EQing on the way IN

how many people here tweak the knobs before they sample the sound...

i'm only using a vestax 05 pro mixer, but i find adding a bit of bass and a bit of treble on the way in (especially with drums) can really help to stop samples sounding flat

although i'm a bit worried that this will muddy the beat up later on when i add a bass line etc

also .... is there any equipment designed to do this job more professionally?

peace all

no man that's the way!! I also do it.. on my drums most of the times..and on vocal samples (no bass)..

if i like a kick but find it to weak i add some bass.. or sometimes I sample a kick twice on normal and 1 with more bass etc..simul function in the MPC on the 2 kicks!! gives you that thump.. (make sure you edit the one with the base a bit using your parameters in the MPC)

42blues* wrote:how many people here tweak the knobs before they sample the sound...

also .... is there any equipment designed to do this job more professionally?

i wouldnt say its more professional, but ill use the eqkiller by electrix to isolate sounds when sampling (vocals, bass lines). compressors are good to, to even out the sounds and maximize loudness...

one thing to greatly enhance stuff and prevent mudding up your mix is to remember that reducing certain frequencies makes the desired frequency standing out without boosting any unwanted frequencies.
if you want more bass, reduce mids and highs.
you can normalize the sample anytime on the 4k, and on the 2kXL simply boost up the loudness a little bit when sampling in.

peace, needle

I also tweak my samples with my the eq of my mixer before sampling in my mpc. but e.g. if I'm sampling a guitar loop with hihats and bass and I reduce a little highs and lows, I feel like I'm missing a filter, because I can't get all of the bass or hihats out of the sample. is that right? if so, is there any cheap filter that could handle this?

Needle201 wrote:one thing to greatly enhance stuff and prevent mudding up your mix is to remember that reducing certain frequencies makes the desired frequency standing out without boosting any unwanted frequencies.
if you want more bass, reduce mids and highs.

excellent advise.

also, like others said, watch out for boosting too much because that can present a problem later down the line sometimes with mud in the mix. i usually sample my stuff raw into the computer, then f it all up with plugins to get the sound i want, then resample to the mpc. if you aint got a computer then pre-eq is an option, but take needles advise and cut before you boost and take note of what frequncies you have cut and boosted too so you dont boost the same freq on different samples.

I always EQ on the way in via my Numark mixer... cheap 80 dollar thang got the fat EQ knobs... I put extra bass on my kicks and bass notes, and I take a tad bit off of highs, hats, snares, etc... it's what makes it sound fat to me so if it does to you to then EQ on the way in... there's no written rule that says you can or can't, and if there was, breaking the rules is how some of the best music is made... I read somewhere that RZA produced the first Wu Tang album without even finishing the manuals for his recording equipment or his ASR10...