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How should I EQ my sounds? (pg. 3)
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| Pimp_fu |
| quote: | Originally posted by Pappa
Which one do you like the best that you use? |
Sonitus FX Multiband and Cakewalk DSP-FX Parametric equalizer. |
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| Derivative |
further to the info provided elsewhere in this thread, there should never be any situation in which you should always cut over boosting. cutting (subtractive EQing) is for general purposes recommended wherever possible and sometimes preferable to boosting (additive EQing) because you get headroom by doing this. headroom is the difference between the peak level in your track and 0 dB. you always want a little bit of headroom to ensure no element of your track cuts off by getting any louder than 0 dB. also, the more headroom you have at the end of your mixdown, the louder you can make it by raising the master level to just below 0 dB.
the trick isnt to subtractive EQ all the time. at the end of the day you just gotta go with your ears. however, you should be careful using additive EQ when you are working close to 0 dB because you can make bits of sound clip by boosting too much and going over 0 dB.
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about EQing. there is no fix it all solution to EQing each part of your track. if you run various kick drums through a spectrum analyser you will see that all of them occupy different frequencies. some more than others. for this reason you cannot take the following information as completely PER SE for every situation. it is just a fairly rough guide.
Frequency Range: Too much of this.
10hz to 60hz: gives a blunt, muddy quality.
60hz to 250hz: gives a boomy, indistinct quality.
250hz to 2,000hz: gives a telephone like quality and above
1,000hz a tinny, hollow sound to bass
instruments + bassy percussion.
2,000hz to 4,000hz: gives a blunt, ear hurting kind of quality.
most vocals reside here cuz this is the
range where speech recognition occurs.
4,000hz to 6,000hz: gives a hissing quality to vocals and lead
instruments.
6,000hz to 16,000hz: gives even more hissing and a harshness to
vocals, leads and high hats.
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Instrument:
kick drum - slap around 2,500hz. thud around 200 to 500hz.
bottom end around 60 to 80hz.
snare - thickness around 250hz. definition around 1,000hz.
crispness around 1,500 to 2,500hz.
hihats - clang around 200 to 500hz. sizzle around 7,000
8,000hz. hiss around 8,000 to 10,000hz
piano - bass around 80 to 150hz. definition around 3,000
5,000hz. sibilance at 8,000 to 10,000hz.
vox - punch around 250hz, definition around 5,000hz.
hiss around 7,000 to 8,000hz. airy quality past
12,000hz
bass - boom and deepness around 60 to 80hz. prominance
around 700 to 1,000hz.
if you EQ various bits of your song efficiently, shelving off frequencies you dont want or use then you will have more headroom at the end of your mix (which is always good). your songs should sound cleaner and louder in the long run. lets say you have a pattern of hihats at 1/16th intervals and you dont want the clanginess or the bottom end, just the click and hiss. make a deep cut below 1,000hz. it'll get rid of the hihat clanginess so if you ever decide for example (and for whatever reason) to add cowbells at 1/4 intervals it'll sound cleaner and more defined in the mix.
also, get something like waves PAZ analyser or a spectrum analyser. run the instruments you want to use through them and they will show you which frequencies that instrument occupies on a graph. you can then EQ each one based on that information. this is more accurate than the stuff provided above. to check on headroom use a dB meter. try to use parametric EQs rather than band EQs. parametric EQs are just much more controllable. i rarely ever use fruity 7 band EQ for example. i suppose its good for making broad changes to the dynamic of a sound by you can do that with a parametric EQ aswell as make very fine adjustments between small freq ranges.
also, if 2 instruments share alot of the same frequencies and are playing at the time time, they will 'stack up.' e.g. you got a kick drum (most of it around 60 to 500hz) and a bassline that occupies roughly the same frequencies and you are working close to 0dB. when both hit at the same time you get double the presence between 60 and 500hz and it will go over 0dB and clip. one solution here is make a notch around 250hz on the bassline to cut away some of the frequency which is occupied by the kick. if you do that you will get less of the bassline in that frequency (the bassline may sound a bit thinner as a result) and you may hear more of the kick drum thud. you gain a little headroom too. you need to play around though to see what works best and where. sometimes its a good idea to remove a little bit of the bottom end of a bass to get a thicker fuller presence on the kicks. you can compensate for this later when you accumulate headroom so you can thicken up the bass end of your track once you've got 1 or 2 dB to play around with. |
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| nectario |
| Thanks Derivative!!! Your post is so informative! |
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| Etherium |
I think too much is made of the cutting versus boosting debate. I find that sometimes, the only way to make a lead or bass cut through is with heavy EQ. Granted, with the filter and resonance you could probably do something similar, but why would you with a quality EQ.
