[ddots-l] Re: Graphic versus Other EQ Types
- From: "Nickus de Vos" <bigboy529@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:06:54 +0200
Hi Steve don't know if you saw my mail about the yamaha sound reinforcement
handbook it also explaims everything in detail, i would recomend it as a must
read
-original message-
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Graphic versus Other EQ Types
From: "Steve Wicketts" <steve.wicketts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 22/12/2010 17:10
Wow Chris,
I realise more and more that I should have gone to college to learn about
mixing. I've just put that email in my files.
I understood about 15% of the message, on my first reading, will go back to
it and try to make sense of it.
Thanks so much for such a detailed response.
Steve W
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Smart" <chris_s@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 6:37 PM
Subject: [ddots-l] Graphic versus Other EQ Types
> Here are some more thoughts on EQ types, starting with those that affect a
> more broad frequency range.
>
> High and Low Pass filters (hpf, lpf) allow frequencies above or below a
> cut-off frequency to pass through, hence their name. For example, a high
> pass filter set to 200HZ, will let everything above that frequency
> through, and will drastically attenuate things below that frequency. Note
> that in most designs, the cut-off frequency is where things are attenuated
> by 3dB, so don't think of the effected area as starting exactly at that
> point.
>
> HPF and LPF are very useful for, say, getting rid of some lows on guitars
> or keyboards, so they don't interfere with the upper bass notes or the
> bottom part of the vocals.
>
> Shelving EQ affects a wide range of frequencies, but a lot less
> drastically than hpf/lpf. If you want to roll off highs or lows, but not
> get rid of them entirely, this is the tool to use. Adjusting the Q
> parameter on a shelving EQ specifies the relative steepness of the slope.
> An example might be a low frequency shelf that attenuates by around 6dB
> per octave.
>
> Parametric EQ (called peak/dip in the Sonitus plug-in), is a tool for very
> precise adjustments. Let's compare parametric and graphic EQ types.
>
> On a thirty-one band graphic equaliser, each band covers one third of an
> octave. You can work this out from the fact that one octave represents a
> doubling
> - or halving - of frequency, and there are ten octaves between 20Hz and
> 20kHz.
>
> What if you want to get more precise than that?
> What if, for example, you want to boost slightly around 450HZ but you only
> have bands at 400 and 500 HZ? What if you have a spike in the vocals at
> 3.7K but only have bands whose center frequencies are 3.1 and 4K? What if
> the attack of your kick drum is around 3.6K and you want to boost just
> that by a couple dB?
>
>
> Think of each band on a graphical EQ as having a fixed Q parameter or
> slope you cannot change. A frequency slider on a graphic EQ affects a
> fixed range of frequencies above and below it.
>
> Q represents the shape of the EQ response curve. It's the ratio of the
> center frequency to the difference of the upper and lower frequencies that
> are being affected.
> The upper & lower frequency's are defined as the point where they are 3 dB
> different in level than the center frequency.
>
> using a single band of a parametric EQ, Here's an example. If we are
> boosting 6 kHz by 12 dB , and the EQ filter curve shows we are boosting at
> 9 dB at 4 kHz & 8 kHz respectively, we can calculate the Q parameter by
> doing the following:
> center frequency divided by upper frequency minus lower frequency.
> In this case, 6,000 divided by the result of 8,000 minus 4,000 equals 1.5.
> Q = 1.5
> So, the Q value that represents this particular equalization curve is 1.5.
> This is quite a wide range of frequencies.
> A more extreme example would be a Q of 0.4, which would span 3 octaves!
>
> If your EQ plug-in describes this as bandwidth, the important thing to
> remember is that Q and bandwidth are of inverse proportion. That is, the
> higher the bandwidth number, the lower the Q number. The higher the Q
> number, the lower the corresponding bandwidth number. You can find
> formulas online to convert bandwidth to Q or Q to bandwidth, if you
> absolutely need to know.
>
> The good thing is that you don't have to do math like this to get the
> results you want, only listen and practice, practice, practice!
>
>
> 1. Solo the track or tracks you are trying to affect. Loop a problem area
> if necessary.
>
> 2. Turn the gain up or down drastically, at least 10dB.
>
> 3. Keep the Q number fairly low to start.
>
> 4. Sweep the frequency value around until you get close to your target
> area.
>
> 5. Narrow the affected frequency band by raising the Q value, and zero in
> on the target as precisely as you can.
>
> 6. Back the gain adjustment off to get the desired amount of boost or
> attenuation.
>
> 7. Listen to the affected track or tracks in the mix, to see if what you
> just adjusted improved things or made them worse.
>
> If you are used to thinking in terms of musical pitches and octaves, as
> found on a keyboard or other instrument, learn the frequencies of some
> notes by their HZ value.
> Fourth octave A is 440HZ. Double that and you get 5th octave A, 880 HZ.
> Cut it in half and you get 3rd octave A, 220 HZ. If you continue halving,
> you end up at the lowest A on a piano, way down at 27.5 HZ.
>
> 1KHZ is just above 5th octave B natural. Learn to recognize doublings or
> halvings of that frequency, just because the numbers are easier to work
> with - 1K 2K 4K etc.
>
> Here's a handy chart that shows the frequencies of our notes, and their
> wavelengths.
> http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html
>
> General Tips:
> 1. Keep in mind that a soloed track that sounds full on its own, probably
> takes up too much sonic space inside a mix. Things that sound small on
> their own can sound perfect in a mix. That massive guitar sound you love
> soloed, might totally obscure the vocals in a crowded mix.
>
> 2. You'd be surprised how our brains can fill in missing frequencies. We
> can even imagine the fundamental of a note if the harmonics are all there,
> but the fundamental is missing!
>
> 3. Carving out frequency space for each instrument is one of the most
> important aspects of mixing. If panning things to different stereo
> positions doesn't clarify things, consider narrowing the frequency ranges
> of some instruments, or mirroring some EQ changes. For example, if one
> instrument has a lot of midrange, reducing the midrange on other
> instruments might carve out some space for it. You might want to
> attenuate some frequencies of the hi-hats where the crispiness of the
> snare drum is, or roll off some low thud of the kick drum, so it
> interferes less with the bass.
>
> Last but not least, this sort of information is out there for the
> taking... books on mixing or recording, manuals for the particular
> plug-ins you're using, articles in magazines like Mix or Sound on Sound,
> discussions in the Cakewalk forums or those at www.gearsluts.com etc. etc.
> etc. Wikipedia and Google are your friends too!
>
> Chris
>
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