GENERAL EQ SETTINGS REFERENCE

[Bluesberry]

M_Glenn_M mentioned in his last thread that he didn't have much info when it came to tweaking EQ settings.  This info is from some othe forum and I find it to be good information.  It gives the relative frequency range to tweak for a given instrument.
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3 golden rules of EQ:

Cut (attenuate) to make it sound "better"
Boost to make it sound "different"
You can't boost what isn't there to begin with

Boosting EQ causes phase delay, so use subtractive EQ whenever possible. Your mix will thank you ;-)
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GENERAL EQ SETTINGS REFERENCE

Octave 1 - 20Hz-40Hz - Center 32Hz - (31.5, 31.25, 31)
Description: Chest, Sub-bass, Rumble, Thump
Benefits: all extremely low-frequency instruments (kick,bass, organ) that need a feel of power added.
Caution: causes rumble (cool for FX - post production)
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Octave 2 - 40Hz-80Hz - Center 64Hz (63.5, 63)
Description: Bass, Full/Fat/Round Bass.
Benefits: all low-frequency instruments (kick, bass, etc.) that need more fulness.
Caution: only add to ONE instrument, otherwise you will lose the definition in the low end.
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Octave 3 - 80Hz-160Hz - Center 125Hz
Description: Full, Fat, Body, Boomy
Benefits: Piano, Low Strings, Floor tom, Snare drum Low male vox (around 100)
Caution: cut on kick drum, bass guitar (boomy)
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Octave 4 - 160Hz-320Hz - Center 250Hz
Description: muddy, muffled, ****
Benefits: all mid-range instruments (including vocals) that require some **** and natural feel to the sound
Caution: use on fewer instruments in the mix, in order to keep the definition.
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Octave 5 - 320Hz-640Hz - Center 500Hz
Description: horn-like, boxy, honky, tubey, raspy
Benefits: when cut, it will make things sound more transparent.
Attack (raspy) bass guitar.
Horns (lower brass)
- Megaphone/TV effect
- Honky-tonk piano
Caution: kick/snare drums sound BOXY when there is too much 500Hz
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Octave 6 - 640Hz-1.25kHz - Center 1kHz (actual center of the frequency spectrum. 1kHz is often used as the reference frequency when doing psycho-acoustic measurements)
Description: Aggressive, Attack, Distortion, Nasal
Benefits: Distorted guitar, snare, anything that
needs more aggressive feel to it. (Screaming low vocals)
- Telephone effect
Caution: higher pitch vocals - nasal sound
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Octave 7 - 1.25kHz - 2.5kHz - Center 2kHz
Description: Crunchy, Gritty, Noisy, Grainy
Benefits - Background instruments, including BG Vox. (synths, strings, etc.)
Caution: too much of 2kHz will reduce the smoothness of a sound.
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Octave 8 - 2.5kHz - 5kHz - Center 4kHz (Human Speech Recognition)
Description: Sharp, Edgy, Presence, Definition, "ouch"
Benefits: Lead VOCALS and soloing instruments.
Caution: too much can cause listener's fatigue
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Octave 9 - 5kHz - 10kHz - Center 8kHz
Description: Metallic, Brilliant, Sizzling, Sibilance
Benefits: all instruments with metallic parts (cymbals, hats), shakers, snare bottom, etc., sax and trumpet
Caution: causes sibilance in vocals (extremely sharp S and T sounds). String noise.
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Octave 10 - 10kHz - 20kHz - Center 16kHz
Description: Bright, Airy, Open, Hissy
Benefits: all acoustic instruments, creates a feeling of openness and air.
Caution: tape (analog) hiss. Careful with samples that were taken from vinyl/tape
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[Greeny]

Wow! Thanks BB. This is a whole new world for me. I've fiddled with EQ but have only scratched the surface according to this! It might be time to swap my 'instinctive' mixing for something a bit more professional, lol

[Bluesberry]

Yea Greeny, I haven't done much with tweaking EQ settings much either.  With the BR-1200 I have EQ dedicated for each track so I have started exploring it a bit more, and it can really alter the sound quite a bit for the better.  With the MicroBR you can also have EQ for each track, it is just one extra step.  You have to master the track you want to tweak the EQ on (muting the other three tracks), shutting off compression and other unwanted effects.  It makes the micro pretty darn flexible and tweakable also but just takes a few more steps.

[Blooby]

Greatly appreciated.  What a goldmine of information.

Peace.

Blooby

[jkevinwolfe]

BB,

This is incredibly helpful. Gives so great starting points for fixing EQ issues like mud, excessive string noise and generally flavoring the mix better.

Just a logical reference point for those interested, Middle C falls about 262 Hz, near the centerpoint of octave four.

[Tony]

Unreserved thanks for this.  I know nothing about this stuff and you have given out a tremendous resource and somewhere to start.

[Ferryman]

Agree - if I can ever get round to having some time with the MBR again, this will be extremely helpful.

Cheers,

Nigel

[Greeny]

Agree - if I can ever get round to having some time with the MBR again, this will be extremely helpful.

Cheers,

Nigel

Hang on in there!!!!!

[Flash Harry]

I thought middle C was 440hz.

[64Guitars]

I thought middle C was 440hz.

440Hz is the A above middle C. It's the reference frequency that's often used for tuning a guitar and matches the tone produced by fretting the first string at the fifth fret. When I started learning to play guitar (long before electronic tuners were available), I used an A440 tuning fork as a reference for tuning my guitar. A440 is also the standard frequency that the equally-tempered scale is based on.