Knowing how to use an equalizer is a fundamental skill for anyone working with audio, yet it is one of the most abused. Here are some tips and tricks for using your EQ more effectively. You’ll notice there are more don'ts than dos on this list; that’s because EQ is best when used in moderation.
Step 1: Find The Frequency
Finding the right frequency to adjust is, of course, the most important thing. With time, some of the more common frequencies become second nature, but what if you’re dealing with a new sound, or just don’t have the experience to know where to start? Here is an easy way to find the right frequency every time.
What you need is a parametric EQ, or at least an EQ that allows you to control the target frequency. Boost one band all the way. If the band has a “Q” control make it quite high (Q stands for “quality factor” and it controls how much on either side of the target frequency is being affected).
Then, play the sound and slowly sweep the frequency back and forth until you find the point where the tone you are looking to focus on is loudest. Make a note of the frequency and put the EQ back to zero. You now know the frequency where your target tone occurs and can cut or boost appropriately.
In the audio samples below we have a fiddle track. The first sample is the track as is. The second sample is using this technique to isolate the croak of the box against the strings.
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Example 1 - Fiddle without EQ
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Example 2 - Fiddle with EQ
Step 2: Think First, Record Second
Before you hit record think about where this instrument is going to sit in the mix, and what it needs to accomplish. For example, an acoustic guitar in a two-piece band will need to be fairly rich and full. But, if an acoustic guitar is part of a ten-piece band, then any fullness will be buried and will just end up contributing to a muddy mix.
These two situations require very different tone, and so therefore should be recorded differently. Take time at the very beginning of the recording process to think about what role every instrument has in the mix and plan its tone accordingly. This should affect your choice of instrument, mic, mic placement, and what sort of room you choose to record in.
Step 3: Understand What You Need To Worry About
Don't waste your time and energy. It's important to understand that it's okay if an individual instrument sounds terrible when you listen to it by itself, as long as it sounds great in the mix. Any individual track only needs to sound good on its own if you hear it on its own at some point in the song; otherwise all that matters is how it sounds in the mix.
In fact, the qualities that make an instrument sound fantastic solo, are often the ones that make it hardest to polish in a full mix.
Step 4: Don't "Fix In The Mix"
EQ should be the last resort. That is to say, try to get your tone as perfect as possible right from the beginning. If you've followed step 2 then you're half way there, but don't fall into the "I'll fix it in the mix" mentality. If you're not completely happy with the tone you're getting without an EQ then keep trying.
Mic placement can be one of the biggest factors here. Don't be afraid to spend the time trying as many different placements as necessary to get the right tone. Keep in mind that small changes in placement can make a big difference. If you have great tone from the start, then EQing during the mixing process will be little more than massaging the sound into place.
Step 5: Cut Narrow, Boost Wide
It's a good rule of thumb that when cutting it's best to use a narrow (high) Q, while it is better to have a wide (low) Q when boosting. This will help keep your EQ subtle.
Step 6: Make Cutting Your First Instinct
There are two reasons why it is better to cut than to boost. The first reason is that excessive EQ boosting in a mix usually results in muddiness and loss of clarity. The second is that too much boosting can lead to phasing problems.
In a nutshell, phasing problems occur when waveforms get slightly out of alignment. The result to your tone can be drastic and is generally very undesirable—but I'll leave the details of phase for another tutorial. Boosting should be done sparingly.
Step 7: Check Into Low-Mid Rehab
Hi, my name is Mark and I'm a recovering low-mid junky. The low-mid range is where all the fullness and body lies for many instruments. For this reason it can be tempting to give those instruments plenty of low-mids. The problem is that all those low-mids fight for room in the mix and if you aren't careful you'll be left with a muffled, unintelligible mess.
This problem is furthered by the fact that the low-mid range is an overlapping point for many of the instruments most common in modern music. The chart below shows the approximate range of some common instruments, including their harmonics. You'll notice that the low mid has a lot going on. Be aware of what's happening in the low-mid range of your songs and use the EQ appropriately. In some cases it may be necessary to change the arrangement or instrumentation of a track to avoid a low-mid mess.
Step 8: Make Room
Think of your mix as a physical space. The more you put in that space, the smaller the items need to be to fit nicely. So, the more instruments you put in your mix, the harder it will be to fit everything in.
In step 6 we talked about the pile up that occurs in the low-mids. Well, with each additional instrument in a mix, the more important it becomes to keep an eye on the areas where their tonal ranges overlap (look again at the chart from Step 7). Each instrument needs its own place to sit in the mix, so any time there is a common range you need to pick which instrument takes the forefront in that frequency range.
For instruments that have the same basic range, such as bass and kick drum or two guitars, you can use the EQ to interlock them making them both distinct.
