make music now EQ FX masterclass

EFFECTS

ADV ANCED
PART 6

Equalisation
In this, the last of our Advanced Effects tutorials, we take a look at the king of processors EQ

o far during the course of this in-depth FX series weve looked at a variety of wild and wonderful processing techniques, designed to shape, shift and generally mangle or spangle your sounds. And for this, the last in the series, we've been saving the best, the sexiest and the sassiest thats right, its EQ! Now, before were deafened by a chorus of disparaging coughs and sniffs, let us assure you that EQ really is the daddy of effects. More than any other

process, it can make or break your mix, even if only by omission! The key to great production is simple take a good element and make it as good as it can be. This means choosing the right sounds for the right job. If you try to force a sound, it just wont sound nice. A great mix is about a great balance of great elements. If you compromise this philosophy at any stage it will show, believe us. But because of its overt immediacy and power, EQ is usually the first recourse of

7Old analogue desks often only had one mid-band with a frequency sweep, like this one from GarageBand

the lazy producer trying to force a sound. Why? Simple if you boost EQ, you boost the level of a signal, and louder almost invariably sounds better at first. Whack the bass up to 11 it sounds phat. Turn up the treble it stands out a mile. And we humans are a fickle bunch. Its for all these reasons that some engineers will tell you that you should never accentuate frequencies with EQ, only attenuate (reduce) them. But engineers are superstitious and prone to routine and habit, so its best to add at least a grain of salt to every wisdom nugget they pass your way. Before we go any further, though, lets have a brief recap on what EQ is all about. EQ is essentially a cross between a filter and a level control. It affects only specific frequencies and is used to either boost or reduce the level of said frequencies. In times gone by, most budget EQ was very simple, and limited to three bands at least two of which were fixed-range. These days we have the facility to apply highly precise EQ to every channel, which makes it even more critical that we understand what were doing (if this were a martial arts tutorial wed remind you that, With great power comes great responsibility), so later on in this tutorial well be looking at the various different types of EQ you might encounter. cm

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THE ANATOMY OF AN EQ PLUG-IN

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EQ GRAPH A visual representation of the frequencies affected by EQ SHELVING These EQs affect only frequencies above or below the cutoff frequency

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PARAMETRIC/BAND-PASS This EQ type only affects frequencies within the specified range FREQUENCY This sets either the cutoff or centre frequency to be affected

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GAIN CONTROLS The boost or gain applied to either the shelving or parametric EQ

Q This specifies the width (parametric) or angle (shelving) of frequencies affected either side of the centre/cutoff frequency

Parametric EQ
Its strange how quickly we humans adapt and forget the way things were, which is why theres not a computer musician who could function without fully parametric EQ, despite the fact that most of us had never even used one prior to 1999. So what is it? Well, a fully parametric EQ strip will have three controls. The first is Frequency. All EQ is based around a curve, centred on a certain frequency, and the Frequency control determines this frequency. The next control is Gain (well, its probably Q, actually, but well get to that in a minute). The Gain control specifies how much the aforementioned frequency is made louder or quieter. So if you set the Frequency control to 3kHz and apply 3dB of gain, then any frequencies at 3kHz will be boosted by exactly 3dB. The next control and heres where it gets interesting is Q, and the Q control determines the amount of gain or attenuation applied to either side (in case youre interested, industry folklore has it that Q stands for quality). To understand the Q control, imagine a strip of rubber, pulled straight and attached at either end, with a row of pen marks at regular intervals (Blue Peter fans can actually try this out using a rubber band, a biro, two nails and a pair of scissors). Each of the marks represents a specific frequency, and if you push any part of the rubber band up it represents gain to those frequencies, whilst pushing it down represents attenuation. The first thing you notice is that all of the notches either side of the central notch are pushed up or down too, and this is what the Q control is used for shaping the curve either side of the centre frequency. The Q is assigned a value, and this is derived from dividing the centre frequency value by the bandwidth of the affected signal. Of course, the frequency

