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1kHz-5kHz range. This will make them ‘softer’ and ‘breathier’, and set
them back in the mix while retaining fullness of sound.
You can also have fun with vocals by filtering off all the lows and highs
and leaving only the midrange. “Breaker one – nine! Breaker one – nine!”
Run this sound through an amplifier or amp simulator and you’re on the
radio from somewhere out on the lonely highway... You can also do this
to one track of a doubled vocal to add an attention-getting resonance to
the mix.
Most importantly, compare your work to commercial (or your favorite – it
doesn’t have to be commercial) CD’s. Find a recording in a similar style
with a similar sounding singer and A/B your recording with the other.
Make general adjustments from there. Be sure to listen and try to discern
EQ curve from room ambience, reverb and/or compression effects so
that you don’t get confused. This also takes practice.
Acoustic guitar EQ
Acoustic guitars often need a bit of help. Not every guitarist out there is
playing a freshly strung Martin, Gibson, Taylor or other $2000.00 +
naturally good sounding instrument.
Typically, acoustic guitars need a boost in the high treble (12 kHz) to
create a larger-than-life sense of clarity and sparkle that has become
recording convention. Alternatively, sweep a parametric band up to
20kHz, set to a Q of 1.0 and boost away (+3 to +6dB or more) – this
creates an increasing rise all the way up the audible frequency range.
The next typical adjustment is in the low-mid frequency range.
Again, the better the guitar and acoustic environment, the less this is
necessary. If there is a ‘muddy’ or ‘cardboard’ sound to the instrument,
set a parametric EQ to 200Hz with a 6dB boost and a somewhat narrow
‘Q’ (maybe 1.5 or so). Now sweep slowly up thru 600Hz while listening to
the recording. At some point the sound will be swallowed up in that
‘muddiness’. Stop there and reduce the gain to -3dB or so and do some
A/B listening.
700 – 1.5kHz can contain a sort of plastic, dull sound on acoustic guitars.
Try a little cut here if you’re hearing a cheap, artificial sound. Always A/B
it!
Be cautious of the area from 2 – 10 kHz. I have found that you are often
better served re-cutting a track with a different mic or guitar than
© 2006 joe dochtermann
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