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Rob Mayzes

Good EQ Is The Key To Great Mixes

Its easy to ruin your recordings with EQ. Most beginners do.
Using EQ when mixing is completely different to using an EQ in your
car or on your iPod. Yet most people dont understand this difference.
Its easy to resort to EQ charts when you first start out. But this will
make it harder to progress as a mixer.
Instead, you need to learn the various ways in which you should be
using EQ. You need to train your ears so that you can apply EQ with
purpose. And you need to develop an approach that works for mixing.
I want to show you exactly how to do those three things. Want to feel
comfortable applying EQ to absolutely any instrument or voice? Then
read this book (it will only take 30 minutes).

EQs Place In The Mix

When mixing music, there are four main tools that you should focus
on. Volume, panning, EQ and compression. Anything else is a
distraction at first and should be ignored.

Get comfortable with EQ and compression and you will be able to use
more complicated tools such as limiters, reverb and multi-band
compression a lot more effectively.
Volume and panning are relatively easy to understand. Its how loud
the instruments are in relation to each other, and where they are
placed in the stereo field. Sounds simple, but dont underestimate the
importance of these factors. These are the building blocks of any great
mix.
Next we have equalization. This vital process is the main tool that we
have as mixers that allows us to shape sounds to our liking. Whereas
volume balancing allows us to control the overall level of an
instrument or voice, EQ allows use to zoom in to a sound and adjust
the volume of the individual frequencies.
With EQ alone you can remove nasty elements, exaggerate pleasing
elements, make things sound different and create space in your mix.
The final essential tool, compression, isnt discussed in this tutorial. If
you want to master compression, you can e
nroll in this free online
course that I created

But Wait What Is Equalization?

Every audible sound sits within the frequency range of human hearing.
A high pitched sound, like a drum cymbal or hissing sound, resides in
the top end of the spectrum. A low pitched sound, like a bass guitar or
kick drum, resides in the bottom end of the spectrum.
Every instrument has a fundamental frequency but also has higher
overtones and harmonics that give its character of sound.

An organ sounds different to a bass guitar because of the different

overtones and harmonics.
With equalization, you can adjust the character and tone of a sound by
boosting or cutting these different frequencies.
Its important to remember that you cant completely change a sound
with equalization. You cant create new frequencies. You can only
remove or exaggerate whats already there.
You couldnt make a car sound like a duck. But you could make a Ford
Mustang sound a bit more like a Ford Escort

Master The Frequency Spectrum

The frequency chart from I ndependent Recording (click for interactive

version) shown above is useful in two ways.
Firstly, it allows you to see where different instruments sit on the
frequency spectrum.
This gives you a good indication of whether or not your mix will be too
busy. If you have too many instruments in the same range your song
will start to sound cluttered and muddy.

Secondly, it allows you to visualize the different frequency ranges and

how they sound. The best thing you can do when you start mixing is
learn the frequency spectrum. This one small feat will have a huge
impact on how quickly you progress as an home recordist, mixer and
engineer.
Notice how the spectrum is broken down into Sub Bass, Bass,
Midrange, High Mids and High Freqs. These are your five key
frequency ranges. Listen to how each of them sound:
Listen on SoundCloud
Learn the numbers for each of these ranges. Once youve done that,
take a look at the descriptive ranges on the chart. Terms like Warmth,
Fullness/Mud, Edge and Air. Heres a table containing the most
important frequency ranges:

Sound

Frequency Range

Rumble

25Hz - 40Hz

Bottom

60Hz - 90Hz

Boom/Punch

100Hz - 170Hz

Warmth

130Hz - 220Hz

Fullness/Mud

250Hz - 450Hz

Honk

450Hz - 1kHz

Tinny

1kHz - 2kHz

Crunch

2kHz - 4kHz

Edginess/Brittleness

3.5kHz - 6kHz

Sibilance (in voice)

4kHz - 10kHz

Definition

6kHz - 10kHz

Piercing

8kHz - 12.5kHz

Air

15kHz - 20kHz

Load up an instrument and experiment with boosting and reducing

each of these frequency ranges.