1Cubase's built-in parametric EQ is a good model to get started with

width is hard to define, so it's taken to mean the point on either side of the curve where the signal level drops by 3dB. High values equate to narrow frequency ranges, for precise cutting or boosting, while low values equal wide curves, for broad boost or cut.
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make music now EQ FX masterclass

GRAPHIC EQ
The graphic equaliser probably seems like an historical curiosity to most producers under the age of 25. The only place you seem to see them these days is on your iTunes controller or parents (or grandparents) living room hi-fi. But in the days before DAWs, the pro-quality graphic EQ was a highly valued and much sought-after final link in the mixing chain. To understand its primary purpose, you first need to picture your mix in terms of frequencies. If you have access to a spectrum analyser, run one of your finished tracks through it now. Then, run one of your favourite mixes through. See the difference? In case you dont have a spectrum analyser, check out the screengrab at the bottom right of this boxout. See the curve and shape? Thats a graphical representation of a mix, and though you should always trust your ears first, its handy to get an objective look, especially if your ears arent very experienced yet. A good mix should have a reasonably smooth frequency response (though not necessarily flat see boxout on p69). There might be a bias to the bass and/or treble, depending on your genre, but generally speaking, you want to avoid too many narrow peaks. And thats what a graphic EQ is for shaping your mix subtly. And it really does work. You should be aiming for a very decent EQ though 30-band used to be the industry standard. Essentially, this means that the entire audible frequency range (roughly 20Hz to 20kHz) has been divided up into useful frequency segments, and with a 30-band EQ each band is spaced roughly a third of an octave apart from the next. Of course, the nature of graphic EQ is that the preset Q curve of each band will also affect any surrounding bands (the effect of one slider will usually be felt on the range of the two or three above and below as well), so having boosted or cut one, youll need to be more subtle with those on either side, otherwise the effect on the crossover frequencies between them will be exaggerated. It goes without saying that the benefits of graphic EQ are limited largely to mix shaping, and any corrective or creative EQ applied to specific sounds will benefit from the precision of a parametric EQ instead.
7Graphic equalisers are often relegated to consumer hi-fi equipment and software like iTunes

3This is the modern equivalent of the graphic EQ a pro quality 10-band parametric EQ plug-in for mastering

7Spectral analysis lets you see exactly what's going on with your mix

Shelving and other sonic DIY

Weve already established that EQ is essentially a type of filtering, and this is why on a number of EQ plug-ins youll see similar controls as you would on a variable-type filter. Most notably, these have to do with shelving, cut and band-pass settings. The first of these is found at the top- or bottom-end of the frequency range, and is used for applying broad boost to all the frequencies above (if its at the treble end) or below (at the bass end), ideally with the ability to select the cutoff frequency. The second is like a basic low- or high-cut filter, cutting off everything below a certain point (although be careful, as some, such as that in Cubase SX 3, actually have a small slope, rather than an exact cut). Finally, the band-pass settings are those, such as with fully parametric EQ, where you can sweep the affected frequency range up or down, affecting only those frequencies within the range. All of these types can be useful for different purposes the trick is thinking logically about which one is best for the job.

Its just a phase

One of the interesting things about EQ units and plug-ins is how different they can sound, despite the fact that they all have the same theoretical effect. And one of the main causes of this is now thought to be due to the phase relationship of different frequencies. Because frequencies travel at varying speeds through analogue circuitry (even if its only that in your speaker), the exact relationship between the time that high and low frequencies hit our ears can be affected, making the sounds appear duller. Indeed, many enhancer plug-ins rely on this very principle, and offset higher or lower frequencies slightly, making the sound ultimately brighter. By the same token, different EQs can affect the phase relationship in different ways, which probably explains why some EQs can make sounds shine through with minimal boost, while others require much more radical gain settings and yet still dont offer the same clarity and punch. For this reason its important to experiment with as many EQs as you can, and then settle on the one that gives the best results and requires lower settings.

1Some enhancer plug-ins offset the high and low frequencies to compensate for the phase distortion in your speakers

1These two Logic EQs might look identical, but one of them prevents any phase distortion, for a clearer and more natural sound (albeit at the cost of CPU cycles and latency!)

