The Only 10 EQ Mixing Tips You'll Ever Need!
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- Опубликовано: 4 июл 2024
- Are you trying to learn how to mix and master in FL Studio, Ableton or another DAW, but feel like you're not getting anywhere? Does your mix sound muddy, muffled or unclear? This tutorial will show you the only 10 mixing EQ tips you'll ever need in order to get a crisp, clear, and professional-sounding mix. EQ is perhaps the single most important mixing tool available to you as a music producer.
EQ doesn't have to be difficult. In fact, people often make this a lot more difficult than it has to be. When EQ'ing a sound, try to keep it simple. Remember, it's all about frequencies. You want to make room for every sound in the mix so that they cut through clearly without clashing with each other.
Learning how to EQ in FL Studio or another DAW will take time, and you won't be an expert after watching this video. However, these 10 EQ tips are among the most important tips I can give you when it comes to getting a clean and professional-sounding mix. Beginners often tend to make the same EQ mistakes, and by following these simple EQ tips you should see a noticeable difference in your mix right away.
I've been teaching musicians and music producers for many years, and after reviewing thousands of tracks, I know what EQ mistakes people tend to struggle with the most.
Learning how to use EQ properly is the first step toward becoming good at mixing and mastering. If you find it difficult to use EQ properly, then I'm confident that you'll find this FL Studio beginner tutorial helpful. I've included my top 10 mixing tips when it comes to EQ, including a bonus tip towards the end of the video.
The Loudnesswar Explained: • The Loudness War Expla...
How to EQ: • How To Mix (part 3): H...
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00:00 introduction - EQ tips and tricks
00:10 Tip #1 EQ while the whole mix is playing
00:28 Tip #2 Removing unwanted frequencies with EQ is better than boosting the good ones
01:05 Tip #3 Avoid massive cuts and boost when applying EQ to a sound
01:30 Tip #4 Use EQ to make room for the low-end in your mix
02:02 Tip #5 Don't EQ blindly. Always have a reason for what you're doing
02:16 Tip #6 Use EQ to low-cut reverb
02:40 Tip #7 Beware of unintended side effects when using EQ
02:50 Tip #8 Use EQ to help your vocals cut through in the mix
03:26 Tip #9 Cut narrow & Boost wide when using EQ
03:44: Tip #10 Be careful with EQ when mastering
04:05: Bonus Tip: Things to keep in mind...
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KRK 10S2 V2: geni.us/krk-10s2v2
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Vocal recording booth/stand for microphone: geni.us/microphonebooth
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This video deserves more views; no unnecessary talking and useless information, just the things as it!!
Thanks! ❤️
Finally a short, clear, precise explanation without having to spend an hour of blabbering before even getting to the heart of the matter. Thank you, I like and I subscribe.
Thanks! Glad you liked it 😊
all edm composers should see this.... I saw a composer (wont name who) heavily boosting frequencies in a masterclass and I was cringing so hard
Is there anything EQ-related YOU are struggling with? Let me know!
@@KW4RL autotune perhaps 😆
But seriously, it's perfectly normal not to like the sound of your own voice. It happens to everyone :)
4:11 That's what I struggle the most with. I've got a real nice multi-octave pad with nice rumbling bass elements I want to shine through in the mix because it causes emotions. But then I've got a multi-layered bassline on top of that with sub, mid and high elements that also need to cut through the mix. Add a few other elements to it and you've got that perfect example of muddiness I always encounter while creating a rich Trance track. Oof!
I see you offering sound, clear, accurate advice & a clear well-understood tutorial. You also possess an amazing speaking voice & impeccable sentence structure, sounds like you paid attention in English class ! All this plus a cornucopia of cool " stuff " ! Bellissimo
I HAVE SUBSCRIBED , AHL BE BACH ...... JOVIAN RECORDS
Just wanted to let you know you make the best content period when it comes to music production. Everything else is so convoluted and people spend a lot of time demonstrating without explaining anything. When I need to learn something to get back to work on an issue I was running into on a project I was working on I go here.
100%
_"Everything else is so convoluted . . "_
Agree, I like the way FireWalk just gets to the point, all meat no potatoes.