Remember, though, that they are only guidelines to get you started.
Once you become more familiar with the different areas of the
frequency spectrum, you will never need to refer to a chart like this.
Here are some examples of different frequency ranges on an electric
guitar. Each example included a narrow boost of just over 10dB for
some of the frequency ranges in the table above. I used a drastic boost
to make the differences obvious.
Listen on SoundCloud
Use ear training tools to train yourself to recognise different
frequencies. Start off with free tools like E
Q Match and the PureMix
rain Your
Quiz and then move on to paid software like QuizTones and T
Ears.
Over time you will start to recognise different frequency ranges and
everything will become clearer.
Never use EQ charts when mixing. Especially dont use EQ charts
specific to a particular instrument. Doing this will hinder your progress
and will prevent you from training your ears.
There are several other techniques that you can use instead that will
be discussed in the next section

The Different Types of EQ That You Need To Know

There are a few different ways in which we can adjust the volume of
different frequencies.
Filters allow us to cut out everything above or below a certain
frequency. A low pass filter will let everything below the set frequency
pass through the filter. A high pass filter will do the complete
opposite.

Shelves attenuate or boost everything above or below a certain

frequency by a set amount. A high shelf set to 10kHz with a boost of +3
dB will boost everything above 10kHz by you guessed it 3 dB! A low
shelf would do the opposite.

Bell curves boost a frequency and its surrounding frequencies at a set

point. You can set the frequency, the gain and also the bandwidth/Q
(this dictates how wide or narrow the boost is.

As well as these three different ways to adjust frequencies, there are

also different types of EQ interfaces.
Graphic equalizers consist of lots of bell curve faders across the whole
frequency spectrum. They are used mostly for live sound and adjusting
speaker systems.

Fixed equalizers consist of a few fixed frequencies. Sometimes they

are bell curves, sometimes shelves. These are used in basic analogue
mixing desks and guitar amps and arent very versatile due to their
fixed frequency positions.

Parametric equalizers are what you will use most for mixing. These
allow you to boost or cut any frequency you want using bell curves,
filters and shelves.

Semi-parametric equalizers are also very useful for mixing. These look
similar to fixed EQs but allow you to change the frequency that you
are adjusting. Most analogue modelling EQ plugins use this interface.

How The Pros Use EQ

Now you have an understanding of what EQ does and an awareness of
the frequency spectrum. But how do you put this knowledge into
practice to start getting better mixes?
I mentioned earlier that there were four main ways in which you can
use EQ:

Remove nasty elements

Exaggerate pleasing elements
Make things sound different
Create space in your mix

Before we look at each of these processes in more detail, I want to

give you some general guidelines for using an equalizer.

The 7 Commandments of Equalization

1. Be as subtle as possible with parametric EQs. The less, the
better. A boost or cut of 3dB is a good starting point. The only
exception to this rule is when using top quality analogue
gear/desks and their software replicas. In this case, the
colouration of the EQ is desired and you can turn those knobs all
the way to 10!
2. Dont rely on EQ to change a sound after recording. Get a good
sound in the recording phase.
3. Cut instead of boosting where possible. Boosting frequencies
will raise the volume of the instrument/vocal and start eating up
headroom. Using cuts also forces you to be more strategic with
your EQ moves. If you want something to sound warmer, cut
the highs instead of boosting the lows.
4. EQ for a reason. EQ with purpose. Have a small goal that you
want to achieve with every EQ move. If it doesnt need EQ, dont
use it for the sake of it.

5. Dont apply EQ in solo. The listener will never hear the track in
solo, so never mix in solo. An instrument that sounds awful on
its own might sound great in the mix.
6. You can be drastic with filters. Dont be afraid to cut everything
below 200Hz on a guitar or cut everything above 5kHz on a
bass. It will give more room for the other instruments. If the
guitar sounds too weak on its own in a different section,
automate the filter to bring the bottom end back in.
7. Use lots of small EQ changes rather than a few big ones. In my
experience a good mix is the culmination of 100+ small moves,
not 10 heavy moves.
Awesome! Youre 80% of the way there. You now know a lot more
about EQ than the vast majority of home recording enthusiasts (and a
surprising amount of engineers I know, too).
Stick to these guidelines and you will be off to a running start. Once
you have more experience, though, dont be afraid to stray from the
path and experiment. Everyone has a different mixing style, and you
need to develop your own opinions and techniques.
Now lets take a look at those four main processes in a bit more depth.

The Four Key Processes

#1 - Remove nasty elements

This is one of the main ways in which we use EQ. A lot of people might
refer to this as subtractive EQ.
Its important to focus on getting a good sound at the source when
youre recording. If you dont like the tone of a guitar, move the mic or
change the amp settings. If you dont like the sound of a vocal, chose a
different mic or ask the vocalist to take a step back.
However, despite your best efforts, there are always going to be
elements to a recording that you didnt intend to record. A persistent
ringing on a drum. Sibilance in a vocal. A prominent room resonance.
Using a narrow cut we can remove these obvious problems in our
audio. A surgical cut should always be narrow if you are targeting a

