FabFilter Pro-Q - Advanced EQ'ing techniques

Another great Pro-Q tutorial by Dan Worrall. This time, he explores some advanved EQ'ing techniques and shows some of the expert features of Pro-Q.
FabFilter Pro-Q is available at www.fabfilter.com/shop. For more info about Pro-Q, check www.fabfilter.com/products/pro...

[@Wlhlm]

Dan has been doing great tutorials for 12 YEARS just wow

[@NHKxt]

I could've never imagined watchin a plug tutorial would be so mesmerizing. Dan was killing it and still is for an 8 year old tutorial holy moly.

[@CameronLeeWorldwide]

These videos are quite good. Some audio tutorials fumble around for 30 minutes while the engineer mucks around, but I feel like your videos are well thought out and concise. Thank you.

[@SteveStockmalMusic]

Totally true. Watch his video called “Give me money” where he breaks down HOW he approaches creating these excellent tutorials. He’s hero material for sure !!!!!!! 🦸‍♂️

[@loungermusic]

Wow. Insane amounts of information in a short video! :) I thought I'd share some of my notes in case they are useful to anyone else: 1. Cutting 20-30 Hz is fine on whole mix (even large PA systems rarely go below 40 Hz) 2. Many rigs will force subs to mono, even if the rest is in stereo. PA systems usually cross over from subs to bass at between 80-120 Hz 3. He approximates a Baxandall EQ curve which can create smooth, natural sounding cuts or boosts 4. He creates an approximation of the Gerzon shelving type which can be more transparent than a simple shelf 5. He creates a ‘fairly wide and gentle dip at around 7k where the vocal is in danger of becoming sibilant, and allow the shelving band to boost the air region above 10k’ 6. Bell-shaped filters are more frequently used to control mid-range frequencies. 7. A ‘Q’ of 0.6 (roughly 2 octaves of bandwidth) - wide and gentle and can transparently sweeten material Boost the upper mid/lower treble will add presence and sparkle, or cutting them to reduce harshness and make the sound smoother. 8. A ‘Q’ of 1.4 (about an octave) - useful to pick out individual parts of a mix. EG bring out guitar with a boost at 1.5k, or set it back in the mix with a little cut. Also a good setting when hunting for problem frequencies 9. Higher Q’s can sound unnatural when boosting, but can be great for surgical transparent cuts. 10. A Q of 4 is roughly 1/3 of an octave, while a Q of 8 is roughly around one note (great for targeting problem notes) 11. Be aware, cutting the low mids may affect your perception of the high mids and treble, so you may need to revisit those 12. Zero-latency mode is best when sweeping for problem frequencies (as linear modes will introduce a delay between your changes and when you hear them) 13. Linear mode can cause pre-ringing effects on transients. As a general rule: Linear work best for gentle or wide cuts or boosts, especially in the higher frequencies, and might be a good choice in multiple microphone situations. Zero latency may work best for surgical cuts / costs and tonal shaping.

[@jonathankessler9853]

The hero we didn’t know we needed

[@FreeTheJambon]

Great and helpful comment. Thanks!

[@Diego-of7ne]

Please FabFilter, continue with the videos and tips, i'm not a really producer and I'm not earning money with music yet, but when I achieve it, I'll buy all your plugins because they are awesome!

[@DivanProdOfficial]

dude, your voice really got me into ! It.s like I just watched a short Discovery documentary about EQ.ing :) very useful

[@DivanProdOfficial]

No, man:) I meant to say that his voice is like from a Discovery documentary. I don.t think the Discovery 'team' got into sound production documentaries...yet:))

[@DaMonstaMuzik]

Opening this Plugin inside S! just looks gorgeous! lol i love this EQ, use it every single song several different ways. Most versatile EQ ive used

[@nicholasriley4729]

I love this!!!!!!! But seriously, I never knew I could roll off a different amount of bass in the mid/side field than where the sub bass or deep bass information resides in the track. AWESOME. Cheeris!

[@ElkinMarenco]

Not in every music genre.

[@Senj1n]

that thing is such a gift and for sure one of the best vst's ever made! propz to the fabfilter guys, they are legends!

[@roogrey]

Oh my goodness, this channel and fabfilter products are a real discovery! You're answering questions I was on the point of investing some serious money in courses to answer. I shall be investing said money in your plugins instead, so no worries there. Thanks, Dan!

[@England-su9dm]

Loads of very good useful information.Thanks .

