Removing Harsh Frequencies from Guitars in REAPER

[@bengossler6193]

"Once you hear it, you cant unhear it." Truer words have never been spoken lol

[@johnmatthews8435]

"Green dynamic EQ" has all the features you would need for that task ;) (incl. solo a range and dynamic attenuation for the problematic range)

[@pvalenti]

FYI, ReaEQ actually does have the ability to solo bands like any of the other EQ's mentioned here. Filter Type BAND...You're welcome!

[@ARE_YOU_SICK_OF_YT_CENSORSHIP]

and there're 2 scripts by MPL "Solo last touched ReaEQ band"

[@farrell72563]

Your videos are always so well explained and fill in the gaps that I seem to miss in many of the other Reaper tutorials I watch. Reaper has such a great community of people sharing their knowledge with people such as myself who are just starting out with this awesome Daw. Thank you so much for all of your help, it's greatly appreciated!

[@palethorn]

I had this issue last week while recording a heavy guitar part. Fixed it with mic positioning, a piece of masking tape across the speaker cover, and a makeshift string dampener.

[@Tokolele]

Nice topic ! I'd recommend to use SPAN on the master track or the monitoring FX chain. This can saves CPU (having only one instance), allowing to analyze the whole mix or whatever tracks or busses are soloed.

[@MrMarkpitcher]

You can do the EQ sweep trick in ReaEQ too. Just hold ALT and press the wet/dry knob next to the [UI] button. This plays only what would get filtered. Sweep around (cut only) until you find the obnoxious part then hit the button again and you're done.

[@nathanmarshallmusic]

Thanks for the heads up on Span. Very cool!

[@daviHuggMonster]

uuuuuh I like the new light setup cool tips with the different EQs. Will try some of those with synths. My melda EQs can also isolate frequencies when I click in the EQ window.

[@Mevzuderin]

This is a nice video where people can see how those eq's work. It's also useful for those who want to learn listening critically. Thanks for the nice video Myk!🤘

[@NickLeonard]

Nice Reaper theme and this it's much more readable now on a 1080p screen! Guitars sound great, my initial critique of the mix is the cymbals sound kinda dark and very compressed, but it's a work in progress ;) My tips to add: I was going to comment what you said about the sweeping method, it works, but you can easily find a near infinite amount of points to get rid of that may not really need it. I like to try to just listen to the guitars in the mix, then solo'd and find out what I don't like and target right around that region only. The "vowel method" video by audio university is a great trainer for starting to hear that, it certainly comes with time and practice. As for determining how much to cut, usually 1-2 dB is a good safe bet, but I like to slowly a little, then a lot, and work back and for until I find the spot where it sounds like the annoying noise is masked by everything else, but not sounding weird and scooped there - something that you'll hear if it goes too far. Sometimes, if you cut something too much, it uncovers another frequency in the process and you want to deal with this. That can be a rabbit hole (I've gone down too many times) that leads to doing way too much and getting a weird sound, at which point I usually reset the eq to 0 and start over... Usually 1 or 2 bands in the treble region cutting 2 dB or less will get you where you want and if it needs much more than that, maybe you shouldn't be trying to fix it with EQ!

[@rhalstead429]

In my opinion the TB is where it’s at. They all did a good job to smooth the sound but the TB just felt to be more naturally flowing. I think you’re still getting some hiss from the cymbals, but I like the difference that minor adjustment made.

[@lisan_al-ghaib]

You're right man, unhearing it is pretty hard. No wonder I have a hard time resetting my ears when using a deesser.

[@dylanjastle]

Thanks for all the free plug-in demos!

[@ragismrotzrochen5776]

Always glad to see Toneboosters plugins! They are dead cheap, but offer the same features (even more) than the awfully expensive FabFilter equivalents. And they sound amazing, especially the Reverb, Compressor, or Limiter. I really don't know why that TB guy gets talked about so little!

[@daviHuggMonster]

Many brands of plugins get ignored on YT. Sadly. But we do know that bigger brands can sponsor content creators or at least give 'em stuff to test out. Probably some companies do not do such a promo. Not just Toneboosters, I use Melda plugins and for now there is only one channel that features their range.

[@ragismrotzrochen5776]

@@daviHuggMonster Yes, that's most likely. After all, expensive plugins might also be expensive because their companies pay a lot of money for promotion... Part of the reason why I rarely buy such plugins. I don't see what I gain from paying for advertising 😅

[@jaylinsa]

Voxengo are great as well

[@specialbeat]

Awesome video. Thanks. Myk!

[@wenglish1968]

Nice work as usual Myk!

[@stevebracher6998]

Very timely! Nice work, as usual. Thanks for the info.

[@Oliver-ty7xu]

I did actually like it alot with the EQ off. Maybe im just a sucker for harsh guitars but it sounded really present and nice imo. Great video!

[@Durkhead]

I agree unless its like a high pitch whistle or somthing leave it alone everyones turning their guitars into white noise sound machines

[@nopenheimer]

"Can't unhear it" was surprisingly true even to my novice ears through cheap BT headphones.

