Understanding EQ - How to EQ any instrument | SPLmixing.com

[@SPLMixing]

Check out my other videos by clicking on my channel icon

[@phillipmabote7460]

an eager mind wont underestimate the university of you tube.....thanx guys you are a great help

[@SPLMixing]

phillip mabote You're welcome!

[@ELLIOT8209]

I'm levelling up through YT.

[@KlooslessMusic]

I think this might be the best tutorial on EQ I have seen so far, love it!

[@catojrgensen8912]

This was THE most fantastic 15 minutes I've spent in a loooong time. GREAT advice and tutorial.

[@RobStangle]

OUTSTANDING! To the point, with pros and cons given, no fluff, and simply one of the best I've seen on the subject (even over and above some commercial courses I've bought). THANK YOU!

[@SPLMixing]

Rob Stangle Thank-you Rob :-)

[@BobV]

Keep these video's coming, You are an awesome teacher. Very informative.

[@5ammy13]

"The best EQ is no EQ." Brilliant stuff. Loved it.

[@SPLMixing]

Thanks!

[@clubnavee]

What makes this video great is it actually targets an audience familiar with EQ and does not go into the long drawn out history of components and what they do (I.e. Gain, Frequency, Q, etc.) The visual terminologies/blurbs with decision-tree examples while getting directly to the point REALLY makes this refreshing regardless of ones technical experience: it is just nice to see someone getting to the point. A+ for this!

[@SPLMixing]

Wow, thanks! Appreciate your feedback :-)

[@DavidAndersonKirk]

This is a brilliant tutorial. I really like that you emphasize that there are no absolutes and exceptions to every rule. Thanks for being so thorough!

[@Rumour49]

I have to thank you for this video.You have been the only person to explain in this detail with a simplified method

[@vandellali3346]

This is the best EQ tutorial I've seen so far. Very applicable!

[@UnboundedMedia]

Great tutorial. One thing I would mention regarding subtractive EQ is that in many ways, it can add to your sound by making some space for other bands of the spectrum. For example, cutting 3db in the 400-800hz range can give you a brighter top end, which does not require any boost in that area. As a result, the flaws are hidden, but the sound itself is also changed (psychoacoustically speaking).

[@emiel333]

One of the best EQ tutorials I’ve ever seen on KZbin. Great explanation also.

[@SPLMixing]

Thank-you! This is soon to be updated, as I made it several years ago.

[@emiel333]

SPL Mixing You’re welcome! I’m looking forward to new video’s.

[@petitfantome777]

thank u this is universal and straightforward, two qualities that a lot of yt tutorials lack

[@SPLMixing]

You're welcome :-)

[@monkeybrainspit]

You are a gentleman and a scholar. Thank you for this exceptionally well made video. You have earned a new subscriber.

[@inhaledeath3899]

This blank EQ -> Compression -> then do subtractive adjustments on the blank EQ after Compression is gold knowledge. I never did it this way, but it makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

[@SPLMixing]

Compressor in an EQ sandwich I call it. I still use it to this day.

[@inhaledeath3899]

I even feel completely stupid never having thought about that myself

[@soulsticejazz2635]

Doing my very first mixing of a jazz quintet I'm recording in my basement in a few days - and this video was a great start! I've messed around with EQ before but after just getting REAPER, I've realized I really do need to start to know what I'm doing in order to get the band sounding right. And the last bit of advice is the best! I'm playing tenor sax in the group and the four other cats know each other musically like the back of their hands. I hope to use as little eq as possible in order to get the sound that I'm going for. Thanks for the great tutorial!

[@kingklabe]

Really liked the explanation of the EQ+Compressor sandwich. Simple solution to a potentially large problem. Thanks!

[@zackfalls]

Brilliant Daniel. This is so incredibly well done. Maybe the best EQ tutorial on KZbin

[@esongsore]

Excellent presentation on EQ. God bless

[@donniebooshae3880]

This is by far the most helpful video I have watched in relation to getting my head around EQ. Thank you

[@jabulanimagubane6268]

This is what I have been looking for in terms of looking for the frequencies wanted and unwanted.Thanx

[@MrUnique27]

You can really hear the difference when wide or narrow cutting a frequency, this is a great tutorial :) 100%

[@adrianbuchner8422]

Crazy. Now that's a tutorial which not only pleases your profession, it also pleases your soul! How much a freak am I? :D

[@SPLMixing]

Thanks Jay. I'll do my best to bring out something in the coming months, it's just finding the time to do it. As I am working on Win 7, I am yet to find a video capture program that can simultaneously record pro tools audio with the video. This would enable me to make live tutorials and be able to pump them out quicker. Might see if I have an old laptop I can record into in the meantime to work in tandem with the desktop unit...

