hello everyone i want to ask some questions about EQ and hope some people would like to share how they eq different things like bass, leads and all other fun stuff.

first of i would like to ask some advice on EQing leads. for me when i make a lead sound it can sometimes take up a large spectrum, i find it difficult to cut away parts to clean it up, buy cutting in some places it looses its strength but at the same time not cutting in places means more space being taken up by the sound. i was wondering what are some thought process that people use when EQing in all aspects. i feel that this is where im at my weakest, i know the basics such as low cutting everything and all that. so if anyone has some more advanced techniques that they would like to share that would be great. also how do you find a place for all your sounds. how do you sculpt your music.




thank you

 

Start reading what you said from bottom,that is the answer,placing the sounds in spectrum,center-left-right-front-behind,also arrangement play great role and composition,timbre of sound,sometimes something just do not fit no matter what,but what is more important is how something sounds together,than in solo,many times some sound even if sounds great and everything,can not be in mix like that,you should really calculate and be smart about your given space,if it is left-right-center and is it up in front-behind,that should be first thing too look for,than frequency and dynamic range,role and position in the mix.Getting good mix is planning ahead and trying to make something work as much as it can,it starts from composition,less is more,you heard that so many times by now I guess,that is truth,it is,make something work even if it is played on just piano or regular midi,than when you start doing sound design,be smart about it,if you start layering and filling space with different sounds,give something else priority or take from it and something else should be cut and placed in little space that is left.also mid/side processing,distortion can be tool that can bring more,experiment and stick to basics of mixing,volume,panning,focus,than go about frequency and dynamic range,but never forget that you have limited spectrum and that everything should sound good together,nobody will hear what something sounds in solo anyways,so do not work much in that mode,focus on big picture,try to make and take when you can and fill the space in smart way.now you see that eq decisions are based on many factors and situations,do not want to go deeper in all that than,it is all ears and vision,not much theory than knowing what eq does and having experience to plan ahead.

 

I´m more into Live Sound(job) than in producing(hobby) but i can tell you this, putting a mix together is all about the frequencies of each instrument/synth and how you set them in the right place of the frequencyspectrum. The cleaner your Mix is the more transparency it gets, for the ideal you have to hear every Instrument without focusing hard on it, in the moment you think of it you have to hear it.


For example the Base Drum, when the Base has a big Low end I dont put the bass (guitar, Synth, what ever) in the same range, this gives a low end mess.
I try to get a little more Overtones for the slap to set my bass guitar above the base. Viceversa the same when the Bass has a big low end I make the Kick of my Base heavier. They have to work in common not against each other.

Sure it depends on what you are willing to do,but sometimes like shike said less is more.

I dont know whats your type of music but in my apprenticeship this was a big help for me to understand the frequency range.



My Tips for EQing

One thing about Q´s (Bandwith)
high Q = cut noisy/disturbing sounds
low Q = coloring the Instrument

When something disturbs me and I cant locate it I take a high Q and set the gain on +6 or +9db and slowly search the frequency that is annoying. Dont go to fast otherwise you hear just a phaser

Hope this was helpfull.

Cheers

 

Have you looked at how your frequency's behave over a period of time rather than just as you see it react in the present,(you need to get it to average out what the whole track does) it's something else to consider because it's a useful technique to show that your spectrum is maybe not as full as you may think it is, different kinds of music and different orchestrations don't share the same shape though, so worth learning the patterns with different mix's that you like the sound of and comparing with your own efforts to see what it tells you

 

For me I try and follow a simple formula to make my life easier when it comes to EQ, it might not work for you but it's definitely worth thinking about.

1) Imagining how things should sound. This for me is the single most important step to EQ. You need to really close your eyes and listen to the sounds in your head. Sing them out if you have to. The important thing is to have a feel for how you want that lead to sound, or that bass to fit with the kick, or the that snare to pop. Once you figure out the tone, octave, timbre, brightness, fullness, and other characteristics in your head, it will make EQing those sounds that much easier.

2) Low/High Cuts. After forming a mental soundscape of the instrument(s) you want to EQ, get started but low cutting and high cutting the frequencies that you don't need. Almost everything should get at least some kind of low/high cut treatment, even kicks and basses. Again, always refer to that sound you have in your head and you'll know how much you need to low/high cut.

