What is eq 1Khz ?

[JohnCutts]

I'm mixing a R&B/Neo-Soul female vocalist who on some parts sings to loud at the 1khz frequency. When I turn down the 1khz freq on it makes a dramatic difference. Since I kinda stubbed on it by accident and was like wow this is what I've been looking for I just wondered what the 1khz freq was used for? I didn't see any eq frequency charts that mentioned it.

[dannyman]

1KHz, aka known as 1,000Hz, is one of the strongest midrange frequencies. This frequency is extremely important for guitars and basses as it has one of the most noticable effects, even to the untrained ear, on how gritty or scooped the instrument will sound. By removing this frequency from vocals, you will taking out a bit of ****th, but you will in essence be "cleaning up the sound", making it more "bell like" or "clean and clear". As you probably noticed, you needed to boost the volume a bit after the 1Khz cut, as midrange frequencies are where the cutting power lies, but as long as you can turn the volume up louder, no biggie.

[brandondrury]

you will taking out a bit of ****th, but you will in essence be "cleaning up the sound", making it more "bell like" or "clean and clear".

I want to emphasize that it's not a good idea to jump in with wreckless abandon and kill 1Khz from every track. If you do, you won't end up with "clean and clear" you'll end up with a "thin, fake piece of shit".

To much 1Khz will give you a "wha" kind of tone. Not it enough will sound terrible. (Sorry, I don't have a word for that tone).

When in doubt, don't use EQ.

In the end, reading about 1Khz is really a waste of time. Grab an Eq and a track and start playing around. Boost 12dB @ 1Khz and see what happens. Cut 12dB @ 1Khz and see what happens. In the end, you'll probably find that you don't need to do a whole lot with 1Khz...ever.

Brandon

[dannyman]

In the end, you'll probably find that you don't need to do a whole lot with 1Khz...ever.

Yeah, this is my experience as well. Have you tried using a different microphone for this singer? There are microphones made that are attenuated in the midrange and/or low midrange. 1KHz is just not a frequency I remove; if you remove it, you end up with a

thin, fake piece of shit

, as brandondrury states. Vocals rarely benefit from anything aside from very minor adjustments in EQ, in my experience. Just how much are you cutting 1KHz?

[brandondrury]

It's common for beginners who want what they think is a "hifi" sound which is extremely bright and thin. You just don't hear this on pro records. Learning to embrace "body" and "thickness" is when you grow your recording balls.

[Baron]

Originally Posted by JohnCutts

I'm mixing a R&B/Neo-Soul female vocalist who on some parts sings to loud at the 1khz frequency. When I turn down the 1khz freq on it makes a dramatic difference. Since I kinda stubbed on it by accident and was like wow this is what I've been looking for I just wondered what the 1khz freq was used for? I didn't see any eq frequency charts that mentioned it.

Please forgive me if I am wrong here but if you are asking this kind of question, then I would assume that you have not been doing this for very long. If that is the case then your monitoring system might not be up to scratch and therefore these cuts might not be necessary as your problem might lie in the sound that your system delivers.

If you are using PC type speakers (no matter how fancy), instead of reference monitors, then this is a common issue I have come across.

Have you tried doing a frequency sweep, on your system, to see if any particular frequencies really stand out or drop off?

Give us some detail of your system from the mic through to the speakers and maybe more light can be shed.

Baron

[JohnCutts]

I'm only cutting 1khz on certain strong words which seem to exaggerated the 1khz freq. I'm cutting each word between -1db to -4db and two of the words by -6 to -8 db.

Baron, I am a beginner and I think you are right about my pc speakers. I came across this problem in another song with the same singer and was going nuts trying to figure out was causing this perceived distortion. I say perceived because when I played the song in the car I didn't notice any distortion. Just two days ago I figured out that if I cut the 1hz freq on the perceived distorted word I won't sound distortion it in my pc speakers. So maybe you’re right the problem being the speakers which suck at that frequency. We I get home I’ll try the distorted copy vs the one where the 1khz are cut in the car to further determine what’s going on.

How do you do a frequency sweep ? And what are some good monitors to buy?


Thanks for the advice everyone.

[brandondrury]

How do you do a frequency sweep ? And what are some good monitors to buy?

Baron started this one, so I'll let him take the first stab at it.

I'm only cutting 1khz on certain strong words which seem to exaggerated the 1khz freq. I'm cutting each word between -1db to -4db and two of the words by -6 to -8 db.

How are you doing this? Are you using a multiband compressor?

I have encountered certain vocalists who have a 1Khz problem. They are almost always straining their voice in what I consider to be an unnatural way. (Imagine the little kid in the 40s video singing "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth". Besides those kinds of singers, I've never had a problem with 1Khz on vocals.

Brandon

[Baron]

How do you do a frequency sweep ? And what are some good monitors to buy?

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Baron started this one, so I'll let him take the first stab at it.

Huh?...thanks...I think...

I think we already determined that the 1K thing is probably a problem with your pc speakers so you need to get some decent monitors. My monitors are no longer available (Yam NS10s) and I am out of touch with the latest crop that is available. I will pass this one back to Brandon or Mr Bee or someone with some recent knowledge.

A few things would help to know however.

What is your price range?

Do you have an amplifier or are you going to go active? (amps built-in to the speakers)

What kind of music do you mainly mix?

Regarding the sweep.......what software do you have?
If your software can't do it then there are some audio test CDs available on the net that have this on them. The Bink audio test CD has this (just Google it). What you need is a logarithmic audio sweep. That is one that has equal energy per octave. There is a lot to consider before you do this like making sure you are not getting reflections from anything near the monitors.

Post when you cure the monitor thing and I will give you some detailed instructions.

Maybe I should blog this anyhow.

Baron

[JohnCutts]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

How are you doing this? Are you using a multiband compressor?

I'm using a graphic eq to do to lower that frequency.

Originally Posted by Baron

A few things would help to know however.

What is your price range?

Do you have an amplifier or are you going to go active? (amps built-in to the speakers)

What kind of music do you mainly mix?

Regarding the sweep.......what software do you have?
If your software can't do it then there are some audio test CDs available on the net that have this on them. The Bink audio test CD has this (just Google it). What you need is a logarithmic audio sweep. That is one that has equal energy per octave. There is a lot to consider before you do this like making sure you are not getting reflections from anything near the monitors.

Post when you cure the monitor thing and I will give you some detailed instructions.

Maybe I should blog this anyhow.

My price range is $0 - $200 for monitors. They'll have to be active since I don't have an amplifier. I mainly mix Rap and R&B/Neo Soul. I'm using Cool Edit Pro 2.1 to mix which doesn't have a frequency sweeper at least I don't think so.