This one video solved a months long treck of issues. In a neat organized and sequential sort of way. Good work forsure subscribing
these are GREAT tips man! keep up the good work!
yesss finally somebody who explain probably the full thing what i need to know in 2-5 minutes
You're welcome 🙂
I feel this is what I struggle with the most and I REALLY appreciate a video like this!!
Glad you found it helpful 😀
Really nice helpful tips!
Thank you sooo much. perfectly explained
As always a super helpful video. Thanks!
Glad you liked it! 😀
Thanks for the tips. I been making music for about 15 years and making your mix more cleaner is always something that can improve. Great video 😀👍
Amazing! Thank you!!!
Its Basically remake of your old tutorial 10 eq tips but i appreciate you wanted it more relevant or better edited than previous time. All these tips are great. I was long time using EQ only for the High Pass and Low Pass. Than i became friend with professional industry house producer which has constant releases on labels, decent mastering and everything. And he told me if i want to hear one secret how to rapidly increase quality of my music, i should go more into depth of EQ-ing than just *cutting lows and highs*
Excellent, thank you.
Excellent!!
Great tutorial, the perfect explanation on great eqing. Every bit of advice I've heard before and follow. Cool to see it is all in one spot! You've done a great service to music education with this one.
Thanks, glad you liked it 🙂
I never thought of cutting nsrrow and boosting wide as ar rule of tthumb in my 8 yesrs of journey. Great tip.vit.makes a lot of sense.
Amazing video very helpful
I just applied these tips and it dramatically changed my mix
Very helpful. Thank you.
amazing video. I make drill beats so the kick and bass have to be loud and pianos can always get in the way of that if you dont cut out the lows on the eq
Thank you ❤️👏🔥
Thank you for the class!
You're welcome 🙂
Awesome, thank you! 😊
You're welcome 🙂
Instant like!
Great video. Ive started really getting into eq'ing recently, loads of great useful tips!!
Glad you found it helpful! 😀
@@FireWalkMusic Its great info thats easy to understand at any level and its so useful and easy to apply. I hate when information is hard to work out unless you are an expert, which I am not. I think some people like gatekeeping information or something lol
@@ocdmusic indeed, I think a lot of people are perhapps a bit hesitant to share what they know because they fear competition or something. However, the information is out there anyways so I don't see any reason not to share what you know. :)
@@FireWalkMusic Yeah definitely :) It seems like that in a few industries, mainly creative ones. Not everyone can access knowledge through mainstream education so this is the only way for many people. I started by accident really a couple of years ago, if not for that I don't know that I would be doing this and its all thanks to channels like yours and other websites online competitions etc
Awesome! :D
Thanks :)
Would you mind explaining why you recommend to cut narrow and boost wide? I keep hearing this but haven’t heard a good explanation as to why. I get that narrow cuts are useful for specific problematic frequencies and you wouldn’t need to boost such a small area but why wouldn’t you cut a wide area if a wide area is too loud?
Thank you so much
very nice and simple! Most stuff I practice already, but nice to hear again as a reminder!
That’s bro I been taking notes
Some interesting ideas, thank you for posting .
Bill P.
You're welcome 😊
@@FireWalkMusic 😃
Good tips. In addition: You need to take care with low frequency cuts as a way to make room for that which sits at the low frequencies. This is because high pass filters cause a significant phase discrepancy and the signal that is passed though the high pass filter will experience significant degrees of asymmetry distortion that will create problems when compression and/or limiting is applied to control the dynamics of a signal that is much more positive or negative about the centre line. Microphones with high pas filters built in, such as the AKG C7, hand held condenser, have this issue by default. The Neumann KMS 105 and/or Shure beta 58A do not. But the Shure SM7B will severely have this problem, if the filter switches are applied. Anyhow . . . After a signal has been passed through a high pass filter, it is good practice to apply a phase correction filter, to regain signal symmetry. The effect is clearly visible on the track envelope display. It is this phenomenon that causes audio purists to dismiss tone controls on hi-fi equipment and/or be super sparing, at the mixer :-)
Always worth it
Thanks! Glad you liked it :)
Wow, thanks a lot FireWalk for another gold information! cheers from Brasil!!!
