I do what I would call decent mixes. I get good feedback in general. But I know better. There always seems to be frequencies in my mixes that irritate me. Here's something that happened on a mix recently that got me thinking that I need to study this "frequency" thing a lot more. I'll keep it as short as I can.
I was having trouble doing a mix on one of my bands songs. A band member said I should use Led Zeps Rock And Roll as a reference while mixing. So I did. I got it sounding as close as I could and it worked but it wasn't quite there. Then I got a news letter from Izotope. I use there mastering program called Ozone 3. One of the things they talked about is a feature in Ozone called EQ matching. I checked it out. I tried it. This is a pretty amazing feature! Here's what it does. After mixing our song while using Rock and Roll as a reference I bounce it to a 2 track stereo mix. I then opened the EQ in Ozone and take a snap shot of Rock and Roll. Then I open our song and take a snap shot of it. Now, set the EQ to "matching". There's a slider that goes from 0% to 100% that sets the amount of matching. I set it to a 50% match and BAM! there it is! The mix is rocking big time! Everything is clear and there's no harsh frequencies! It doesn't just lay an EQ curve on a track. That wouldn't work because the results depend on what the starting point is. What it does is adjust (cutting here, boosting there) the EQ curve of your song to match the curve of the song you want to match. Ah, modern technology. Pretty amazing stuff.:AOK But this isn't about Ozone. It's about that fact that this showed me that I need learn more about proper EQ'ing.
So, here are the things I want to learn more about.
1. In general, where are the cut off points for bass, mid and treble frequencies? For example, are base frequencies considered to be between "whatever the starting point would be" up to 600 Hz, mids between 600 Hz and whatever, etc.?
2. Are there frequencies that are considered to be irritating? For instance, are there frequencies that are standard to cut from cymbals? Are there frequencies that you want to cut slightly in a mix?
3. What frequencies do you cut to get rid of mud?
The music I'm mixing is kind of alternative rock with elements of punk and a strong down home vibe. I know that this all depends an many factors, mics, guitars, amps, all that stuff. But I'll bet we all have things that we do regarding EQ ............... right?? Any thoughts you want to share? I'm listening.
BC
I was having trouble doing a mix on one of my bands songs. A band member said I should use Led Zeps Rock And Roll as a reference while mixing. So I did. I got it sounding as close as I could and it worked but it wasn't quite there. Then I got a news letter from Izotope. I use there mastering program called Ozone 3. One of the things they talked about is a feature in Ozone called EQ matching. I checked it out. I tried it. This is a pretty amazing feature! Here's what it does. After mixing our song while using Rock and Roll as a reference I bounce it to a 2 track stereo mix. I then opened the EQ in Ozone and take a snap shot of Rock and Roll. Then I open our song and take a snap shot of it. Now, set the EQ to "matching". There's a slider that goes from 0% to 100% that sets the amount of matching. I set it to a 50% match and BAM! there it is! The mix is rocking big time! Everything is clear and there's no harsh frequencies! It doesn't just lay an EQ curve on a track. That wouldn't work because the results depend on what the starting point is. What it does is adjust (cutting here, boosting there) the EQ curve of your song to match the curve of the song you want to match. Ah, modern technology. Pretty amazing stuff.:AOK But this isn't about Ozone. It's about that fact that this showed me that I need learn more about proper EQ'ing.
So, here are the things I want to learn more about.
1. In general, where are the cut off points for bass, mid and treble frequencies? For example, are base frequencies considered to be between "whatever the starting point would be" up to 600 Hz, mids between 600 Hz and whatever, etc.?
2. Are there frequencies that are considered to be irritating? For instance, are there frequencies that are standard to cut from cymbals? Are there frequencies that you want to cut slightly in a mix?
3. What frequencies do you cut to get rid of mud?
The music I'm mixing is kind of alternative rock with elements of punk and a strong down home vibe. I know that this all depends an many factors, mics, guitars, amps, all that stuff. But I'll bet we all have things that we do regarding EQ ............... right?? Any thoughts you want to share? I'm listening.
BC