EQ

Cheatsheet
 EQ Cheatsheet

Acoustic Drums

Be careful when boosting top end on close mic’d tracks. This can accentuate cymbal bleed and
make the drums sound harsh. If you’re struggling to achieve brightness without bringing up the
cymbals, try using gates to reduce the bleed between hits. You can also layer in drum samples
(my first choice) and EQ them for brightness without bringing up the bleed.

There are two approaches for EQing overheads. You can either:
1. Filter out all the low end and use them as cymbal mics, or...
2. Leave them as-is and use them to form the overall sound of the kit
Option #1 will create a separated, sculpted sound that works well in modern genres.
Option #2 will lead to a more natural sound that works well for folk and acoustic music.

Try rolling off everything below 40 Hz on the kick. This can often tighten things up.

Since each mic has bleed, you should always EQ drums with all the mics playing together.

You can often filter the hi-hat aggressively. Try cutting everything below 500 Hz.

Acoustic drums will often need lots of EQ. Don’t be afraid to boost or cut by 10 dB or more.

Listen to a few modern records and notice how bright the kick is. The key to getting your kick to
cut isn’t more low end, but more top end.

Vocals

When boosting top end, listen for harshness. Often times, this will occur when your boost
extends too far down the frequency spectrum. If this happens, move the boost higher up or
tighten the Q. You can also add a small cut to the upper midrange to counteract any harshness.

High-pass filtering will often be necessary, but it’s not always needed. If you don’t hear a
problem, there’s no need to fix it.

You can high-pass female vocals much higher than male vocals without affecting the sound of
the voice.

Listen for resonances in the lower midrange. You can address and remove them using my
sweep and destroy method, ​which I explain here​.
Bass

To add presence, boost higher than you think. The solution is not more low end, but to bring out
the harmonics (start around 700 - 1200 Hz).

Distortion will often do a better job at adding presence than EQ.

Acoustic Guitars

Don’t be afraid to roll off the low end. Often times, all you want is the sound of the pick hitting
the strings.

Watch for resonances in the lower midrange. You can address and remove them using my
sweep and destroy method, ​which I explain here​.

Electric Guitars

Listen to them with the bass. Often times, you can remove quite a bit of low end. The guitars
may sound thin on their own, but with the bass, they’ll sound great.

Watch for harsh resonances in the upper midrange (2 - 4 kHz). You can address and remove
them using my sweep and destroy method, ​which I explain here​.

If electric guitars are recorded well, they often need little-to-no EQ.

For presence, boost around 4 kHz.

Synths

Your approach should vary widely depending on what you’re working with.

Many modern synths are ear-piercingly bright. Don’t be afraid to roll off top end. This can help
them sink back into a mix.

Often times, synths will fill up the entire frequency spectrum. In a busy mix, you’ll often have to
whittle them down using high and low-pass filters.

You can be aggressive when EQing synths, because we have no expectations about what they
should sound like. This gives you more flexibility than when EQing an organic instrument, where
you can’t stray too far from what the instrument sounds like in real life.

Piano
Boosting 5 kHz can bring out the sound of the hammers hitting the strings. This will make the
piano sound harder, which can help it cut through a busy mix.

My Top EQ Plugins
#1 Choice: FabFilter Pro-Q 2

For me, nothing beats the sound and flexibility of the FabFilter
Pro-Q 2. Its slick GUI is easy on the eyes, and the built-in
spectral analyzer is invaluable. I rarely use anything else.

#2 Choice: Waves REQ

This plugin is old school, but I like the way the shelves sound.
While I can emulate its behavior using the Pro-Q, it's still a great
choice.

#3 Choice: UAD Pultec Pro

A no frills, easy-to-use EQ. It’s hard to make this one sound

bad.

For more mixing tips, visit ​BehindTheSpeakers.com​.

 10 EQ Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making

EQ is the most important tool in your mixing arsenal.

Mastering it is the key to crafting clear, larger-than-life tracks. Abusing it, however, will
put you on the fast track to wimpy, muddy mixes.

So how do you learn to EQ like a pro?

Start by breaking bad habits.

The following EQ mistakes will destroy the clarity and separation in your tracks,
dooming you to mixes that sound small and amateur. Avoid them, and you’ll be well on
your way to creating tracks that compete with the pros.

1. You Play It Safe

Some mixers say you should never EQ more than 3dB.

Don’t listen to them.

The truth?

Sometimes you have to be bold.

Need to add 20dB of top end to a kick?

So be it.

As long as you’re EQ’ing for a reason,

(see #4 below), do whatever it takes to
achieve the sound you’re searching for.

2. You’re A Filter Freak

Some mixers high-pass every track by default.

The results are often an improvement. The low end clears up, creating more space for
the kick and bass.
But there are hidden downsides to using this technique.

Filtering everything will often remove low end that ​isn’t​ getting in the way. This is the low
end you want to keep, because it will add weight and body to your mixes. Getting rid of
it might make the low end clearer, but you’ll sacrifice fullness by doing so.

And the sneaky part?

If you filter everything at the beginning of a mix, you’ll never know what you’re missing.

Because you never got to hear it in the first place.

My vote: If the low end on a track is getting in the way, nix it. Otherwise, leave it alone.

Your mixes will sound thicker and fuller as a result.

