Starter EQ Settings

[jrhager84]

3 golden rules of EQ:

Cut (attenuate) to make it sound "better"
Boost to make it sound "different"
You can't boost what isn't there to begin with

Boosting EQ causes phase delay, so use subtractive EQ whenever possible. Your mix will thank you ;-)

[garageband]

but make sure you only use it as a guideline and not as rules! your own discretion is the most important factor for eqing!

While the second part is true, the first part refers to the table above. This table is a list of numbers and descriptions. Facts or, if you will, rules, concerning the relationships of certain perceptions to a range frequencies. I can't for the life of me figure why rock musicians are so afraid of "rules".

[drummerboy69]

Originally Posted by jrhager84

3 golden rules of EQ:

Cut (attenuate) to make it sound "better"
Boost to make it sound "different"
You can't boost what isn't there to begin with

Boosting EQ causes phase delay, so use subtractive EQ whenever possible. Your mix will thank you ;-)

Subtractive Eq?

[TonyB]

Originally Posted by drummerboy69

Subtractive Eq?

Substractive EQ is probably not the best term to us. I understood that he was referring to cutting EQ.

According to my twisted mind, substractive EQ is another word for comb filtering where phasing phenomenon causes freq's cancel each other out.

[jrhager84]

I guess I figured I was being as lucid as possible.

Instead of boosting (adding) you attenuate (subtract). I pretty much summarized directly before that term to elucidate my point.

[TonyB]

Originally Posted by jrhager84

I guess I figured I was being as lucid as possible.

Instead of boosting (adding) you attenuate (subtract). I pretty much summarized directly before that term to elucidate my point.

Yeah, I knew what you meant.

[jrhager84]

Whew. I guess in the future, I'll be more mindful of how I word my phrases. I can understand how someone to misconstrue what I said.

[bugbrain_04]

I've actually been wanting to gather this kind of information to compile a visual graph for my own reference. I'll post it if I do. Hell, if I get ambitious, I might make a flash version as a project for my flash class.

Thank you so much for this info, already compiled.

[jrhager84]

The problem is, by doing that, you're only hurting the people that want to know. There is no "visual" way to quantify what you're doing to something you listen to. Teaching someone how to EQ correctly requires that they actively listen and hear what's happening to the source, otherwise they will only have a fancy flash animation to hold their hand throughout their prospective careers. A good saying is:

"Catch a man a fish; Feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; Feed him for life"

Teach people how to hear the difference and what to look for, and they won't need a graph. Just my thoughts...

[bugbrain_04]

I'm not trying to tell anyone how to EQ, I just want a quick reference for where, for instance, an electric guitar tends to reside, within the audio spectrum.

The flash thing would just be for a flash class I'm taking. I would probably just use my graph for quick reference.