7 EQ Myths That Can Sabotage Your Sound
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มิ.ย. 2024
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Using EQ properly is one of the most important skills in music production. Here’s how NOT to do it.
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In this tutorial, we cover…
00:00 - EQ Introduction
00:50 - EQ Explained
00:44 - Myth 1: EQ Can Fix Anything
04:14 - Myth 2: EQ ONLY Controls Frequencies
05:16 - Myth 3: You Need Multiple EQs
09:37 - Myth 4: Always Cut, Never Boost
13:13 - Myth 5: High Pass Everything (Apart From Kick and Bass)
15:38 - Myth 6: Trust Your Ears
20:24 - Myth 7: Automating EQ
21:36 - Myth 8: Don’t EQ Tracks Individually
22:21 - Bonus: Why You Can’t EQ Properly
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Cheers, and happy producing!
Will
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#ableton #equalizer #musicproduction
Thank you for watching! If you enjoyed this format of the video, what would you like to see me cover next?? 🤔
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Sidechaining for dummies?😮😊
after some 15 years of watching youtube music production tutorial videos, i have to say you are one of the few worth watching for real, and on top of that you are able to present it in a short and no bs fun way, and well presented to understand, and you dont seem to be always "hiding some deeper secret trick" like almost all do, respect for that
Thank you! I appreciate that :)
I second that.
Uh…greeeeed.
Paid
@@matthewj6026 i wish
What a great video. So well explained, well executed and so helpful. You are constantly improving your content of which I have been consuming for a long time and I feel you deserve to know you are very much appreciated.
Thank you so much, Andrew, I am stoked you like it! Thank you as usual for watching and supporting the channel 🙌🏻
Exactly who I needed to see, exactly when I needed it. Awesome work like always, Will and EDM
Tips team!
Thank you so much, glad you found it helpful 🙌🏻
Thnx mate for another good video. Always nice to see some helpful insights.
You're welcome, Daniel, glad you liked it! 🙌🏻
Bravo for making such polished, chaptered videos - REALLY wonderful
I am glad you enjoyed it! 🙏🏻🙌🏻
You nailed it! Thanks for all the good explanations. The best cannel 4 Sound and Studio education. Very very useful also for beginners. Keeping up the good work.😊❤
I love your informative videos. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and knowledge. ❤ from 🇨🇦
You're welcome, Jackson, glad they helped you so far! 🙂
Thanks for watching and supporting 🙌🏻
As always brilliant video easy to understand, and implement in y next mix😊
so glad i found these videos. im learning more and more
Glad to help!
Always quality info. Thanks for the video!
You’re welcome!
Great lesson, enjoying the radio ready program and helping me to get my tracks finished so much,Thanks Will and EDM Tips Team!😀
Love the video and the passion you have for music! Also great work on the video editing!!!
Appreciate it! 🙌🙏
What a great video! Exactly what I was looking for! I'm into Rock and Orchestral Film music, but I'll follow you!
Thank you for the follow, and welcome aboard! I am glad you found this helpful 🙂
Great vid! For Myth 6, a really helpful tool for referencing is ISOL8 by TBProAudio. You can split up the frequency into 5 different bands, letting you dial into regions your track might be lacking in, such as low mids or highs. You can switch between bands quickly without fiddling with filters or an EQ.
The more I watch your vids, the more I'm convinced to save up and take your course. I'm 47 and just starting seriously composing EDM (Tech/Bass House, but eventually also some Trancey stuff) with a small and hopefully reasonable goal of having any track I make before I'm 50 to be played by one of my favorite DJs on their podcast show or in their set at a festival/event. I got Ableton at the start of Dec, and with 100+ hours of "TH-cam University," completed a track this Christmas (it's on my profile here). But still, so much to learn. So much to improve, and I absolutely LOVE your style of teaching.
Thank you so much, this comment has made my day! I am really stoked you're enjoying my videos and improving along the way! Keep up the good work, finish a few more tracks and I'll catch you in 2024! 🙌🏻
@@EDMTips Deal. 😁
Great video...again! One thing I prefer to do is getting (well trying) to get my mix in the busiest part right. The only adjustment I have to make often in the drop is dialing in the lows of the lead synth when using a tipical trance effect when the filter is closed and opened in the buildup, else it is to thin. When the kick and all the elements are kicking in again I will cut the lowes in the lead again to avoid ending up with a muddy low end.
