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To EQ or Not to EQ
In general: less is better. There are many situations in which you'll need to cut certain
frequency ranges, but use boost sparingly, and with caution. Proper use of EQ can eliminate
interference between instruments in a mix and give the overall sound better denition. Bad
EQ-and most commonly bad boost-just sounds terrible.
Cut for a Cleaner Mix
For example: cymbals have a lot of energy in the mid and low frequency ranges that you
don't really perceive as musical sound, but which can interfere with the clarity of other
instruments in these ranges. You can basically turn the low EQ on cymbal channels all the
way down without changing the way they sound in the mix. You'll hear the dierence,
however, in the way the mix sounds more spacious," and instruments in the lower ranges will
have better denition. Surprisingly enough, piano also has an incredibly powerful low end
that can benet from a bit of low-frequency roll -o to let other instruments-notably drums
and bass-do their jobs more eectively. Naturally you won't want to do this if the piano is
playing solo. The reverse applies to kick drums and bass guitars: you can often roll o the
high end to create more space in the mix without compromising the character of the instru-
ments. You'll have to use your ears, though, because each instrument is dierent and some-
times you'll want the snap of a bass guitar, for example, to come through.
The fundamental and harmonic frequency ranges of some musical instruments
Boost with Caution
If you're trying to create special or unusual eects, go ahead and boost away as much as you
like. But if you're just trying to achieve a good-sounding mix, boost only in very small
increments. A tiny boost in the midrange can give vocals more presence, or a touch of high
boost can give certain instruments more "air." Listen, and if things don't sound clear and
clean try using cut to remove frequencies that are cluttering up the mix rather than trying to
boost the mix into clarity. One of the biggest problems with too much boost is that it adds
gain to the signal, increasing noise and potentially overloading the subsequent circuitry.
Fundamental: The frequency that determines the basic musical pitch.
Harmonics: Multiples of the fundamentalfrequency that play a role
in determining the timbre of the instrument.
Some Frequency Facts
The lowest and highest frequencies than can be heard by the human ear are generally
considered to be around 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. respectively. Average conversation occurs
in the range from about 300Hz to about 3,000 Hz. The frequency of a standard pitchfork
used to tune guitars and other instruments is 440Hz (this corresponds to the "A3" key on
a piano tuned to concert pitch). Double this frequency to 880Hz and you have a pitch
one octave higher (i.e"A4" on the piano keyboard). In the same way you can halve the
frequency to 220Hz to produce "A2" an octave lower.
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