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Don't Boost @ EQ!!!
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Psynaesthesian
IsraTrance Junior Member
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557
Posted : Nov 21, 2006 08:21
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Sup Folks!!!
Been doin alot of reading about Mastering and EQ.... couldn't find the answer to this one .....
Many experts have stated that Boosting frequency ranges to make particular aspects of a sound more prominent at the time of EQ is not recommended. EQ process should be restricted to cutting unwanted frequencies out only!! Question : Why? What's wrong in boosting frequencies in a specified band or at a particular frequency? Is there an anomaly in the EQ process itself which alters sound adversly? Would appreciate some light shed on this!!
Focussing on bass to make a point : I'm using Subtracktor to create a bassline. Now the trick here is trying to balance the low and mid range freqs sufficently to produce nice rolling and pumpy, meaty bass. But ..... The issue here is that the low end sounds good at a particular filter-freq/res setting, but the mid is really low and sickening. Altering the freq and res to make the sound more bright leads to too much muddyness and yucky output!!!
Where / how can you achieve the balance?
Especially if you are "not supposed" to use EQ to bring these bands up?
The reason i ask this is because i am stuck with shitty monitors and i need to understand the technicality here since my ears are not helping much!!
B'om Shankara!!!
  "... b'om ..." |
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Trip-
IsraTrance Team
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101
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3239
Posted : Nov 21, 2006 08:54
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First, ears are your "sound-eyes"
Drawing a picture when you are blind-folded, by learning movements for your hand, isn't going to be too successful ... (?)
You can boost frequencies when it's obviously needed. I'd usually boost some frequencies for basslines - just because it helps being upfront.
Basicly, boosting a frequency is rather more sound distorting, than cutting out a frequency of a balanced frequency range sound signal.
Ears are needed ;/
Crackling universes dive into their own neverending crackle...
AgalactiA |
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l337
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Nov 21, 2006 09:28
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I boost and cut all the time.,,, if you understand the freq spectrum and the dynamics you can do anything.... dont let the "pros" tell you what is right or wrong...listen with your ears |
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faxinadu
Faxi Nadu / Elmooht
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282
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3394
Posted : Nov 21, 2006 10:49
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dude use at your own will
the whole "don't boost" thing started from analog desks where boosting can really add noise to the signal.
we search all the time for plugs and tools to help us be creative, when one of the first things we can do is get creative with the things we already have.
experiment!
The Way Back
https://faxinadu.bandcamp.com/album/the-way-back |
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orange
Fat Data
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154
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3918
Posted : Nov 21, 2006 10:58
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TuK
TuK
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228
Posted : Nov 21, 2006 13:55
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i would stay away from the subtraktor to make bass, i had a hard time trying to tweak it to sound good. i would go looking for a good vst instrument. |
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Fragletrollet
Fragletrollet
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Posted : Nov 21, 2006 14:36
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I guess another reason is that the amplifier in the EQ (if an hardware one) isnt that great, and you would get cleaner sound by reducing freqs (and boosting overall volume) rather than gaining the strips on the EQ. Ofcourse, if you have a high-end eq this is favourable, but if your sitting with a compressor from Behringer Id def. try to reduce freqs rather than boosting. I guess that this doesnt apply with softplugs?
http://www.myspace.com/fragletrollet
http://www.myspace.com/unknowncausesound
http://www.fragletrollet.com/ |
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Colin OOOD
Moderator
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Posted : Nov 21, 2006 15:50
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Dharma Lab
Started Topics :
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342
Posted : Nov 21, 2006 18:04
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Boosting isn't illegal, unless your boosting someone's car stereo.
One reason why cut is recommended, is that boosting will not remove problem frequencies. The hard question sometimes is figuring out what frequencies are a problem, if any.
Another point is that boosting isn't necessarily going to help a frequency range if the content just really isn't there.
If your lows are great, and your mids are lacking, you could try using another sound with some better mid-range content, and marry the two, or maybe even reducing your lows, then bring your gain up to see if it balances out better.