[@TuningFreak23]

he does a good job showing how good fabfilter plugins are, the best tutorials there are! hands down

[@chopchopbisjez]

You're making great videos. Clear explanation and great examples. Thanks

[@gurindersingh7933]

After watching and practice such these kinds of work now Slowly slowly I am looking myself as a mixing engineer,,,but still a lot have to fulfill.thanks fabfilter🙏 My last but not least work to consider is pro c (compression) but for now I am pretty happy 👍

[@invanorm]

As soon as I have the funds, I'm purchasing this plug in. Sounds and looks awesome.

[@studio-yilmaz]

AND AGAIN:::A GREAT DAN WORRAL AND GREAT FABFILTER!!!!

[@blakemacdonson]

best plugin ive ever bought, highly recommend it, he doesnt mention that you can have 20 eg bands, gotta love digital eqs

[@xaosnox]

You can actually have 24 bands. And I have to say that, as much as I love Pro-Q/Q2, Pro-MB is the plugin of all plugins.

[@mohamedelsays9105]

I am very glad that I stumbled upon your video

[@masterilay6868]

This was so helpful!! Thank you

[@ZenithMusicNet]

Great explanation, pleasant voice.

[@Jambax]

This is incredible. Purchase confirmed!

[@j7ndominica051]

Is the consistent shape of the bell filter near nyquist achieved through oversampling? I love how the narrator pronounces Keelohertz, di-P, and kic-K.

[@HardDiskMusic]

Wow ! Pedagogic and calm!

[@SaintDP]

Nice tips! Thank you. What was the first track by the way?

[@Dking863]

This E.Q. is probably one of the top 4 to own.. I use it 95% of the time...

[@Obsidian456]

Another great tutorial! Thanks, now I just need to fully understand it :)

[@rafys3g]

Que posibilidades hay de poder verlos en español o subtitulados, se ve que son buenisimos tutoriales... Gracias!

[@DanWorrall]

@FOXC810 The limiter would usually come at the end of the chain. No rules for EQ and compression however: ask yourself if you want to compress the equalised version, or equalise the compressed version... the answer will depend on the context. If in doubt try both ways.

[@JohnnyHammond]

Don you are awesome. Please post some more tutorials. Thanks...

[@Big_Nigs64]

This is what i needed to know. stereo bass and phase cancellation.

[@LifeIsGood1992]

+William H me too ,same problem

[@xaosnox]

Check out Chris Johnson's Airwidows plugins. They're free, and he designs them to avoid phasing, artifact, and distortion issues. He's put out several plugins in the past that specifically address sub and bass issues, and he just put out a new one. His plugins are amazing, and sometimes a little weird, but he's brilliant. He's kind of like a savant. He's got like 170 something plugins, and they work with Linux, Mac, and Windows. They don't have GUIs. Just sliders, so they're great for training your ears, too. Donate whatever you can do he can keep making these awesome plugins. He also just put out the best De-Esser ever. Best was to use it is to crank it to the max, then mix in enough dry signal to add in just enough sibilance so it doesn't sound lispy. It only effects the sibilance, not the rest of the highs. I think Waves' new plugin, "Sibilance", uses his code. He makes all his code available for anyone who wants to use it. It kind of pisses me off when I see him come up with something revolutionary, then someone like Waves'comes along and suddenly releases something just like it and doesn't pay him for it! Anyway, he's got several plugins you'd find useful, and he has a video that describes and demos each one. Best kept plugin secret, and we need to spread the word! I know you'll find something useful and some great explanations that will help you a lot.

[@shebbe]

Very smooth plugin! I love how you incorporate more functions than only the left mouseclick. Those shortkeys will definetly take off some extra clickfrustrations and allow you to focus on the eq-ing itself.

[@Eduaro2U]

I would love to know the name of the track - and whether I can buy it.

[@boimesa8190]

Are there any other videos out there specifically detailing the eq processing modes??

[@ATOMxEve]

so much AWESOMENESs in one video! must buy!

[@NettyMusicOfficial]

Amazing... I cant wait to play

[@bryanm9649]

great tut

[@kb1629]

What a brilliant plugin!

[@djtorque]

Best EQ out there IMHO

[@CyanideLovesong]

This video is 12 years old and in all that time, still no other company has come up with an EQ that can compete with Pro-Q. I guess this is the EQ that made other developers give up.

[@mrconcept]

that first tune is dope!

[@JakobStrand]

This is a FABulous video!

[@MrCapashen2]

THANK YOU FABFILTER

[@DanWorrall]

@FinalFragment Read up on "Mid Side" or "MS" stereo. Basically its a different way of representing stereo signals: instead of one channel for the left speaker and another for the right speaker (like conventional "AB" stereo) MS uses one channel for the middle of the stereo image (the sum, ie: the mono mix of left and right), and another channel for the sides of the stereo image (the difference, ie: what you lose when you mix down to mono). Perhaps I should make an MS stereo tutorial..?

