How to develop expert ears

[amplesample]

I have seen countless articles where people talk about how certain instruments have a frequency range that best suits them. When mastering they will say "this frequency range is too thick", or the hats shouldn't be there in that frequency. I get the impression that a good engineer can listen to a sound and tell you by ear what frequency range it is in. What I want to know is:
1. How do you know what frequency range an instrument should occupy? Hats for example, what frequencies should you hear or not hear?
2. How do you develop an ear for what a certain frequency range sounds like?

When I try to do this I am more less playing a guessing game but I think there is a better way to do it and I would like to learn it. Please share any tips or methods you have found to be helpful. Thanks.

 

[THM]

1) Follow - if possible - experienced people (artists and sound engineers) in a studio, ask them the same questions
2) Following your own ears and getting experienced ( rule n° 1: have patience; you can't build a bridge in one day ! )

Peace

 

[KasioRoks]

Originally posted by amplesample
2. How do you develop an ear for what a certain frequency range sounds like?

You practice. You already know to some extent, you just have to refine your ear. I bet you already use terms like 'top end', 'sparkle', 'mids', 'bass'. If you want to know what those terms mean in terms of actual frequencies, sit down with an eq unit and a track and start boosting and cutting different frequencies. You'll soon learn what boosting stuff at about 12kHz does, or cutting at 100Hz. Pretty soon, you'll be able to dial in an eq setting to cut sibilance (the 's' and 'f' sounds from vocals). It's not hard, it's just practice. Then you can say things like 'those hats are just too bright, can you pull down a couple of db from them at about 18kHz' and everyone will think you're a god

So yeah, practice, play around and do a search on google. There's loads of eq lists out there, don't take any of them as gospel, but try to see what they can teach you about what sounds are in what range.

KasioRoks

 

[inocybe]

practise and experience.

Practise and experience, that's all there is to it. Like KasioRoks says.. after a while you simply know at wich frequency to cut or boost a bit to raise some snappyness in a snaredrum for instance. And you will develop a better ear to things and you'll gain more insight in mixing off tunes or how to build a sonic composition to make a song sound balanced and exactlly how you'd like it.

 

[Frantik]

Yeah dude,

If you spend enough time screwing around with sounds and fiddling, your ears start to become more sensative to frequencies (especially if your a burk like me and forget to turn down your gains before adding a 2K saw wave frequency to your mix...ouch)

It's sort of like training, if you do something enough times you kind of have a rough idea of what to do when you're doing it.

 

[Frantik]

Practice makes perfect

Yeah dude,

If you spend enough time screwing around with sounds and fiddling, your ears start to become more sensative to frequencies (especially if your a burk like me and forget to turn down your gains before adding a 2K saw wave frequency to your mix...ouch)

It's sort of like training, if you do something enough times you kind of have a rough idea of what to do when you're doing it.

 

[RobinH]

. I get the impression that a good engineer can listen to a sound and tell you by ear what frequency range it is in.

This is not strictly true. I know many good engineers who haven't a clue about the techincal side of the job. Knowing what frequency a sound is at helps you communicate the information to someone else. However by sweeping a parametric EQ through it range , boosted with a tight bandwidth , you can find that frequency.

Knowing what the frequency is can be quite dangerous , as you think of it then as an entity that can be treated as seperated from the rest of the sound. This is not the case , as changing it will effect the whole mix , as the ear and brain readjust to the new perception. Dealing directly with this perception and not the words used to describe it is one step closer to reality.

However knowing your frequencies helps you arrive at your destination more quickly , and speed is what really differentiates the proffessional from the amateur.

In a proffessional environment you have to acheive your results very quickly. It is rare to get the luxury of an open timetable ( and therefore budget ).

As to tips , there are so many different clever techniques and tricks that I couldn't begin to give them even if I knew anywhere near them all. All I can say is never be arrogant and try every weird suggestion you hear of.

As a starting point I can give you a technique that works well on recorded mixes of real instruments ( synth instruments often are designed to sound as big as possible and fill up the frequencies ).

For each sound boost your EQ with a tight bandwidth and sweep it through the frequencies. Each instrument will have a lower frequency which it stands out at. This is the resonance of the instrument. If you carry on you will find that at around 2x and 3x this frequency there are also areas that the instrument sound is picked out. Using parametric eq , boost the first and either the second or third frequencies. Then using shelves cut away the other frequencies hi and low. This is the very beginning and depending on the sophistication of your EQ you can go alot further.

The basic idea is to find the areas where each instrument has its sound and then clear away the other frequencies leaving space in the mix for the others. If they clash use the other harmonics to move them around. Its a basic starting point ....