production tip - making space, sound louder...

**Straight** · 05-23-2007

this is a tip you probably heard already, but I want you to pay attention to this cuz I didn't realized what it's about when I heard it the first time. Probably some of ya'll didn't too.

So it is about EQ, and freq ranges.

you got a nice song in your sequencer, you have drums, bass, strings, synths, effects and all that sh*t..

The main thing is that you have to cut out freq's as MORE AS POSSIBLE. Solo each track. Put an EQ, I use fruity's EQUA. Cut out a frequency range, start with low or high end, and do that till you cut something that is NECCESSARY. Bring that freq back, and start from the other end again. Cut everything that doesn't neccessary need to be there to make that track sound good.

When you've done that with all of your tracks, and listen to the whole song again, you will notice it sounds a lot more "airy" and "clean", and if you did it well, nothing will be missing.

You can boost everything louder, because the unneccessary frequencies won't bother your sound.

**Hosey** · 05-23-2007

You gotta be careful, just because you can't hear an instrument in a specific EQ range, doesn't mean it's not there. In fact, all sounds pretty much take up some space in every part of the spectrum. They're just dominant usually in one area. All that sound is important, though. And about sweeping your EQ until you hear a noticeable effect and then backing off, don't forget that once you start hearing a noticeable effect on any sound, you've already gone way too far. Subtlety is key.

**Prophecee** · 05-23-2007

Also keep in mind that the better, more accurate monitoring system you have the quicker the response to any changes will be. So that means if you don't have a good monitoring system you might easily cut too much, but you just don't hear that you have.

But it's definitely the truth what you're saying though, EQ is often used to for instance make space for the vocals and have them stand out more, or sit better in the track. In addition to removing any unwanted noises. Or even just sonic shaping.

But if you have a problem, with any track you're mixing, that sounds overlap, or that the whole mix sounds muffled, or anything like that, you should try to pan first, because it's incredible how much difference just panning a single instrument can do. Sometimes it can be the whole answer to a problem with a mix.

**MadTiger3000** · 05-23-2007

Fundamental frequencies = the meat of the sound.
Harmonics/ overtones = the heart and spirit of the sound.

Careful with your EQing.

**jaybizzle3000** · 05-23-2007

its not good to eq a sound while eqing either. instruments sound different when other sounds are playing at the same time. always eq while playing everything.

**MASSIVE Mastering** · 05-23-2007

Some of the best mixes I've ever done were with *no* EQ or dynamics control of any kind...

Cutting "nothing" is just that - Cutting nothing. If you cut all the lows out of a signal that has no lows, all you're doing is adding calculations and aliasing to a signal that didn't need it in the first place.

**krushing** · 05-23-2007

I've noticed the more I've mixed & the better my recording chain (which is still completely amateurish, mind you) got, the less eq & dynamics processing I have to do. There's some strange trend (or rather, cause from over-interpreting advice) of fixing what's not broken with EQing and compressing everything these days...

**wlouch** · 05-24-2007

^^Agreed^^

A lot of people seem to compress and EQ to get their track to sound like they hear on the radio etc, little do they realise there is more to it than that. I would say the most important part would be to get a good input, and then your golden.

Sh!t in, Sh!t out. Not easy to polish a turd, but it is easy and a lot more satisfying leaving a track alone completely because your recording techniques deemed it correct.

Attenuate to make things sit better, boost to adjust the sonic qualities is my basic rule

cheers