Very helpful and to the point video
Thank you, really appreciate your kind words of support! 🙌🏻
thank you much for this❤
You're welcome, glad you found it helpful 🙂🙌🏻
Another very good vid! Thanks, Will. :) Your vids are even more professional these days, but most important: your content is always worth watching! Keep it up...Cheers Dennis aka EDelMann
Damn i feel really happy that i kinda figured a lot of the stuff you spoke about on here, giving me a lot more context to really know why some stuff felt right or wrong!
In FL Studio you can find the Mid-Side EQ as a tool in Patcher. I also use it in my Mastering-Chain. Great tool...👍👍👍
Great tip, thanks for sharing! 🙌🏻
Another great video as always on your channel. Thank you. Just one doubt. Are you using a maximizer on your track ? Just wondering how you get the same db level as the reference track. I thought db level will be adjusted in the mastering process. Or am I wrong ?
Tonight I've decided to stop blow-torching my eggs. But seriously, thank you for these insights.
You're welcome, I am glad you found it helpful 🙌🏻
LoL, just downloaded a free plugin to essentially dynamicly center certain frequencies in the low (so adjusting the mid load) and here we are a week later learning something about mid EQ.
Just made a track which would take a lot of time to do the mastering, but actually using a lot of your tips and tricks, it was done in less than an hour.
Thank you for these great tips!
Thanks to you I improved a lot in my mix and master ❤
You're welcome, I am stoked to hear that!
thanks will , very useful insights , more for the notepad 👌
Glad to help!
Bruuuu this is so true, im tired of people talking about weird stuff like the one you said of middle whatever eq and many are like unnecesary or just work in certain cases, I usually when im working on a beat I try to clean up a bit with frequencies and thats all. Im learning from you than I dont need compressor for everything so one step at a time
Thank you! Great information, presented very sympathetically. My favorite trick: Roll-Off EQ. Great! I would be happy to check out your video about compressors myths.
You’re welcome, see you in the next video 🙂🙌🏻
quality in quality out is my favorite music production mantra!
Couldn't agree more!
I’ll throw two additional points in.
1) when picking a reference track pick one in the same key, or at the very least the bass share the same fundamental. By far most eq in EDM will focus around the kick and bass. Using a reference track is utterly pointless if the bass is hitting a different fundamental or harmonics.. You’ll just end up breaking your track. Also, it’s fine to pitch shift your reference track to get it in the same key - it won’t overly break the reference process or the visual spectrum analysis
2) learn what applying to EQ does to phase… especially in the low end.
....as always, a very nice production, thank you.
As I've said many times in the past, "If you record it correctly in the first place, you don't need "EQ" ".
Keep up the good work !
Bill P.
Thank you, Bill, I am glad you found it helpful! You definitely got the main point right! 🙂
@@EDMTips In the 'old days' (early 1960s) we didn't have EQ !
I learned how to record that way, which is why I still mix in mono !
I set up the panorama as the LAST step, then fine tune the levels.
Bill P. 😀
Nice one, Bill, thank you for sharing!
If it sounds good in mono, it will sound good in stereo :)
@@EDMTips I started recording in mono in 1961, that's all we had ! 😄
3:28 … we add „a little bit of sparkle“ … with a 12db high shelf … LOL.
I actually use automation on eq a lot, not on own stuff but when making mix tapes for fun
You're so awesome. Thank you, wow. 💯
Thank you, I really appreciate the support! 🙌🏻
@@EDMTips you're so amazing, I'm praying you get blessed beyond belief. Thanks again
Excellent 👌
Appreciate it! 🙂🙌🏻
love u man
Appreciate it! 🙌🙏
I always see the reference track advice as one of the most useful tips to apply when mixing.
But where do you get reference tracks, are they stems ? are there free ressources for that ?
I've always wondered about the utility of reference tracks. Is it really a good idea to compare a fully mastered track with one in the mixing stage? This is not self-evidently true to me. Just a thought.
Please at 18:02 how did you put the vst on each side of the screen? Thanks a lot for your vidéo. It was very helpful!
Yeap, that was the good video, and as always everyday is a school day. Thanks to your tips and videos I improved my skills and now I have good response from labels and finally they want to release my tracks. So you've done your work MR. AMEN😅
I am really stoked to hear that, Ben, glad my videos have helped you so far!