[@DeadScrypt68]

This was great -- really logical, philosophical approach. Thanks for taking the time!

[@juanraortiz]

Great video series Daniel. I've watched a lot of videos here in youtube, but your tutorials are the best here dude. Your advices about how and why you apply EQ, dynamic processing or spatial enhancement are very helpful information focused on good listening, good taste and science experiment. I've never seen tutorials like yours, I'm believe me, I've seen a lot!!! Keep working on this please. Your knowledge about the matter is incredible.

[@401MuzikPro]

I had to log in to say thank you.. This is the most insightful video on this topic I've found on KZbin.

[@SPLMixing]

+The Maestro Thank you :-)

[@dacianodeluca2407]

Super helpful, appreciate the effort in making this video. no dull moment in this video and learned alot in 15 min. Great job!!

[@SPLMixing]

Yes. Although it's hard for me to judge without hearing, I suspect your problems start in the octave below that, as 2kHz is usually where harsh 'lives'. If you get your hands on a dynamic EQ, such as brainworx, a neat trick is to set it up such that you have it cut 2kHz by 3dB or more at the right moments. Meanwhile you set up a simultaneous boost at 4kHz by 3dB or more when the 2 kHz gets dropped out.The vocal gets less harsh without loosing top end presence for those moments. Give that a try!

[@Aspire85]

Huge thanks for this. Appreciate it massively. Great vid, very informative and you even described a couple of problems I am running into with my mixes. Can't wait to check out the other vids :)

[@FOOTENOTE]

Awesome video even for a pseudo beginner.Clean and straightforward with generous amounts of good nuggets! Thanx!

[@zacharylyons9979]

Holy hell, the bit about going against your initial instinct is a great tip.

[@soulguitar77]

This tutorial is great ! Very focused and "compressed". Thanks !!

[@paulhibbert]

What a great video. Tons of really good advice mate. Well done.

[@SPLMixing]

Thanks Paul. Happy mixing!

[@SPLMixing]

Thanks!

[@musicgrynd]

you have the best information on youtube!!!i cant wait for your new tutorials!!my new fav Online Tv lol.

[@sowerby1950]

Just subscribed after watching. Great advice, especially for me as a newcomer to making my own music. Anyone who is happy to promote the idea that the best EQ is no EQ, has got to be worth listening to. Excellent tips though if EQ is needed. Many thanks.

[@djpanix8631]

Thanks so much for the tutorial. Great job explaining when, how and why for each tool. you have given me the information that help end my struggle with equalization.

[@holmes92jh]

very balanced an I like how yu respect and gave credit to those who chose to be different while still managing to educate us on your philosophy great!!!

[@SPLMixing]

+Justice AkA Just J Thanks very much. Happy mixing!

[@anthonybadame4660]

I love the tone of this, so severe, I kept thinking you’d start reciting the law and order intro. Dude, great video

[@bartleblans6570]

Best tutorial on EQ I've ever seen!

[@SPLMixing]

Thanks Bart!

[@sonnyprewitt]

Great video.Many years ago a really good sound engineer showed me how to use a parametric equalizer. I had a feedback problem with guitar rig. I discovered years later that the pickups on my guitar were microphonic and I used subtractive eq for a remedy.

[@paolotonolo1140]

Absolutely Fab !! Thanks so very much for upping these wonderful Tuts !

[@amirgrant844]

Very good informative video. I knew most of what was said but a couple of techniques in this video surprised me and I thought that they were very clever and I will always remember this. Thank you

[@RobertUWL]

Hey Dan ! I just wanted to say you are absolute incredible. thank you so much for sharing your knowledge - your teaching method is excellent and really to the point and clear. I cant wait for checking out all the other videos from your channel ! thanks again and nice greetings from austria - robi

[@SPLMixing]

Robert U. Thanks Rob :-)

[@azibfansuri]

Oh damn you just blew my mind at the opposite approach to EQ. I was just thinking of the opposite of the LP filter, which is the HS boost

[@Mayurkrishnakalita]

Thank u so much for the most awesome lesson ever..

[@SPLMixing]

You're welcome buddy :-)

[@catchstump]

By Far the best video tutorial of EQ that's I've run across. I enjoy how you give explanations as to what to listen for and what questions to ask yourself. Do I want to enhance the sound or remove it's flaws? Either way, you have now taught us to listen for whistling, wuff, and brittle sounds that can can exposed in the mastering process.Thank you.

