Ableton Forum

don't forget you need to adjust the overall gain after boosting/cutting...
to actually know if it sounds better...
a boost means more volume which some people sometimes interpret as 'better sounding'...

a/b check with the same overall volume...very important!

leisuremuffin wrote:In my opinion it reinforces a misguided way of thinking about EQ.

first, that you would EQ one track on it's own to change the character of the sound, and second that there are magic numbers that you use to do it.



you can think whatever you want, but i would NEVER teach a fledgling engineer with this method. That's my opinion of course...


I think it's valuable to teach someone to be able to hear what frequencies are what by ear, but making a proclimation like "increase 5k to get more finger sound on bass guitar" is counter productive to the learning process.



.lm.

I mostly agree with this post, but you should also acknowledge that in most cases if the bass guitar is tuned in the conventional way then you will tend to find certain harmonics in certain regions

the fundamental of a 4 string bass tuned E A D G will always be in the same place, and aside from the timbral variations in specific instruments there will still usually be particular harmonics and sounds in certain frequency bands

anyone who offers these charts is only doing so as a starting point - i.e. "look in this region"

I agree that for many noobs wanting a quick fix it can be misleading, but it is up to the teacher to make it absolutely clear when it is a suggested starting point and explain why

unless you're a complete 'tard knowing something won't hurt you. use your
ears. I only posted because I was wanted to 'archive' a link I found and was
looking for more, I've seen a better chart.

3dot... wrote:Homebelly....
maybe this...?

http://www.independentrecording.net/irn ... isplay.htm

Actually, no.
It was the one in dru's post..
But the one you posted is a good one.

3dot... wrote:don't forget you need to adjust the overall gain after boosting/cutting...
to actually know if it sounds better...
a boost means more volume which some people sometimes interpret as 'better sounding'...

a/b check with the same overall volume...very important!

This is a piece of advice i couldn't agree with more.
It took me a long time to realize the best approach to EQ was to keep what you like about the sound, and cut away what you don't (i realize this is a bit of a hatchet description ) then use the gain to place the sound back in the mix.
I see EQ as a means to eliminate frequency cross talk.To that end these charts are a great place to start, especially if you are running a dense and busy mix.
At the end of the day thought, experience will tell you the areas that are not working, you develop a sense of what 500k and 1000K and 90K all kinda sound like...

This is a sexy thread

charts can be useful but don't take them as gospel - it just puts you in the ballpark, but you need to sweep through the frequencies until you find the area that you need to affect. Kick drum is not always just affected at 50-100 Hz, sometimes the kick can be as low as 30 Hz and it's second harmonic can also cause issues. Sometimes it sits above the bass guitar/bass synth.

The 'snap' part of on a snare drum can be anywhere from 3.5 - 10.5 khz. Bass harmonics can be anywhere from 600 - 1.3 Khz etc. Sweep around manually, don't play adjustment by colour chart. A guitar bite can be anywhere from 1.2 - 3.2 Khz, not just 2.5 Khz as the chart above suggests, in my recording experience it is usually 1-5 to 1.9 Khz actually.