4 Sep
2008
4 Sep
'08
7:14 p.m.
I have read that using equalization will give each instrument more "space"
and make the track clearer and easier to listen to. I sort of understand that
this involves removing some frequencies from, say the guitar, so that it
does not interfere with vocals, or some such concept. Is there somewhere
on the internet I could get some information or better yet, some real life
examples, of how to equalize a track? I use Audacity as a sound editor
and it does have EQ on it, but I've no idea how to use it.
Is there somewhere on the internet that can tell me what frequency
ranges the typical bland human voice, harmonica, guitar, bass, and drums
each cover individually? That way I'll have a starting point for this adventure into
EQ. Or is learning EQ just a case of sloppin' around until something good happens?
4 Sep
4 Sep
7:36 p.m.
On Thu, Sep 04, 2008 at 05:16:19PM -0500, schwartz wrote:
I have read that using equalization will give each
instrument more "space"
and make the track clearer and easier to listen to. I sort of understand that
this involves removing some frequencies from, say the guitar, so that it
does not interfere with vocals, or some such concept.
This can be done to some extent, but if you care about the
sonic quality of your recording you should be extremely
conservative using such techniques. It's not how EQ is used
normally.
If an instrument or voice gets in the way of another, try
to fix that just using the levels.
If that can't be done, there is something wrong with the
music itself, and that should be solved there. It's part
of the job of a producer (and sound engineer) to spot such
things and take action by talking to the musicians (and
knowing what to tell them - not the problem, but the
solution).
Is there somewhere
on the internet I could get some information
This is not the sort of thing you learn by reading
some web pages. You have to train your ears, your
understanding of sound and music, experiment a lot,
and maybe in a few years you will get a crunch on it.
Is there somewhere on the internet that can tell me
what frequency
ranges the typical bland human voice, harmonica, guitar, bass, and drums
each cover individually?
First of all listen, listen and listen. To get a good idea
of musical spectra, use Japa. It's a spectrum analyser that
roughly matches the way humans experience spectral features.
Or is learning EQ just a case of sloppin' around
until
something good happens?
No, if you're in a real production environment you need to
know what you are doing, or you make a fool of yourself.
And listen, and know that you adapt to something completely
wrong in just a few seconds, and that turning something up
always seems to give a better sound but actually doesn't.
It's largely training, and it takes effort and time.
Ciao,
--
FA
Laboratorio di Acustica ed Elettroacustica
Parma, Italia
O tu, che porte, correndo si ?
E guerra e morte !
7:42 p.m.
schwartz wrote:
I have read that using equalization will give each
instrument more "space"
and make the track clearer and easier to listen to. I sort of understand that
this involves removing some frequencies from, say the guitar, so that it
does not interfere with vocals, or some such concept. Is there somewhere
on the internet I could get some information or better yet, some real life
examples, of how to equalize a track? I use Audacity as a sound editor
and it does have EQ on it, but I've no idea how to use it.
Is there somewhere on the internet that can tell me what frequency
ranges the typical bland human voice, harmonica, guitar, bass, and drums
each cover individually? That way I'll have a starting point for this adventure into
EQ. Or is learning EQ just a case of sloppin' around until something good happens?
Hi, schwartz. the following may be of interest:
http://www.recordingwebsite.com/articles/eqfreq.php
http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm
http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/articles6.htm
best wishes, G.
5 Sep
5 Sep
5:19 a.m.
schwartz wrote:
I have read that using equalization will give each
instrument more "space"
and make the track clearer and easier to listen to. I sort of understand that
this involves removing some frequencies from, say the guitar, so that it
does not interfere with vocals, or some such concept. Is there somewhere
on the internet I could get some information or better yet, some real life
examples, of how to equalize a track? I use Audacity as a sound editor
and it does have EQ on it, but I've no idea how to use it.
Is there somewhere on the internet that can tell me what frequency
ranges the typical bland human voice, harmonica, guitar, bass, and drums
each cover individually? That way I'll have a starting point for this adventure into
EQ. Or is learning EQ just a case of sloppin' around until something good happens?
Don't know how good it is compared to others, but I've just started
reading "The Mixing Engineer's Handbook", seems like a good start for a
non-sound-engineer like me.
--
David
gnome(a)hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community
5:53 a.m.
On Fri, Sep 5, 2008 at 00:16, schwartz <millward(a)ms.umanitoba.ca> wrote:
I have read that using equalization will give each
instrument more "space"
and make the track clearer and easier to listen to. I sort of understand
that
this involves removing some frequencies from, say the guitar, so that it
does not interfere with vocals, or some such concept. Is there somewhere
on the internet I could get some information or better yet, some real life
examples, of how to equalize a track? I use Audacity as a sound editor
and it does have EQ on it, but I've no idea how to use it.
Is there somewhere on the internet that can tell me what frequency
ranges the typical bland human voice, harmonica, guitar, bass, and drums
each cover individually? That way I'll have a starting point for this
adventure into EQ. Or is learning EQ just a case of sloppin' around until
something good happens?
As The Fons said: Learn to listen. Listen to learn.
Here's a chart [1] of approximate instrument ranges and their frequencies.
It doesn't tell the whole story but it can be handy. It was published in
Sound On Sound [2], I'm currently trying to locate the original article it
appeared in, but SOS is anyway a highly recommended resource and all their
articles older than 6 month are free for everyone to read.
[1] http://files.dahnielson.com/2008/03/23/instrument-ranges.png
[2] http://www.soundonsound.com/
--
Anders Dahnielson
<anders(a)dahnielson.com>
8 a.m.
On Fri, Sep 05, 2008 at 09:53:56AM +0200, Anders Dahnielson wrote:
Here's a chart [1] of approximate instrument
ranges and their frequencies.
It doesn't tell the whole story but it can be handy.
It shows the range of fundamental frequencies, i.e. the
range of notes that can be produced by each instrument.
The frequency regions that determine the sound of the
instrument are a completely different story. For many
(not all) instruments these do not depend strongly on
the note played, and they are called 'formants' ranges
in that case.
The key to learn these things is to experiment at lot,
and listen critically. Start with something simple, e.g.
acoustic guitar and voice. Make a number of mixes, using
a different balance between the two tracks (just a few
dB will change the result a lot), and using gentle EQ on
either or both. Also listen to the results a day later -
your impressions will be quite different.
Ciao,
--
FA
Laboratorio di Acustica ed Elettroacustica
Parma, Italia
O tu, che porte, correndo si ?
E guerra e morte !
5997
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5 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
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Anders Dahnielson -
david -
Fons Adriaensen -
garryo -
schwartz