What was the absolute game changer for you?
@@EDMTips Well, from every tutorial I digging out some gems. U explain very easily all aspects of producing and showing how to build tracks and how to use plugins in correct way. Gain staging was the biggest improvement in my production. Finally I menaged to go easier through mixing stage and do my own mastering. I always been doing all 3 stages in one 😂. However my biggest concern is I'm still not happy of hi frequencys, I can't achieve pure nice and clean top end. Maybe you could do some tutorial which will quide how to achieve it? I'm very happy that people like u exist and sharing this type of videos. Stay tuned Armin would say 😁
About Myth #6 I suggest (although I'm pretty much a beginner) to use a tool like Metric AB (from ADPTR). It's like an integrated environment to reference your track. It really helps.
Nice, I just got myself a new EQ, so this is a well timed video. I actually got it because I wanted one that could do M/S stuff too. It's Toneboosters Equalizer btw, which is a seriously good alternative to Pro-Q for people on a budget, but want a bit more EQ power.
A seriously great alternative to Pro-Q is Split-EQ by Eventide. And the only one i heard that can compete sound wise.
@@tredfxman I'd expect that too, as it looks to be even more expensive than pro-Q. Not as expensive as Kirchhoff EQ though. I assume that one comes included with magic for the price. Looks nice though.
@@brokko_le3 Perhaps, i bought it at the premiere. It was like 65 USD. Edit, hum Kirchoff looks beautiful, thx for the tip! 👍
Parametric EQs can do some "magic" as well, like with a narrow band cut/ boost, bring forward or backwards more instruments, or makes something sounds fatter or more distinctive, but like with all gear, you have to use it cautiously. Last week I got multitracks, a cover from Bruce Springsteen - I'm on fire. Bad recorded, with mic's that are almost in feedback, especially on the toms and rack of the drums, very difficult to get that right. I'm not sure if you reviewed the Goyo plugin from SuperTone? It's an AI based plugin, and it's free.
this video is incredible
Love 12:50...you just couldn't resist a little moment to enjoy it! 😄🙌
Cheers, I do enjoy making videos and creating music so feel lucky most of the time! :)
@@EDMTips You are living the dream....I just need to keep practising but with your help I and many others will get there! You have the perfect balance, clearly loving what you do and not too cool for school👍
how do you bind switches eg . mono. to start up on default
.. ps love tha vidz
Always cut , never boost, comes from older EQs added noise as you boost the sound much ,so if you wanted clean eqing reduce was better solution, but now with digital it doesn't really matter from this view.
In the past EQs didn’t have the range to always only cut.
It’s a distortion of it being better practise to cut if possible because you run the risk of clipping the track. It’s only been possible to always only cut with VSTs in DAWs.
Sometimes less is more its all about the source.. and a EQ is just a fine tuning tool if you run a smart frequency divided production! A EQ is actualy only necessary if certain parts of the track clash or need to breath in combination with other parts..or in some cases give character..speacialy about EQ less is more 🤓 Btw great video only thing i would add is the behaiviour of the phase when using a EQ that was for me a really important part to understand my tools and bring everything in balance without wondering about the "weird" gain staging ^^..
"Trust your ears".
Thank god someone finally gets that new mixers can't trust their ears. Not only so they struggle, but they KNOW they can't trust them. It's frustrating to be told otherwise when looking for help.
Exactly!
Wished I got the 11:35 vocal. Sounds super nice
Wow, what is the song of the examples you're giving from 2:52 to 3:38, it's addictive, I love it, is it somewhere to listen it finished, mastered?, I will love to hear it😃! And I would also like to know the name of the artist that is singing! Like his voice! Is it your production, tune? Would love to know more about it!
oh thank GOD! you said it - FINALLY saw a video where someone SAID IT! "DON'T TRUST YOUR EARS." exactly. EXACTLY! MYTH 6!
yeh, vox, gtr, bass and drums already work well together, but at a live gig you still have a sound engineer to help ensure there's some separation between the frequencies - for lack of a better term.
Dynamic EQ on on the bass with the Kick triggering it gives far better results than sidechaining compression. I dont know why this isn't taught more.
Great point, thank you for sharing 🙌🏻
Hey buddy u a life saver...