[@DanWorrall]

@TheEudonous Already there! Set up the plug as you want it, then click the presets menu -> Options -> Save as default

[@nwhit]

The mid-side cutting is genius! I NEED THIS.

[@gladwinmohlamonyane4033]

Every Parametric EQ I have used has that function dude... unless we're talking about FL... Then you need to invest

[@gladwinmohlamonyane4033]

But none has the ability to move a group of parameters all at once

[@L9X]

Gladwin Mohlamonyane there's a Patcher preset which fixes that.

[@goku21youtub]

also make your baseddrum and bssline mono from the beginning , then you don´t need to fix it in the mixbus

[@L9X]

don't make bassline completely mono, it's nice to have some nice stereo upper harmonics

[@brandonwilliams4296]

Love it.

[@AP-mu2xh]

Great tutorial! BTW First track is amazing! What is its name?

[@johnnycomelately6341]

Extraordinary

[@elasticoGomez]

How could anyone thumbs down this video?

[@philippgrunert8776]

May you please elaborate on what's this gurson or gurdon eq shape? I seem to not find anything about it when “googleing“. Thanks in advance! 😉

[@johnhuldt]

Dan Worrall for President.

[@gliterott]

I love it

[@giapada]

In the first example since you already had the very low high pass and set it to mono why also apply a bell or a low self for attenuation in the mids of the low frequencies?

[@esp1344]

For anyone unfamiliar with FabFilter plug-ins: I know they look like toys and they don't have a name as huge as Waves or UAD but they make really good plugins with a TON of options. Since getting Pro Q I rarely use anything else

[@HooverBeast]

esp1344 what are you talking about? fabfilter has an awesome reputation, as far im concerned. almost every other producer that ive spoken with agrees that fabfilter is class

[@xaosnox]

FabFilter make Waves look like kiddie toys. They are the most amazing plugins in the industry for what they do. They don't compare to UAD for their analog quality, but for in-the-box plugins, there's no comparison. Especially when it comes to Pro-MB or Pro-R. There's simply nothing that comes close to their feature sets and sound quality. I'm test after rest, they beat Waves and the other more established brands. Waves make cheap (quality, not necessarily inexpensive), glitzy plugins with big name endorsements that sucker people who don't know what they're doing into thinking they can make their mixes sound like a celebrity mixer's by using one or two sliders in a "one size fits all" fashion. Their channel strips and hardware emulations are pathetic compared to Slate Digital or, especially, UAD. FabFilter don't make emulations. They make amazingly great sounding, incomparably feature rich tools that are mind bogglingly great. Check out Worrall's videos on Pro-MB and you'll hear a taste of a master at work with the most innovative tool in the industry.

[@shortbusheros4]

I love you SOOOOO MUCH!

[@-tabe3oon]

Guys What's the name of that first track? It's dope!

[@Joaovitor-yx5xp]

thank you bro thank you

[@AsherBKNY]

great plugin

[@TerenceKearns]

What are your thoughts on cutting bass out of the so-called sides of mid-side EQ? particularly passive EQ - the idea being that energy economics will allow more bass im the centre if you aggressively high-pass the sides...

[@laurohenrique1810]

Nice fab

[@HazyJ28]

10 years ago, damn! Does FabFilter Virtual Studio Technology still exist, and is it still purchasable? Definitely an interested potential client, here.

[@Amarnamusick]

You are the Best of the best, may be you are the onlyBest, Thank you Thank you Thank you

[@TheKhadaf]

so did you buy it ?????

[@josephmarchuk9994]

I'm not sure I understood why the bells were used instead of the shelving. Could someone clarify?

[@ivanrehetskyi4830]

1st track AMAZING....name ?

[@AEUXKE]

please, what beat is this or where can I listen to the first beat?? That beat is crazy

[@liranziv]

+AEUXKE totally agree with you

[@123string4]

at 4:48 what is the term he uses? Gerson shelf?

[@xaosnox]

Great info, but was a bit disappointed in this one after watching his other tutorials. What made them outstanding was that he allowed time for us to hear what was happening, and I found my ears developing new sensitivity rapidly. This one was so much info so fast with no pauses in between, that it wanted for time to appreciate and absorb the techniques he was demonstrating. He alluded to being rushed at the end. I hope this is a rare exception to his exceptional videos.

