http://obiaudio.

com/2010/07/11/eq-chart/

12.07.11 08.34

ObiAudio

Log In

Sign Up

Visit

ObiAudio
Educating the artists of tomorrow

EQ Chart
Posted on July 11, 2010 by Obi The Incredible

This is from a thread on Future Producers..I did not write this and doto and extentagree with most of this. I just copied and pasted the good stuff: To understand EQ and its intricacies you need hands-on experience, but to help you get started, heres a table of general uses and the different ranges that EQ can affect. As every sound is different, though, these are necessarily very general guidelines

Kick Drum Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off around 300Hz. Try a small boost around 5-7kHz to add some high end. 50-100Hz ~ Adds bottom to the sound 100-250Hz ~ Adds roundness 250-800Hz ~ Muddiness Area 5-8kHz ~ Adds high end presence 8-12kHz ~ Adds Hiss Snare Try a small boost around 60-120Hz if the sound is a little too wimpy. Try boosting around 6kHz for that snappy sound. 100-250Hz ~ Fills out the sound 6-8kHz ~ Adds presence

http://obiaudio.com/2010/07/11/eq-chart/

12.07.11 08.34

ObiAudio

Sign Up Hi hats Log In or cymbals

Visit

Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off around 300Hz. To add some brightness try a small boost around 3kHz. 250-800Hz ~ Muddiness area 1-6kHz ~ Adds presence 6-8kHz ~ Adds clarity 8-12kHz ~ Adds brightness Bass Try boosting around 60Hz to add more body. Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off around 300Hz.If more presence is needed, boost around 6kHz. 50-100Hz ~ Adds bottom end 100-250Hz ~ Adds roundness 250-800Hz ~ Muddiness Area 800-1kHz ~ Adds beef to small speakers 1-6kHz ~ Adds presence 6-8kHz ~ Adds high-end presence 8-12kHz ~ Adds hiss Vocals This is a difficult one, as it depends on the mic used to record the vocal. HoweverApply either cut or boost around 300hz, depending on the mic and song.Apply a very small boost around 6kHz to add some clarity. 100-250Hz ~ Adds up-frontness 250-800Hz ~ Muddiness area 1-6kHz ~ Adds presence 6-8kHz ~ Adds sibilance and clarity 8-12kHz ~ Adds brightness Piano Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off around 300Hz. Apply a very small boost around 6kHz to add some clarity. 50-100Hz ~ Adds bottom 100-250Hz ~ Adds roundness 250-1kHz ~ Muddiness area 1-6kHz ~ Adds presence 6-8Khz ~ Adds clarity 8-12kHz ~ Adds hiss Electric guitars Again this depends on the mix and the recording. Apply either cut or boost around 300hz, depending on the song and sound. Try boosting around 3kHz to add some edge to the sound, or cut to add some transparency. Try boosting around 6kHz to add presence. Try boosting around 10kHz to add brightness.

http://obiaudio.com/2010/07/11/eq-chart/

12.07.11 08.34

ObiAudio

Log In Sign Up 100-250Hz ~ Adds body

Visit

250-800Hz ~ Muddiness area 1-6Khz ~ Cuts through the mix 6-8kHz ~ Adds clarity 8=12kHz ~ Adds hiss Acoustic guitar Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off between 100-300Hz. Apply small amounts of cut around 1-3kHz to push the image higher. Apply small amounts of boost around 5kHz to add some presence. 100-250Hz ~ Adds body 6-8kHz ~ Adds clarity 8-12kHz ~ Adds brightness Strings These depend entirely on the mix and the sound used. 50-100Hz ~ Adds bottom end 100-250Hz ~ Adds body 250-800Hz ~ Muddiness area 1-6hHz ~ Sounds crunchy 6-8kHz ~ Adds clarity 8-12kHz ~ Adds brightness __________ 50Hz 1. Increase to add more fullness to lowest frequency instruments like foot, toms, and the bass. 2. Reduce to decrease the boom of the bass and will increase overtones and the recognition of bass line in the mix. This is most often used on bass lines in Rap and R&B. __________ 100Hz Increase to add a harder bass sound to lowest frequency instruments. Increase to add fullness to guitars, snare. Increase to add warmth to piano and horns. Reduce to remove boom on guitars & increase clarity. __________ 200Hz 1. Increase to add fullness to vocals. 2. Increase to add fullness to snare and guitar (harder sound). 3. Reduce to decrease muddiness of vocals or mid-range instruments. 4. Reduce to decrease gong sound of cymbals. __________

