EQ tips Cheat Sheet by Frederic Villemin (fredv) via (fredv) via cheatography.com/50/cs/73/
EQ Frequency breakdown (1/2)
EQ Frequency breakdown (1/2) (cont)
EQ Frequency breakdown (2/2) (cont)
<= 30H 30Hz z
800Hz 800 Hz
10kHz 10k Hz
Virtua Vir tually lly un undet detec ectab table, le, you ca can n safely cut these frequencies
40-60 60H Hz
the electric guitar to remove the "cheap" sound
Sub Su b bass Frequencies. "Feel" only
60-
Add for tom "boom". Cut to
200Hz
decrease bass "boom"
80Hz
Boos Bo ostt fo for th the ki kick dr drum lo lower en end to to
2-4kHz 2-4k Hz
2.5kH 2.5 kHz z
80‐
Boost bass instruments for
200Hz
presence. Boost will add warmth and fullness to guitars, vocals and horns
Good Go od for for adding adding to a dirty dirty gui guitar tar for for some real sizzle. Boost this area for
acoustic instruments http://www.soundgadget.net
EQ Instrument breakdown Voca Vo cals ls
2.5-
Boost for clarity with an acoustic
5kHz
guitar and piano
EQ Frequency breakdown (2/2) 3-7k 37kHz Hz
This Th is is is the the area area whe where re voc vocal al
fullness (120 Hz) Electric
fullness (240 Hz), bite (2.5 kHz), air
Guitar
/ sizzle (8 kHz) kHz)
Bass
bottom (60 ‐ 80 Hz), attack (700 ‐
Guitar
1000 Hz), string noise (2.5 kHz)
Snare
fatness (240 Hz), crispness (5 kHz)
100Hz-
Scooping/notching instruments here
sibilance resides. Boost slightly to
4kHz
will provide room in the mix
add sense of "volume" It also adds
<=120 <=1 20Hz Hz
Add for for war warmth mth.. Too muc much h will will
a harshness that is particularly
Kick
sound muddy
fatiguing. Add warmth without loss of
Drum
clarity by attenuating this region a
Hi Hat &
bit
Cymbals Toms To ms
120-
Top of the range for most
125Hz
subwoofers. Also the low end of music such as kick drums and bass
4kHz
Boo oos st voc voca al he here fo forr pre pres senc nce e
guitar. Bottom end of acoustic
4-9kH 4-9 kHz z
Brigh Bri ghtne tness ss,, pres presenc ence, e, defi definit nition ion,,
guitar and piano. Add for warmth 120-
Boost for strong vocal presence.
600Hz
Causes problems with vocal resonance and fatiguing
200H 20 0Hz z
240H 24 0Hz z
4.5kH 4.5 kHz z
pres pr esen ence ce (5 kH kHz) z),, sib sibil ilan ance ce (7 (7.5 .5 ‐ 10 kHz), boom (200 ‐ 240 kHz),
bass guitar if using the pop/slap style
other instruments here. Rolling off
Boost Boo st to to add add "air" "air" an and d clari clarity ty to to
In this this area area you can emph emphasiz asize e the the "smack" of the kick's beater
cut through the mix. Notch most the electric guitar here is advisable
Boost Boo st the the bass bass guit guitar ar for for pun punch ch.. Cut Cut
Drum bottom (60 ‐ 80 Hz), slap (4 kHz)
sizzle (7.5 ‐ 10 kHz), clank (200 Hz)
atta at tack ck (5 kH kHz) z),, ful fulln lnes ess s (1 (120 20 ‐ 240 240 Hz)
sibilance, high frequency distortion
Acoustic
harshness / bite (2 kHz), boom (120
Extre Ex tremel mely y tiri tiring ng to the ear ears, s, add a
Guitar
‐ 200 Hz), cut (7 ‐ 10 kHz)
slight notch here 5kHz 5k Hz
Add Ad d a cri crisp sp,, sha sharp rp "c "cra rack ck"" to to th the e
EQ Helpful suggestions
Slig Sl ight ht bo boos ostt for for de dept pth. h. Cu Cutt to to
snare. Also a good place to add
Embrace the idea of “notching”, when in doubt,
reduce muddiness. This is a good
some attack to the toms. Cut on
cut instead of boosting.
area to get the "gong" out of
background parts to make them sink
cymbals.
in to the back a bit
Boos Bo ostt to to fat fatte ten n the the sn snar are. e. Bo Boos ostt
>=7kH >=7 kHz z
Add for the se sens nse e of qua qualit lity y and and
acoustic guitars slightly to add
accuracy for cymbals. Too much
fullness. Scoop vocal here if muddy.
output will come off as lacking
Notch filter here can add thump to a
definition. Cut vocals to decrease
kick drum
sibilance
Allow instruments to have their own “space” in the frequency spectrum; don’t make them fight for it. Understand that instruments of the same type can and will sound different, EQ accordingly. EQing WILL NOT save your mix; you can't EQ out bad sound.
350-
Cut to remove the "cardboard"
8-
Cut or Boost to adjust brightness for
400Hz
sound of drums - Notch the bass
12kHz
cymbals and acoustic guitar
9-
Adding will give sparkle, shimmer,
15kHz
bring out details. Cutting will smooth
Listen to 15 minutes of well mixed audio before
out harshness and darken the mix
any mixing session
guitar a little bit to reduce presence 0.6-3kH 0.63kHz z
Provides Prov ides pres presence ence,, but but are are hard hard in nature. Good for rock.
Cut frequencies below 90Hz for vocals, they add little to the mix except mud
Limit Stereo Width to 30% except special effects Don't forget the noise gate
Villemin (fredv) By Frederic Villemin (fredv)
Published 15th November, 2011.
Sponsored by CrosswordCheats.com
cheatography.com/fredv/
Last updated 1st June, 2014.
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EQ tips Cheat Sheet by Frederic Villemin (fredv) via cheatography.com/50/cs/73/
EQ Helpful suggestions (cont) The old RIAA AES mechanical rule for vinyl was to cut at 47Hz and 12k, and some great recordings were made this way. Human perception at extreme highs and lows is not all that accurate or sensitive, and a little goes a long way
EQ Glossary Attenuatio the reduction of a signal level n Band
range of frequencies
Boost
selected frequency levels are amplified
Cut
selected frequency are attenuated
Presence
increasing causes the sounds of voices and such instruments seem more "present"
Q
describes the shape of the EQ curve (higher Q = narrower range, lower Q = wider range)
Sibilance
refers to the hissing "s","sh","z", or "zh", sound of the human voice
Warmth
sound where the bass and low mid frequencies have depth and where the high frequencies are smooth sounding opposed to aggressive or fatiguing
Thanks to Tikmerd http://www.homerecording.be/forum/t11664.htm As well as dB Masters @ http://www.homerecordingconnection.com/news.php ?action=view_story&id=390 and http://www.soundgadget.com
By Frederic Villemin (fredv)
Published 15th November, 2011.
Sponsored by CrosswordCheats.com
cheatography.com/fredv/
Last updated 1st June, 2014.
Learn to solve cryptic crosswords!
www.tasteofindie.com
Page 2 of 2.
http://crosswordcheats.com
