Equalization is an important tool in signals processing that lets us control the level of different frequencies of a sound.
Takeaways
1. EQ cuts create definition
- EQ cuts cause separation between parts of the spectrum. This causes parts on either side of the cut to pop out more.
- This means you can cut on both sides instead of boosting to reach the same effect while giving more headroom to push saturation.
- You can cut strategically around a region in order to boost that part of the sound even more while retaining clarity
2. Know what part of the sound you do and don’t need
- Always consider the sound in context of the mix. A guitar without any EQ cuts in the low mids / mids might sound really good and full on its own, but when mixed in with other melodic elements it can contribute to a muddy mix.
- Be aware of what the sound is contributing and only keep that part; if adding a sound for timbre, cut out anything but the high end and other elements can fill in the gaps. If adding a sound for tone, keep the fundamental or low harmonics.
- This trick also works when taking a melodic sound and extracting its texture by high passing out the fundamental. This is because the higher harmonics (farther from the fundamental) will be more and more atonal.
Techniques
- Sweep an EQ cut across the sound while the whole mix plays; cut anything that you didn’t notice disappearing
- Turn gain on sound down a lot, then take an EQ and sweep a boost around to see where it should sit in the mix
Practice strategy
Take a low/high pass filter on white noise or any song, and try to blind guess what frequency range the cut is at. This can help train intuition for what certain frequency ranges sound like.