Keep The Faith,
Christian K. |
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faxinadu
Faxi Nadu / Elmooht
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Posted : Nov 21, 2006 18:28
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ok i agree with colin and dharma, but i think they are talking more about eq in the mix sense than in the sound creation sense.
if u r using eq to mix all said is true, but if u are trying to create intresting sounds then boosting is great. each eq (even digital!) has its own character, touches the phase in a dif manner and resonates difrently. Bassically an eq is a series of band pass (and low/high shelf and all) filters.
that's what i implied when i said experiment. eq can be looked at like a mixing tool (wich it is of course) but also as an effect.
The Way Back
https://faxinadu.bandcamp.com/album/the-way-back |
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Psynaesthesian
IsraTrance Junior Member
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30
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557
Posted : Nov 21, 2006 22:09
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Thanx a tonne to everyone for the feedback!!!
Much appreciated!!!
Time to do some more reading!!
B'om Shankara!!!
"... b'om ..." |
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Dharma Lab
Started Topics :
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342
Posted : Nov 22, 2006 16:53
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Quote:
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On 2006-11-21 18:28, postunder wrote:
i think they are talking more about eq in the mix sense than in the sound creation sense.
experiment. eq can be looked at like a mixing tool (wich it is of course) but also as an effect.
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You are right in that regard too, as I was viewing the post from a 'corrective' angle. Multiple sources that I've read talk about any signal processing, including EQ, can create phasing, distortion, and other changes that may not be desired. Boosting frequencies makes these change more pronounced, often causing a more 'unnatural' effect to the sound, hence the recommendation to cut rather than boost.
That being said, electronic music is highly 'unnatural sounding', so maybe that's what you want. It certainly can be used as a creative tool as well.
Keep The Faith,
Christian K. |
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AhmedTaburov
IsraTrance Full Member
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294
Posted : Nov 22, 2006 17:18
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Freakuency
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Nov 22, 2006 21:29
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By cutting disturbing frequencies u emphasize the frequencies u want.
This is very hard to explain but u need a good kick that will match with your bass. Kick is doing 50% of the job, so does the bass. You have to look at it this way! |
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Kane
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Nov 22, 2006 21:52
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Here is my advice on EQing your bass in Reason :
Throw in the PEQ-2 (2 band eq) under subtractor, It should connect itself and all the good stuff.
Run your bassline as a solo loop so you can listen as you're doing this.
Turn on Filter B in the EQ, set filter b frequency to about 15-25, "Q" in the middle (about 64), and gain to 20.
Set filter A's frequency to 127, "Q" to 0, and gain to -64 (this is to eliminate the air frequencies that you don't want in the bass tone.)
You'll have to play with it to get the sound right, but those should be your general settings for EQing a bassline. If you use another EQ in Reason (I'm not even sure that there is one, I just opened up reason to do this for you), you can just mess around with it to get the same sort of curve..if the bass sounds a bit dry adjust filter B's "Q" knob up a bit..
My tips for EQing on the master bus :
This is a bit of a sketchy topic, but here are my feelings on EQing for mastering...
I tend to automatically bring the 20-30 and 17,000-20,000 ranges down a few decibels..EQing depends heavily on the frequency range of the track itself, and I feel that it's more important to use as much of the spectrum as possible within the track, even for darkpsy artists, because your track will sound a bit monotonus in the end, nomatter how well the mastering is done.
I use Izotope Ozone for EQing and reverb, so i usually just put one of the band markers all the way at the end of the spectrum and one all the way on the top and dampen them about (-)5-7dB to get a nice curve started. Again, depends on the track. I usually center another band close to 120hz and dampen that about 2-3dB. I find that the bass noises seem louder in open air than in headphones.
Don't EVER completely cut out a frequency, it will ruin the entire mix. For example if you cut out everything 20-30hz, when you play the track live or loud on monitors there won't be any "feel" to the track, and it will sound wrong, simply put. If you use a lot of hats, don't go too crazy with dampening the high end EQ.
My main advice here is that you shouldn't totally cut out any frequency, and that the answer to your question depends on the track.
Good luck to you!
-qane
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