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Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 5:33 am
by amphibian
This is something i've been struggling with for a while, and I started having to take a lot out of my bass channels so the kick/snare/other things would fit. What other areas, or do you have any tips on how to approach this better? I always find my basses quite weak as a result of this process I use. Just trying to learn how to make the most of my channels.
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 11:31 am
by amphibian
Was my question not very clear in what I'm trying to do?
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 11:37 am
by Warwolt
Its not really clear what kind of an answer you want. You cut with an EQ on the frequencies that are redundant and take up room in the mix. I cut in one element of the mix where I want either a hole or room for another element.
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:10 pm
by Jacob15728
EQing is only for vague, subtle tweaks like boost the highs a bit, cut the mids a bit, etc. if you want to remove precise frequencies, use sidechain multiband compression
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:12 pm
by bRRRz
The only thing I really cut out of my midrange basses is everything below 90-100hz, 200hz for the snare and 20khz and above a little.
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 1:20 pm
by Augment
bRRRz wrote:The only thing I really cut out of my midrange basses is everything below 90-100hz, 200hz for the snare and 20khz and above a little.
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 1:21 pm
by Depone
Its all subjective to the track at hand.
It takes time, but this stuff comes naturally after a while of practice. You will then be able to call the shots when you need to.
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 1:24 pm
by Sine69
It varies from bass to bass.
Generally though, I roll off everything under 100Hz, and I do a small dip at around 200Hz so the snare punches more.
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:21 pm
by synthlf
amphibian wrote:This is something i've been struggling with for a while, and I started having to take a lot out of my bass channels so the kick/snare/other things would fit. What other areas, or do you have any tips on how to approach this better? I always find my basses quite weak as a result of this process I use. Just trying to learn how to make the most of my channels.
after listening your track in your sig, all i can say that your bass is too loud, but really not that weak
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 4:51 pm
by scubacell
i usually start by rolling off below 50hz, and then turn my frequency knob upward while soloing the track until it loses most of it's looow end (75-110hz usually). from there i'll listen to the track w/sub and play with it a bit from there. i like for my sub + midrange to mesh together to preserve some low-end synth characteristics that you might not be able to emulate so well with sub (wish i could think of a better way to word that) so sometimes my cuts start at a bit lower frequency than most would. i'll put a little notch around where the snare's hitting, but i'm usually pretty gentle with everything but the cut on the bass. if i'm feeling ambitious i'll make really gentle cuts wherever i can but it's usually no more complicated than low end + snare. there's a lot more finesse and technique that can be applied, but until i decide to seriously get into mixing & mastering this gets the job done.
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:01 pm
by mitchAUS
I make cuts on every channel where i can. If i can cut something and it doesn't change the sound ill cut. I just get rid of any frequencies that don't add to the sound… if that makes sense. Like when I high pass my hats, I solo them and turn up the frequency till i hear it start to affect the sound then ill edge back a bit till it is making a difference to the sound, but its getting rid of the frequencies i don't need and freeing up headroom. I also cut where other instruments are making up for the cut. If my sub always plays with my midrange, ill high pass the midrange and let my sub do the bottom end work. I make room for the kick and snare as well with cuts at around 100 and 200 respectively and also at like 1.5k depending where the top of my kick is. If these cuts are making the sounds weak ill use side chain multi band compression to cut those zones. I also find i cut around 500 a lot, I tend to end up with a lot of frequencies in this area so i tend to cut these when i can to make sure my shit isn't muddy. I used to cut too much so I'm trying to do it less. Nothing worse then thinning out a track to much.
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:34 pm
by SunkLo
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 2:55 pm
by Sparxy
Jacob15728 wrote:EQing is only for vague, subtle tweaks like boost the highs a bit, cut the mids a bit, etc. if you want to remove precise frequencies, use sidechain multiband compression
lol this is totally untrue
depends on the tune and the elements within it, as someone else said its massively subjective
I tend to roll off under 100hz on my mid bass and highpass sub bass at around 80-90. leaves a nice lil gap for my kick. to make it "fit" in there a bit more sometimes I might boost my kick 90-100. sometimes I will EQ in a bit of top end as well to make sure its really cutting through the mix
transient shaper helps me get punchy kicks too
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:33 pm
by djbmc
apparently there's a really effective way of using comb filters/comb style eq settings to cut out specific harmonics relating to ur fundamental frequency so that ur sounds sit together better without losing too much of their power. My tutor was gonna go over them, and then subsequently didn't, so this entire post has been of no help whatsoever......