Thank you, really appreciate the kid words of support 🙌🏻
at 12:55 you said cutting frequencies is pretty important and yes, I agree completely. Imagine you've got a subbass and you mix by headphones, you don't hear the rumble beneath 20 Hz, but it's there. Deadmau5 once said: "mixing on headphones or in your speakers is fine, but when your song is played on well tuned PA, everything starts to rumble off. When the glasses start rumbling on the desks, your mix sucks." But hi-passing is a pretty easy trick to create drops for example, so taking your low or hi-pass filter and automate it, you can create a well done drop that's not messing with your mix and your song, if done right and of course you save a lot of work for DJs playing your song live :)
I hear a lot of transient smearing in Deadmou5's mixes (very noticeable on his kicks) from misuse of eq.
He is likely using hp filters on the bass elements using linear phase eq
haven't heard that, any examples? Because when the sample already sounds good, no need to EQ it.@@1337murk
I’ve been following Will for some time now and I can attest that if you apply the same EQ technique shown here, your music will sound much more professional.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate the kind words of support! 🙂🙌🏻
@@EDMTips 💯
Also u might consider using distortion / saturation to eq especially to sweeten the top...
Hi, I can't find the free EQ guide link in the description. I could only find the free mix guide link, are they the same?
I've used technique I figured out with FL studio eq2 that if I boost some freqs then I lower the overall volume of the eq so that the highest peak of my "eq mountain" reaches 0db. So then I basically only cut freqs. Good or bad idea?
Finally someone talking sense. I’m sick of these kids telling everyone bullshit. That’s why modern music is the worst.
Appreciate it! 🙌🏻
Hi Will,
What are Booms & Hall Kicks?
Thx ElectricEddie
How can you insert a reference track? I only have spotify and i can not use those tracks.
I always split EQ into 3 categories:
1. Processing or treating the sound, which involves removing any resonating or muddy frequencies so that the sound is clean and pleasing to the ear. Ever got a sample pack and wondered why all the samples sound clean, fat, and warm? And yet everything you ever make sounds like crap? That's because the samples have been processed with EQ and compression.
2. Mixing so that all the sounds in the mix work together and are balanced. This always goes hand-in-hand with fader mixing and compression.
3. Creative equalizing. This is when people use EQs as filters (which I personally never do) or in sound design.
I dont really "get" when to use compression and when not. My drums usually sound best with only limited comp, though they sound " clearer" without any comp.
In most situations, filter is more useful than EQ, the pros of EQ is that when it needs to gain high frequency to add some brightness it's convenient.😊
Well said!
2:14 Live Mixing Engineer: Am I a joke to you? 😢
3:25 it sounds a bit too distorted and harsh on my sennheiser hd560s , also on my 770 pro. guess its a youtube problem ?
Been using a lot of subtractive EQ lately
But then what would a proper rolloff on toms be? I use to put an high pass even up to 160hz because they add so much muddiness to the low end and stop finding it enjoyable.
For referencing, is it OK to use abletons stock spectrum analyser?
Use span. Only. Always
Wouldn't it make more sense to not buy any analog EQs but have an array of different saturators that behave differently? So EQ should be digital and transparent and then select (or before) select your saturation type?
id really love if you covered vst plugins that are of usable decent quality and really really cpu efficient and therefore real gold for live performance using an old laptop, and i bet many would appreciate it too, thx
Oddly specific? Why can’t you figure it out on your own?
@@DrumNBassedbecause I live in the countryside and Im offline 24/7 except when commuting for either work or business or entertainment or friends and family? cca 2 hrs a week? and I wanted. to help the author here with what I thought would be a good and popular topic for original content video? for example?. _:DD
Cockos Reaper's EQ are great too
Why would overdoing dynamic eq cause problems? What is another example besides de-ssing??
Nearly 200k!
Yes, almost there! Another huge milestone for me and EDM Tips community :)
Lets gooo 🤘🤘
Hope this question isn't too stupid. How can I see two plugins which are on different tracks at the same time or parallel? In his example, he has Span on the reference track and on the master. I use Ableton and if I use a track it only shows the plugins of that track and no others.
