EQ Guidelines - Help Sheet

[wreyniers]

Something I found that I've been using every day since.

Kick Drum
Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off around 300Hz. Try a small boost around 5-7kHz to add some high end.
Frequency Effect
50-100Hz Adds bottom to the sound
100-250Hz Adds roundness
250-800Hz Muddiness Area
5-8kHz Adds high end presence
8-12kHz Adds Hiss

Snare
Try a small boost around 60-120Hz if the sound is a little too wimpy. Try boosting around 6kHz for that 'snappy' sound.
Frequency Effect
100-250Hz Fills out the sound
6-8kHz Adds presence


Hi hats or cymbals
Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off around 300Hz. To add some brightness try a small boost around 3kHz.
Frequency Effect
250-800Hz Muddiness area
1-6kHz Adds presence
6-8kHz Adds clarity
8-12kHz Adds brightness

Bass
Try boosting around 60Hz to add more body. Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off around 300Hz. If more presence is needed, boost around 6kHz
Frequency Effect
50-100Hz Adds bottom end
100-250Hz Adds roundness
250-800Hz Muddiness Area
800-1kHz Adds beef to small speakers
1-6kHz Adds presence
6-8kHz Adds high-end presence
8-12kHz Adds hiss

Vocals
This is a difficult one, as it depends on the mic used to record the vocal. Apply either cut or boost around 300hz, depending on the mic and song.
Apply a very small boost around 6kHz to add some clarity.
Frequency Effect
100-250Hz Adds 'up-frontness'
250-800Hz Muddiness area
1-6kHz Adds presence
6-8kHz Adds sibilance and clarity
8-12kHz Adds brightness

Piano
Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off around 300Hz. Apply a very small boost around 6kHz to add some clarity.
Frequency Effect
50-100Hz Adds bottom
100-250Hz Adds roundness
250-1kHz Muddiness area
1-6kHz Adds presence
6-8Khz Adds clarity
8-12kHz Adds hiss

Electric guitar
Again this depends on the mix and the recording. Apply either cut or boost around 300hz, depending on the song and sound. Try boosting around 3kHz to add some edge to the sound, or cut to add some transparency. Try boosting around 6kHz to add presence. Try boosting around 10kHz to add brightness
Frequency Effect
100-250Hz Adds body
250-800Hz Muddiness area
1-6Khz Cuts through the mix
6-8kHz Adds clarity
8=12kHz Adds hiss

Acoustic guitar
Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off between 100-300Hz. Apply small amounts of cut around 1-3kHz to push the image higher. Apply small amounts of boost around 5kHz to add some presence.
Frequency Effect
100-250Hz Adds body
6-8kHz Adds clarity
8-12kHz Adds brightness

Strings
These depend entirely on the mix and the sound used.
Frequency Effect
50-100Hz Adds bottom end
100-250Hz Adds body
250-800Hz Muddiness area
1-6hHz Sounds crunchy
6-8kHz Adds clarity
8-12kHz Adds brightness

[Dazza66]

Hey, thanx for that - a really well set out and easy to use 'cheat sheet'! These are great starting points for learning the secret art of eq'ing. Nice work! (I'm sure there will be plenty of folk who'll disagree with these, but I'm glad of them to get me started!)

[TexasMusicForge]

K+ for spreading a little knowledge and good EQ around.

Ed

[wreyniers]

Yeah I find it very useful, if anyone has anything to add to this it would be greatly appreciated. I'd be very pleased to see what some common eq settings were for Brass, and Woodwinds.

[wreyniers]

Found some info on Sax Eq'ing at http://www.saxontheweb.net/

For some extra sizzle or sparkle, I like to add some high end frequency, around 10k but you need to experiment here. You may get the right boost of the sparkle you want from 8k or 11k. If you use a good mic the boosts in eq won’t need to be huge, just between 1 and 3 db’s.

I never felt that my sax needs any more mid range, but often a little low end eq will help to round out the tone. Again, you need to experiment but I go in around 125 – 250 hz.

[where02190]

Take out what you have too much of rather than trying to add what's not there.

[Chris Walton]

useless. trying to EQ with a frequency sheet is like trying to cut steak with a chair.

with practice, sweeping around bands on different sounds and seeing what happens, and getting to know your EQ, eventually, you'll just hear it ... "oh, it sounds like i need to cut a little right there around halfway" ... you set your EQ band there, sweep it around a bit, and bam you got exactly what you want.

/me is anything but an EQ master though ..

[Hellbilly]

I dont know Chris, i think it's a good idea to get a general idea of where things are before you learn to listen. Because, as i see it, you need to learn to listen when EQ'ing. It just doesnt seem to be something you can just walk into and instantly know.

I am a newbie at EQ'ing because i never really gave it much thought. I have suffered from the "louder is better" for years so i always just boosted the crap out of stuff to make it louder then the other thing that was, well too loud to begin with.

So even though i used EQ's then, i didnt know what frequencies meant to what instruments and even though i just turned knobs and listened, i still didnt know WHAT to listen for. So the listening part is obviously something that needs to be trained.

Thats why i say, these kind of sheets have helped me get a rough idea where to look instead of "just listening", because as i said, listening didnt help me squat until i knew what to listen for

[89]

I agree with where, don't use the eq to boost. Cut, cut and then cut!
Learn this and you might end up with enough air to do a good and distinct mixdown.

These guidelines are good anyway, just take them with a grain of salt.

[proletkult]

Thanks! This is a great list for reference but misleading. I'm no expert but I do know that the rules change with the enviroment. Put the bass drum "and" the bass together around 50-100Hz and you don't have twice the "roundness"...you have half the definition. But still a VERY useful reference.

[Barbarossa]

I agree with where, don't use the eq to boost. Cut, cut and then cut!

This is usually correct, but for certain very good EQs, boosting can add harmonic distortion to the signal that sounds fantastic.