Magic EQ Frequencies

The following excerpt from "The Mixing Engineer's Handbook" by engineer Bobby Owsinski discusses how EQ can affect different frequencies in an audio mix. A Tips and Tricks section at the the end features various professional engineers offering their perspective on EQ techniques.


Before we examine some methods of equalizing, it’s important to note the areas of the audio band and what effect they have on what we hear. The audio band can effectively be broken down into six distinct ranges, each one having enormous impact on the total sound.

• Sub-Bass — The very low bass between 16Hz and 60Hz that encompasses sounds that are often felt more than heard, such as thunder in the distance. These frequencies give the music a sense of power even if they occur infrequently. Too much emphasis on this range makes the music sound muddy.

• Bass — The bass between 60Hz and 250Hz contains the fundamental notes of the rhythm section, so EQing this range can change the musical balance, making it fat or thin. Too much boost in this range can make the music sound boomy.

• Low Mids — The midrange between 250Hz and 2000Hz contains the low order harmonics of most musical instruments and can introduce a telephone-like quality to the music if boosted too much. Boosting the 500Hz to 1000Hz octave makes the instruments sound horn-like, while boosting the 1kHz to 2kHz octave makes them sound tinny. Excess output in this range can cause listening fatigue.

• High Mids — The upper midrange between 2kHz and 4kHz can mask the important speech recognition sounds if boosted, introducing a lisping quality into a voice and making sounds formed with the lips such as “m,” “b” and “v” indistinguishable. Too much boost in this range — especially at 3kHz — can also cause listening fatigue. Dipping the 3kHz range on instrument backgrounds and slightly peaking 3kHz on vocals can make the vocals audible without having to decrease the instrumental level in mixes where the voice would otherwise seem buried.

• Presence — The presence range between 4kHz and 6kHz is responsible for the clarity and definition of voices and instruments. Boosting this range can make the music seem closer to the listener. Reducing the 5kHz content of a mix makes the sound more distant and transparent.

• Brilliance — The 6kHz to 16kHz range controls the brilliance and clarity of sounds. Too much emphasis in this range, however, can produce sibilance on the vocals.

Tricks and Tips
General Tips
Use a narrow Q (bandwidth) when cutting; use wide Q’s when boosting
If you want something to stick out, roll off the bottom; if you want it to blend in, roll off the top

For Snare —

To find the “point” on the snare, boost the upper midrange starting at about +5 or 6dB at 2kHz or so. Open up the bandwidth (if that parameter is available) until you get the snare to jump out, then tighten the bandwidth until you get only the part of the snare sound that you want most. Then fine-tune the frequency until you need the least amount of boost in order to make it jump out of the mix.

For Drums—

Dave Pensado: A lot of the music I do has samples in it and that gives the producer the luxury of pretty much getting the sound he wanted from the start. In the old days you always pulled out a little 400 on the kick drum. You always added a little 3 and 6 to the toms. That just doesn’t happen as much any more because when I get the tape, even with live bands, the producer’s already triggered the sound he wanted off the live performance and the drums are closer.

For Bass —

The ratio between the low bass (80–120Hz) and the mid-bass (130Hz–200Hz) is important. Try using two fairly narrow peaking bands, one at 100Hz and another at 140Hz and boost one and cut the other. If the bass is too warm, sometimes reducing the upper band can make it more distinct without removing the deeper fundamentals that live in the 100Hz band. Also, try boosting some of the 1kHz area since this is where a lot of the sound of the Fender bass lives.

For Fatter Guitars —

Boost midrange a lot (9dB or so) and sweep the frequencies until you hear the range where the guitar sounds thick but yet still bright enough to cut through. Now, back the boost down to about +4 or so until the guitar cuts through the mix without being too bright.

Don Smith: I use EQ different from some people. I don’t just use it to brighten or fatten something up; I use it to make an instrument feel better. Like on a guitar, making sure that all the strings on a guitar can be heard. Instead of just brightening up the high strings and adding mud to the low strings, I may look for a certain chord to hear more of the A string. If the D string is missing in a chord, I like to EQ and boost it way up to +8 or +10 and then just dial through the different frequencies until I hear what they’re doing to the guitar. So I’m trying to make things more balanced in the way they lay with other instruments.

For Vocals—

Boost a little at 125Hz to 250Hz to accentuate the voice fundamental and make it more “chesty”-sounding. The 2kHz to 4kHz range accentuates the consonants and makes the vocal seem closer to the listener.

Ibanez GAX30

It's solid and simple, and it rocks. Precision-cut basswood body, GAX neck, medium frets, dual humbuckers, and a fixed bridge.

It has all the essentials and skips the frills to be one of the most affordable "real guitars available.