You're welcome 😀
🔥🔥🔥
Thanks ! :)
liked and subscribed 👍
Especially for number 3 I have heard that quite the opposite is true.
Beginners tend to be way too shy on EQ, which might make their mixes sound flat and boring. Since I EQ the drums pretty aggressively, the results are way better!
Same for me, since i started EQing agressively i started to get the results i always wanted !
for sure. Its very genre specific advice. Or even advice for type of instrument, like maybe don't do it to acoustic instruments and expect them to sound natural...is about all i have to say. You do it to drums because there is a certain artificial sound you aim for, for sure.
It's about the melodies and harmonies (the music). If it sounds good, almost no one notes the mix itself. Mixing and EQ'ing is way too overrated these days. Do good music! Don't overdo the "sound design", it keeps you from making great music!
Awesome as always man. My dream is to see reverb (artsaccoustics)tutorial on this channel.
Thanks for the tip!
Cool!
Thanks! :)
I fall in love with you.
Please make a video on compression mixing tips. Or
Stereo mixing tips.
Thank you
Glad you liked the video 😀 and thanks for the suggestion! :)
As always. ♥️
is it some plugin for choir at number 7? sounds amazing
Interesting tips man ! Thanks.
Just a question, I see a lot of people making many "mini-cuts" or "mini-boosts" (0:30) but isn't this just removing harmonics somehow ? Isn't it better to just lower the level of the mix / use dynamics processing in this case ? When I start doing surgery like that I feel I'm doing something wrong but it might be personal 🙂
Thanks!
You're welcome 🙂
I don't low cut snare drum. Even if you can't specifically hear it, having that pressure behind the transient really makes it hit
Does spectrum analyzer show you the raw frequency? How do you use spectrum analyzer graph to make EQ adjustments?
Nice Tips!
Glad you think so! :)
perfect
Interesting. I'm having a problem with bass messing up my speakers. I guess I need to brickwall more low end. Is that standard? I never do it. Lol.
Really dope video bro 🔥🔥🔥 great info
Thanks, glad you liked it 😀
@@FireWalkMusic keep em coming bro, the way u explain things makes it easy to understand 🙏
Yw bro
@@DJONTHETRACK985 thanks! I will 😀
Nice
Glad you liked it :)
Dont narrow cuts cause the same problem as narrow boosts? Both mess with Phase a lot due to extreme steepness which flips phase around the changed part dramatically.
thank you
You're welcome 🙂
Thanks 🥲
You're welcome 😀
Trying to EQ without a suitably prepared working environment is like trying to paint with the distorting glasses on.
"If it sounds good, it is good"
-Joe Meek
P.S. I learned a long long long ( too many longs ) time ago , NO MATTER WHAT ,NEVER STOP LEARNING !!!
👍 - _also_ for the YT algo! 😊
I have a low voice and cutting low end tends to make my vocals sound much more thin. What could I do in this situation?
@Born To Sing With The Guitar thank you. I’ve genuinely been stuck on how to really eq or really the purpose. I’ve only been following what people really said and never got the actual point. You’ve cleared my head and I can happily not stress about it. Once again, thank you.
boost the low end instead of course!? I mean maybe. Why are you cutting the low end though. Compression, mid boost, some harmonic saturation will help. Maybe find a LA2A style compressor for them.
Do you teach personally?
What would you do with 45 year old cassette rehearsal tapes? These and a couple of reel to reels are the only record of the band we had in the early-mid 70's, and the tape with the best performances has a fridge grinding away in the background, as well as all the hiss and mud. I 'mastered' about an hour and posted it on youtube, but I was out of my depth on this one. The untreated sound was too hard to listen to, but too much cleaning took out too much music. Is this where you need to get in and sculpt something totally different, or just tweak it and live with it. I honestly don't know.
I would try using RX10 or something to try and get rid of that noise with the least amount of collateral damage to the track.
Oh. RX10? I'll check it out. I used Soundforge 14(?) for the first try but I hadn't worked with it before. Or maybe I could get some AI onto it! idk. Cheers
@@FireWalkMusic Good set of tips btw - nice work.
