Equalization 101 Part 2

Frequency Ranges
100 Hz – 2 KHz: Mixing engineers sometimes put EQ notches in different instruments to help make them stick through a thick mix. This is the frequency range where these notches occur.
120 Hz: This is the warm area of the mix, where guitar, bass, and toms all mix together. It’s generally good to leave this frequency alone, aside from removing some bass if it’s too boomy.
400 Hz: Frequencies in this area are boxey sounding and can be cut to achieve greater clarity in the middle frequencies. Guitar, bass, and kick can have some removed to make the mix sound more open.
10 KHz – 20 KHz: The frequencies between 7 KHz and 10 KHz are more pronounced than the frequencies between 10 KHz and 20 KHz. Adding effects to this range of frequencies usually goes unnoticed. The most common adjustment to this range is a boost to pop vocals or drum room mics at 10 KHz to give a little bit of the room sound to the mix.

Linear Phase EQs
Linear phase EQs are often used on material that needs surgical EQ work, or has a significant amount of processing on it and the mixer is concerned about minimizing phase related issues. Linear phase EQs can cause noise artifacts at the beginning of sounds, especially at lower registers. The steeper the EQ curve, the more pronounced the artifact becomes.

Vocals:
90 Hz: High pass around 90Hz to remove plosives (P), foot tapping, and mud from vocal tracks. If the singer has an especially low voice, try lowering the high pass so that the important elements of the voice are not removed.
200 – 400 Hz: This is the warm, emotional area of vocals. Boosting can make the vocals sound more intimate and present.
1 KHz – 2 KHz: Cut this to pull out nasal sounds and midrange harshness
3 KHz – 4 KHz: Boost this to add clarity
5k -7 KHz: Cutting this range will help to reduce sibilance
8 – 12 KHz: Boosting this range for vocals can add an element of air which adds more of the sound of the room and gives an airy, open vibe. The Maag EQ in particular is held in high regard for adding smooth, silky, airy highs to vocals.

Vocal EQ – Taming Boomy Vocals
Put a multiband compressor on the vocal track. Expand the low-mid frequencies while also lowering their volume until the loudness is roughly the same, but the boominess is gone.

Vocal EQ – Taming Breathy Vocals
First, take out 1.5-2db from 200-600, and 2K, boost 1k 1.5-2 decibels.
Cut 1.5 decibels from 2K as this is will reduce the level of alveolar consonants (ta, da, ka)
Cut 1.5 decibels from 600 as it competes with competes with 1k-1.5k, this will likely make breathy vocals sound clearer.
Boost 6 Khz+ 1-2db 6K and above will bring out the quality of the microphone and give the vocals more of the ‘air’ of the room.

Pop
Boost 10 KHz +1.5 to 3 db.

Hip Hop
Cut 10 KHz +1 to 3 db.

Kick:
50 Hz – High passing the kick drum at 50Hz can tighten it up.
80 Hz – Boosting 80Hz can emphasize the boom in a kick drum, making it sound more like a stomp or thunder. This is sometimes accompanied with notched pink noise or a signal generated wave triggered by a gate, which is used to get sub information into the mix.
240 Hz – 300 Hz – This is the fatiguing part of the kick sound. Remove to taste to clear up the mid frequencies.
3.5 KHz: smack
4 – 6 KHz: beater

Snare:
80 Hz: high pass to remove rumble
180 – 250 Hz: Boost to get the boom of the snare
800 Hz: Remove to get a tighter sound
2 – 5 KHz – Add to get more smack
5 KHz: Add to get the sound of the wires
7 KHz: head texture
More head (texture) +6dB at 7 KHz

Toms:
60 Hz: High pass to remove rumble
80 Hz – 150 Hz – body
300 Hz – 350 Hz: cardboard sound
4 KHz – 6 KHz: smack

808:
Add distortion
Boost 120 Hz 3-6 decibels with a moderate Q
Boost 10 KHz 4-8 decibels with a wide Q

Overheads:
12 KHz – Boost to get more of the room sound and to increase the stereo image of the drums.

Drum Bus:
Don’t be afraid to make big cuts between 400 Hz and 800 Hz.
Boost 3.5 KHz about 4 decibels.

Bass:
41 Hz: fundamental note (E)
80 Hz: body of the instrument
125 Hz – 140Hz: Cut with a notch to get rid of the boom
200 Hz: Remove to get rid of muddiness
800 Hz: Boost for more punch

Guitar:
82 Hz: lowest fundamental note (Low E)
80 Hz: High pass electric guitar. The fundamental note of a low E string is 82Hz. Baritone guitars have a lower fundamental note and should be rolled off at a lower frequency. The purpose of high passing guitars is to filter out stomps and other extraneous noises. If a hi-pass is effecting the guitar tone, then low the frequency until it is unnoticeable.
125 Hz: Boost to add some bottom end.
200 Hz – 240 Hz: The body of the sound.
500 Hz: Cut out a narrow Q notch to remove mid frequency mud.
800 Hz – 2 KHz: Cut to clear up brittle high frequency content and remove shrill sounds.
3 – 5 KHz: Boost for presence and clarity.

Acoustic Guitar
240 Hz: Boost to get a bigger, fuller sound.

Piano:
27 Hz: Lowest note, use a high pass at 20Hz
100 Hz: Add to increase the bottom.
300 Hz: Cut to decrease unwanted boominess.
80 – 120 Hz: body
1 – 2 KHz: Cut to remove tininess.
4 – 5 KHz: add for presence

Cymbals
200 Hz: This is the low-end body of large cymbals. Cut it to clean up mud in the middle.

Pads
Try pulling out 4-6db at 500Hz – 800Hz to make it sit better.

Definitions:
Band Pass – Passing a range of frequencies, such as in the Abbey Road Reverb Technique
Boost – An increase in the specified frequencies.
Cut – A decrease in the specified frequencies
Q – Describes the shape of the EQ curve (higher Q = narrower frequency band, lower Q = wider frequency band)
Sibilance – High pitched pops usually caused from the voiceless alveolar fricative [s], the voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant [ʃ] – (sh), and the voiceless palato-alveolar affricate [t͜ʃ] – (ch).

By Jack Johnston
Jack Johnston has a Master’s of Arts in Applied Linguistics from the New School University, a Master’s in Business Administration from Western Governors University, and a Master’s in Management and Leadership from Western Governors University.