Guest The Nothing Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 Ive done some reading on EQ'ing and im still confused about a few things. From what ive read, having your track fill up the whole range of the frequency spectrum is ideal. this means having your bass reside in just a certain part, your synth in another.. high hats up top. many people suggest cutting all frequencies that arent within that instruments 'range' (the band of frequencies that most clearly define that sound) away for that instrument. but when i do this, my sounds become thin, lifeless.... cutting away the higher frequencies of my bassline takes away its character... cutting all the bass from a leadline just makes it sound tinny. sometimes this can be helpul, especially at the peak of the track when there are many layers going, because all the frequencies are used it doesnt feel like there is as much missing. but when there isnt as much going on.... it just doesnt sound right. does anyone automate their EQ'ing?....ie, in parts of your track where there isnt as much going on, take away less frequencies than when all layers are on?. it would be really helpfull to hear some peoples approches to eq'ing their tracks....do you EQ as you go? or leave it all to the end when mastering? thanks guys -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Slidingtrancer Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 you are cutting away too much I'd say, so you get room between the ranges... I use the same EQ the whole track and it should suffice.... Hmm, I'll look into it when I'm home... I'm at uni now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Nothing Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 ta Slidingtrancer So its good for some frequencies to overlap?... like using a softer 'Q' curve on the EQ?..... my biggest problems are basslines. i can make a nice big full bassline that just turns to mush when lots of layers are added. but loses its impact if i try and 'fit it in' by cutting away... I guess it sort of explains why alot of todays big phat bassline psy has less layers. they just hog too much frequncy ciao -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jakemyth Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 Hi Nothing..........try auditioning different bass sounds whilst listening to all of your tracks. Things usually sound good on their own but once u add the layers..... U shouldn't have to adjust your eq in a track to make a sound fit.....i'd try changing the source sounds, or perhaps transposing them. Just a thought Enjoy Jake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lifeform Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 There is nothing wrong with overlapping frequencies. Just get that perfect setting where everything is clean and clear. I know what you mean about EQ automation though... If you have one lead going, or whatever, and it's taking control of the sound for a while, but then you bring another lead in that you want to overpower the first lead by a bit, and you want to cut down some of the higher freq. to let that next lead be clear enough. If you know what i mean... I dont know! I'm too tired to be posting sorry... but yet... I press the the "post" button. why? i dont know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PortaMento Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 I agree with jakemyth on this one. Sometimes you'll have some sounds which just don't get along very well, and to make it work you'll have to use some radical EQ'ing, which ruins the original sounds. I always cut a little bass on my leads and kick drum, but otherwise I try to use as little EQ'ing as possible and to keep it simple. I think an EQ is mainly useful for solving small problems and finetuning your sound. I try to solve the major problems when I select my source sounds. If I wan't to change the dominant lead, I do it with volume automation. It sounds like a lot of people use radical EQ'ing to shape their sounds and make them fit, instead of spending time on selecting the source sounds, and this can lead to a really flat and cheesy overall sound. When I begin work on a new song, I usually start with only a short loop of 8 measures or so. I search for sounds and build the layers until I have about 10-15 layers (including percussion). At this stage I only have this short loop which represents one of the peak moments of my track, but I know which of the sounds will get along, and I think it's easier to replace some of your sounds at this stage, when you haven't gotten used to them yet. Did that make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Nothing Posted April 20, 2002 Share Posted April 20, 2002 thanks for the replies most helpfull. one more thing, when dealing with basslines and kick drums...*typically* what frequencies would you use for each so they each sit together and arent competing..... i usually have the kick at a slightly higher freq than the bass. have a nice day -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PortaMento Posted April 20, 2002 Share Posted April 20, 2002 I do the same. Too much bass on the kick drum can ruin everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest coriolis Posted April 21, 2002 Share Posted April 21, 2002 my 2 cents: Consider using a spectrum analyzer to help you to understand how each of your parts and their respective EQ settings are working in terms of the actual frequency range and to see their dynamics. There are several plugins for winamp that are nice and various other software applications (including most wave editors) have built-in analyzers. You can watch your parts interact there visually - solo each part and see its activity, then put maybe two together (kick and bass, or bass and lead synth) and see how they work, then watch your whole mix, and so on. Overlapping frequencies are not bad on the periphery of the sounds, meaning the edges or the areas where the energy is less important (but is still crucial to having a phat sound that isn't too thin or tinny), but in the meat of your sounds you want to keep each one sitting in its own area. So, put a highpass filter on your cymbals if there is too much midrange, put a highpass with a lower cutoff on you synth lead to eliminate any bassiness. By the way, if you bassline is tight, your lead synths won't need bass. You can hear this in most trance tracks i think. As for making the sounds too tinny or thin, this just means you are being to extreme. You should begin with phat sounds that already have a generally safe (meaning non-interfering and clear) location in the mix, then EQ them to make them better. You may be trying to "fix" a poor mix by doing extreme EQing on each sound to fit it into some range, which would be a backwards approach, if you see what i mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Nothing Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 Great advice thanks alot...its allready helping me alot. btw: www.computermusic.co.uk has alot of good tutorials as well...on all sorts of things, not just Eq. cheers -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brian surge Posted April 30, 2002 Share Posted April 30, 2002 Dan have you tried compressing your kick and bass? if not try it as this will fatten up and give yor bottom end a tighter sound with the right settings. Other than that coriolis's advice i would go with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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