http://obiaudio.com/2010/07/11/eq-chart/

12.07.11 08.34

ObiAudio

400Hz Log In

Sign Up

Visit

1. Increase to add clarity to bass lines especially when speakers are at low volume. 2. Reduce to decrease cardboard sound of lower drums (foot and toms). 3. Reduce to decrease ambiance on cymbals. __________ 800Hz 1. Increase for clarity and punch of bass. 2. Reduce to remove cheap sound of guitars __________ 1.5KHz 1. Increase for clarity and pluck of bass. 2. Reduce to remove dullness of guitars. __________ 3KHz 1. Increase for more pluck of bass. 2. Increase for more attack of electric / acoustic guitar. 3. Increase for more attack on low piano parts. 4. Increase for more clarity / hardness on voice. 5. Reduce to increase breathy, soft sound on background vocals. 6. Reduce to disguise out-of-tune vocals / guitars 5KHz 1. Increase for vocal presence. 2. Increase low frequency drum attack (foot/toms). 3. Increase for more finger sound on bass. 4. Increase attack of piano, acoustic guitar and brightness on guitars. 5. Reduce to make background parts more distant. 6. Reduce to soften thin guitar. __________ 7KHz 1. Increase to add attack on low frequency drums (more metallic sound). 2. Increase to add attack to percussion instruments. 3. Increase on dull singer. 4. Increase for more finger sound on acoustic bass. 5. Reduce to decrease s sound on singers. 6. Increase to add sharpness to synthesizers, rock guitars, acoustic guitar and piano. __________ 10KHz 1. Increase to brighten vocals.

http://obiaudio.com/2010/07/11/eq-chart/

12.07.11 08.34

ObiAudio

Log In Sign Up 2. Increase for light brightness in acoustic guitar and piano.

Visit

3. Increase for hardness on cymbals. 4. Reduce to decrease s sound on singers. __________ 15KHz 1. Increase to brighten vocals (breath sound). 2. Increase to brighten cymbals, string instruments and flutes. 3. Increase to make sampled synthesizer sound more real. __________ Low Bass: anything less than 50Hz This range is often known as the sub bass and is most commonly taken up by the lowest part of the kick drum and bass guitar, although at these frequencies its almost impossible to determine any pitch. Sub bass is one of the reasons why 12! vinyl became available: low frequencies require wider grooves than high frequencies without rolling off everything below 50Hz you couldnt fit a full track onto a 7! vinyl record. However we do NOT recommend applying any form of boost around this area without the use of very high quality studio monitors (not home monitors there is a vast difference between home near field and studio far field monitors costing anywhere between 5,000 and 20,000). Boosting blindly in this area without a valid reference point can and will permanently damage most speakers, even PA systems. You have been warned! Bass: 50-250Hz This is the range youre adjusting when applying the bass boost on most home stereos, although most bass signals in modern music tracks lie around the 90-200Hz area with a small boost in the upper ranges to add some presence or clarity. Muddiness/irrational area: 200-800Hz The main culprit area for muddy sounding mixes, hence the term irritational area. Most frequencies around here can cause psycho-acoustic problems: if too many sounds in a mix are dominating this area, a track can quickly become annoying, resulting in a rush to finish mixing it as you get bored or irritated by the sound of it. Mid-range: 800-6kHz Human hearing is extremely sensitive at these frequencies, and even a minute boost around here will result in a huge change in the sound almost the same as if you boosted around 10db at any other range. This is because our voices are centred in this area, so its the frequency range we hear more than any other. Most telephones work at 3kHz, because at this frequency speech is most intelligible. This frequency also covers TV stations, radio, and electric power tools. If you have to apply any boosting in this area, be very cautious, especially on vocals. Were particularly sensitive to how the human voice sounds and its frequency coverage. High Range: 6-8kHz This is the range you adjust when applying the treble boost on your home stereo. This area is slightly boosted to make sounds artificially brighter (although this artificial boost is what we now call lifelike) when mastering a track before burning it to CD.