[@Byronic19134]

this video like 10 years old

[@Amarnamusick]

please what does it mean when my EQ analyzer only appears until 16k only and not more than that, not extending till 17 or 18 or 19 or the normally 20?!!

[@xaosnox]

You're probably not using Pro-Q. Other EQs have settings that let you zoom in or show what part of the spectrum is showing, but, AFAIK, Pro-Q always displays and lets you add points from 10Hz to 30kHz, even though those are outside the hearing range. Putting points there can let you make curve shapes that you couldn't otherwise make.

[@ArGyProductions]

Sheer eloquence... Proud to be British

[@marlowdurden5330]

Can I get a copy to study at an more opportune time for me ?

[@masterastakhovsound]

2021 🙏

[@Pirate454]

Awesome! 4:54 "Bof Bandf!" :D

[@OneStepToday]

What does he mean by Baxon bell type boost? anyone?

[@graphene1487]

Great information. It would be nice though if you could provide a little more time so we may hear the difference in audio adjustment. Moving very quickly from idea to idea. I felt like that student in class that couldn't keep up taking notes lol

[@FOXC810]

Hi Just Bought the Pro-L ,Pro-Q ,Pro-C ,Timeless 2 . when mastering in what order would you use your filters Eq, Comp, Limit cheers

[@xaosnox]

Usually you want to EQ into the Compressor, then limit. The limiter will always come last in the chain, but you may layer compressors, EQs and other things in the order that sounds and works best. Mastering shouldn't be a much of a process. It's should really be limited to doing a few things to maybe compensate for how he mixer's room might have colored the sound, making sure you're within the limits of streaming services, adding the track info, and making a master if it's going to vinyl or CD.

[@1roOt]

is there any decent (multi)filter-plugin? free?

[@FrodoMaster1996]

hey man, how can I enable the 'solo' button? I can't find out where is it placed...

[@xaosnox]

In Pro-Q2, when you hover over an EQ point, a box will appear that tells you the frequency, the cut or boost, and the Q. In the top right corner of that little box is a headphone icon. If you hover over it, it will turn red. If you click it, it will solo that band.

[@ShaneKeizer]

Damn that first track is dope! Where can I find it??!

[@-tabe3oon]

I'm here reading the comments looking for its name xD

[@ivanrehetskyi4830]

Same

[@apeironishome]

on the fabfilter youtube page... very nice

[@jycOfficial]

those who understand this, understand. those who don't, are lost.

[@stephanosioannou1825]

?

[@liranziv]

+Jonathan Chen exactly

[@iCarroller]

+Jonathan Chen Those who understand this, put the years and effort toward understanding this.

[@Alfonsoltd]

+Daniel Carroll But if they don't-- that's half the reason they don't buy it.

[@iCarroller]

+Future Tropics I was dumbstruck when I heard about mid side. hadn't a clue about it but i spent my time watching tutorials and practicing and now I'm good at it. The phrase should be changed to ''Those who give up easily, will".

[@armansrsa]

why use warm sounding mikes if you are just going to boost the top end later?

[@tintala]

I was just wondering about that, WAVES claims to adds some warmth, so not FABFILTER EQ?

[@xaosnox]

All Waves adds is bullshit marketing scams, and now they have a draconian licensing system. Boycott Waves. You can do everything way better with FF, Airwindows, and UAD.

[@WorldITCB]

Maybe someone can shed some light here. I understand the sweeping thing somewhat but I think it's the spectrum analyzer I'm confused on. Sometimes it's over the line and sometimes the freqs are well under the line so 1. What exactly is the spectrum analyzer for if you're just going to sweep anyway when determining where to cut/boost? And/or 2. Why the need to sweep if the spectrum analyzer is intended to show where the issues are? I'm guessing spectrum visual and sweep audible??? Thanks anyone in advance!

[@iamtherealrenedescartes]

The analyser shows frequencies right down to 10Hz as well as those up to 30kHz (On the pro-q2 I think it does anyway). These are frequencies that are out of our hearing range. Not only that, but adults over 25 can barely hear over 17kHz despite how well engineers think they can hear. So it can help in showing us frequencies we can't hear. But the sweeping is for smoothing out those frequencies that sound bad _to our ear_. Not what the analyser shows. But you can also smooth out the peaks based on what you see but I have never done this in a mix. I don't see the use. For me personally, I usually have the analyser visible but I only make low cuts and high cuts based on the information I see (and that is usually for frequencies above 20Khz - when low cutting, I usually sweep up until I hear it starting to effect the sound and then back it off a little so I am removing information that is inaudible). When EQing, this is something we should use our ears for rather than our eyes. I have on multiple occasions checked out what my reference track looks like on the spectrum just to see it. Not to base my decisions from though.