@@michaelhoste_ It has a lot of AI algorithms built in which I find very useful. If you have a fan noise for example, then you can isolate the fan noise from the beginning or the end of the track where only that noise is present, and it will intelligently remove it from the recording.
It comes in both standard and advanced versions: www.pluginboutique.com/product/3-Studio-Tools/51-Audio-Restoration-/9564-RX-10-Standard-EDU/?a_aid=5d496680b59cd
@@FireWalkMusic Oh, excellent. That's really handy because I do have the noise source solo.
Definitely gonna try it. Ta.
"It is more blessed to cut than to boost."
Froom Brasil 🇧🇷
The thumbnail is cool 😅
Thanks :)
The irony is that on first glance one would think of the left one was the expert one. The truth though is that more often than not, keeping it simple is what gives the best results when it comea to EQ. :)
3:20
I love a tight and clear low end ;)
after adding reverb i always lowcut the leads
That's one way of doing it. Nothing wrong with that :) However I usually prefer to roll off my leads slightly more gently than the reverb to prevent them from becoming thin. They often need some low mids for warmth and fullness. Having the reverb rolled off separately can be beneficial.
Patcher can be very good for this. You can load any reverb plugin inside patcher, and then add an EQ after it, to make fine adjustments to the curves. You can even add a sidechain plugin like lfotool or kickstart2 in there to add some gentle sidechaining to the reverb itself. That's another trick I often use. :)
@@FireWalkMusic thats why i love to make trance theres no right or wrong way...the bassline is an example
Less is more in mixing i saw people doing crazy cut's then mix sounds weak and thin, and also most of them think mastering will fix it, nah mastering is just polishing whole structure...
Indeed. Mastering should never be used as a means to "fix" anything in the mix.
I wish this worked on my wife's gob 😂
Ok. Now I'm pretty sure you're Hardwell in his spare time? 😅 Time to come clean?
😂👍
i self taught myself photoshop cs6... i wish i knew about tNice tutorials when i was in the self teacNice tutorialng mood
"don't blindly apply EQ"
AND
"High pass everything absolutely everything ALWAYS!"
Don't really fit together 😆
"Louder always sounds better to humans". But, it IS only humans who will be listening so what is the point of the statement?
By simply saying that louder sounds better, it implies that louder IS better, which isn't really the case, and it's not something I want to promote.
So the point of the statement was to emphasize that it's a human condition that tricks you into believing it's better.
Besides, animals listen to music too. There are plenty of songs made specifically for cats for example. :D
This is not ideal advice, especially number 3. Ever seen how the Lord-Alge brothers eq?
These are def Eq tips for beginners. And yes: many should be taken with a grain of salt. (Another one that irked me is never eq in solo. Really? Can’t tell you how many sessions I’ve been involved where I see the exact opposite - many top mixers as well in live sessions on YT. A better way of expressing this: if you’re gonna eq in solo in order to clearly hear what you’re doing, always make sure to listen to it unsolo’d in full context as well).
And now that one comment that will be ignored or deleted.
Ma man, sorry for saying this but your RUclips channel is slowly turning into consumer tiktok based channel which provides little to no useful information at all.
People can google this in 2 minutes or less.
My advice for you is to focus more on music making and production rather than explaining techniques which were explained 1000000 times before.
Don't you think that it would be better and wiser to spread knowledge of your productions and music making process while actually doing it. That's the best way for you to pass your knowledge and experience.
Making a track, picking sounds (or designing them from scratch), would be far more useful then editing 5- minutes video and promoting your previous videos which explain the same thing over and over again.
I rarely write comments on youtube but I had to man. Don't waste your potential on this. 10 EQ tips is not what it takes to release track on armada.
Hope you will read this and not get offended or insulted. I really love your music although you don't have that many releases lately.
Peace and love
Hi, thanks for the feedback. I welcome all feedback, both negative and positive. :)
When I review tracks, I often tell people that they have to embrace the negative feedback. That's what you'll learn the most from. Not the ones who just says what you want to hear. :)
I totally understand what you're saying, and I understand the frustration. As a "RUclipsr" I have to try and make content that people actually want to watch, and I have to cater to a lot of different people.
That can be difficult because there are so many different genres, and people are at different stages when it comes to learning curve. Did you know that the most searched sentence among people who watch FL Studio related content is "FL Studio beginner tutorial" ?
