EQ Master Skill Question?

[Multani]

https://soundcloud.com/shaunatwal/shaun-atwal-i-got-the-internet


Some of Shawn mixes are good like the one I posted above and the best thing about these mixes are EQ, it is done perfect or close to perfect.


Question: How can you achieve this kind of bass mixing in Sony Acid Pro? I use Wave Hammer for my final version of the mix, but still I lack the ability to fully EQ it perfect and clean. I would appreciate it if anybody has more tricks or wisdom on this issue I have.

 

[himynameis]

I'm sure he doesn't use acid

 

[mithu]

I'm sure he doesn't use acid

it doesnt matter if he uses ACID or not.
I use 3 different DAWs but I always use the same plugins for compressing, and mastering. (My person favs are FabFilter plugins, and iZotope Ozone 5).


But even those dont matter. Its all on how you play around with the settings of the EQ, Compressor, etc etc. You have to keep at it till it sounds the way you want it to sound.

 

[karandeol]

I have a good friend who studies music production at the Art Institute at San Francisco - he told me that when eq'ing, whatever you add, you should take away. For example, if you were looking to pump the bass, ideally you should lower some of the high to mid frequencies.


As for compression (from what I have read), the main goal is to make your music perceivably louder, without actually increasing the volume (if that makes sense). A rule of thumb he told me to go by is to set your master volume 5-7 db lower than you normally keep it and then use a compressor to make it sound louder.


When using a compressor, there are four main parts that you need to know- the threshold, the ratio, and the attack and release times. The threshold controls at what volume the compressor will start working. For example, if you set your threshold to -5, any sound in that is below -5 db will not be affected. However, everything at or above -5 db will be compressed according to the ratio you set. The ratio controls how much compression will take place (I don't know how to properly set the ratio yet; I just mess with it until I feel it sounds loudest). The attack time controls how fast the compression will take place - a lower number here will mean the compression takes place rapidly and a high number means it will take place slower (I believe it goes by milliseconds). Release time controls how long the compression will last; you have to play with attack and release time until you feel it sounds right.


*I don't know much about EQ or Compression - this is all just stuff I read about and I thought it would help*


Please correct me if I got anything wrong!

 

[Basim]

I have a good friend who attends the Art Institute at San Francisco and studies music production - he told me that when eq'ing, whatever you add, you should take away. For example, if you were looking to pump the bass, ideally you should lower some of the high to mid frequencies.

This is spot on to what I've read about too - you want to use EQ to control different bands of frequencies (i.e. using what they call a "multiband equalizer") to the point just before you hear distortion kick in. Essentially raising certain frequency bands and lowering others will allow specific parts of your mix (instruments, vocals, etc) come to life/pop out/be distinct.

Keep in mind, I'm no mixer myself but I've read a lot about it and I am somewhat of an "audiophile" so I have somewhat of an idea of what to look for in high quality sound.

~ Basim

 

[smp]

https://soundcloud.com/shaunatwal/shaun-atwal-i-got-the-internet


Some of Shawn mixes are good like the one I posted above and the best thing about these mixes are EQ, it is done perfect or close to perfect.


Question: How can you achieve this kind of bass mixing in Sony Acid Pro? I use Wave Hammer for my final version of the mix, but still I lack the ability to fully EQ it perfect and clean. I would appreciate it if anybody has more tricks or wisdom on this issue I have.

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]You have to focus on having one tracks bass dominant than the other tracks. For example reducing bass on one track while keeping bass on the other you can prevent them from clashing and sounding sloppy. There can be some moments where you can have both tracks bass work together but that comes when you learn to properly equalize. If EQing doesn't get your bass sounding the way you want you can always reduce bass on a track and EQ it to where synths, melodies, vocals pop out more and then layer your own bass drum on top. It helps if you watch your meters to make sure you're not peaking. Even if you aren't peaking it's good to double check with some headphones.[/font]

 

[lakha23]

Shaun is the master ji of mastering LOL

 

[Jusi.Sahota]

I too studied music production and what karandeol said is very true. It's called ADSR (Attack, Delay Sustain and Release). When I first started using ADSR, it was all "trial n error" type shit but its best if you know what you know you're doing. It's hard to find a specific bass sound, but ADSR can really find you're specific sound.


All the best..

 

[voxanimus]

I too studied music production and what karandeol said is very true. It's called ADSR (Attack, Delay Sustain and Release). When I first started using ADSR, it was all "trial n error" type shit but its best if you know what you know you're doing. It's hard to find a specific bass sound, but ADSR can really find you're specific sound.


All the best..

the D in ADSR stands for Decay. not delay.

 

[mithu]

Here something to keep in mind:

 

[Multani]

Thanks for all the info, I am gonna try out new settings for future mixes. Also, what ratio, release, and attack time you guys use? I always end up around 130 attack, 500 release..and I use 10:1 ratio.

 

[karandeol]

There isn't really one single ratio and setting that will work every time; however, my friend told me that most of the time, bhangra mixes will tend to need a fast attack (0-50 ms) and a medium release (200-500 ms). As for ratio, the only way I know how to find it is to mess with it until I feel the mix sounds loudest (after all, isn't that the point of compressing?).

 

[Jusi.Sahota]

I too studied music production and what karandeol said is very true. It's called ADSR (Attack, Delay Sustain and Release). When I first started using ADSR, it was all "trial n error" type shit but its best if you know what you know you're doing. It's hard to find a specific bass sound, but ADSR can really find you're specific sound.


All the best..

the D in ADSR stands for Decay. not delay.

My apologies... but you get what I meant by the rest of the statement