when those are all in the same frequency range. You can't boost them all!

quote:

Originally posted by DJMaytag Give it time young padawan, you will learn that this is one of the few blanket statements that's correct.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't asking for opinions. Perhaps I didn't adequately express myself earlier, so let's try again: that statement is complete bullshit.

I don't even know what you're talking about in the second line. You can't boost them all if they're in the same frequency range? You can't cut them all either. There's no difference - if you have conflicting sounds then you can either cut some frequencies and raise the gain, or boost some frequencies and lower the gain. They both give you the exact same result, especially in the digital domain where EQ doesn't produce any significant artifacts.

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut if you have conflicting sounds then you can either cut some frequencies and raise the gain, or boost some frequencies and lower the gain. They both give you the exact same result, especially in the digital domain where EQ doesn't produce any significant artifacts.

Agreed. I think the whole cut-not-boost mantra is really only relevant in the context of headroom maintenance. For the purposes of sound sculpting, whether you boost or cut should produce equivalent results assuming the overall level is maintained.

I use boosting more as a way to change the sound. But i see no problem with it at all. You are saying that boosting eq's takes up headroom. So, if there is already a lot of headroom then it wouldn't be a problem. And, when they say cutting is almost always better than boosting i think they mean if a sound isn't very loud in a busy mix then you should cut other things in the same frequency instead of boosting it so that the mix distorts.

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut To be perfectly honest, I wasn't asking for opinions. Perhaps I didn't adequately express myself earlier, so let's try again: that statement is complete bullshit.

Well, there's a reason why it written in articles and books, time and time again.

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut I don't even know what you're talking about in the second line. You can't boost them all if they're in the same frequency range? You can't cut them all either.

Yeah, actually you can. I do and many others do too. You can take 4 sounds occupying roughly the same frequency range (and volume) and cut them all to carve out it's own space without adversely affecting their sounds. It's not always easy, but the result is pretty amazing.

quote:

Originally posted by MaxC Agreed. I think the whole cut-not-boost mantra is really only relevant in the context of headroom maintenance. For the purposes of sound sculpting, whether you boost or cut should produce equivalent results assuming the overall level is maintained.

The whole purpose of this tip was in regards to what seems to be the never ending problem of new producers having problems with their mixes sounding too quiet compared to a professionally produced tune. Where does it seem like the problem is? It seems (sounds?) to me that frequency heaviness and lack of headroom management are the most common problems.

Assuming equal results isn't quite the reality. But assuming a sound with a completely flat frequency response - that's the big kicker, why would you want to add a +12 db boost to 31 out of 32 bands (like on a graphic EQ) and then have to reduce your gain, when you can cut just one to acheive the exact same thing?

my greatest step forward (this was quite some time ago) was when i looked at my spectrum analyzer and realized that my HI HATS of all things were hitting awfully hard at 120ish hz... and i thought... wtf? then i said... gotta fix this

david

this rule helps you (only) as long as you have not enough experience. with time you'll hear exactly what need to be done to every single sound that everything works perfectly together.

eq-skills need to be learned and it's for certain nothing you will learn in a couple of days. it's something which takes time, long time, to learn.. and it's nothing which you can learn in books. you need to train your ears.

If you are gonna boost some high frequencies, cut low and raise volume.

quote:

Originally posted by DJMaytag Give it time young padawan, you will learn that this is one of the few blanket statements that's correct. i don't agree that it's common (amongst well produced tracks anyway) to boost frequencies in all those sounds, especially when those are all in the same frequency range. You can't boost them all!

As a general rule, cutting sounds will clean up a mix beautifully. But absolutely, most professional engineers will also boost where necessary. I don't know where you read that this is a "blanket statement" and that a well-placed boost is NEVER called for - if this works for you, good luck to you. I'd be interested to know your sources for this information though - in the meantime, I'm going to have to say that that statement will do more harm than good. It's a guideline, not a rule. As for calling Diginut a young padawan... I found that quite amusing, since it's such a misplaced description - he creates some excellent music.

I'm not sure what you meant by "boost frequencies in all those sounds" - I couldn't see how that referred to the previous posts. If someone boosts everywhere, that's an issue. But I've seen and read about countless fantastic tracks containing well-placed boosts among all the cuts. As I said, I'd like to find out where you learned that this is a "blanket statement"...to me it seems like a reformed "eq booster" vowing never to boost again, even though in some circumstances it's exactly what's called for.

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut I'm still not convinced that this is true. No doubt that most EQ work done in a mix will be cutting (particularly bass and some mid frequencies) but it's also pretty common to boost the mids/mid-highs in leads, pads, stabs, snares, etc. It's just a tool - you can use it well or poorly and I tend to be mistrustful of anyone who makes a statement with regard to production that has the word "always" in it.

it seems to me some eqs sound good when boosting, and others can sound nasty if you boost.

I think what is meant by it, that its better to create space for one sound by cutting something else rather than boosting the sound.

Ofcourse boosting is very much usable, but boosting something is more likely to ruin a mix than cutting.

I have worked in a professional recording studio environment and can tell you that mix engineers most definately do boost frequencies alot.

Expensive analog outboard EQs such as Neve, API etc can do wonders when boosting certain frequencies.

At the end of the day just do what sounds right. Dont take peoples opinions so seriously and just do what sounds good when producing.

Cutting is better at certain things, and boosting is better at other certain things. Let's leave it at that.

Boosting the highs to "fix" a muddy mix is one example of misuse, that people starting out will tend to do - rather than locating the problem areas and cut.

In my experience, there is most of the times too much level at certain frequencies, rather than too little.

i tend to cut at each element/each channel but boost on master to give the mix the right balance

Make sure you do your cuts before your boosts

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