[@SulaeymanKhan]

This is priceless. Thankyou so much for sharing

[@MartinWeeksmw]

thanks very much. Your tip on adjusting eq after placing compression may be just what I've been looking for as I work very hard on properly compressing in tracks and in aux buses. This is most likely why I'm having trouble getting just the right tone. I will put that suggestion to work a.s.a.p. Cheers Mate!

[@iamboybeats]

My mix buss setup is: SSL Clone (for glue) EQ compressor reverb EQ Saturation Stereo Widener EQ Low pass filter Tape Delay Emulation Maximizer Limiter EQ Limiter Sounds pretty good.

[@MixingGBP]

What a fine lesson on EQ. Thanks.

[@SooLeqitx3]

Great stuff my guy!! Thank u

[@SeriouslyNudeSamurai]

Awesome tutorial. concise, articulate and informative. props.

[@KarzGuitar]

Great advice, thanks for the informative lesson!

[@SPLMixing]

You're welcome!

[@ericmaher4756]

excellent and very relevant lesson. I'll have to listen in more than once.

[@PhoenixMatador]

You have the best tutorials! Thanx a lot

[@mrfuckwithyawsister]

excellent explanation of how to EQ. For beginners in mixing, I suggest to read the book of Mike Senior: Mixing secrets for the small studio. He uses a simillair approach. What I learned most from this video is the real difference between subtractive and additive EQ, and the tip avout leaving a blank eq before a compressor is also gold. Thanks Sound Booth!

[@Sdbbffsd]

I like this approach a lot

[@aaroncurtis8545]

Great info man. Exactly what I was looking for whether I new it or not.

[@MosesTemu]

Absolutely Brilliant! Thanks a lot for this video. Great advice and well delivered.

[@ryanmccartney249]

I am so glad that I stumbled upon your channel.

[@TheMattd546]

I love your stuff!!! you should have a million views

[@94XJ]

In my younger years I looked at an EQ the same as you, boost or cuts were different ways to get the same result. I don't know if it was the result of more time mixing, better gear or a combination of the two, but my general EQ philosophy is "subtract to enhance, add to alter."

[@Ifelovv]

This is a great video. Cleared my mind and helped bring all these ideas in my head together

[@IllWillaudioHacks]

Hey This is a really great video friend! you did a great job of braking down the EQ for new and up coming producers and engineers!

[@jimisjoint]

This video is awesome. Too many others are just people showing off their vast collection of plug ins!!

[@sonnybrasco9735]

Dope video

[@Take-the-Ticket]

Cool vid about cutting and boosting, especially about in conjunction with the compressor.

[@juanborjas6416]

Thank you, this was helpful. It expanded my really basic knowledge of sound engineering.

[@juanraortiz]

BTW I liked it very much your encode/decode mid-side video. I did my own experiment with my DAW of choice and really help me to understand better when and how to apply MS processing. So you did Compressor, EQ, M/S technique. What about best way to apply reverbs, using MS to unmask the center, proper early reflection setting based on the tempo of the song, when and why use rooms, plates, halls, chambers, using EQ after reverb, compressor, gates. I will keep suggesting subjects. Thanks for this.

[@user-nl6lz4pg3q]

Thanks man I watch like 5 of these videos and like 3 of them twice great knowledge

[@SPLMixing]

Thanks Fred :)

[@MikePearson]

Superb advice. Really top notch tips.

[@SPLMixing]

Thanks Mike. More to come very shortly...

[@CheesecakeCaptain]

Very good video! Nice and concise.

[@brainhamster]

great tut. i suppose we all have to work differently, because of different bases. but still...nice to have indepth explanations on why you do what you do... and also, nice subtle bass slap nod to seinfeld...where the opposite happens.

[@soulguitar77]

Fantastic summary of Eq-ing ! Thank you !

[@armanm246]

Brilliant vid, One of best I've seen for EQ

[@SPLMixing]

Thanks. Happy mixing!

[@Hexspa]

One of the best vids. About doing things out-of-order: I might start a mix with reverb and spacial effects next. More and more advice about mixing (or even music) seems to be about starting with the middle rather than the beginning. In your example, compressing before subtractive EQ might be counter-intuitive. It's the same for songwriting: many start with an intro but it's corollary is to start with the chorus. Who knows, maybe I'll just do whatever I want to the main part of the chorus then work outwardly. Thanks.

[@SPLMixing]

+Hexspa Totally agree. Sometimes we must work backwards in order to move forwards in our mixes.

[@Paradiesgestalter]

wohoo that was great! this came ease and euphoric in my mind.