This means that any frequency boosted on one should be cut in the other and vice-versa. In the example of a bass and kick drum, if you boost the thump of the bass (100 Hz) then cut at 100 Hz from the kick drum.
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )kev on music December 4th
Are there any cases you don’t need to EQ at all (e.g. working with synths)?
( )brian September 21st
yes ofcourse, there are times when you dont need any post processing on anything but its very rare to have a whole mix that finely and perfectly constructed…i guess the answer to your question is if it needs eq then use it…if it doesnt then it doesnt.
( )Abhijit December 4th
Good post Mark.
Very right about the lower-mids; they’re the trickiest to judge, especially when mixing for television and radio, where there’s a risk of pumping or booming. I usually keep a reference track muted and compare it at intervals.
Voxengo’s span (free, http://www.voxengo.com/product/SPAN/) helps.
( )acav December 4th
On a side note, some mixes might need little or no EQ, though it is rare. What I try to do while composing is make sure the sounds naturally don’t clash by trying to not have too many instruments in the same frequency range. If I’m using virtual instruments, I might just move one instrument up/down an octave to put it in a different range.
( )Document 02 December 4th
Kev=> The only exception to EQ I’d think of would be a solo synth. Recordings are rarely perfect and need EQing. Mixing, even with only synths, usually leads to the low-mid mess that kills the one synth you wanted to put in front.
Anyways, need for EQing is easily identified, following these steps is simple and gets the job done…
Nice tut!
( )Sean V December 4th
Great tut… all good advice.
Someone told me ‘cut narrow, boost wide’ years ago…it’s really good advice.
( )Umesh Persad December 4th
Thanks for the useful tutorial.
( )kev on music December 4th
i actually liked this one
” If I’m using virtual instruments, I might just move one instrument up/down an octave to put it in a different range” by acav
( )Brian December 5th
Excellent tips… I especially like points 5 and 6. I have always been more of a subtractive EQ guy. The tip about Cut Narrow, Boost Wide is a good one and one I haven’t heard before.
( )angus December 5th
great tutorial, many students struggle with how to EQ, this is a good intro
( )Danny December 5th
Nice tips!
I am just learning how to mix myself on Logic and this is really useful to a newbie like me!
( )Jon Wilson December 6th
I am a bass player and I REALLY like the section talking about low mids. I’m not knocking ALL guitarists, but why is it that so many of them have more lows in their sound than I do in mine?
(that was a rhetorical question…)
I think that a lot of guitarists do this for a few reasons:
1) They generally like hearing guitar and hearing themselves. This is usually why they start playing in the first place.
2) They EQ their sound for playing SOLO.
3) They believe they are the most important person in the band.
4) They are not used to LISTENING when in a group.
Mark is ABSOLUTELY right about sounding good in the mix and not necessarily by yourself. I think guitarists (ESPECIALLY) need to get the hell out of the bottom end and go play where they BELONG – at the top of the sonic spectrum. It’s bad enough with all the egos, volume, and showboating, why should they also take up the whole damn sonic spectrum?!?!?
And just as a side note, I find a funny little thing happening: most of the bass players I hear, when “reaching” into their higher registers, seem to somehow “miss” clashing with the guitarist sonically. Coincidence? I think not.
But anyway, I’m not knocking all guitarists – just the typical ones.
( )SRS December 6th
Great post and excellent site. I will subscribe to your rss and give a stumbleupon thumbs up!
( )iwiLetter.com December 8th
Looking forward to trying “cutting narrow, boosting wide”. I’ve boosted narrow up until now….maybe that explains some things!
( )Daniel December 9th
Jon, you’re post is actually incredibly egotistical. We’re not out to get you.
( )Chris December 10th
Great post. I’m like Brian, I’m more of a subtractive EQ kind of guy. Keep things good and level before your final track EQ’s.
( )Luke Bass December 11th
I wouldn’t say Jon’s post was egotistical. I think he is right (about most amateur guitarists) he just should not take it personally. It’s their issue not yours.
What I try to do is educate. Show the guitarist (or anyone) the mix without eq on the guitar (if it is muddy). Then put in the eq and let them hear the difference. Nobody knows what they really sound like until they hear recordings of themselves.
( )Jeremy Comitas December 12th
My opinion on guitarists EQ’s is based more on picking a lesser of two evils. To sit right in a mix, a guitarist shouldn’t take up as much as most do in the low areas… but especially in heavy music (metal, hardcore, punk), some palm muting techniques sound weak if there isn’t a good chunk of bottom end. my fix for this is to always use (or mic) a high quality amplifier. On most standard amps, the bottom is flubby and loose sounding. It causes the guitar to fight with the basses low end frequencies, and it tends to make the bass more supportive from the bottom, and not quite present enough no matter how high you raise the basses high ends and sparkle. Getting a really nice high gain amp, or having the amp modified by a pro (Voodoo Amps in Ithica NY for instance), can leave you with a much tighter and more focused low end for the guitars, that won’t fight so much with the bass guitar. Hopefully this helps. It also goes back to the fundamental rule of getting a good sound and mic placement to start with before EQ’ing the audio. Hope this helps.
