EQ guide to freqs?
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- KVRist
- 178 posts since 10 Sep, 2004 from Sheffield. UK.
evening people. I am looking for a list of instrument frequencies to aid my understnding of eq. Can anyone point me to such a list?
I'm Annie, and I AM your daddy 
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- KVRer
- 23 posts since 31 May, 2002 from Lansing,MI
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- Mod-ulator
- 2895 posts since 31 Oct, 2000 from "Where I'm to, There I'll be"
Our KVR friend ToTc also posted this Below list of EQ Tips at one time on KVR.
Here is a repost of it ... I don't think he will mind.
ToTc Said:
Ok, umm...guess i'll just start a list of tips for you...
1. This may be an obvious one, but it's still important...Though you might want to mute the other tracks while eqing one to hear exactly what you're doing to it, i find it's better to eq on track while all the others are playing so I have a better idea of how the EQ i'm applying is effecting the individual track's ability to fit into the mix...after all, this is one of the major reasons for EQ in the first place.
2. Unless you are using the EQ to completely shape the sound or fix a certain frequency, try not to make to many drastic changes...for example, if you wanna push up the lower frequencies from lets say, 80 khz and below, only raise the level of that band by a decible or so at a time....setting frequencies to much higher than 6 db will usually only achieve an annoying filtered sound. Another obvious one, i know, but it's still a worthy point to keep in mind.
3. As Nool pointed out, use an analyzer on the track to see exactly what the total frequency range is and the exact changes you are making as you make them. This will also help you judge where to make level changes as you'll be able to see where the problem areas are.
4. Know the "Typical" frequency ranges to concentrate on for the instrument you're working with. for example, here are some general, but typical ranges for a few instruments:
A. Kick Drum Bottom Depth at 60-80 hz, Slap/Attack
at 2.5khz
B. Snare Drum Fatness around 240 hz, crispness around
5 khz
C. Hi-Hat/Cymbals Clank/Gong sound around 200hz, Shimmer
around 7.5 khz to 12 khz
D. Rack Toms Fullness around 240 hz, Attack around
5khz.
E. Floor Toms Fullness around 80-120 hz, Attack round
5 khz.
F. Bass Guitars Bottom around 60-80 hz, attack/pluck
around 700 - 1000 hz (or 1khz), String
Noise/Pop around 2.5 khz.
G. Electric Guitar Fullness around 240 hz, Bite around
2.5 khz
H. Acoustic Guitar Bottom at 80-120 hz, Body around 240
hz, clarity around 2.5-5 khz.
I. Electric Organ Bottom around 80-120 hz, body around
240hz, presence around 2.5 khz.
J. Piano/Keys Bottom around 80-120 hz, presence
around 2.5-5khz, crisp attack around
10khz. Hi-Q is around 2.5 khz.
K. Horns Fullness around 120-240 hz, Shrill
around 5-7.5 khz.
L. Strings Fullness around 240 hz, Scratchiness
around 7.5-10khz
M. Gen. Percussion Resonance around 200-240hz,
presence/slap around 5khz.
N. Vocals Fullness around 120hz, boom/body
around 200-240 hz, presence around
5 khz, sibilance around 7.5-10khz.
Again, those above are pretty general and typical ranges...and they'll vary by instrument, sometimes greatly, but that'll give you a better idea of where to start focusing on each track.
Hope that helps a bit.
peace! Cool
--
Top Quality Sound Design and Music At ToTc Productions
-=ToTc Owns You=-
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Here is a repost of it ... I don't think he will mind.
ToTc Said:
Ok, umm...guess i'll just start a list of tips for you...
1. This may be an obvious one, but it's still important...Though you might want to mute the other tracks while eqing one to hear exactly what you're doing to it, i find it's better to eq on track while all the others are playing so I have a better idea of how the EQ i'm applying is effecting the individual track's ability to fit into the mix...after all, this is one of the major reasons for EQ in the first place.
2. Unless you are using the EQ to completely shape the sound or fix a certain frequency, try not to make to many drastic changes...for example, if you wanna push up the lower frequencies from lets say, 80 khz and below, only raise the level of that band by a decible or so at a time....setting frequencies to much higher than 6 db will usually only achieve an annoying filtered sound. Another obvious one, i know, but it's still a worthy point to keep in mind.
3. As Nool pointed out, use an analyzer on the track to see exactly what the total frequency range is and the exact changes you are making as you make them. This will also help you judge where to make level changes as you'll be able to see where the problem areas are.
4. Know the "Typical" frequency ranges to concentrate on for the instrument you're working with. for example, here are some general, but typical ranges for a few instruments:
A. Kick Drum Bottom Depth at 60-80 hz, Slap/Attack
at 2.5khz
B. Snare Drum Fatness around 240 hz, crispness around
5 khz
C. Hi-Hat/Cymbals Clank/Gong sound around 200hz, Shimmer
around 7.5 khz to 12 khz
D. Rack Toms Fullness around 240 hz, Attack around
5khz.
E. Floor Toms Fullness around 80-120 hz, Attack round
5 khz.
F. Bass Guitars Bottom around 60-80 hz, attack/pluck
around 700 - 1000 hz (or 1khz), String
Noise/Pop around 2.5 khz.