http://obiaudio.com/2010/07/11/eq-chart/

12.07.11 08.34

ObiAudio

Log In Sign Up Hi-High Range: 8-20kHz

Visit

This area is taken up by the higher frequencies of cymbals and hi-hats, but boosting around this range, particularly around 12kHz can make a recording sound more high quality than it actually is, and its a technique commonly used by the recording industry to fool people into thinking that certain CDs are more hi-fidelity than theyd otherwise sound. However, boosting in this area also requires a lot of care it can easily pronounce any background hiss, and using too much will result in a mix becoming irritating. Okay when thinking about mixing and EQ never lose sight of the purposewhich is to create an intelligible mix with clarity and power. Surprisingly this technique works really good for getting that low end down. When I am done with a mix I usually run another high-pass filter over the whole mix around 55-60hz to eliminate a lot of frequencies that you cant really hear or feeland arent reproduced on most stereo systems. This low end mush can really sap a power amp and speaker of its ability to pump. Once cleaned up it is amazing how punchy your tracks will be, without any apparent loss of low end. I do a similar thing with a low pass filter on most of the instruments as well to eliminate any extraneous high frequencies. I usually start rolling off guitar around 8khz gently, the kick drum around 6khz, toms around 10khz and snare around 12khz. The only things I want to inhabit the area above 10khz are cymbals, high hatsand most importantlythe air of the vocals. It is amazing how much vocals can cut through a mix and still keeping a high sheen on the overall mix using this method. Your separation is often enhanced as well. And you dont have to resort to awful harmonic exciters like BBE and Aphex which are usually poorly used and can sound very sour to me. After I have filtered my frequencies I actually begin to EQ things. Now I have a few rules of my own when it comes to using EQ that keep things under control. Once again, these are just guideline rules that I occasionally break but I have found that they are applicable for me 90% of the time: 1.) Always use a parametric EQ. Graphic EQs are for wusses. 2.) When boosting Q must be wider (less than) than 2. 3.) When cutting Q should be narrowfrom 1.5 or greater. 4.) No cut or boost may be greater than 6db +/- in any case (occasionally broken for cutting). 5.) 75% of my boosts are less than 2 db. 90% are less than 4 db of boost. 6.) Never cut more than 8db of anything unless notching out specific small frequencies. 7.) It is okay to occasionally pile on a wide Q boost or cut with another narrower boost/cut if you need a radical increase in that particular frequency (this makes it sound more natural and less like a resonant peak). Okay, when I am using EQwhich I admit I do a lot of *subtle* EQingI always aim at doing one of two things: 1.) Remove the bad qualities of the sound such as rattles, hums, hiss, muddy frequency areas and so on. 2.) If there are no bad qualities that need to go, then accentuate the positive elements. After I have taken care of those problems I then move on to actually mixing the instruments together. I always ask

http://obiaudio.com/2010/07/11/eq-chart/

12.07.11 08.34

ObiAudio

Log In Sign Up myself where does this particular track live? and aim towards cutting other tracks that intrude on that area by Visit a

few dbs. The idea is to cut away parts of interfering signals to allow certain instruments to shine in particular bandwidths. This is my general schema (these are relative and only guidelinesindividual mixes/use may vary): 80hz rumble of the bass 100hz thump of the kick 200hz bottom of the guitar 250hz warmth of the vocal 350hz bang of the snare 400hz body of the bass 500hz clang of the high hat 600hz clang of the cymbals 800hz ping of ride cymbal 1000hz meat of the guitar 1200hz body of the snare 1400hz meat of the vocal 1600hz snap of the kick/plectrum on guitar (attack) 2500hz wires and snap of snare 3000hz presence of the vocal 4000hz ring of ride cymbal/top end of bass guitar 6000hz sizzle of the high hat 7000hz sizzle of the cymbals 8000hz top end of the kick 9000hz brightness on snare and cymbals 10000hz brightness on vocal 12000hz air on vocal 14000hz air on cymbals Hopefully this helps. I didnt give away too many of my good secrets.

http://obiaudio.com/2010/07/11/eq-chart/

12.07.11 08.34

ObiAudio

Log In

Sign Up

Visit

Remember this is a guideline NOT A ABSOLUTE GOSPEL TRUTH TO EQ! It is best to use your ears. It is your greatest and most valuable tool!

About Obi The Incredible You can get to know me better by following me on Twitter. :) Twitter.com/Obiwonder View all posts by Obi The Incredible !

This entry was posted in How To..., Mixing & Recording, Production and tagged EQ, mixing, Production, Recording, Technique. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to EQ Chart
Rhys says:
July 8, 2011 at 1:01 pm

What a fantastically useful page!

Reply

sam says:
July 9, 2011 at 4:16 am

This is utterly exceptional!

Reply

ObiAudio
Proudly powered by WordPress.