Low EQ for 808s

epic1beatz

epic1beatz

epic1beatz
I'm sure just like anything else it's an art more than a rule but what do you typically do when EQing 808s, specifically in the low end?

Where do you all normally cut/lowpass? I use a 24db filter on the Logic X parametric EQ at 30hz. I've heard others say they do it at 20hz.

Thanks all,
 
Well, that depends on what you're going for.
It'll rarely be the same way each time unless you prefer that workflow.
 
I'm referring to the stuff you never want in the mix that muddies the low end. I've heard 30hz and 20 hz.
 
Yep, that's up to you when producing.
Shelving, scooping etc when getting stuff to sit in a mix while sequencing & composing patterns in clips.
Those other guys seem to stick to a certain guideline for sound design if they stick to a certain eq method for their 808s.
 
The mix is good. Not a professional in the slightest but this is just in case anybody on soundcloud is aiming for a clean as possible mix on that site.
A quotation I found earlier.

"
  1. Create the cleanest recordings possible, prior to mixing (avoid distortion, significant background noise etc). Noise, distortion, rumble and other non-musical information in your recording will create more work for the encoder. Strive for the purest, clearest recordings. You can always add color selectively to certain tracks but avoid capturing dense, congested color or "mojo" on every single track. Remember that less is more, and the contrast of "clean" and "colored" tracks in your mix is what will make it interesting, while making the encoder's job a little easier.
  2. Follow my four critical mix tips. Remember, because of the points above, the more you can do to achieve a clear, lively, and dynamic mix, the more chance it will sound good when converted to Mp3 128kbps. Keep your mix open, dynamic and clean.
  3. Avoid heavy use of saturation and distortion. Distortion is often wide-bandwidth in nature which presents several problems for perceptual coding (i.e. how does it know what parts of the distortion are intended to be "musical" and which are not and could be removed?).
  4. Avoid overly dense or congested mixes. Make sure that you construct mixes in such a way that each of the elements are clearly defined (have their own space in the mix) and that there is no congestion. The most challenging scenario is a mix with several with heavily distorted guitars. In that case, it's necessary to carve out enough sonic space for each guitar so that they can clearly be heard. If they sound like they are blending into one big guitar sound, then the Mp3 encoder will likely have a big challenge.
  5. Avoid heavy limiting and dynamic compression. I say this for a few reasons. First, it adds harmonics (distortion, which is wide-bandwith), but second, it can sometimes fill in the sonic spaces that the encoder is looking for with those harmonics, forcing the encoder to make more compromises. Many mix engineers like to compress to "glue" a mix together, and that's certainly valid in some cases, however when it is overdone, there simply isn't enough space in the mix for the encoder to figure out what elements can be safely removed during encoding.
  6. Keep peaks below -1dBFS, in fact, I'd even recommend -2dBFS if you are working from a 24-bit file. Since many encoding schemes do not handle peaks that are at (or near) 0dBFS very well, you can end up with a lot of distortion on the transients.
  7. Consider lowering the gain of your mix. Pull the gain on your mix down so that the average levels are below -12 to -16dBFS. Better yet, consider some of the newer "loudness monitoring" options out there such as metering that is based on Loudness Units Full Scale (LUFS), and set the "loudness" of your mix somewhere between -16 and -23LUFS.
  8. Export your mixes in a lossless format such as *.WAV or *.AIF. If you export to a lossy format such as Mp3 from the start, then SoundCloud will be re-encoding from one lossy format to another (this is called "transcoding" and it degrades the quality even further).
  9. If (and only IF) none of the steps above have helped, consider low-passing your mix with a 6 or 12dB-per octave roll-off so that energy from 14-15kHz and above is reduced, and high-passing it at around 35-40Hz before uploading it to SoundCloud. In theory, this step should never be necessary, but in the event that there is something unusual happening beyond the lowest/highest extremes, this pre-filtering stage may help improve things.
  10. "
 
Do you do the -2db thing and export to WAV? I find that the loudness tends to be a problem when I do this. Is there a way to export it that low and still have enough loudness on SC? Check the new very. of From the Bottom. I followed all those rules.
 
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I don't stick to a method but my stuff is usually at -14db sometimes lol.
I guess those guys use compressors/limiter to make quieter sounds louder without making the louder sounds that much noisier.

There is much theory for that but personally I just do whatever.
I had a habit of having my beats/bumps output -6 through -20db.
 
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