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EQ FX masterclass make music now Q&A focus

EQ tips

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7Human speech is centered around 1-3kHz, which is why phones only reproduce frequencies from 300Hz to 3kHz, as shown here

IF YOU FIND YOURSELF applying excessive EQ on a regular basis, there are two possibilities youre picking the wrong sounds to begin with or youre the next big thing. If you think its the latter, wait a year, and if you havent had three acclaimed singles and a hit album then refer to the first point. ANY FREQUENCIES BELOW 30Hz are usually inaudible sonic pollutant, soaking up precious headroom and generally muddying up your mix. Its therefore always a good idea to cut everything below around 30Hz this way your mix will be louder and your bass will sound much punchier and heavier. seem inherently less bright. You can use this effect and EQ your mixes to give certain elements a greater sense of distance by applying high-shelving cut. EQ BOOST AND CUT both affect the volume of a signal, and obviously the greater the cut or boost, the more the volume is affected, so whenever you

1Applying boost to signals will usually only end up cluttering your mix

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fighting for the same space in the mix. For example, vocals tend to be centred around 1-3kHz, so try a little cut in that range on your guitars and hear the two separate beautifully. ONE OF THE BEST WAYS to get parts such as backing vocals or layered guitar lines to gel together is to run them off to their own bus and apply any EQ tweaks to the bus, rather than the original parts. MOST SOUNDS ARE CENTRED around a certain part of the frequency spectrum but also have stuff going on in other sections everything else is a potential source of sonic pollution. Judicious use of high and low shelving or cut can help give everything the space it needs. GENERALLY SPEAKING, human hearing is less attuned to EQ cut than it is to EQ boost, so if you want to achieve a more natural sound from your processing, try to avoid any excessive EQ boost. Instead, make sure you opt for cuts in competing frequencies.

JUDICIOUS USE OF HIGH AND LOW SHELVING OR CUT CAN HELP GIVE EVERYTHING THE SPACE IT NEEDS

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EAR FATIGUE is much more of a problem with high frequencies, so always apply treble boost in small steps, and when A/B-ing the sound with and without treble, give yourself at least a minute to readjust to the dry version and allow objective assessment.

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THE KEY TO GOOD parametric EQing is finding the right frequency, and the easiest way to do that is to apply excessive gain and set your Q to a reasonably narrow frequency. Now, when you sweep the frequency range, youll be able to hear when you hit the target frequency. AIR SOAKS UP high frequencies more than low frequencies, and low frequencies travel slightly faster than high ones, so distant sounds

apply EQ, be prepared to tweak your level settings too. IF YOURE USING mastering EQ (either graphic or parametric) on a complete mix, then you should almost always place it before any limiting youre applying, as otherwise youll risk losing some volume or pushing the signal into clipping. ANALYSE ALL OF YOUR main sounds (such as vocals and guitars) together and in isolation and see if theyre

SPEND SOME TIME learning the different frequency ranges for common instruments. Use your parametric EQ with plenty of boost and a medium Q setting and sweep the frequency range up and down while you listen to some tracks. Make notes about which frequency range each instrument is centred on.

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1A spectrum analyser can help you learn the frequency ranges of different instruments

Keeping it flat
While we might all scrimp and save to buy speakers and amps boasting perfectly flat frequency responses, without any bias to top, middle or bottom, the truth is that our hearing response is anything but flat. And the plot thickens as we reduce or raise the volume of what were listening to. For example, at low levels our hearing is more attuned to middle frequencies, but as we raise volume, the mid-range response falls off, while the upper and lower frequencies become more noticeable, resulting in the smile curve on a frequency response graph of our hearing. We can use this fact to make our mixes sound apparently louder, simply by emulating this type of curve in our mixdowns, and two of the best tools for this job are the graphic EQ and spectrum analyser. Of course, the extent to which you do this depends largely on the type of music youre making. Electronic styles can obviously benefit more from the smile technique than classical recordings can!

7Applying heavy EQ gain will make the signal significantly louder, so reduce the channel volume afterwards

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