The Ultimate EQ Cheat Sheet for Every Common Instrument

[Ted]

Per multiple requests, here's my guide to, "When the hell do I start turning these knobs, and where do they go?" But before we begin, I offer you the fine print: These references are general ideas for where to begin to look for sonic issues with particular sounds, instruments, and voices.

The Ultimate EQ Cheat Sheet for Every Common Instrument

[Flash Harry]

Nice, always good to have more information. I was at a gig last night, the kick drum was impressive. I asked the engineer how he's done it, D90 and then cut at 50Hz, then a broad cut at 250Hz, flat to the top. Just cut, no boost. Interesting in the light of this article. I struggle to get a good live kick sound.

[bruno]

Super information
Thanks for posting.
B

[Oldrottenhead]

got this bookmarked, tho hardly any time for music these days, all work and no play.

[thehitman]

i went to the page and glanced over the material and i honestly think this guide is great! seems like you offered suggestions where appropriate but mainly focused on timbre, which is helpful by giving a roadmap to whatever destination is desired for the music and musician.

reading the comments on that page, it seems like most of the people who commented were commenting to debate the validity of the article and the information that it presented. a lot of the comments against the article start with "the right way to do this is...." and that misses the point entirely. the point is to help people in using eq to shape the tone of their instrument to meet the needs of the music and to steer people toward the sound they want. i don't recall ever seeing anything in the article that said: "this is how it's done", or "this is the right way". you are helping people to understand what eq can do and how it affects the sound. so many of the negative comments are assuming that the article is meant for training professional engineers the idea that eq is for fixing everything. 

here's a good formula: creative mind > performance > instrument > production tools

all of which have no "correct" way of doing them, on the path to the music speaking with the voice the artist intended in a recording or on a stage.

great job on the article, and thanks for sharing it.   

[T.C. Elliott]

Missed this way back when, but it's a great starting point and has a little more information than the screen shot I once used. Just remember to use your ears as sometimes the cut or boost your use for the electric guitar in one song is the wrong cut or boost for the next song. But still a great tool.

Here is the pic I used way back when (and should probably look at again with this blog post to compare.)

[T.C. Elliott]

I copied over the text (no pictures) in a docx file. If anyone else wants it you can get it from the following link. It's a couple of pages that can be printed out and used as a reference if you would like.

http://www.helenseviltwin.com/tcelliott/Songcrafters/EQCheatSheet.docx