EQ recommendations and advice

Practical tips for recording, editing, and mastering.

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aeb105
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EQ recommendations and advice

Post by aeb105 »

Looking for it..... I am a blues musician going back and trying to learn how to eq these tracks. Want to effectively separate and mix vocals, bass, drums and rhythym lead guitar. I have the ear thing down just don't understand much how to eq. Which plugins are the best for Ardour. And should I only use them to separate bass and drums?
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aprzekaz
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Re: EQ recommendations and advice

Post by aprzekaz »

I find that the Calf Equalizer (8 or 10 band I think) in LV2 format works well for me because of the GUI. You can create notches or peaks and roll them back and forth to see what sounds best in your mix and then round them out and go from there. This is good for separating things or bringing out desirable frequencies. I also use the TAP equalizer quite a bit. Ardour 3 gives you a graphical representation of any plugin now with the plugin analysis option. I'm not sure if you have everything on separate tracks or not so that will be a factor. Compression can help too. Maybe a multiband compressor if you are working with one master track.
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Ricardus
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Re: EQ recommendations and advice

Post by Ricardus »

LV2fil from Fons/Nedko is fantastic. The only thing that would make it better would be if it had high-pass and low-pass filters. Otherwise, I use it all the time. If you're looking for other choices the LinuxDSP EQs are fantastic. They make it onto every mix I do.
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aeb105
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Re: EQ recommendations and advice

Post by aeb105 »

Okay I guess what I want to know now is how to separate the various sounds like vocals from the lead guitar and maybe drums from bass. Looking. At an equalizer is still kind of foreign to me so I wonder if there is a certain methodology I should use like for vocal should I go low on vocals and high on lead or as they all seem to have the same kind of range is there any certain a method to this?
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aprzekaz
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Re: EQ recommendations and advice

Post by aprzekaz »

I am no expert but here is some info. Of course I just searched google. Every bit of advice i find usually says something to the effect of...practice it and you will get better because it's subjective.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_ar ... 95/eq.html
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dednikko
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Re: EQ recommendations and advice

Post by dednikko »

A lot of how you "should" use an EQ is very much up to how the recording was done to begin with, but here are some quick tips that will help get things smoother, faster.

Tools you'll need: Mag's notch filter, Calf filter, and I really recommend DJEQ to keep things simple.

Starting from the low end: Put an instance of Calf filter set to a 36dB highpass on just about everything. I recommend using it on anything that you hear a boomy low end on OTHER than your Bass and Kick Drum tracks.

Set the cutoff frequencies for Calf filters on the instrument tracks as follows:

guitar 200hz
bass 150 hz
kick 50hz
vocals 200hz
300 hz for everything else, unless you have another bass instrument.

The above will usually umnuddy everything in the low end.

Look for any tracks that have excessively harsh sounds. Put Mag's notch filter in those tracks and set the notch filter to cut out the harsh tone. Common problem frequencies include 2000hz and 8000hz.

Finally, if you feel you have any tracks that need more sonic shaping, ass the DJEQ an use the lo, mid, and hi controls to shape them. Avoid ramping the Hi and Lo settings too much. It may sound exciting as you tweak the knobs, but it can fuzzy up the mix very fast. Remember that if you increase the levels for the high of an instrument, and you like the balance for that instrument, you can always turn that track down to avoid it dominating the mix.

If you have been working on a sound for 30 seconds or more, you're definitely lost perspective of how it should balance in the mix. Take a moment to focus on other items in the arrangement. Turn the part you're working on all the way down, and slowly fade it back into the mix. Stop as soon as you can hear the part clearly. If you go too far, it will overpower the rest of the mix in a heartbeat. Also, turn the volume on your whole mix and turn it down so you can just make out the song. Are there any noises that stand out at this low level? Consider if they sound too loud in the whole mix, and adjust accordingly.

One last tip, give your ears breaks, and listen to music you like the sound of for comparison. You won't be able to match the output of a professional studio, but you will be able to make it pleasant!
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bazsound
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Re: EQ recommendations and advice

Post by bazsound »

sometimes it can be easier to understand if you think of creating space for everything in your mix.

if u have a guitar with harsh peaks right where the clarity in your vocals are it's going to be very difficult to have them balanced against each other.

same goes with bass instruments like kick drum and bass guitar. if both as bass heavy it's hard to distinguish between them.

in the live world we call in power management. each voice has it's own frequency range. roll of what's nor needed. removed anything obviously harsh or sticking out then tweak from tgere


however sometimes a slight harsh edge can be an advantage. it can help things cut through over other parts without being to far above the miz
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