Note, when you do boost, don't use to narrow a Q. |
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| Subtle |
| It is all between your ears.. |
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| Derivative |
| pretty much yea. was just listening to lucid's i cant help myself and that track is really loud and crisp. very tight bass end. thats efficient EQing. i mean, they got so much headroom! |
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| DJ Twenty |
| That computer music tutorial is top, is there any more on the net ? |
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| BassAttack_22 |
its defenitely better to cut than to boost... if you boost, dont boost more than 1-3 db.. but cutting of is never a problem. mainly cut sounds (hihats, ride, cymbal, leads, pads, sequences, percussion, addon-drumloops) in the low and low-mid range so theres enough room left for the kick drum and the basslines..
dont do too much equing.. if you add sequence by sequence in your Midi-Audio sequencer always check the sound of the new tracks after recording.. if it sounds well go ahead to the next track.. if not, check the eq settings and apply changes... this way you keep control over the sound..
my power tipp: dont eq the kick ! high quality kick samples from commercial sampling cds are already eq'ed and compressed enough... never cut the high frequencies from the kick, only if you want to lower the punch of the kick.. same with the basslines... |
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| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by BassAttack_22
its defenitely better to cut than to boost... if you boost, dont boost more than 1-3 db.. but cutting of is never a problem. mainly cut sounds (hihats, ride, cymbal, leads, pads, sequences, percussion, addon-drumloops) in the low and low-mid range so theres enough room left for the kick drum and the basslines.. |
True in general - most common use of EQ for me is to cut the bass frequencies from all non-bass channels - but there's nothing *wrong* with boosting if you've given yourself headroom. Use a fairly low Q on it and it won't sound strange. The best strategy for me seems to get a really beefy bass going and then EQ the other sounds up in the mid-high frequencies to fill the track. But of course that may not be the best strategy for everyone.
| quote: | | dont do too much equing.. if you add sequence by sequence in your Midi-Audio sequencer always check the sound of the new tracks after recording.. if it sounds well go ahead to the next track.. if not, check the eq settings and apply changes... this way you keep control over the sound.. |
Again, true in general but it depends on the source material. Good samples should not need much EQ, but if you're mixing many channels then it may be necessary in order for it not to get muddy.
| quote: | | my power tipp: dont eq the kick ! high quality kick samples from commercial sampling cds are already eq'ed and compressed enough... never cut the high frequencies from the kick, only if you want to lower the punch of the kick.. same with the basslines... |
Definitely don't agree here. First of all, punch is in the low-mid frequencies (250 - 500 Hz). The high frequencies are referred to as "click", which you don't hear much of in many genres (house, breaks, d'n'b, etc.). Also, the primary use of EQ is not to remove click or improve punchiness or click, but to fit it with the bassline(s). The ideal thing to do (for me) is start with a kick and bass that are "full" in terms of the spectrum - then cut away frequencies on one and boost them on the other (using a medium Q) so they become more distinct and less muddy.
But as I always say, this isn't an exact science. That's why whenever I answer these questions I qualify my answer with a "what I do is..." - it's never a good idea to pass off production tips as cold hard facts because production isn't a cold or hard science. :p |
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| Aquarian |
| You can't really apply a universal rule. No two kicks will sound the same, no two leads will sound the same... You just have to go by ear and pick whatever sounds good. As for kicks, I usually end up EQing them. Sometimes I'll even boost the higher frequencies a bit. |
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| dj jasonF |
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
quote:
my power tipp: dont eq the kick ! high quality kick samples from commercial sampling cds are already eq'ed and compressed enough... never cut the high frequencies from the kick, only if you want to lower the punch of the kick.. same with the basslines...
Definitely don't agree here. First of all, punch is in the low-mid frequencies (250 - 500 Hz). The high frequencies are referred to as "click", which you don't hear much of in many genres (house, breaks, d'n'b, etc.). Also, the primary use of EQ is not to remove click or improve punchiness or click, but to fit it with the bassline(s). The ideal thing to do (for me) is start with a kick and bass that are "full" in terms of the spectrum - then cut away frequencies on one and boost them on the other (using a medium Q) so they become more distinct and less muddy.
:p |
true... just let me add something, forget the bassline, because the sample was eq-ed already by a pro it means that you shouldnt touch it? of course you can cuz the "pro" did it with his standards.
and i hear this alot: "dont compress your kicks cuz they are already compressed"
as far as i know, you compress your kick ALONE when you want to change the dynamics to fit YOUR needs, you are not using the comp as limiter or w/e. the kick is a sample and it will hit the same every time you play it solo. you compress the kick with the bass if you want a limiter fx from the compressor. |
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