3) Boosting For some reason producers and musicians have a boosting phobia. Well, you shouldn't. Using an EQ to sculpt your sound is essential, and boosting is a very important part of it. Take a band in your EQ and start sweeping it around to find sweet spots. Make sure the band is nice and wide to make it sound more natural, you can narrow it to your liking after finding that sweet spot. Of course, you can have more than one sweet spot so keep playing around.

4) Problem frequencies. After low cutting and doing some boosting/scultping, it's time to cut some frequencies out to shape the sound even more. Most will tell you to use a very narrow band and sweep around to find problem frequencies. While that sometimes is a good technique to find specific resonant frequencies, it does very little to shape the actual tone of the sound. So again, use a wide band, with a Q of 0.7 to 1, and sweep around the spectrum but using that band to cut instead of boost. Sweep around until you find a spot that makes everything sound better when you cut it. Then, adjust the Q and cutting amount from there.

5) If you still feel the sound doesn't sound as clean as you want it, then you can go ahead and hunt for ringing/resonant frequencies by sweeping with a narrow band.

So that's my approach to EQ, and it works for me. Try it out and I have a feeling it'll do you some good too.

 

Compartmentalize specific sounds to specific frequencies, and only have their upper boundaries and lower boundaries have overlap. This will result in a cleaner mix. Do this for all of the core big elements except those that share the exact same frequency space. In mose cases this will be the kick and some form of bass, which will require sidechaining to some degree or some gain reduction to make sure that the overall element of both the bass and the kick sit nicely together. You can try automating/emulating sidechaining through eqing as well, just so you affect a specific set of frequencies. This can also result in a cleaner mix. Knowing what each of the frequencies should look like and where they might need boosting is also important. Fuad also mentioned a good point of not being afraid of being surgical with EQing, at the end of the day it is just a tool for editing/manipulating a sound so dont be afraid to try something harsh, then steadily change it over the mixing period till it sounds right.

 

Having had the same problems as you in the beginning here are simple rules of advice that will help you a lot!!! And by that I mean A LOT!

1. DON'T mix in SOLO Mode. FOCUS on the WHOLE Picture. This means: always remember that any instrument is not alone in the mix, so therefore it does not have to fill up the whole sprectrum – even if it does not sound as nice when you take something out of the spectrum. Think of it as a painting. Take a step back and be objective. Which leads me directly to rule no. 2

2. TRY cutting befor boosting. I know this is difficult. But as far as the signal is concerned, the overall sound benefits of this technique. Because removing freqeuncies that are actually present in the spectrum turns out better than boosting in areas where there's less.

3. Get an EQ WITHOUT an Analyzer. This let's you focus on the sound alone. Your eyes can trick your ears. You wouldn't believe what kind of Q factors and cuts/boosts you use when woking with your ears only and you feel its good. And when you look at the Analyzer curve with your eyes you'd say: "this can't be right". But it can and probably is! Like Synth said: "dont be afraid to try something harsh" is the motto!

So I suggest to get TDR Labs Slick EQ. Because it only has 3 Bands and a lowcut, it is freeware and it sounds really, really, good. BUT mor important: It has automatic gain compensation, which helps you a lot when applying rule No. 2! Because if you cut let's say 6 dB @ 500 Hz you instantly hear how the other frequencies are effected and what happens to the sound. So that helps you a lot understanding EQs and how the bands interact in general. Try using only one EQ and one Compressor for like a few weeks and you soon realize what has to sound which way in general.

4. Train your Ears. In order to fully take advantage of EQing you need to essentially train your ears in order to make them sensible to certain frequencies, how they sound, what characteristics they have and what they do emotionally in the mix. There is a pretty neat and free software to do that which has a nice learning curve and is more musical than analytical. It's called Harman's how to listen:

http://harmanhowtolisten.blogspot.de/2011/01/welcome-to-how-to-listen.html

And then, after you feel comfortable with that you could use a "Modern" EQ with an analyser at the beginning of the signal chain to remove unwanted parts of the sound with high cues and notches and the compress it and put the coloring EQ after that.

 

Excellent advice @5t33z0