Eqing

[NuEra]

I've been spending a little more time recently focusing on eqing my tracks.

I've been searching out the resonant frequencies and cutting them. However, often it can sound worse then before I eq'd, especially my kick drum...it often ends up sounding flat and muffled. Am I cutting the wrong frequencies? Am I cutting the right frequencies too much?

What are the different types of eqs and what purposes can they serve? Generally on my kick drum I would low cut below 30hz, compress, then use some sort of eq like the UAD neve or pultec to add some punch, then I would use the Logic eq after that to take away what I think the bad frequencies are.

I would like to learn to eq my tracks better. But I am also nervous to send all my eq'd tracks off to mastering and there are all these frequencies missing from bad eqing.

So, thoughts, feelings, lets talking about eqing!

[Rambunkcious]

Nu,

Hi, I used to have a similar issue, what might help is if you held off from cutting too much of the resonant frequencies out, that will give your sounds much more substance and body.

In general though eq'ing just gets better with practice, you have to know what freq range a sound sits in, a general idea of where that sounds center freq lies, as well as the songs key so as to avoid subtractive eq on said frequencies and their harmonics for any given sound

In the end tho, all calculations and estimation aside, just trust your ears.

In the case of the kick drum, it could be that you might need another kick drum sound on top of it, or a new one altogether, it could also be a matter of volume and compression depending on what it is interfering with in your track.

Hope that helps
Rambunkcious

[NuEra]

It does thanks...

So even if I find a frequency that sounds resonant, but is relative to the key of the track I shouldn't cut it? Would this mean the sample I am using is a bad fit for the track, if its resonant frequencies are that of the key of the track?

How much play room is there on either side of a frequency before they start to get nasty..ie if an A is 440, is 450 ok, 420?

[admin]

Nu,

I'd agree that it's maybe best not to go too crazy with the cutting as it can lead to a weird phasy sound. I like to do really gentle wide cuts more than anything. But I do notch out really resonant stuff to gain headroom and clean sounds up. Just less than I used to..

For kicks it's better to find a sample that doesnt need so much surgery. I do find that in a lot of the popular sample cds you have kicks with resonances around 120-160hz that can be taken out and really clean a kick up. Better though to find a kick sample with a pure low end and layer this as Rami suggested. Once you find 3-4 bottom end samples you can mix and match those up quite a bit. When you get a good sounding layer just sample it for later use.

It's easy to go crazy in the digital world doing all this cutting but back when I had my analog console it was only 3 band eq and pretty limited, today you can just keep adding bands so its tempting to reallly sculpt things to make them work. But choosing a better source is always prefferable if possible.

A good tip again though is to start using really wide Q's, as wide as your eq will go and see what results those give you. Try to limit hard notching to just a few sounds. On kicks I do pull out sometimes big chunks around 200-400. Those have to be done just right though otherwise you can get a harsh or empty sounding kick, there is a small sweet spot to where it sounds right and cleans it without ruining it.

[admin]

As far as the question about in key, it all depends, obviously if you have a big spike on an off key freq it will probably add some tension to the mix, if you can try tuning the sample, maybe the source is off as well.

[djglenn]

Nu,

I like to do really gentle wide cuts more than anything. But I do notch out really resonant stuff to gain headroom and clean sounds up. Just less than I used to..

That last part, 'less than I used to'. Are you implying anything there? If you come against a really resonant sound, do you do something else with it rather than just notch it out? Or you mean to let it resonate a bit is ok?

I'm working on something right now that's resonating a lot around 160. I just notched it out, which kind of took away a bit of the sound's character. Another way to get around the resonating freq, but keeping the sound's character, would be nice to know.

[admin]

If it's still really resonant I do but I try to do less and just fix the sound from the source first as I found when I did too much cutting the mix started to sound less warm and more phasy. If you have a well defined resonance then a sharp filter should be able to remove it without too much problem though. I just try to stay away from that situation overall.

If you took away from the character maybe you just need to reduce the amount of reduction. Sometimes I find its tempting to really cut away these freqs thinking you are 'cleaning' up the sound, but then later I pull back on some of the cut and let a bit of that resonance come through in cases such as what you described.

[djglenn]

That helps. Thanks.

[NuEra]

Nu,

s.

In the case of the kick drum, it could be that you might need another kick drum sound on top of it, or a new one altogether

I've gotta say, its pretty satisfying working away on a track and then at the very end changing up the kick sample and bass instrument and having it all come together. The whole track sounds so much fresher and cleaner and the feeling of satisfaction is great!

[admin]

Yes had this happen many times, always amazes me at the difference it can make.