( )mtec December 13th
great tutorial,very useful tips
( )andrew December 14th
that is sound advice..
( )Karen December 16th
I thought that this was a great tutorial, and very helpful. Thanks so much!
( )Challenger December 17th
Daniel said: “Jon, you’re post is actually incredibly egotistical. We’re not out to get you.”
Sorry, Daniel, but I didn’t think Jon’s post was egostistical at all. It just stated the FACTS as I have seen them for over 45 years now (beat that!). I am both a guitarist and bass player and I have seen FAR TOO MANY guitar players trying to get a ‘phat’ sound and end up out-doing the bass player. That’s just factual, not egotistical. I presume, Daniel, that you are a guitarist – how do you EQ yourself? For the band or for yourself?
( )U December 18th
Hello- I play in a professional band- I wont say who… Sometimes headlining festivals of up to 80,000 at a time. Oh- it’s a rock band. Anyways, I’ve been the bassist for 4 years. The guitarists sound is abso-f’n-lutely huge- it’s amazing! But yes, it stomps all over my area. It’s not until this year after a lot of thought and conversations with the sound guy that I’m actually heard & felt now. I can even hear my bass on most of our youtube fan clips (ie. small cameras with shitty lil mic’s).
I ended up changing things to my sound to carve a niche in the wall of sound that is 2 guitars, double kicks, keys and full bg vox (and lead) vox.
What’d I change? Started favoring the neck pickup of my basses more- and even started using a pick for a couple songs. I prefer fingers and the fat punchy sound of both pu’s, but it just didn’t cut through. But with the throaty neck pu, there were upper mids that come through nicely in the mix. A nice clean DI helped- I added the Avalon U5 to my rig and FOH was more than happy. I was now not just loud & audible in the mix, but clear as well.
And I try to do it all without touching eq at all… I run pretty flat.
Just my 2¢ experience.
( )-U
Chris McDougall January 1st
As another bass player, I’ve had small struggles with the acoustic guitar player in the band who always digs into my frequencies. His attitude is understandable since as a guitarist he often plays solo where he needs a full sounding guitar. One time I tried asking him to bump his highs more and cut some of his lows. He hated the sound of it while playing on his own, but when we played as a band it was much better.
U: I’m not so sure favoring the neck pickup helps in cutting through the mix. It does depend on what type of bass you play, but on pretty much all two pickup basses that I’ve played favoring the bridge pickup allows you to cut through more, while the neck pickup will give you a fatter, deep sound. That’s why Musicman Stingrays (the original one pickup versions) are known for cutting through in the mix. The pickup is in the so-called “sweet spot” near to the bridge. But it really depends on what you want to do with your sound and it looks like you found what works for you.
( )Chris January 18th
This is the best writing on eq I have read recently. It focuses a lot on problem areas in a mix. It puts into words some of what I do automatically like “Cut Narrow, Boost Wide” giving me a firmer grasp of audio. Now I’ll be able to do mixes a lot quicker. Thanks Mr. Garrison.
I play guitar, bass, and other instruments. It’s true; guitarists tend to push into the low mids too much. It sort of depends on the kind of music is being played though. It takes time for every musician to be able to play and listen to the big picture at the same time.
( )apmusicservices February 4th
Good tips advice!. A easy steps by building up good sound or melodies. it really helpful!! give thumbs up on su!!
( )steinway February 17th
very useful tips! great tutorial.. thanks!!
( )Seth March 4th
“Q” does not stand for quality factor. great tutorial, though.
( )suka March 30th
great stuff & really informative & helpfull to someone new to it like myself..
Btw using a filter on the same frequency u may of cut or boost will that help atall? as far as giving stuff more space & if so when is the right time to use one ?
thx again for the tutorial!
( )james August 20th
great article…
curious what others think is the ‘best’ parametric EQ out there? lots of love for Ableton Live’s EQ eight and spectrum of course but what are some (free or inexpensive) au/vst alternatives?
( )Evan P. August 28th
I completely agree on cut narrow, boost wide in addition to defaulting to cutting rather than boosting — has always served me well.
I love the idea of systematically cutting the frequencies in tracks when I’m wanting that frequency range highlighted on other tracks; can’t wait to try it out!
Question though: should these resultant cuts also be narrow, or should they be the same bandwidth (Q value) as a boost on the highlighted track (if I boosted, that is)?
( )Jesse Gimbel November 7th
There are so many poorly written or ill-advised audio tutorials online, but this one sure isn’t one of them. These are great tips that it usually takes years before realizing for people just starting. This is definitely an article that should get around, great job.
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