equalization – Aaron J. Trumm

Mixing, EQ and Processing Questions

November 9, 2006 by Aaron

audio, audio questions, eq, equalization, mixing, processing, recording

I believe this is the last of the questions from years back that I have left…again I don’t find anything I said blatently dumb, but it’s interesting to see this old point of view…

Questions

I am a single acoustic act. Guitar and vocals. I use a Takamine FD360SC which I play through a Trace Elliot TA100R. For vocals I use a Shure Beta 58. Both are connected to a Mackie 1402VLZ. The Beta via channel 1 XLR and the Trace via a DI socket (pre or post eq). The Trace has a 5 band graphic eq, which I am currently leaving flat, it also has several onboard effects such as reverb and delay which I am not using. Both are eq’d at the board via a 3 band parametric eq. It never seems to me as though I am getting the correct mix! I generally boost the mid and the high on the vocal while leaving the low flat. I then boost the mid on the guitar and leave the high and low flat. Any golden rules ? Hopefully you will bear with me for a couple more questions, if not…I appreciate your time on the first. The next questions deal with effects. I have used reverb for years (Alesis Midiverb which is a 1/2 rack unit which I generally leave set to factory preset 21 “Medium/Warm” 1.4 sec delay). I am now using an Alesis Nonoverb for delay (because I don’t like ANY of the reverbs). Input and output set 3/4 of the way up and mix set 1/2. I don’t feel as though I am getting the most out of these effects. Any suggestions ? (Please don’t say “buy a Lexicon!”). Finally, I am considering adding the following: Compressor Rack mount Eq Chorus Noise gate Is there any particular order in which I should daisy chain them ? I want to run two loops one for guitar and one for vocals. Which effects should I dedicate to vocals and which to guitar ? My plan was: Vocals: Reverb+Delay+Eq+Noise gate Guitar: Compressor+Reverb+Delay+req+Noise gate

Answers

the golden rule is really really tweak a LOT until it sounds right 🙂 …vocals and guitars can clash, so you might try eqing them in opposite directions, like maybe CUT the mid on the guitar a little…usually to start with on vocals I cut the high a little, cut the low a little and boost the mid a little. Sometimes I totally cut the high and low and boost the mid all the way. I call that telephoning, although with that three band eq, you can’t really make the actual telephone effect exactly. but as a matter of fact, that extreme eq on the mackie sounds surprisingly normal on some mixes – unfortunately I doubt an accoustic guitar/vox mix would be one of those mixes 🙂 Sounds like you need to take a little more time with the mixes, and tweak everything in every direction just a little more. Also, the mixes might actually be pretty good, but your ears are tired – get 2nd opinions – also, if you’re going for a sound that sounds like you’re used to hearing on records, you’re probably missing some ingredients (like reverb and compression)
Don’t buy a lexicon, I’m really against buying the biggest baddest stuff without first pushing what you’ve got to the total limit. Well first off, learn the ins and outs of editing the effects (again the golden rule is play more) instead of just using presets….uhm, use them in layers, use them in extremes, use them very subtly – basically just spend more time running the gamut and experimenting – uhm…I would set the mix all the way wet, then feed the reverb returns to a channel on the board and mix the effect with the dry signal that way (and also, you can use the eq on the channel if you need to on the effect) – also if you’ve got a natural type sound (ie: guitar and voice) maybe you don’t want to use electronic reverbs so much – maybe you should find a great hall and record in there (I know I know, good luck on finding a hall 🙂 ) – then turn around and use your reverbs for some other kind of project – mostly though, just spend more time I think – every mix you do, go through every preset and see what’s the best, then if something isn’t PERFECT, start editing and tweaking – try everything under the sun

well some people other than me would probably know better and maybe tell you different, but here’s how I would chain them, assuming that this is to run an entire mix through: chorus, compressor, eq, noise gate although I wouldn’t run an entire mix through a chorus, and I wouldn’t neccesarily keep the setup the same for all projects – that’s another part of my little golden rule about playing – you should see how much repatching I do (I wish I had a magic digital auto-routing super patchbay 🙂 )

I would add compressor to vocals and maybe take it off guitar. you almost always need compressor for vox and I’m not sure I’ve ever compressed accoustic guitar. like I said though, for the effects, I wouldn’t have them in an insert loop (that is the delay and reverb) – what I do when in a studio where I can do this is, I have compression on the vocals on an insert loop, and effects like delay and reverb triggered with aux sends and returned to an actual channel on the board.

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So yeah there’s those – if you want more, just email me a question at aarontrumm @ nquit . com and I’ll give you my opinion, which is mostly what it it is when you talk about audio and art. 🙂

Meanwhile, you can still grab free tracks over at my music download site. 🙂

— Aaron

Basics of Equalization

November 5, 2006 by Aaron

aaron j. trumm, audio, eq, equalization, music, nquit music

From a 1994 article for the University of New Mexico’s Intro to Electronic Music class:

Equalization is a process of enhancement of audio signal. It is one type of signal processor, because it processes an audio signal.

Equalization (EQ for short) does basically one of two things: Either it boosts or cuts a given frequency or range of frequencies by a chosen level.