particular group of frequencies, and due to the narrow bandwidth you

can be a bit more drastic and go for a -5dB cut.
Just make sure you apply these cuts with the whole mix in and listen
out for a reduction in the bass due to phasing issues (applying any sort
of EQ will mess with the phasing slightly).
If youre struggling to find the problematic frequencies that need
cutting, try using The Altitude Mixing Technique. This involves
sweeping an extreme narrow boost up and down the frequency
spectrum till you notice frequency ranges that pop out at you.
For a simple, easy to follow guide of how to do this download the free
Altitude Technique Step-By-Step Guide PDF.
You can also remove larger displeasing elements of the sound with a
subtle, wide cut.
If a vocal sounds muddy you could remove a lot of the bass with a
-3dB low shelf. If an electric guitar sounds brittle you could add a wide
cut between 4kHz and 6kHz. If you can hear too much of the snare
wires on the snare apply a -3dB high shelf.

#2 - Exaggerate pleasing elements

Now that youve removed the bad stuff and prioritised subtractive EQ
you can use some subtle, wide boosts to emphasise the good stuff.
This step isnt necessary, and quite often cuts are enough to clean up
the instrument.
As long as you are subtle with your boosts, there is no reason to shy
away from them. If you can, use an analogue modelling EQ plugin for
this purpose. If not just be sure to use wide boosts of around 3dB.
If a vocal sounds warm a subtle boost could emphasise this warmth
without making the vocal sound too muddy. If a guitar isnt cutting
through the mix too well you could boost it at 2kHz to give it a bit
more presence and crunch.

#3 - Make things sound different

So far you have learned how to use EQ as a tool that can chisel away at
your mix and shape your song.
You can also use EQ as an effect to change the character of a sound
thats low in the mix. Subtle EQ moves are important for the key parts
of your song - the vocals, the drums, the bass, the lead guitar. But

background instruments and overdubs that are low in the mix can be
treated more artistically.
Think about the telephone vocal sound. This is a great example of
using EQ as an effect rather than a tool.
Experiment with drastic filters and boosts. Dont be afraid to cut away
large chunks of a sound that is low in the mix to create more room for
the main parts.

#4 - Create space in your mix

You can also use cuts to make room for other instruments. If a bass
guitar is prominent around 120Hz (you can use a frequency analyser or
a good old b
oost-and-sweep to find the most prominent frequencies),
try cutting the kick drum in this range to give the bass some room.
Whenever you boost an instrument or vocal, try cutting the same
frequencies in the other tracks. Boosting the vocals at 2kHz and 4kHz?
Cut these frequencies in every other instrument and vocal.
This is called frequency slotting and its essential for achieving
separation and creating mixes that sound full and clear (not muddy
and cluttered).

Bringing It All Together

You can apply these techniques to any instrument or vocal.
Experimentation and practice is key to developing your ears.
Whenever you start to apply EQ to an instrument or vocal, ask yourself
what you are trying to accomplish.
Are you trying to make a vocal more exciting? Add some air with a
high shelf boost above 16kHz. Are you trying to make a guitar sound
more aggressive? Start with a 6dB boost around 2kHz, move the
frequency up and down until you find a sound that you like and then
dial the boost back to 3dB.
Rather than just resorting to an EQ chart, start experimenting with
drastic changes to hear what youre doing and then reduce the
boosts/cuts to 3dB once youve accomplished an exaggerated version
of the sound that you wanted to achieve.

Action Steps
Now follow these action steps to complete your transformation into
an EQ ninja:
Action Step 1 - Load up a project in your DAW of choice. If you dont
have any old projects to open, import a song from your music library.
Action Step 2 - Choose an instrument or vocal to focus on. Something
that plays a key role in the song.
Action Step 3 - Listen to the loudest section of the song on repeat
with the full mix in and focus on your chosen part. Are there any nasty
elements to the sound? Ringing? Room resonances? Sibilance?
Harshness? Muddiness? Brittleness? Too bright? Too bassy?
Action Step 4 - Write down your first impressions.
Action Step 5 - Think about the frequency ranges of the words that
you wrote down. Did it sound brittle? This will be in the high mids
somewhere. Too muddy? This will be in the low mids.
Action Step 6 - Load up an equalizer and experiment with narrow and
wide cuts between -3dB and -5dB to remove these unpleasing
elements.
Action Step 7 - Load up a new equalizer, either a parametric or
semi-parametric and use a wide 3dB boost to emphasise the best
element(s) of the sound.
Action Step 8 - Cut the frequencies that you boosted in the other
instruments/vocals by 3dB.
Action Step 9 - Bypass all of the EQ plugins and listen to the
difference.
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