stuck on eq

I have read: EQ will help bring out whatever characteristics you feel are lacking, and will also help create a sense of acoustic space for the bass guitar. Try boosting slightly around 75-80 Hz to add more to the low end resonance, pulling out a little between 200-400 Hz to help reduce unwanted boxiness, and adding a little between 5-7 Khz for extra punch.

I have a mixer pretty basic but need to get to grips
it has 3band plus sweep so low @80hz mid 100hz to 8k with a sweep and a high at 12k

I tried the above by turning the bass to 1 oclock to try and achieve boosting slightly around 75-80 Hz
lining the mid to 200-400 then turning the sweep anti clockwise, this makes it sound thinner, if I turn it to the right in isolation it sounds real nice! however is this a false sense of security? would it sound bad in a mix? I need to know a yes no as to if the sweep is meant to be turned left or right for the pulling out a little between 200-400 Hz im pretty sure it is, but hell it sounds really plump when turned to 3 oclock if you have a mixer please help me as its one thing i cant get my head around!!

how could we even comment without really hearin the sound / music ur eq'ing? how things are sounding totally depends on ur original source and what sounds within that source are contained in which frequencys.

ok

gmixstudios wrote:I have read: EQ will help bring out whatever characteristics you feel are lacking, and will also help create a sense of acoustic space for the bass guitar. Try boosting slightly around 75-80 Hz to add more to the low end resonance, pulling out a little between 200-400 Hz to help reduce unwanted boxiness, and adding a little between 5-7 Khz for extra punch.

I have a mixer pretty basic but need to get to grips
it has 3band plus sweep so low @80hz mid 100hz to 8k with a sweep and a high at 12k

I tried the above by turning the bass to 1 oclock to try and achieve boosting slightly around 75-80 Hz
lining the mid to 200-400 then turning the sweep anti clockwise, this makes it sound thinner, if I turn it to the right in isolation it sounds real nice! however is this a false sense of security? would it sound bad in a mix? I need to know a yes no as to if the sweep is meant to be turned left or right for the pulling out a little between 200-400 Hz im pretty sure it is, but hell it sounds really plump when turned to 3 oclock if you have a mixer please help me as its one thing i cant get my head around!!

It sounds like you're going strictly by the book. Those figures are a good starting point but I would use my own ears & my own judgement in a case like this. I occasionally run sound for my buddys' band which we all know incorporates dealing with mostly eq & level adjusting. The only thing I see different between live & studio work is with live sound, one does'nt have to worry about sending out a stereo mix unless they're recording to some sort of mastering medium like CD or DAT with intentions of distribution or whatever. Feedback is another issue as well as keeping an equal balance between the varying monitoring auxes so that everybody on stage stays happy. And the thing about live work is you only get one chance to get it right. Now on the other hand, studio work is totally different, however the eq part/setting levels is about the only thing that goes hand in hand between the two. I think learning to mix is an art all in itself and something that, if practiced frequently, will bring you some very satifying results.

i am trying to make sure i dont use the same hz for the bass line as the kick!!

You can use the same freq range just make sure you have good stereo seperation and if you need to solo the kick roll off the higher end of it to make a little room for the bass guitar or synth and roll off a little of the bottom of the bass guitar and or synth. You can get a fuller richer sound without adding eq by using a exciter on the low end to add 2nd and 3rd harmonic freq's to the sound giving them a deeper fuller sound without adding any eq to them. Also a good way to check where things fall is a spectrogram ( shows where the eq is by jumping lines on a graph ) solo the instrument and watch it while you use your eq. This is just a general guideline as your ears are the best tool but use tools that will eventually help you if you are having problems.

sorry double post

Let your ears guide you .....you are right that that what sounds good solo may need different treatment "in a mix". .....keep on listenin and you'll get better no matter how god you already are.....

cheers!

just some advice, work wit what you have now but ditch the 3-band eq and get you a nice graphic or parametric eq to work with. you needs more frequencies to work with....

but if it sounds aight then I'm sure it will work out for you. if you're ever unsure then you can always just record what u got and listen to it on another system somewhere to see if it works or not

yea ive got a mackie 16 track mixer! its quite a simple eq!
im unsure with those eq racks, would i need one for each channel> that be expensive!!
and i dont use computers in my set up

gmixstudios wrote:im unsure with those eq racks, would i need one for each channel> that be expensive!!

now you know why big studios charge so much....

i do mostly live sound too. it's all a balancing act. you just need to remember which frequencies are being used as you start boosting or cutting, and slot them up so they don't overlap too much. it's an artform really, don't focus too much on the numbers, unless you're really good with math....