Some people are going to be absolute beginners. Some will be somewhere in the middle, and some will be advanced users. Others just want to see genre-specific tutorials, and filter out everything else. I try to cater to everyone. Some videos will be more beginner oriented, and others more oriented towards experienced users, while others are genre specific.
As a RUclipsr, my main "job" is to get people to watch my videos, and to draw in new viewers and subscribers. I actually spend money to make every single video, and if they don't generate any revenue then I might as well stop making them. Sometimes I lose money on a video, other times I earn money. Fortunately, overall, I still do have a positive balance, all though it's not a lot..
I make mostly trance music myself, and I have plenty of trance related videos on my channel. Unfortunately, trance is a rather obscure genre with a relatively small following compared to more mainstream EDM and such.
1 year ago I made a lengthy video (48 minutes long) about how to make trance like James Dymond, covering those signature basslines, percusison etc. I spent more than 2 weeks making that video. It was actually quite exhausting. It's not just a matter of sitting down and recording something for 50 minutes, and have it sound that sounds exactly like James Dymond. It's actually countless takes and retakes, until you get it right, and then editing it all together.
I was sure the video would do very well because it provides great information and value. However, one year later the video only has 28000 views, and right now it's practically dead. Unfortunately, few people search for "trance bassline" compared to how to mix this or that etc.
3 years ago I published a video, showing how I made the top melody cut through in my Abora top 15 uplift track "for the last time", using an advanced sidechaining technique: ruclips.net/video/6CJJvO33_lI/видео.html
That video has been seen 17000 times in 3 years, and it is now also pretty much dead. On average, that's 15 people watching it per day.
I wish this wasn't the case because I'd love to show off my production skills and what I love to do, which is trance music for the most part. But I can't only make videos like that because the majority of people crave other videos. So I have to try and cater a little bit to everyone.
For example, 4 years ago I made a short and simple video about how the soundgoodizer works: ruclips.net/video/zo0-yN36sfw/видео.html
It's now seen more than 354.000 times, and it still generates views.
Sometimes the title and or thumbnail of a video is not the best, and that causes few views, while the content itself is actually good and should perform well. I'm guilty of taking some older videos that didn't perform well and releasing them again, in a new and updated & modified package, and in many cases, they then actually perform really well. Even though it's basically the same content, except that it's more "clickable"...
It's strange how videos with great value, that I expect to perform well ends up underperforming, while basic "filler" videos that was quick to make and I expect not to perform as well end up blowing up.
The sad truth is that most RUclipsrs have to use some degree of click bait to draw people in, and if you don't do the same then you simply won't get views, and if you don't get views, at some point it's just not worth it. Why spend all your spare time doing something that you lose money on, when you'd rather do something else instead, like work on your own music? :)
As you pointed out, my releases are few and long apart these days. There's a reason for that of course. Basically all my spare time is eaten up by this RUclips channel, as well as my mixing and mastering service, providing feedback on tracks etc. Whenever I do have some little time to spare, I'm usually so exhausted that I just can't make music.
On top of all that, I also have a full time job. Working 8 hours a day, and often overtime too. So that's why I don't get to work much on my own music unfortunately, which is really sad, because that's of course my one big passion. The one thing I really love doing. :)
I've had several polls on this channel in the past, about what content people prefer, and mixing and mastering is always on top of the list.
I will definitely try to make more production related content though, because I know that while that might not be the most broadly appealing content (especially not the genre specific stuff) I know that it provides extremely good value for those who DO find it useful.
I have some ideas about production related videos, both trance specific and more general videos, but I'd love to hear some specific ideas from you, things that you personally would find helpful? I will definitely put it on my list :)
@@FireWalkMusic Thanks for the insightful response Mr. Firewalk. Understood everything.
I mean there are lengthy videos on the RUclips going through full production process without editing but it would be nice to see your workflow and creation process. That would be the most helpful thing to me.
Hope you will have more time to create more masterpieces like "You and I" in the future :^)
Thanks again.
Sometimes I need do a cut on 808 about 10 dB below 50hz to fit which is Crazy. Mixing is tricky