EQCheatSheetv1

**Thesearejustgeneralsuggestions,thereisnoright way** j g gg g y FrequencyBreakdown 30Hz 4060Hz

Virtuallyundetectable,youcansafelycutthesefrequencies. SubbassFrequencies."Feel"only Cuttodecreasebass"boom"

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InstrumentBreakdown
Vocals: presence(5kHz),sibilance(7.5 10kHz),boom (200 240kHz),fullness(120Hz) ElectricGuitar: fullness(240Hz),bite(2.5kHz),air/sizzle (8kHz) BassGuitar: bottom(60 80Hz),attack(700 1000Hz), stringnoise(2.5kHz) ti i (2 5 kH ) SnareDrum: fatness(240Hz),crispness(5kHz) KickDrum: bottom(60 80Hz),slap(4kHz) HiHat&Cymbals: sizzle(7.5 10kHz),clank(200Hz) Toms: attack(5kHz),fullness(120 240Hz) AcousticGuitar: harshness/bite(2kHz),boom(120 200 Hz),cut(7 10kHz)

60200Hz Addfortom"boom" 80Hz

Boostforthekickdrumlowerendtocutthroughthemix Notchmostotherinstrumentshere Rollingofftheelectricguitarhereisadvisable Boostwilladdwarmthandfullnesstoguitars,vocals andhorns

80200Hz Boostbassinstrumentsforpresence 1004kHz 120Hz

Scooping/notchinginstrumentsherewillprovideroominthemix Addforwarmth.Toomuchwillsoundmuddy. Alsothelowendofmusicsuchaskickdrumsandbass guitar. Bottom end of acoustic guitar and piano Add for warmth Bottomendofacousticguitarandpiano.Addforwarmth.

120125Hz Topoftherangeformostsubwoofers.

120600Hz Boostforstrongvocalpresence.
Causesproblemswithvocalresonance andfatiguing .

200Hz 240Hz

Slightboostfordepth.Cuttoreducemuddiness. Thisisagoodareatogetthe"gong"outofcymbals. Boosttofattenthesnare. Boostacousticguitarsslightlytoaddfullness. Scoopvocalhereifmuddy. Notchfilterherecanaddthumptoakickdrum Notchthebassguitaralittlebittoreducepresence

HelpfulSuggestions
Embracetheideaofnotching,whenindoubt,cut insteadofboosting. Allowinstrumentstohavetheirownspaceinthe frequencyspectrum;dontmakethemfightforit. Understandthatinstrumentsofthesametypecanand willsounddifferent,EQaccordingly. EQingWILLNOTsaveyourmix; youcan'tEQoutbad sound. Cutfrequenciesbelow90Hzforvocals,theyaddlittle tothemixexceptmud to the mix except mud

350400Hz Cuttoremovethe"cardboard"soundofdrums .63kHz 800Hz 24kHz 2.5kHz 2.55kHz 37kHz

Providespresence,butarehardinnature.Goodforrock. Boostthebassguitarforpunch. Cuttheelectricguitartoremovethe"cheap"sound Inthisareayoucanemphasizethe"smack"ofthekick'sbeater. Goodforaddingtoadirtyguitarforsomerealsizzle. Boostthisareaforbassguitarifusingthepop/slapstyle . Boostforclaritywithanacousticguitarandpiano. Thisistheareawherevocalsibilanc eresides. Boostslightlytoaddsenseof"volume" Italsoaddsaharshnessthatisparticularlyfatiguing. Addwarmthwithoutlossofclaritybyattenuatingthisregionabit. Boostvocalhereforpresence. Brightness,presence,definition,sibilance,highfrequencydistortion Extremelytiringtotheears,addaslightnotchhere Addacrisp,sharp"crack"tothesnare. Alsoagoodplacetoaddsomeattacktothetoms. Cutonbackgroundpartstomakethemsinkintothebackabit Addforthesenseofqualityandaccuracyforcymbals. Toomuchoutputwillcomeoffaslackingdefinition. Cutvocalstodecreasesibilance Cut vocals to decrease sibilance CutorBoosttoadjustbrightnessforcymbalsandacousticguitar Addingwillgivesparkle,shimmer,bringoutdetails Cuttingwillsmoothoutharshnessanddarkenthemix Boosttoadd"air"andclaritytoacousticinstruments

Glossary
Attenuation the reductionofasignallevel Band rangeoffrequencies Boost selectedfrequencylevelsareamplified. Cut selectedfrequencylevelsareattenuated. Presence increasingcausesthesoundsofvoicesand suchinstrumentsseemmore"present" Q describestheshapeoftheEQcurve. (higherQ=narrowerrange;lowerQ=widerrange) Sibilance referstothehissings,sh,z,orzh soundofthehumanvoice. Warmth soundwherethebassandlowmidfrequencies havedepthandwherethehighfrequenciesaresmooth soundingopposedtoaggressiveorfatiguing.

4kHz 49kHz 4.5kHz 5kHz

7kHz

812kHz 915kHz 10kHz

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