[@joshschoerner20]

Thanks for teaching me how to use a low pass filter properly. Cheers!

[@SPLMixing]

My pleasure. Thanks for watching!

[@jackbarron4448]

Brilliant video. It has really helped with my current production.

[@SPLMixing]

Excellent! That's awesome :-)

[@norakat]

Ah some real Audio Engineering. Thank you for putting this together.

[@SPLMixing]

You're welcome @norakat

[@heavymetalmixer91]

Given thatn one of the steps is "doing the opposite", have you heard about of replacing "boost and sweep" for finding problematic frequencies with "cut and sweep"? I think that when a frequency is boosted, no matter what frequency, it will always sound bad.

[@SPLMixing]

+heavymetalmixer91 Yep, there are many valid approaches and I use them all, including also boosting around the problem frequency / combo boosts and cuts.

[@kojoacquaye]

Great and awesome way to explain everything about EQ. Thanks for taking the time. God bless!!

[@SPLMixing]

Happy mixing my friend :-)

[@cheekbrown]

Great tutorial, and nice jazz.

[@SnackPackSilkens]

Great tutorial. Thank you so much for this.

[@StevenWoodMusic]

Periodically you hear engineers use terms like "fundamental" tone/frequency of a bass or drum etc. Can you explain what they mean by this? Thx!

[@SPLMixing]

+swoodmusic Sure. Really all it is referring to is the pitched notes that every instrument plays. We start to hear a guitar as distinctly different in timbre from, say, a piano, because of the added harmonic content above these basic (fundamental) pitches. A piano will have different added harmonics (multiples of the fundamental pitch) than a guitar would. So whilst they can play the same note (i.e. Middle C), it is the harmonic content on top of this *fundamental* pitch which helps us tell a piano apart from an acoustic guitar, even though they are playing the exact same fundamental pitch. I hope that answers that. If not, if you could provide context via a video link, that would be handy. Cheers!

[@mikeleza]

Well made. Great video, thanks very much. I like your thoughts on the subject

[@musicman25]

Too good.. very helpful video

[@kabirxmusic]

Hey! you are providding several incredibly important tips here, keep going ! really nice job, you´re gonna reach a lot.

[@SPLMixing]

Hey Kabir, I am currently working on my new book about everything to do with the mixing process, both from an artistic and technical point of view. I am planning a series of videos as we speak, but I have been so flat out, I'm not sure when I 'll get a chance to post them. Would you guys be happier with shorter videos?

[@kabirxmusic]

Maybe if you make the videos more of a cut through kinda videos. something like the guy from the Wickiemedia youtube channel uses to do. He makes more fast explained videos. But for me your video was so consistent that I watched it all paying attention on details. Im really loving your kind of videos cause the level of good info that´s in them. I really appreciate your response, greetings from Argentina!

[@SPLMixing]

Amir Grant Thanks for watching!

[@MrFlagon]

SoundboothTutorials Great vid dude Im going to get the Butch Vig vocal plugin from waves audio do plug ins cancel out EQ procedure or should you still EQ when using Plug Ins

[@SPLMixing]

You should EQ only if it's needed, regardless.

[@larrytate1657]

They have some presets that get u in the ball park but it's still good to know how to tweak them further for your specific needs.

[@sundaysunday9718]

awesome vid! I picked up some really great tips thanks!

[@elhadizerfaoui]

thank you very much

[@DisfigurmentOfUs]

So huge sense in this video, thanks!

[@mateussouzacosta134]

thank you straight to the point

[@Karmoon7]

Thanks for this tutorial. Very very helpful.

[@HellaHipHop]

i enjoy the uniqueness of your videos, thank you. :)

[@SPLMixing]

+HellaHipHop Thanks for watching. Happy mixing!

[@EmilioSarabia]

do you have a video where you explain the boost x frequency by 3db on y instrumental

[@SPLMixing]

Yes I do and watching it guarantees you will win multiple Grammy awards.

[@EmilioSarabia]

haha ok what is it called

[@SPLMixing]

Emilio Sarabia "How To Win Multiple Grammy Awards - The beginners guide to fame & fortune" - I'm sure I must have posted it already. But in such a case that you cannot find the video, it wouldn't be inaccurate to assume that I couldn't exactly not say that it is or isn't almost partially incorrect. I'm possibly more or less not definitely rejecting the idea that in no way with any amount of uncertainty that I undeniably made it up.

[@beatsbystandish4228]

Awesome video, keep them coming sir! Going to try the latter method from your video :)

[@milanblaha6466]

Nice tutorial for No EQ ... as I mean ... better less subtractive as additive EQ ... Thanks a lot