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:40 pm
by dalvare1
Sparxy wrote:Jacob15728 wrote:EQing is only for vague, subtle tweaks like boost the highs a bit, cut the mids a bit, etc. if you want to remove precise frequencies, use sidechain multiband compression
lol this is totally untrue
depends on the tune and the elements within it, as someone else said its massively subjective
I tend to roll off under 100hz on my mid bass and highpass sub bass at around 80-90. leaves a nice lil gap for my kick. to make it "fit" in there a bit more sometimes I might boost my kick 90-100. sometimes I will EQ in a bit of top end as well to make sure its really cutting through the mix
transient shaper helps me get punchy kicks too
can you elaborate on how you use a transient shaper?
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:48 pm
by Sparxy
dalvare1 wrote:Sparxy wrote:Jacob15728 wrote:EQing is only for vague, subtle tweaks like boost the highs a bit, cut the mids a bit, etc. if you want to remove precise frequencies, use sidechain multiband compression
lol this is totally untrue
depends on the tune and the elements within it, as someone else said its massively subjective
I tend to roll off under 100hz on my mid bass and highpass sub bass at around 80-90. leaves a nice lil gap for my kick. to make it "fit" in there a bit more sometimes I might boost my kick 90-100. sometimes I will EQ in a bit of top end as well to make sure its really cutting through the mix
transient shaper helps me get punchy kicks too
can you elaborate on how you use a transient shaper?
Put a transient shaper on the kick track. turn the knob until it sounds good
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:53 pm
by dalvare1
Sparxy wrote:
Put a transient shaper on the kick track. turn the knob until it sounds good
... ummm maybe a little more info on what you are doing and why? srs
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:59 pm
by Sparxy
dalvare1 wrote:Sparxy wrote:
Put a transient shaper on the kick track. turn the knob until it sounds good
... ummm maybe a little more info on what you are doing and why? srs
Haha! I have Flux bittersweet. It's dead simple to use. Transient shaper does exactly that - it will bring out the transient "hit" of sometihng, making it stronger, sharper, more "hitty". OR hide the transient, making it duller and less obvious. Flux bittersweet has a dial that goes either way so its really easy to see and hear whats going on. Instead of effecting the dynamic range of a sound like a compressor it tends to only effect the initial "hit" of a sound. It works on stuff that his "hitty" if that makes sense, like hats, drums, piano
Using it on the kick tends to make it more "hitty" and impactful. Its emphasising the initial smack of the kick. makes it sound punchier, seems to add top end hit whilst trimming off some of the fat, without effecting the overall character of the kick
Easiest way to learn is to get a transient shaper, put it on something and experiement
my initial comment still stands, becuase if you'd have done what I said and listened you would understand what its doing immediately
is that more helpful?
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 4:18 pm
by dalvare1
Sparxy wrote:dalvare1 wrote:Sparxy wrote:
Haha! I have Flux bittersweet. It's dead simple to use. Transient shaper does exactly that - it will bring out the transient "hit" of sometihng, making it stronger, sharper, more "hitty". OR hide the transient, making it duller and less obvious. Flux bittersweet has a dial that goes either way so its really easy to see and hear whats going on. Instead of effecting the dynamic range of a sound like a compressor it tends to only effect the initial "hit" of a sound. It works on stuff that his "hitty" if that makes sense, like hats, drums, piano
Using it on the kick tends to make it more "hitty" and impactful. Its emphasising the initial smack of the kick. makes it sound punchier, seems to add top end hit whilst trimming off some of the fat, without effecting the overall character of the kick
Easiest way to learn is to get a transient shaper, put it on something and experiement
my initial comment still stands, becuase if you'd have done what I said and listened you would understand what its doing immediately
is that more helpful?
yea thx brah
any reccomendations for one to get started with? Doesnt ableton have a stock one? or a demo/free VST?
As you may have guessed, i havent tried doing this before so kinda starting at square 0
while you are here, how do you feel about high passing your sub as mentioned above? I have always been low passing. Feel like im missing something
Re: Where do you make your eq cuts?
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:05 pm
by symmetricalsounds
not just me then that thought it was a bit nuts...