[@vertigopulse]

Awesome lesson thank you!

[@lopiid]

Mike, the descriptions of your sound manipulations are great and understandable to my lysdexic (a step beyond dyslexic) and ADHD-addled brain. Thank you!

[@juanchis.investigadorsonoro]

Great video Myk!

[@mekanikaltitan]

the thing about the span tip is that it does the same thing as reaeq depending on where you click it changes the gain of the isolated frequency and again this brings the turning up any frequency like that sounds bad

[@philippgrunert8776]

To switch plugins of an on as you wanted here simply mark the plugin that is on an the one that is of to that you want to switch for comparison, press control+b, enjoy

[@LetsTalkAboutReaper]

I'll have to go back and watch the video for context, but I do use that to switch back and forth between two. If I want to switch to the next one in line for several plugins, I tend to just do that in post. I suppose I could probably write a script to switch to the next plugin on a track, and maybe tie it to a smart marker on an item 🤔

[@pzdipuing]

Hello mike,can you please make a tutorial on how to mix a song in mono and final stage of mastering (stereo)....

[@firstname7566]

Hey there Mike, on my end .I didn't notice the harshness on the guitars until you soloed the harsh frequencies..to my ears it seemed to be coming from the cymbols..which I tend to always have a problem with..my ears just cant get past the cymbols on any mix I'm doing. Unless I cut frequencies on the overhead s that overlap guitars and vocals..thanks for pointing this out .

[@helmanfrow]

If my ears detected any difference they're keeping it a secret from the rest of my senses.

[@vcodev108]

very nice, but I always get confused between harness and resonance, what is the difference between these two? please explain.

[@UncleBenjs]

Yoooooo Myk!

[@Bart_was_his_name]

What’s the technical explanation for the source of this harsh sound if it’s such a common problem? Or does everybody shrug their shoulders and accept that guitar signal chains are too complex and dynamic to explain it? Related: does this harshness generally follow the pitch of the guitar as you move up the neck or does it stay put? If it moves I imagine that would be quite the time sink to manually set EQ automation.

[@LetsTalkAboutReaper]

I don't know that i have a "correct" answer for this, but my theory is the harmonics and such that are introduced by varying degrees of distortion are the cause of some of the harshness. I'll consult the hivemind on Discord and see if I can get one of them members who can back their answer with science!

[@insertanynameyouwant5311]

Hi, Mike! I`m working on my mix now, and decided to try the technique from one of your older video about mixing with Pink noise, and I can`t decide which level should I set it to. I have more tracks than in your project. So how low should I make it? Is there any math behind it? I used to set everything to -18RMS before mixing

[@LetsTalkAboutReaper]

Honestly, I feel it's a tough question to answer as it in many respects depends on a preferred workflow. I tend to shoot for between -18 and -12 because that's what my common plugins like. I know that in another video I talked about rough mix and balance and such, but even with that concept, we have to keep in mind that it is rare to leave all faders are zero, so sometimes it's fine that the master or a bus is clipping, because you simply haven't reduced some of the faders yet. An example is my hat channel and ride channel. I want the incoming signal to be sufficient so it'll work properly with the plugins I plan to use, but I know going into this that there is NO WAY those two channels are going to have their faders up high because there is sufficient signal in the overheads and room mics, and those spot mics will be used more for "directional placement" and focus on certain parts, like if there was intricate hat or ride work in spots. I realize that didn't exactly answer the question, but in retrospect, there really is no cut and dry answer. A lot of the things I mention in videos like the pink noise video are really more for helping to get a reasonable starting point, and will be modified by many to better suit their own workflow.

[@insertanynameyouwant5311]

@@LetsTalkAboutReaper understood, thanks!

[@glugblub7524]

hey mike

[@Atezian]

Your face lol 7:54

[@KiLLJOY1056]

Speaking of harsh, you got really harsh S's in your mic!

[@tvtime1505]

Is it just me, or are they still harsh?

[@LetsTalkAboutReaper]

There are additional frequencies that need some attention, and some of the EQs shown in the video could honestly use a bit more adjustment. So "some" of the harshness was reduced but not all. Still work to be done 👍

[@UncleBenjs]

Sounds to me like an excess of energy in the low mids causing a bit of mud which is perceived as a little harshness, through sounding a touch smeared above. But I am listening on my phone whilst in the kitchen, so I may be off lol

[@gabriel_facedown]

This sounds “safe”

[@SSITM]

Equal. 😂

[@jaylinsa]

Forget the guitars. Lets fix the over compression on the drums first...

[@LetsTalkAboutReaper]

Can't win 'em all 😂

[@garethde-witt6433]

That’s easy don’t use distortion 😂

[@flexinriffs9926]

I’d pick reQ they’re all super close but that seemed to take out the harsh noise but still remain aggressive while the others were maybe too smooth. Also forgive me I’m on my phone not the studio right now so that may be opposite what I’d say with proper play back 😂