A Guide to EQ

Generally speaking, it’s better to cut than to boost when EQ ing, especially if the
goal is to move one part out of the way of another, as cutting sounds is more
natural and helps to maintain headroom in the mix. So, rather than boost the
volume of a vocal at 2kHz by 3dB to make it heard over an accompanying guitar,
for example, cut the guitar by 3dB at the same frequency. Also, most of the time,
you’ll want to keep your cuts and boosts quite small – just a few dB either way –
as extreme changes can, again, sound unnatural and eat up headroom.

Ultimately, more than any other audio engineering process, the well-judged
application of EQ can make the difference between a polished, clear, professional
sounding mix and an uneven, amateurish one.

EQ types

Parametric EQ

The most ubiquitous and versatile of all EQ types, the parametric is the one to
turn to when you need the utmost in control and accuracy. A parametric EQ will
house a number of independent frequency bands – typically, three, four or five –
each one comprising controls for adjusting its centre frequency, width and gain,
and facilitating everything from broad, musical curves to super sharp surgical
cuts and boosts.

High/low-pass filters

The high- or low-pass filter simply attenuates everything below (high-pass) or

above (low-pass) the set ‘cut-off’ frequency. A resonance parameter might be
included, for emphasising the frequencies immediately around the cut-off, and a
variety of roll-off slopes will often also be on offer for altering the ‘severity’ of the
attenuation.
Many engineers habitually activate high-pass filters on every mixer channel, set
to get rid of everything below the lowest audible frequency of each element, in
order to keep the easily overwhelmed low and low-mid frequency ranges of the
whole mix free of clutter.

Shelving EQ

When you need to smoothly cut or boost everything above or below a certain
‘corner’ frequency – to add high-end sheen to a vocal, or rein in an overly boomy
bass, say – fire up a shelving EQ. A high shelf affects only the signal above the
corner frequency, while a low shelf works on everything below it.

Graphic EQ

Something of a rarity these days, the graphic EQ lets you adjust the gains of
numerous (anywhere up to 30-odd!) fixed-frequency, fixed-width bands, all
carefully selected and calibrated to work together, delivering highly musical (i.e.,
broad and decidedly non-surgical) response curves.
Dynamic EQ

The newest kid on the equalisation block, the dynamic EQ looks like a parametric
EQ, but each band has a compressor/expander built in that automatically raises
or lowers the gain in response to changes in the level of the input signal or an
external sidechain input at that band’s frequency. This is useful for taming
frequency issues in dynamically variable signals (harsh hi-hats, sibilant vocals,
etc.), and automatically EQing one sound based on the volume level of another
to prevent ‘masking’ (cutting a particular frequency range in the bass whenever
the kick drum hits, for example)

A quick guide to the frequency spectrum

Although any EQ processing will inevitably be highly dependent on the nature of

the source material, there are some general rules to follow when it comes to
cutting and boosting certain ‘standard’ frequency ranges.

50-75Hz

Boost to beef up kick drums and sub bass lines. Cut to reduce excessive low-end
weight.

80-200Hz

Boost to add body to snares and guitars, punch to kick drums, roundness to
bass, and general warmth. Cut to reduce low-end mud.

200-500Hz

Boost to ‘warm up’ vocals, guitars and synths, and add presence to basses. Cut
to reduce muddiness.

500-800Hz

Boost (with care!) to bring out the tone of almost any instrument. Cut to reduce
‘honk’.

2-5kHz

Boost to give vocals, guitars, synths and strings clarity, definition and impact.
Cut to reduce harshness.

5-10kHz

Boost to add presence and sheen to drums, cymbals and guitars. Cut to reduce
scratchiness and sibilance.

16kHz+

Boost for brightness and ‘air’. Cut to reduce high-end fizz.

Frequency.

