Quickie Guide to DAW Mixing #23
Last time, we discussed creative EQ for drums (3-30-06). Moving to the more mundane, lets talk about finding problem frequencies with instruments like drums. Since the drum sounds go by so quickly it’s difficult to use the boost the gain all the way and sweep the frequency band trick to isolate obnoxious frequencies. Here’s a way to deal with fast-moving musical events. This technique works whether you’re looking to boost or cut.
Let’s say that you have an instrument that’s playing in the mud. For sake of example, let’s take the 250Hz – 450Hz range. First, create a loop so that the instrument’s phrase repeats indefinitely. Next, boost the low mid gain control all the way. Separate the frequency range into four or five points, i.e., 250, 300, 350, 400, and 450 Hz. Now, all you have to do is listen through the loop at each of the settings instead of trying to sweep. You can subdivide the frequency range as far as you have patience for. Since our example referred to mud, let’s assume that you just want to cut low mids for clarity. By way of shortcut, cut the gain by about 2-3dB and do the same process.