A Better Way to Use EQ
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- By request, a highly abused audio processor is explained and demonstrated with this video. This portion covers Track EQ. Part 1 covers EQ for stereo mixes.
www.gcmstudio.com
The recording was sent to me by Frank Fisher for the purpose this video (thank you!) Originally recorded in 1995 on 2" 24-track tape. Produced by Scott Santos.
This is the absolutely most helpful video for how to eq I've seen. The way you explain things is how normal people speak and think. I've tried looking at charts and your explanation to pick out annoying sounds and cut was a really big "duh" moment for me when watching this video. Thanks!
Finally, a goddamn coherent, consistent explanation of the process of using EQ!
Great tips, Sir! Much obliged!
very simple presentation - nice and clear. Thanks for posting!
Great tutorial. You are obviously a professional with experienced ears. Would love some more in depth on this topic !!
You are great! Thank you.
You have a great voice and speech flow.
I already know a lot of this stuff. But seeing how other mixing engineers do the stuff is highly reassuring me that what I am doing is ok, so I don't have to second guess my every move.
Thanks, You are great!
Also I'm running an 90 watt speaker system into it. The system comprises of 2 old 1979 Kenwood Model LS-770 speakers. The Kenwoods have pollyfoam lined cabinets with an 8 inch mid bass and a 8 inch lower passive radiator. The tweeter is a compression driver mounted in a wide angle thick metal horn. The cones are ribbed paper and the pollyfoam and the passive greatly ups the frequency response. 4000HZ crossover. Also old Sears speakers. The tweeter is blown on the left side in the LS-770.
An automated EQ would have fixed your piano sound at the beginning. Nice video dude, this is how I mix most of the time. You hit the nail right on the head.
Thank you, I was trying to figure out those sweepable knobs forever! To use it to find an annoying tone, thus suppressing it, never occurred to me. I'm always stuck using beat-up systems for live applications because nobody else will.
appreciate the tutorials! I think the toughest part of mixing for me is eqing in the mix rather than soloing specific channels, going to keep practicing.
Yeah, it was a great example and a fun song on top of it.
@Jan0286 It's pretty much the same as I show here. Listen for a problem, set the EQ to boost, sweep back & forth till you exaggerate the problem, then set the EQ to cut. From there, add spice to taste.
Cut before boost. Good advice. Good to see you are NOT using a Mackie console.
@RaymondSolo It was an extra mic from the same take. It sounds like there was a mic over the hammers and one at the foot of the piano with the intention of blending them in the mix as a sort of variable tone control. It was a fairly common technique at one time.
@SuperGuitarman69
First of all, thanks for the kind words.
Recording is going to keep moving towards home studios but there will always be a need for real studios. Good rooms, quality gear and most of all, experienced engineers that know what they're doing are too important.
I'm not sure I understand the question but mix engineers working on home recordings have their work cut out for them because in my experience, they're usually a mess. There's no substitute for capturing quality sources.
Yeah, but you notice I sometimes raise the level of a track while working on it. That way, it's easier to hear the issues but you still have it somewhat in context with the rest of the music.
@Antweezysx It was recorded on a 2" 24-track, but he made a copy and sent it on DVD-R. I used N'track to pipe the tracks out to my board. I had 18 channels of digital to analogue converters on my computer so I pre-selected some tracks to drop. You saw I commented on how the guitar mic was too close the the amp? There actually was another mic that was further back that sounded great. I eliminated the tracks that sounded perfect so I'd actually have something to EQ and to free up DACs!
Great video. You pretty much covered in 6 minutes what they take 6 months to teach in music college.
@wado1942 That is true. No doubt that they would be a mess for someone who is used to a project beginning to end. I have started doing my own tracks just for time constraints in studios here at the house on my pro-tools and shipping them off. I take great care in the way I record them. Making sure when they get the tracks back the source is clean and doesn't need eq. And most of all that I send a printed version of my effects with delays locked, but also a clean version for post production
@RaymondSolo Correct, that would have been a good solution. There was also another piano mic that was too dark sounding that I could have blended with the one used in this demonstration. I'm serious, with the exception of the bass drum and drum overheads, I probably could have mixed the whole thing without any EQ just by selecting which tracks to use and when. That wouldn't have made a very good demo for EQ though!
Yeah, I'm more of a mastering guy, so I don't need much of a board, though it IS 24-channel. I can mix from 16-track tape, 16-channel computer system, ADAT, 1/2" 4-track, using 3x reverbs, 2x delays and whatever other outboard gear I need without getting out of my chair.
