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Mixing 1 - Clarity - 4 EQ Techniques

This document provides guidance on using EQ techniques to improve clarity in a music mix. It discusses four EQ techniques: 1) EQ bracketing uses high-pass and low-pass filters to focus on important frequency ranges; 2) Tone shaping uses gentle EQ curves to emphasize desirable frequencies and reduce undesirable ones; 3) Search and destroy uses narrow notches to reduce resonant frequencies; 4) Mirror EQ uses complementary EQ curves on foreground and background sounds to help them sit together in the mix. The document stresses using small EQ adjustments and differentiating instruments across the frequency spectrum for clarity.

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Lucas Ferrari Rabelo
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137 views4 pages

Mixing 1 - Clarity - 4 EQ Techniques

This document provides guidance on using EQ techniques to improve clarity in a music mix. It discusses four EQ techniques: 1) EQ bracketing uses high-pass and low-pass filters to focus on important frequency ranges; 2) Tone shaping uses gentle EQ curves to emphasize desirable frequencies and reduce undesirable ones; 3) Search and destroy uses narrow notches to reduce resonant frequencies; 4) Mirror EQ uses complementary EQ curves on foreground and background sounds to help them sit together in the mix. The document stresses using small EQ adjustments and differentiating instruments across the frequency spectrum for clarity.

Uploaded by

Lucas Ferrari Rabelo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as RTF, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mixing 1 - Clarity - 4 EQ Techniques

Mixing is the work of giving our music four things: clarity, presence, space and
color.

For clarity, EQ is our primary tool.

The EQ Graph
You need to get to know the frequency spectrum like it’s the layout of your own
home. That spectrum is visualized in the EQ graph. Use the EQ-8 Ableton effect.

Human hearing goes from 20hz-2khz (though the top end drops as we get older).
That’s the X axis on an EQ graph.

The Y axis is amplitude in decibels (roughly, loudness).

The line on the graph represents amplitude changes to the sound.

You shape the line with filter nodes:


there are 8 filters in the EQ-8
they can be turned on and off independently
each filter has a shape that you can choose from the menu (experiment to see
how they work)
each filter has three parameters, which you can set explicitly with the knobs
on the left
frequency
gain how much you want to boost or cut
Q how narrow is the curve shape

Train Your Ear


To learn the character of each part of the frequency spectrum, do this ear training
exercise on as many sounds as you can:

Frequency Scan:
Loop the sound
Grab a bell-curve EQ filter node
Pull it up as high as it will go
Slowly sweep the sound, listening each part of the spectrum
— also try this with Audition Mode (headphone button) to hear
ONLY the sound affected by the filter
— play with Q to hear a wider or narrower band of sound

Technique 1: EQ Bracketing [hard cuts]


Most sounds have things in them you don’t need. Use low cut and high cut filters
to focus on just the parts of the sound you want.

How much do you cut? Cut what you don’t hear. When you hear the sound
change, back off.

I bracket the bottom of nearly all sounds. Sometimes a little from the top as well.

The filters you use have two inverted names that mean the same thing:
Low cut == High pass
High pass == Low cut

Technique 2: Tone Shaping [gentle curves]


Use gentle EQ curves to emphasize parts of each sound that are desirable and
suppress those which are unattractive.

Use the ear training exercise above to decide what parts are desired and what
frequencies are unattractive.

Adding a little high end can help things sparkle.

Mids often pile up and create a muddy thickness; turning them down a little in each
part can counter this.

Keeping adjustments under 3dB is recommended if you want to preserve the


natural quality of the sound.

Sometimes you may want to create an artificial sound, for example in the
‘telephone effect’

Technique 3: Search and Destroy [narrow notches]

▪ Sounds often have narrow frequency bands that are too resonant. This
makes them difficult to mix, and, over time, annoying to listen to.
▪
▪ Find them with a method called search and destroy.
▪
▪ Grab a bell curve EQ-filter node.
▪ Turn the Q very high, to make it narrow
▪ Pull it all the way up so the gain is maxed
▪ Slow scan through the sound until a frequency really jumps out
at you
▪ Turn down exactly that frequency
▪ (I recommend using the Gain knob rather than pulling it
down so you don’t lose the exact frequency)
▪
▪ Repeat until you have found all the nodes.

Technique 4: Mirror EQ [complementary curves]


When two sounds occupy the same frequency range, use mirror separation to
help them sit together.

Scan the foreground sound to find a range that makes it pop. Using a wide Q,
gently (1-2dB) boost that range.

Copy that EQ device to the background sound and use it to cut (gently, 1-2dB) that
exact range.
Rules of Thumb
Less is more
You will get better results by making lots of small adjustments. Big
adjustments can make your sounds sound artificial

“Boost wide, cut narrow”

The Big Picture


Think about the whole spectrum as one canvas that you have to fill. To feel like
your music is in ‘full color’ each part of the spectrum should have something in it,
but not be too crowded. If you have many instruments that share the same part of
the spectrum, they’ll be indistinct. You’ll have more clarity if you differentiate
them in some way (make them play at different times, or in different frequencies
with mirror EQ).

The vocabulary
◦
◦ There’s a vocabulary of adjectives that can help you conceptualize the different
aspects of sound: thump, rumble, bottom, boom, warmth, mud, honk, whack, tinny,
crunch, edge, sibilance, definition, pierce, air, etc. You can get to know these by
exploring the Interactive Frequency Chart and just listening to engineers talk.
◦
◦ From the Interactive Frequency Chart:

Pasted Graphic.tiff ¬

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