Track EQ on the BR800 -- any advice?

[Burtog]

Hi,

Can anyone spare any advice, I wanted to EQ a track the other night (bass), I had been doing some research on here with previous posts, there was a tascam chart link which suggested good frequencys to use to add pluck or punch to the bass. I went into the track EQ but realised there are several bands in each track which can be adjusted.

Where do you start with this?

I know the best starting point is to have the best sound possible before going to EQ but sometimes I can hear where a tweak or two might benefit the recording.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated!

Gary

[chapperz66]

Hi Gary

This was the link showing the guide to EQ:

http://www.recordingeq.com/Subscribe/tip/tascam.htm

I don't know the BR800 but I'm guessing that it has a two or three band parametric equalizer on each track which will allow you to pick a frequency range and either boost or cut the volume of the selected frequency. For example if you think a guitar sound is too bassy and doesn't cut through the mix, you might try to select the low frequency range, adjust the frequency to 100hz and reduce the volume of that frequency by 1 or 2 db. You might also want to make adjustment to the mid range frequencies, and high range.

Experimentation is the key with eq and every mix can be different.  I don't believe that there are any hard and fast rules but I was given some advice once that I found useful.

1. Less is more.  If you are having to boost or cut an eq frequency by more than 2 or 3db to achieve the sound you want then perhaps you could try recording in a different way to get the basic sound right first (you allude to this in your post).

2. Try to cut a frequency rather than boost wherever possible.  For example if you feel that something could do with a bit more mid-range punch, try cutting the bass first rather than going straight to increasing the mids.  Otherwise you end up trying to make everything louder than everything else, and actually achieving nothing other than creating an increase in noise.

3. Sort the panning out first.  Get the sound in the right place in the stereo image before messing too much with eq.

4. Remember that the aim is to get a sound right in the context of the mix. If you mute everything else and fiddle for ages to get a perfect sound on the acoustic guitar in isolation, you might still find that it sounds awful in the context of the mix. Or you can't hear it at all.

These are certainly only guides - not rules.  I suspect that everyone has different opinions but I find that they broadly work for me.  As I said at the beginning, the only real option is to experiment to get a sound that you like.  Hope this helps.

Paul