Remember that a cut is removing information from your audio, so the wider your bandwidth (Q), the more character you’re removing from a sound. Anything more can be a little heavy handed. Now that you’ve isolated your problem frequency it’s time to apply some cuts to attenuate the nasty.Īs a rule of thumb try to keep your cuts no more drastic than 3dB. Stick to pinpointing one specific fix at a time. Don’t cut everything that sounds bad automatically. Boosting the gain in any area will make parts sound less than ideal. Hot Tip: Make sure you stay focused on the problem you’re trying to cut. But performing an EQ sweep will help you to isolate really specific areas that might need a cut or boost. Sometimes certain problems can be fixed during the high and low pass filtering phase that I talked about above. When you find the culprit, simply perform your cut in the frequency you pinpointed and play it back (I’ll talk more about cuts in a second). If you’re looking to take out some boominess from a guitar tone, sweep your EQ until you find the frequency where the boom is most noticeable. But once you hear it, you know you’ve found the frequency where you’ll be making your cut. Listen for when the problem you are trying to fix gets REALLY OBVIOUS (your ears might even get a bit sad for a second). Start playing back your track and ‘sweep’ the point back and forth across the frequency spectrum. So how do you do it?įor starters, set a point with a high gain and narrow bandwidth (the ‘Q’) in your parametric EQ. EQ sweeps will help you pinpoint the exact frequency you’re looking to fix. Sweep Your BandsĮQ sweeping is your best friend when it comes to finding the problem areas in your mix. Always use your ear to determine the right amount. So only roll off what you absolutely need to. Keep in mind that all instruments contain important information in the high and low frequency bands. Removing unnecessary higher frequencies from your lows will give everything more room to work up top. The opposite applies for your low pass filter as well. Performing a simple high pass will give your bassier sounds more room to punch while giving your synths and higher percussion more clarity at the top of your mix. The lower frequencies that these sounds contain may be muddying up your lows. Instead of performing specific cuts or boosts, the high and low pass filters will remove unneeded frequencies on a broader scale.Ī common use of the high-pass filter is to remove lower frequencies on your sounds with a higher fundamental like a hi-hat or rim shot. That’s where the high and low pass filters come in… In most cases, the lower frequencies for an instrument with a higher fundamental-and vice versa-can be rolled off. ![]() Searching for a good EQ plugin to use on your mixes? Check out our round-up of the best EQ plugins right now. So your EQing will have to be more complex to get everything sitting right. But the more instruments you stack, the easier it is to mask important information. Of course you CAN use as many instruments as you want that fall into a certain frequency band. So always listen, look and learn from the context of your own mix after you’ve recorded your parts. There are no ‘exact’ rules for which frequency bands will cause problems for what instrument. But try and be as prepared as possible before recording anything. You’ll never really know until you hear it in your mix. The simple fix is to hone in on what sound you’ll be trying to synthesize in your track with your gear.įor example: If you’ll be using an FM synth to create a brass lead sound, then the fundamental for the brass instrument you’re attempting to synthesize should apply. Synthesizers and other electronic instruments can be tricky when it comes to finding the fundamental. They’re often capable of creating an extremely wide range of sounds and frequencies. If you choose your instruments based on the frequency fundamentals before you even start, the mixing and EQing phase will be much easier. ![]() Try to picture where each instrument will sit in the mix before you even start recording. Just think about the fundamentals of each instrument before you record anything. Using this instrument frequency chart is simple. This chart is not the ‘mixing law.’ Instead, it’s a good reference to get you started on thinking about where your performances sit in your mix-so use it accordingly. So use this chart as a jumping off point, but always use your mix as the ultimate reference for applying EQ. The sounds in your mix will always have their own context and characteristics. Remember! This instrument chart is just a starting point. ![]() Download it to your desktop for easy reference, or print it out and hang it on your studio wall. Meet your new best friend for fitting those fantastic frequencies!
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