G. Electric Guitar Fullness around 240 hz, Bite around
2.5 khz
H. Acoustic Guitar Bottom at 80-120 hz, Body around 240
hz, clarity around 2.5-5 khz.
I. Electric Organ Bottom around 80-120 hz, body around
240hz, presence around 2.5 khz.
J. Piano/Keys Bottom around 80-120 hz, presence
around 2.5-5khz, crisp attack around
10khz. Hi-Q is around 2.5 khz.
K. Horns Fullness around 120-240 hz, Shrill
around 5-7.5 khz.
L. Strings Fullness around 240 hz, Scratchiness
around 7.5-10khz
M. Gen. Percussion Resonance around 200-240hz,
presence/slap around 5khz.
N. Vocals Fullness around 120hz, boom/body
around 200-240 hz, presence around
5 khz, sibilance around 7.5-10khz.
Again, those above are pretty general and typical ranges...and they'll vary by instrument, sometimes greatly, but that'll give you a better idea of where to start focusing on each track.
Hope that helps a bit.
peace! Cool
--
Top Quality Sound Design and Music At ToTc Productions
-=ToTc Owns You=-
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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- KVRist
- 85 posts since 7 Jan, 2005
The problem with using numbers as a guide to EQ is that every track is different and EQ by numbers may work sometimes and fail other times. But I will concede that there are some good guidelines out there. For example, I often cut a frequency band around 250Hz on kick drum. Sometimes it's higher or lower.
EQ is skill that you will have to develop over time, the more you do it the better you will get. It is all about being able to hear the changes and understand what is going on.
So what are you listening for when you EQ?
There are two appraoches to EQ , Corrective and Creative. With Creative EQ your aim is to mess with sound to make it sound good for your purpose. That makes it very hard to explain what to listen for because it is so subjective.
However, masking is a very important thing to listen for. As mentioned in a previous post, it is good to listen to your EQ changes in context with the whole song. Not just the one track you are EQing.
This is because the ear has a limited ability to distinguish one sound from another. A frequency, or range of requencies, can mask (or inhibit) our abilty to hear another frequency or range of frequencies. So when you are EQing, listen to the other tracks (not the one you are EQing). Do they become easier or harder to hear?
A good example of this is listening to the vocal while EQing a distorted guitar. Try boosting and cutting the mid-range 1kHz - 3kHz of the guitar and listen to the effect it has on the clarity of the vocal.
Corrective EQ is different, still somewhat subjective but less so. Corrective EQ is making something sound more natural. That means we are comparing the recorded sound to a real sound.
Here, one of the things to listen for is resonance. That is, a range of frequencies that is un-naturally loud or dominant. To hear resonaces more clearly, use a parametic EQ with a narrow bandwidth (high Q, perhaps 2-4) and sweep a large boost (10dB or more) slowly down through the frequency range. I say down, because boosting the bootom end can be dangerous to your speakers, so start high and sweep down.Make sure your are not clipping the output.
At some points you will emphasie the resonaces in the sound. It will sound bad. At other pionts it won't sound as bad and will just sound like a EQ boost. Once you have found the frequencies of the resonaces you can use an EQ to cut those frequencies a bit.
Once you get used to hearing masking and resonaces you won't have to spend so much time finding the frequencies of interest. you will br able to say to yourself, "there's masking in the high mids" or "ther is a low-mid resonace"
It all takes time and practice. Good luck
EQ is skill that you will have to develop over time, the more you do it the better you will get. It is all about being able to hear the changes and understand what is going on.
So what are you listening for when you EQ?
There are two appraoches to EQ , Corrective and Creative. With Creative EQ your aim is to mess with sound to make it sound good for your purpose. That makes it very hard to explain what to listen for because it is so subjective.
However, masking is a very important thing to listen for. As mentioned in a previous post, it is good to listen to your EQ changes in context with the whole song. Not just the one track you are EQing.
This is because the ear has a limited ability to distinguish one sound from another. A frequency, or range of requencies, can mask (or inhibit) our abilty to hear another frequency or range of frequencies. So when you are EQing, listen to the other tracks (not the one you are EQing). Do they become easier or harder to hear?
A good example of this is listening to the vocal while EQing a distorted guitar. Try boosting and cutting the mid-range 1kHz - 3kHz of the guitar and listen to the effect it has on the clarity of the vocal.
Corrective EQ is different, still somewhat subjective but less so. Corrective EQ is making something sound more natural. That means we are comparing the recorded sound to a real sound.
Here, one of the things to listen for is resonance. That is, a range of frequencies that is un-naturally loud or dominant. To hear resonaces more clearly, use a parametic EQ with a narrow bandwidth (high Q, perhaps 2-4) and sweep a large boost (10dB or more) slowly down through the frequency range. I say down, because boosting the bootom end can be dangerous to your speakers, so start high and sweep down.Make sure your are not clipping the output.
At some points you will emphasie the resonaces in the sound. It will sound bad. At other pionts it won't sound as bad and will just sound like a EQ boost. Once you have found the frequencies of the resonaces you can use an EQ to cut those frequencies a bit.
Once you get used to hearing masking and resonaces you won't have to spend so much time finding the frequencies of interest. you will br able to say to yourself, "there's masking in the high mids" or "ther is a low-mid resonace"
It all takes time and practice. Good luck