Comments on: 7 crucial EQ bands to help balance your mix

By: Ian Shepherd

Ian Shepherd — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:29:15 +0000

Hi Ivan,

Whichever sounds best

A little more helpfully, I would always opt to try cutting first, and see how it sounds, so if one is a boost and one is a cut – go for that one first. If you can give me a specific example I might be able to be more helpful. Possibly pan them to different parts of the mix, to stop them clashing ?

Ian

By: Ivan

Ivan — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 08:40:54 +0000

What happens when you get two sounds, with close to identical frequencies? Which one do you cut or boost?

By: Ian Shepherd

Ian Shepherd — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:43:09 +0000

Hello, and thanks for the question !

Yes – I automate EQ sometimes – not so much on things like drums, but certainly guitars, vocals etc. The most common example for me is probably solos, for example. I always enjoy watching the fader automations on a big desk You need to be careful not to make the changes too large, and reduce the contrast between sections too much, but it can certainly be a powerful technique.

Ian

By: navarre

navarre — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:46:34 +0000

Does anyone ever automate eq parameters? As you mention, a kick can sound beautifully EQ’s by itself, but in a mix it may muddy things up. But what happens during breakdowns where various elements come into and out of the mix? Won’t certain instruments sound awkward without their frequency complements there to fill in a given frequency range? Therefore, does it seem reasonable to automate a given EQ db setting to change with the arrangement of the song? This is something I’ve always wondered. Really helpful post.

Thanks!

By: john wronski

john wronski — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 05:46:01 +0000

wow — extremely use full thanks

By: Ian Shepherd

Ian Shepherd — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:20:53 +0000

Thanks, glad you like it ! Check out the “Best Of”… http://productionadvice.co.uk/best-of-mixing/

By: Salad

Salad — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:18:14 +0000

Hugely useful info, one or two little nuggets I’m itching to play around with – thanks! Great site, look forward to future posts.. Cheers

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 19 May 2011 12:07:20 +0000

Here’s my favorite EQ trick of all:
Let’s say that your snare is making this overtone that you do not care for. Like a combo between a boing and a resonance sound. This undesired sound (if you listen very carefully) makes a note or very close to a note. Hum that note to yourself, then walk over to the piano/keyboard and go up and down the keys until you find the note and octave that you’re humming. Ok, stay with me:
Now that you know which note it is, you look it up on a “musical note frequency chart” like this one:
http://www.intmath.com/trigonometric-graphs/music.php
It tells you the EXACT frequency of your offending overtone/ring on your snare (or whatever sound source you apply this to) and then you simply dip with a very sharp Q that frequency on the snare drum, and that annoying tone has magically disappeared.
If your offending tone is in between two notes, then you might need to sweep between the notes’ respective frequencies to find the problem.
What makes this so great is that you can get rid of your problem without the rest of the track suffering from too much dip.
I got this tip from a Bob Katz video here, and it’s worked wonders for me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evJo5_qt6mY

By: Ian Shepherd

Ian Shepherd — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:43:24 +0000

Thanks Jake, that’s a compliment I’ve never been paid before ! It was a little scary at first because here in the UK “pants” means underwear… but I see you’re from over the pond so that’s cool

By: Jake

Jake — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:39:58 +0000

Thanks for this. All of your articles have made me take my pants off in celebration. I have since put them back on and am eager to get at some of my mixes.
Cheers,
Jake