Finally..setelah 3 hari dok usha & kena racun dengan jurujual kat C&M Music Taman U, aku beli gak guitar Ibanez GAX30. Selama 3 hari dok usha tuh, ambil peluang gak untuk test guitar yang ada cop 'Made In Indonesia' dan dengan bantuan kepakaran seorang member yang agak pakar jugaklah bab nak beli guitar ni so mudah lah sikit nak buat penilaian. Atas nasihat die jugaklah aku ambil keputusan untuk sambar yang 'Display' punye berbanding yang ada di store. Ini sebab lepas test beberapa kali & buat comparison, aku dapati yang 'Display' punya lagi better dari segi balancing Neck hingga ke bunyi yg keluar daripada pickup. Bila test yang dari stor punye, alamak..ada sikit buzzing dan neck nya juga sedikit bengkok. Tak tau kenapa ye. Berbeza dengan yang ada pada display. Ibanez GAX30 mempunyai high output humbuckers, high construction dengan harga yang sangat2 berbaloi jika dibandingkan dengan series yang lain. Sampai je rumah, terus buat recording sample untuk review sound and tone Ibanez GAX30. Sound Sample

More Review @ Ultimate Guitar

Ibanez GAX30 Specifications:

• GAX neck
• Maple Neck Material
• Basswood Body
• 22/Medium frets
• Rosewood Finger Board
• Fixed bridge
• AX1 (H) Neck PU
• AX2 (H) Bridge PU
• CH : Hardware Color

Test Mix - Toneport GX

Salam, Kali ini aku nak cuba mix lagu guna kan gadget yang baru member aku beli, iaitu Line 6 Toneport GX. Produk daripada Line 6 ini ada 5 jenis dalam family Toneport;

• POD Studio GX
• POD Studio UX1
• POD Studio UX2
• POD Studio KB37
• Toneport UX8

Member aku beli 2nd, tapi masih baru lagi lah sbb owner asal salah beli. Dia igt benda ni bleh lah bwk g jamming. Rupenye tak. Ape ke sengal mamat tuh. Gadget ni lebih berupa Audio Interface (USB) kepada instrument spt Guitar Electric yang disambungkan ke pc / laptop untuk recording dengan menggunakan Virtual Amp spt Amplitube, Guitar Rig atau daripada Line 6 sendiri, Pod Farm. Selain kita gunakan soundcard as interface, kita boleh lah gunakan Toneport ni. Senang je nak connect. Just plug in USB je ke toneport ni. Install driver, dah bleh record. Tapi untuk kes aku, ada masalah sket bila nak install Free Software untuk Toneport ni mcm POD Farm & Gearbox coz aku guna Vista 64. Cuma installation untuk driver xda masalah.

Lepas abis installation, pada GX ni ada satu LED button kaler merah bertukar hijau menunjukkan Toneport ni dah synchronize dengan pc. Pada GX ni gak ada master volume knob untuk control volume, 1/4 inch input untuk cucuk guitar & 1/8 inch stereo headphone / line output. Aku sambung jack cable pada guitar aku ke GX, dan aku load FL8 + Amplitube 2.

So 1st impression bila dgr output sound dari GX ni, aku dgr macam more dry & low mid sound. Latency untuk GX ni jugak tak sebaik yg aku jangka kan coz xda beza bila gunakan Asio dengan Toneport driver. Then aku teruskan dengan recording untuk dapatkan hasil bila mixing. Member aku pon bedal je main guitar lagu ape pon xtau, just untuk try mix. Aku gunakan preset Amplitube yang aku selalu guna, tapi bila dengan GX ni, macam tak matching. Terpaksa lah aku load preset yang lain, modify pada EQ, Cabinet & add sedikit Reverb & delay. Macam ok, macam tak.Hahaha. Sampai la ni aku belom betul2 dapat setup yang betul untuk GX ni sbb member aku dah bwk balik. Karang baru aku pinjam lagi. Tapi aku dapatlah record sket untuk test & review. Later baru aku upload kat sini.

Vid mase proses recording...Saje suka.

Rotek ohh rotek

Celake sungguh...masok hari ni dah 7 hari kereta aku tak ber roadtax. Aku dah apply ikot Myeg hari khamis (26/11) tapi tak sampai2. Pagi2 aku g kerja, aku terus call customer careline Myeg. Rupe2nya Myeg dah send rodtax aku pada 30/11 cuma die mintak aku tanyekan kat Pos Laju. Myeg bg aku Ref no, aku search nombor Pos Laju tempat aku & aku terus call.

Aku tanye kt Pos Laju, mmg dah sampai Roadtax tuh. baru terhegeh2 nak hantar hari ni. Dodol betol lah. Balik dari kerja, tgk atas meja ada bungkusan surat. Mmg sah roadtax. Pe lagi, aku terus tampal ah. Dengan bestnya, kereta aku dah beroadtax & expired 25/11/2010 kang. Ngeh2..

Penat balik kerja....