[@esp1344]

unrelated comment but when you're using eq's with an analyzer, don't rely on the analyzer to find out where to cut or boost. remember this is music; it's meant to be listened to. rely on your ears to make decisions about changing the sound of something, not your eyes. also as a general rule of eq's, cut with a narrow Q and boost with a wide Q/cut to make something sound better(take bad things out) and boost to make things sound different.

[@WorldITCB]

Thanks Esp. And Descartes. Is my mix supposed to sound "radio ready" by the time I'm done mixing? I often feel like I can't get it to sound radio ready on my own but at what point do I know I've gotten it close enough to have the mastering studio Polish it to give it that final touch? In other words. When is my mix good enough for mastering? Do I spend more time trying to control kick and bass sub harmonics? Do I try to add more "air"? Or do I save time and leave "the rest" to the mastering experts? Subjective I suppose but I often find myself trying to get my mix to sound good that I may be wasting time on details the mastering guys can take care of.

[@esp1344]

I'm not a professional I just happen to have some really great professors so don't take my word the same way as CLA's or Pensado's. But i think that stuff is all in your ballpark as far as mixing goes. Mastering shouldn't change the sound of your mix much at all otherwise there wouldn't be two seperate processes of mixing and mastering. If I find myself feeling the need to make more than minor polishing type changes on my 2Buss before I get it ready for mastering, Ill go back and change more on sub busses or channels and try to take care of it there. When you feel you don't need to use plugins on the master to make your mix sound better, then its ready to be sent out to mastering. You can never trust someone else to perfectly see your vision of the final product, so anything you want to happen sonically, do yourself.

[@xaosnox]

What shows up as peaks in the spectrum analyser are merely where there is the most amplitude or where things are loudest. That doesn't necessarily mean that is where the unpleasant frequency is. A snare hit will peak very high at the frequency where it is supposed to sound the loudest, but there may be a weird ring from the metal in the casing that is quiet, but annoying. It may appear to be very low in the frequency spectrum analyser, but sweeping a soloed boost will help you hear where that is so you can cut it, Does that make sense? Other times, it may be that there is a peak in an area where your experience tells you there isn't much valuable sound for that instrument, so you know that's probably where you want to cut. So, sometimes its visually helpful, but you ultimately have to rely on your ears.

[@sbechristos11]

got the bundle great stuff I can tell ya but I gotta say it doesnt get any close to the UAD or Waves stuff when it comes to emulate analog warmth

[@shortbusheros4]

@CyanMan2010 you'll get there some day :)

[@awesomepowerscombine]

Maybe your sound didn't have any side information or something? This plugin works a dream for me

[@CyanMan2010]

i wish i'd understand this :)

[@quevagregory15]

👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍

[@Ahseyo]

It's a good plugin for the mid's and the highs but the lows on this EQ sucks so hard. You can only boost oh so little because it's extremely sensetive and can easily start distortion if you boost it even slightly too high so you can't at times boost like you would with another EQ. the lows on this plugin also tends to give out some rumble imo. But, works brilliant with the highs and mids.

[@xaosnox]

I haven't run into that yet. What frequency range are you noticing this happening?

[@northernintrovert]

Less bass = narrower vinyl grooves = more space on a vinyl LP, huh.. that's super interesting.

[@HITOPMUSIC]

i swear i triend midside eqing and it doesn't even make a difference !?!

[@OfficialRedux]

easiest way to castrate your mix.

[@bryanm9649]

lol, extreme

[@FinalfixMusic]

Suspenseful narration lol

[@bucketlist3376]

For once, the software is actually really useful

[@zafergultekin1272]

I dоwnloaded everything is okay

[@erikcleveland2817]

lol sounds like regis from witcher

[@neaumusic]

sub bass is great, don't know why you would take that out

[@JoelLaviolette]

Sub bass eats up a lot of energy in the efficiency of a speaker. You can not hear sub bass, so it becomes wasted energy and the rest of the track will sound quieter because all the energy is going into recreating the sub bass.

[@neaumusic]

i dont know if i believe you, but yea you feel 30hz a lot more than you hear it

[@neaumusic]

thanks for the reply though, i will have to research

[@JoelLaviolette]

Very few speakers reproduce 30 hz....but in any case, you can see in his example he has -36 db at under 20 hz. That is inaudible sub bass.

[@neaumusic]

i wouldnt cut anything above 48hz, which is G1 www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-notenames.htm

[@youngadultsuis]

Good tutorial and good program too. The music is shit though!