Sound is vibration. Whether by virtue of your vocal chords, a guitar being plucked or a
drum being struck, the sound emitted is caused by vibrations. And it’s not just musical
instruments, although of course they have been optimised to create vibrations. Indeed,
any sound you can think of is caused by vibrations… the faster the frequency of
vibration, the higher the pitch of the sound. Consider the sound of an electric guitar. It’s
full of all kinds of harmonics, which give it a rich and powerful sound. However, below a
certain point (150 – 200 Hz at a guess) there may be a lot of bassy noise – sounds great
on its own, but in a mix, it’s likely to compete with the bass guitar and drums. By adding
an EQ and cutting or shelving all the frequencies below a certain range, those lower
frequencies disappear or fall back in the mix. Another reason to cut frequencies is to
remove nasty sounding parts of an otherwise good sound. To use the guitar analogy,
maybe there is a pocket of nasty sounding resonance around the 2 kHz mark. Scooping it
out with a narrow notch or bell EQ might just remove the nastiness while preserving the
tone. This is often called ‘surgical’ EQ.

The truth Hz.

In a way, the frequency spectrum is like a grand piano – down the bottom are the really
low notes, rising to the really high tinkly ones at the top. These frequencies are all
measured in Hz – pronounced ‘hurts’. The average human ear can hear sounds from
around 20 Hz up to about 20,000Hz (20 KHz), although the sounds at those extremities
are inaudible to many, so not much use in music, generally. Having said that, if you’ve
ever experienced the sensation of ‘feeling’ the bass in a club, it’s because frequencies
down the really low end actually rattle your stomach and rib cage. It’s part of the
attraction many of us have to bass-heavy club music and big fat speakers.

Timbres explained.

When different instruments play the exact same notes, they don’t sound exactly the
same, right? The reason is that each has its own timbre. And timbres are essentially
complexity – the complexity of a sound creates its character.

To get a little more technical, the complexity of a sound is described in terms of partials.
Partials are additional frequencies, or tones, that are more or less related to the
fundamental tone of the sound. So, when you hear a cello, the richness of the sound
comes from all the related partials that are present. These related partials are
called harmonics and are kind of like echoes of the original sound in different pitches.
When they’re musical sounding partials, it’s because each partial relates to the
fundamental by a whole number eg 2:1, 3:1, 4:1 etc.

Conversely, when you hear something atonal like a cymbal, it contains mostly unrelated
partials – partials that are unconnected by musical pitch.

Where should you add EQ in your insert chain?

Generally speaking, you should have an EQ on most channels in your project, to clean up
or emphasize certain frequencies. But where do you place it in the insert chain? At the
beginning, in 99% of cases. The reason being that the following plugins will affect the
audio as output from the preceding plugin, so it’s usually a good idea to get the EQ spot
on first, and then process it further. EQ is something to be used in conjunction with other
effects such as compression and saturation, and while adding an additional EQ further
down the chain can be very effective, as a general rule, start every insert chain with an
EQ.

Sound and frequency:

Frequency Spectrum.; The spectrum of frequencies which any sound can sit in. Sounds can occupy
a very narrow frequency range, or a very broad one, depending on the number of partials present.

 Fundamental.: The root tone or the sound. Not all sounds have fundamentals, such as

white noise. Usually the fundamental, if present, is the loudest pitched frequency spike on

the spectrum.

 Pitch.: The point at which the fundamental lands on the frequency spectrum.

 Partials: Additional tones present in the overall sound.

 Harmonics: Partials which are related to the fundamental pitch – usually, in a musical

instrument, the harmonics are in-scale.

 Inharmonics.: Partials which are not related to the fundamental pitch – therefore not

musical or tonal. Think of an explosion or plate smashing.

General EQ controls

 Filter Frequency. The frequency position where the currently selected band will be boosted,

shelved or passed. Most EQs have at least 3 bands where filter frequency can be set, while

some have up to 32!

 Boost (AKA Gain).The amount of the selected frequency that is boosted.

 Q amount (AKA Resonance).The amount (usually in decibels) by which the frequency is

boosted, shelved or cut.

 Q slope. When at its maximum, a very wide band which is affected by the configuration.

When at it’s minimum, a very narrow band is affected. This is good for surgically removed

precise frequencies.

 Filter Type. Some EQs allow you to set different filter types and allocate them at different

points of the frequency spectrum.

 Filter slope. The style of the filter.

 Shelf. The selected frequency that is shelved i.e reduced in volume in a shelf motion.