@Jerrysway Well, I may have pulled the guitar fader back a bit much, but this was really just a quick demo of how to use EQ. It wasn't by any means meant to be a final, artist approved remix. I thought about demoing the other guitar track for the video but I just didn't have time.
@daxweb
Thanks for your input. I can certainly appreciate your point of view. I did this the way I did because the specific sound I had isn't really important. In retrospect though, I should have made my voice louder on the mix!
As I demonstrate in the video, there's no way to tell somebody what EQ to use, you have to use your ears and determine what's right, especially for a P.A. where you have speakers designed for power and not accuracy (like you) and are performing in clubs etc. that aren't designed for audio. I do recommend starting with every thing flat every time you set up your equipment and add/cut as needed every time. You'll be surprised at how much your needs change from show to show.
@guitarsbunch347 If you want to record & mix using a hardware mixer as I show here, the best thing to do is buy a multitrack recorder like the HD24 from Alesis or use an analogue unit like my TASCAM 85-16. I you must use a computer, just search for an 8-channel audio interface and get two of them. Then you just have to run cables from the outputs of the interface to the line inputs on the mixer.
Love the song :D
@Antweezysx The mix engineer sent them to me so I could make this demonstration.
A pair of 8-channel PCI cards feed it.
@wado1942 OK, cuz it sounded like the guitar was pretty much eliminated out of the mix with that cut, I would have like to hear the other guitar track in that mix and how that worked out with that cut you made. Nice demo tho, thanks.
@guitarsbunch347 It's just an ordinary A & H GL2200 live mixing board, nothing special. I had 18 channels of digital to analogue conversion on my computer to send the tracks into the mixer. Busses 1 & 2 just went back to one of the 18 analogue to digital converters, plus one from the mic I used to speak so I could have a stereo mix of the music and a mono track of my voice.
I have a PEAVEY XR-886 powered mixing console old discontinued model from 1998. I has 600 watts RMS of power, 2 channels at 300 watts each. It has two fully independent 9 band EQ's that work independently from each other. The band are 63HZ, 125HZ, 250HZ, 500HZ, 1K, 2K, 4K, 8K, and 16K. The range is -15 to +12 DB. I have it set to 63 at +12, 125 at 0, 250 at -15, 500 and 1K at +6, and the 2K 4K 8K and 16K set to +12. Tell me, is this a good setting? It brings out the bass and highs in my music.
"Get a good recording to start with" - soooo true!! The art of EQ, Mixing, Mastering NEEDS to be TRULY taken onboard by the young music producers. Check out our channel and our site.
Keep up the teaching bro!
that board doesnt seem very big to be mixing on
a suggestion for your video style. a lot of times there is confusion between your voice and background music that you are working and for a viewer it s hard listen all the little variation of the sound. i suggest you create 2 moment , one for the voice and anoter with the music you are working in front.
how are you getting sound back in mixer board
I have a pair of multi-channel sound cards so I can assign each track to a different output on the computer. Each output has its own channel on the mixer.
@KissMeImPunk
Hello, I suggest joining a good forum like at recordingwebsite because there's no quick answers and good recording/mixing takes years to learn. Several experienced engineers including myself are moderators there so you can get the opinion of several people, which is important.
wow how did you replay that on the mixer o.O all instruments on diffrent channels
@wado Was it an extra piano mic or a different take? If it was just added in for extra sound but isn't cutting the cake I'd mute it out all together. Likely a poor mic placement or the piano was in the wrong room type or in the wrong spot in a good room. Maybe they where going for some sort of sonic oddity. Some time's bad/weird sound actually make's the grade but you just have to be honest with what your hearing, thats my philosophy.
@wado1942 Yeah, dont mean to look to deep into it, I know what your trying to get across, thanks.
@SuperGuitarman69
Well, you're in the minority. Most people have all these incredible tools available almost for free and feel compelled to use them to MAKE their sound instead of just getting a good sound in their room from the get go. Consequently, what could have taken minutes to set right in the mix must now take hours. Believe me, I've done that kind of cleanup work and they would have saved money if they just hired a studio in the first place. That said, many people do a fine job!
@wado1942 Hey I am a session player in Nashville here. I do a ton of session work but not a whole lot of recording. I have one question and a comment. I have noticed that a lot of recording is going to home based projects. Therefore I am now getting into just doing my tracks at home myself. Do you think that is the future? A lot of recordings more at home by the musicians eventually to make to the mix engineer? Secondly my comment is. I really like how you explain things. very musical