How would you EQ Tamborines and Shakers?

S

StanleySteamer

New member
hey guys working on a beat in pro tools and at I'm at the eqing/mixing stage and i wanted to know how you guys go about mixing your tambourines and shakers?

edit: claps also please lol
 
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You should already know this cant just be answered. How are we supposed to know the shakers and tambos role in the mix if we haven't even heard it.

Eq it to taste like any other instrument that you'd EQ...leave the formant (most likely) and clear up room for other stuff where its not needed for the shakers. Nothing changes because you're doing the shakers and tambo. And we certainly cant tell you how to fit them into a mix that we cant hear.
 
StanleySteamer said:
lol so you couldn't tell me any direction at all to go in when mixing a tambourine or shaker?
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did you even read what I said?

If you knew anything about mixing you'd post your mix so we can actually give you an answer. It changes for every mix.

how do we give advice on a mix that we cant hear.
 
well I'm sort of in the process of laying my beat out as I'm mixing and adding things in and out and what not in pro tools. Basically I feel like my tambourine is too harsh hitting and overpowering the snare, i want it to sit more in the mix. How could I EQ it to better fit into the mix?
 
I give up. Do you want a guess or do you want an answer?

POST YOUR MIX OR YOU ARE GETTING A USELESS GUESS

lol wow. For all we know its not even an EQ problem yet. Probably is but how am i supposed to know? Im not gonna sit here and waste time trying to correct a mix I cant hear.
 
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well now theres a new problem, every time i try to bounce to disk in pro tools its says i ran out of cpu power and to get rid of native plug-ins or something. any advice on this one?
 
How high is your buffer size? If you don't know what this is I highly advise reading up on it.

Otherwise try routing your bus to an audio track and then record that track. Then click on that file in the cliplist (you can also just click on it in the arrangement window and it will be highlighted in the clip list), then click the drop menu arrow at the top of clip list, hit export clips as files and then pick mp3 interleaved (as this forum won't take wav). I read that this will also automatically dither a bounce but I don't know that for sure.

If all else fails, you may have to make tracks inactive and bounce out sections individually until you just have audio tracks (by bounce out, I don't mean pro tools bounce, I mean my second method where you record into the session)
 
Turn it up as high as possible.

Sample rate will introduce latency issues if kept at a higher number, but it will ease your cpu problem.

Turn it back down to 256 when you are done bouncing it.
 
Still not working as soon as I turned it up to 1056 and tried to bounce it cut off and gave me that same error even earlier. It says AAE 9713.

Is it supposed so messed up when I'm bouncing in a higher sample rate lol? Cuz it sounded like I had magnets next to my speakers or something.
 
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I'll be honest, I find it really hard to believe you're having this much trouble if you tried bouncing one at a time.

Tell me your computer specs for one.

Two, are you just option clicking the vst plugins or are you actually hitting "Make Inactive." With a mac you option click the track name in the mix window. I think it's ctrl on windows. Then hit make inactive.

If you had, let's say, 50 tracks. Make 49 of them inactive and bounce out the one that is most cpu intensive (Native Instruments studio drummer for example is almost always bounced separately on my comp).

Make inactive and bypass are two different things in Pro Tools. If you cant run one of your instruments when it's made inactive, then Idk how you even made the song in the first place

With regards to the "magnets" sound, I'm guessing that happens when the error happens? A fix that works for me without restarting is change the sample rate to one lower, then back up to the original.

Edit: Also, you should probably tell us what kind of plugins you are dealing with.
 
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I wouldn't. I would first try to record them with as natural of a sound as possible and then use volume to make it sit well in the mix. Tambourines, shakers, etc. can also be panned to the side a bit if it's stepping on other tracks.

I would only use eq on a tambourine or shaker to remove excess brittleness at the high end or perhaps to muddy it up a bit if I wanted it to get lost in the mix a little. Also I'd probably use a little bit of low cut to remove any rumble present in the recording. Basically I would only use eq to remove from the recorded track what should not be there (but was captured in the recording process) and not for 'shaping' the sound of the tambourine/shaker itself. For that I would use mic placement and playing technique (for example if I want a shaker to be less bright I cup it in the hands a little more and hold a little tighter, and when I want it really bright I might hold it lightly with the fingertips).
 
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robin_loops said:
I wouldn't. I would first try to record them with as natural of a sound as possible and then use volume to make it sit well in the mix. Tambourines, shakers, etc. can also be panned to the side a bit if it's stepping on other tracks.

I would only use eq on a tambourine or shaker to remove excess brittleness at the high end or perhaps to muddy it up a bit if I wanted it to get lost in the mix a little. Also I'd probably use a little bit of low cut to remove any rumble present in the recording. Basically I would only use eq to remove from the recorded track what should not be there (but was captured in the recording process) and not for 'shaping' the sound of the tambourine/shaker itself. For that I would use mic placement and playing technique (for example if I want a shaker to be less bright I cup it in the hands a little more and hold a little tighter, and when I want it really bright I might hold it lightly with the fingertips).
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Yes

Niv Unity Levi said:
put eq on everything you can m8
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No.

Robin's advice still applies even though it's not live recording. It's about sample selection.

If the issue is in fact that the instrument is a bit harsh, then turn it down. It will still cut through the mix because of how harsh it is.

I think eqing a tambourine can be tricky. Adding any high end at all can snowball some harshness later on. Just saying.

To upload it you have to do an advanced reply, add file is on the bottom of that page. Then when you upload it to the new window you say Insert in line or something like that.
 
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