Did i do a good job EQing this? 30 second sample

G

Gaurav Par

New member
I have a 30 second sample, could you please listen to it and tell me if the vocals sit right in? For me i dont think they do and ive been stuck on it for a long time. For EQing, I low passed, Added some high end and got rid of some low mid and other ugly frequenies but it still doesnt sound right to me; like its part of the song? Can you please tell me if it actually is fine or what i can do? thanks! Also theres some reverb and comp thats it.
 

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  • DTB_01.mp3
    1.1 MB · Views: 107
Hmm. Sounds like a dope song, as the crazy kids say. I like it. Re: vocal, it sounds fine to me. What I hear is way too much low end, and perhaps a tad too much overall kick drum volume, which is fighting with the vocal (mind you, I'm listening on some cheap Dell computer speakers with one-inch drivers, but that might be even more telling in the long run). It sounds like you have both the kick drum and the lead vocal panned dead center, yes? That could also be part of the problem. I know a lot of folks do that, but I like to have nothing but lead vocal dead-dead center if it's a vocal tune. That's the feature "instrument." If you want the kick and snare panned center, take them just a bit off-center (a few clicks right or left), and clear everything else out of that space. It will give your vocal room to be that feature sound. As to drums and lead vocal balance, it is always a struggle (that is usually resolved after a lot of messing about, a handful of test mixes, and a good night's sleep or two away from the monitors and the mix, to freshen the ears a bit).

GJ
 
The only thing that sticks out to me is the kick, it sounds a tad too loud or too distorted/compressed. That could be subjective though, I don't really like giving my opinion when it could just be a matter of taste. I'm also listening on laptop speakers.
 
Hello! I took at a look at your mixdown and touched up a bunch of things, mainly EQing and dynamics/reverb.

Here's a master of the changes I made, so you can compare.
View attachment DTB_01_polish.mp3

• I think the vocals sit fine, but you definitely could make them a db or two louder, and coat them with a warm hall-type reverb.

•I found that the kick drum had a lot too much weight in the 30-70hz range, so I lowered these freqs down by about -4db. I boosted the top end to give it more spark and make it sound brighter and to help glue the vocals a bit better. I also dissected out some resonating freqs in the 300-600 range. (Here's a SS of what the EQ curve looks like)
DTB EQing.png

• I added some harmonic excitement to add some crisp and brightness to the top end, mainly the vocals and the piano, synths, percussion, and fx.

• I would recommend adding some reverb, I used a dark, noiser modulated-type reverb with a 4 sec delay and a low cut at 350hz on the mix to add some depth and ambience to the percussion (mainly that beautiful clap/snare/perc you have on the 2nd and 4th beat), it really adds some polish to the mix and I honestly don't think you can go without it in this style of mixdown you have going.

• I also used some multi-band compression to control the dynamics and strengthen and accentuate the beautiful top end you have on the mixdown (you really did do a great job).

• Second to last I added a multi-band stereo imager to set the low end (below 120hz) in mono, widened the low-mids a bit, tightened up the mids a tad and widened the treble/top end a tad as well.

•Finally I added a limiter (I know, I know, the loudness war... but it does not mean you should ditch the bandwagon and not make your tracks as loud as current commercial tracks, because loud-ness is something that an average listener will notice, and people will wonder why it's quiet.) ---and lowered the threshold of the limiter until the peak of the kick was being limited, to glue the mix and make it commercially loud, while keeping the great dynamics of the mixdown.

Hopefully this helps!

Cheers
 
Last edited:
Vocals could go up a few dB and the kick's a bit overpowering but it's not a bad job eq/mix job at all.

Maybe try some compression on the kick as well.

Cheers
 
Wow thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was extremely informative!!!! Thanks so much for going in all that detail!! especially the SS of the EQ!! Thanks !!

deft&xeno said:
Hello! I took at a look at your mixdown and touched up a bunch of things, mainly EQing and dynamics/reverb.

Here's a master of the changes I made, so you can compare.
View attachment 44442

• I think the vocals sit fine, but you definitely could make them a db or two louder, and coat them with a warm hall-type reverb.

•I found that the kick drum had a lot too much weight in the 30-70hz range, so I lowered these freqs down by about -4db. I boosted the top end to give it more spark and make it sound brighter and to help glue the vocals a bit better. I also dissected out some resonating freqs in the 300-600 range. (Here's a SS of what the EQ curve looks like)
View attachment 44441

• I added some harmonic excitement to add some crisp and brightness to the top end, mainly the vocals and the piano, synths, percussion, and fx.

• I would recommend adding some reverb, I used a dark, noiser modulated-type reverb with a 4 sec delay and a low cut at 350hz on the mix to add some depth and ambience to the percussion (mainly that beautiful clap/snare/perc you have on the 2nd and 4th beat), it really adds some polish to the mix and I honestly don't think you can go without it in this style of mixdown you have going.

• I also used some multi-band compression to control the dynamics and strengthen and accentuate the beautiful top end you have on the mixdown (you really did do a great job).

• Second to last I added a multi-band stereo imager to set the low end (below 120hz) in mono, widened the low-mids a bit, tightened up the mids a tad and widened the treble/top end a tad as well.

•Finally I added a limiter (I know, I know, the loudness war... but it does not mean you should ditch the bandwagon and not make your tracks as loud as current commercial tracks, because loud-ness is something that an average listener will notice, and people will wonder why it's quiet.) ---and lowered the threshold of the limiter until the peak of the kick was being limited, to glue the mix and make it commercially loud, while keeping the great dynamics of the mixdown.

Hopefully this helps!

Cheers
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