Outboard EQ processors come in two basic flavors: Parametric and Graphic.
Parametric EQ uses a system that allows a user to select which frequencies they’ll be working with. Thus, it is very flexible. Fully Parametric EQ has completely selectable frequencies and bandwidth. Some EQ’s are semi-parametric, meaning they have some, but not complete, flexibility. Most mixing boards use some sort of semi-parametric EQ (although many use a system that is not parametric at all, but cannot be called graphic).
Graphic EQ has no method for changing any of the frequencies that are effected, but still can be quite flexible, if it has a wide variety of bands. Graphic EQ derives its name from the fact that its sliders are configured in such a way that when a user look at them, they graphically represent the configuration being used.

Mixing boards use an EQ system that is not usually truely parametric, but it is not a graphic system (since, of course, it does not use sliders that graphically show the configuration). Many boards use a fixed band EQ in which each knob effects multiple frequencies, such as high, mid and low (unlike graphic EQ in which each slider boosts or cuts only one frequency). Many boards use a semi-parametric system in which some sections of the EQ have a knob which will choose a frequency, which is then usually accompanied by a bandwidth selector, which chooses how wide an area of frequencies will be effected. (This is nearly true parametric EQ, but usually only one or two frequency ranges provide this option, so we don’t normally call this a truely parametric EQ system.) Some boards have sections of their EQ that are semi-parametric, because the frequency effected can be selected, but not the bandwidth.

EQ is used for many purposes, including enhancing an audio track, making a track more audible in a mix, fixing noise problems, helping audio tracks to sound more real or artistic effects such as “telephoning” (my word, meaning to cut low and some high frequencies, making a track sound as if from a telephone).

The Art Of Equalization

November 4, 2006 by Aaron

aaron trumm, art, eq, equalization, music, nquit music

From a 1994 article for University of New Mexico, and published in Cubase Newsletter:

EQ can be used in a variety of situations, from live sound to recording to tape to mixing down. Mainly, it should be used to enhance signals that have some problem. The golden rule of EQ is less is more. If something seems fine without it, I avoid EQing it at all. Then, if I do use it, I try to remain subtle. My personal golden rule is nearly never EQ signals going to tape (as in a multitracking situation). I always try to get the original sound on tape, then I can mess with it later. Putting EQ (or any other effect) on tape usually just leads to trouble. The other rule (the silver rule 🙂 ) is cutting is almost always better than boosting, especially when fixing problems. For example if a guitar sounds too thin, first try cutting high frequencies and boosting the gain a bit, instead of boosting the lows. The more clutter you can remove from a mix, the better. A better example is I very often cut a bit of high away from hats. Another example is, many times you may not hear something well in a mix…You might try cutting some frequencies in a different track that seems to be interfering, rather than boosting in the track you want to bring out. With these basic rules in mind, I’ll tell you my rules when I enter a mixdown session:

Rule Of Opposites: Usually, tracks with high sounds, (a high guitar, hats) need cutting in high frequencies and boosting in lower, and vice-versa. This is really only a starting guide, not a rule. Also, sounds that interfere with eachother can be separated in a mix by EQing them in opposite directions.
Bass usually needs a boost in the mid range somewhere and sometimes the high. This way it can cut through and be heard on smaller speakers.
Kick drums usually need that same mid and/or high boost on a subtle level so they too can cut through on smaller speakers. For hip-hop, kick needs a low end boost, but NOT TOO MUCH.
Snare drums always sound warmer with a boost in the low-mid range and some cut of the highs. An annoying CRACK can be softened with this high cut. Sometimes I boost the lows in snares to make them even fatter. But it really depends on the snare sound. The rule of opposites usually applies here. Snare sounds that were thin to begin with I usually warm up a bit, and heafty snare sounds I might thin out a bit.
Hats almost never need any EQ if they’re recorded clean. Usually an EQing for my hat tracks is to cut highs to get rid of an annoying hiss.
Guitars are simaler to snares for me. A thin original guitar might need boosting in mids and lows (depending on what the desired sound is, and what else is present in the mix) or a heafty guitar might need to be thinned out a little by cutting lows and low-mids.
Vocals usually like to have a boost in the mids or high-mids, but it depends on the voice. Vocals nearly always get lost amongst guitars…a good way to deal with this is the rule of opposites. Boost mids in the vocals and cut them in the guitar, or something similar. Vocals can also have annoying hiss or sibilance, and sometimes cutting high frequencies can help that.
Strings, and more specifically good string patches from a synth, usually need little EQ. If they are merely a support player, I may thin them out a tiny bit, or if they are meant to be present, I may thicken them in the mids a little (or sometimes the opposite…this stuff is highly subjective). But they usually work well left alone. Really clean piano or keyboard synth patches are the same way.
I like to leave reverb returns alone, but if the reverb becomes annoying and noisy, cutting some high can soften it up a bit…same with strings.
Extreme EQ setting create sounds of their own. Experiment. But for a non-novel track, be subtle.
AC hum from a track can almost always be fixed by cutting 60 Hz all the way off. (Sometimes this can take away from bass or kick sounds, but I believe that most frequencies audible in a song are above 60 Hz).
Play with EQ settings thoroughly to find appropriate settings.
I don’t mix horns too often, but when I do, I like to leave them alone. Clean horn tracks usually seem fine to me.
NEVER EVER EVER force yourself to EQ a track that sounds fine, just because you think you should use the full capabilities of the studio. NEVER NEVER NEVER!