3. You Neglect The Midrange

As mixers, we love to geek out over the

extremities of the frequency spectrum. We
obsess over achieving deep, floor-shaking
bass and airy, crystal-clear highs.

But we often neglect the frequencies in

between.

And the irony?

What we neglect is what matters most.

The midrange is where the core of most instruments lie. It’s also where our ears are
most sensitive. And finally, it’s the part of the frequency spectrum that’s most consistent
across different speakers. Master-mixer Jack Joseph Puig sums it up best:

“The midrange is where the heart and soul of music live. It’s where you feel the real
emotion that someone is trying to convey with an instrument or voice…”​ (​CEPro​)
The midrange should be a priority, not an afterthought. Spend more time focusing your
attention here.

4. You EQ For No Reason

Mixing seems complicated, but it’s actually simple. The entire process can be broken
down into five steps:

1. You hear a problem

2. You brainstorm ways to fix that problem
3. You try to fix the problem
4. You determine whether or not you fixed the problem
5. You either:
a. Return to step one if you fixed the problem, or…
b. Return to step two if you didn’t fix the problem

When you’re mixing, there should ​always​ be a step 1. You should ​always​ be trying to
solve a problem.

The danger comes when you try to skip steps.

When you try to solve problems that don’t exist.

When you start doing things for no reason.

Before reaching for an EQ, ask yourself—​what problem am I trying to solve?​ If you don’t
have an answer, ditch the plugin.

5. You Ignore Context

The goal of mixing is to make tracks sound good together.

The problem? Many mixers don’t think about it this way.

Instead, they focus on one track at a time and make decisions in a vacuum. If they’re
working on a vocal, they solo it and tweak the EQ until it sounds great on its own.

The problem?
They completely ignore context.

In solo, you can’t hear how tracks fit with

others. And so your decisions will only
make tracks sound better on their own. But
these decisions rarely hold up in context. In
fact, they’ll often make tracks sound ​worse
when you place them back in the mix.

Remember—the goal is to make tracks

sound good ​together​. In order to do this,
you have to listen to everything together.
And you have to make decisions in context,
with the rest of the tracks playing.

While soloing might be fine for basic cleanup work, do the majority of your EQing with
the whole mix playing. This can be hard at first, but it’s one of the easiest ways to
improve your mixes.

6. You Fix Problems On Your Mix Bus

So your mix sounds muddy. What do you do?

If you’re like many, you add an EQ to your mix bus and cut the offending frequencies
there.

Problem solved…right?

Wrong.

Think about it.

The muddiness you heard was likely caused by one track in your mix.

So why did you cut it from every track in your session?

While you might have fixed the problem, you probably cut a lot of stuff that didn’t need
to be cut too.
This is a surefire path to a thin, wimpy mix.

Fixing problems on the mix bus should be your last resort.

Instead, find the offending track in your mix and make the cut there. This will produce
much better results.

7. You Forget Phase

Imagine you’re mixing a multi-mic’d drum kit, and the snare sounds thin.

You boost the low end on the snare track, but

regardless of how much EQ you add, the snare
still sounds anaemic.

What gives?

The snare is probably out of phase with one of

the other drum mics.

While no amount of EQ will fix this problem, the solution is easy. Just flip the polarity on
the snare track, and you’ll have all the low end you need.

Don’t forget to check for phase cancellation before EQing. If the low end sounds thin,
phase is often the culprit.

8. You Don’t Consider Where You Put It

Let’s say you recorded a vocalist who frequently grabbed the mic stand while singing.

The result?

The recording has some low-end rumble in it.

A compressor doesn’t know the difference between this rumble and the sound of the
vocal. If the rumble exceeds the compressor’s threshold, the entire track will be turned
down.
So if the singer grabbed the mic stand in the middle of a phrase, her performance will
suddenly dip in volume. Not because she’s too loud, but because the rumble is.

This can lead to a track that gets quieter at seemingly random, unmusical moments.
Which can sound quite odd.

For this reason, I always high-pass before I compress. This way, my compressor won’t
be triggered by low-end rumble.

This is just one of many things impacted by where you place your EQ.

The bottom line?

Order matters. When EQing, consider where you put it.

9. You EQ For Level

If you’re having trouble hearing a track, do you reach for EQ first?

If so, you may be missing an easier solution.

Before reaching for EQ, try the faders. Many problems can be solved simply by turning
tracks up.

10. You Use It To Solve The Wrong Problems

Imagine you recorded a vocalist with poor mic technique.

On certain phrases, he got too close to the mic. These spots sound boomy and muddy.
But in other spots, the recording sounds fine.

What do you do?

You could EQ out some of the lower midrange.

This will make the muddy spots sound better.

But the spots that were fine to begin with will end up sounding thin.
You’ll fix one problem, but create another.

You’re using the wrong tool for the job.

Traditional EQ is great for fixing problems

that remain consistent throughout the entire
track.

But when you’re dealing with problems that

change over time, it isn’t the best option.

For issues like these, try multiband

compression or dynamic EQ. These tools
will often produce better results.
 I hope you enjoyed reading this PDF!

For more free mixing tips and tricks, check out my website, ​Behind The Speakers​.

The material in this PDF was adapted from several articles that I originally wrote for ​The
Pro Audio Files​.