Found it! Just a simple change to No in the plugins setting parameters. Knew it was a stupid question. 🙂
Indeed! Glad you got this answered before I could 🙂
I’m nee to
Music production, how do
You get from
The sound been muddy to clear, I never know what to adjust
I for the most part agree with you and dont have an issue HOWEVER...with the TH-cam compression on the signal when you say the 3 eqs at the start are the same I think you basically ruin your argument....We can cleary hear the first and second eqs affecting the 2K-10K area at a guess and the thrid EQ shelves all the trebel above 4K at a guess....
so you break your point by actually showing EQ doing the things exactly as you say we shouldnt
Can someone PLEASE tell me how to get to SPANS on the screen at the same time? I’ve literally searched the entire internet for an answer, and no one knows. I want one on the reference track, and another in the master!….but side by side.
What about low-passing tracks?
Great video but personally I disagree with myth number 6, 7 and 8 to a certain point. Let me explain:
n.6) Every song is different. Using a spectrum analyzer to see if the frequencies of your track match with a reference track is a double edged weapon: it can drastically improve the mix or completely ruin it. What I find better is knowing what happens if you boost/cut certain frequencies and learn to hear how it sounds. So that you know where to intervene with an EQ.
n.7) I find automating some tracks of the mix (e.g: the vocals) can make the track sound way better. You could for example increase the 1K and the 5K areas in the choruses to get the vocals more upfront and brighter. Obviously you should get the balance right and then automate the EQ.
n.8) Mixing in solo is a crutch, especially when you EQ. In solo you can make a track sound really great, but in the context of the mix it can sound really bad. The worst you can do while EQ in solo is the smiley face Eq, where you boost the sub and the airy frequencies carving the mids, especially the low mids. I you solo a bunch of tracks (one at a time) and EQ them in that way they often sound better on their own, but I don't have to tell you how an entire mix can sound with many tracks sounding like this... yeah it'd have no glue and no power.
"DON'T EQ!" - Ok thanks I won't use EQs anymore. Great tip!
1:40 you are literally clipping 😂
First rule of working with audio in a digital domain:
"Do not clip the signal" 😅
3:29 I hear a high frequency buzz or fuzz sound which needs to be EQ'd out.
The first myth is the only one to know: if you are musician and/or composer, you should know what sound to use, what note to play and how to play it in order to make everything sound good. If you don’t, this is the skill you need to devellop, the rest will follow, you will be able to hear what you need to do in the mixing step. And keep in mind that good engeneers work with people who have this skill, that’s why their mixes sound so good.
Well said! Thank you for sharing :)
Grande estação da luz em São Paulo at 10:17
Great observation skills :)
Mate you are a champion
Thanks for watching and for the kind words of support! 🙂
EQ works with what we already have in an instrument. It doesn’t create new tones.
EQ moves attention from one detail to the other one.
Good advices, but the comment regarding rockbands at the start can misslead, allthough rolloff is mentioned later on.
While a rock band might sound good on stage you still would at least add the approciate high pass filter to each instrument both for front of house as in the studio to avoid lowend mudd, bassdrum, bass, guitars, large toms and other instruments with low frequencies can stack up loads of lows.
Lead guitar can take a 200-250Hz rolloff when it is played along side a rythm guitar.
Great point, thank you for sharing!
I’m a 59 year old Dj.
I always Eq!
LESS IS MORE! 2 sounds! Do they interfere? No! leave them alone! They do! Deal with them the most minimalistic way! Kill the spike! Leave rest alone!
I didnt even know what de-essing was. Well the name was pretty logical : D
Good Job Will i love you
Appreciate it! 🙌🙏
BRB, gotta go fry an egg with a blow torch!
😂 Let me know how it goes 😁
Here is another overwhelming information
I'm 2 min into your vid, ... got to go though, and I'll get to you in a few minutes ... 🤪
Always trust the Guy with EDM in his name to reference all music XD
The most constructive piece of feedback I've ever received 🏆
something i wanted to add is than most eq can destroy your sound if not used well. For example, you don't use Pro-Q3 in Zero Latency like you'll use an analog EQ plugin. With pro_q3 in Zero Latency you can go mad, cut everything, it's the perfect tool for layering sounds and "producing EQ" to kind of shape your elements. An analog EQ would be there to add little boost or cut to your elements, and should be used in the late process to keep all the goodness of theses EQ. It can really drive some nasty phase issue if you don't use them correctly