If you are reading this article it is because you are probably doing top much. There is no action in audio processing that will not have consequence. EQ, will introduce transients that most engineers cannot hear. Because of this it iis best to follow these simple rules
- Set the Q betwee 0.7 and 1.5. Qs wider than 0.7 will affect to large if an area; and cuts more narrow than 1.5 will produce transients that most of our ears will not catch. Play it safe by staying at a Q value in between 0.7 and 1.5
- Do five cuts to every one boost. EQ works best when it's reductive. We want to remove unpleasant frequencies in the audio signal and attenuate clashing frequencies. Boosting changes the fundamentals sound of a signal. This is useful, but use it sparingly. More often than not, you can make a signal stronger by finding, and cutting a clashing frequency by raising or lowering fader volumes.
- Another tip is to use digital model EQs for cuts and analog model EQs for boots. Analog EQs will introduce good coloring from saturation inherent to the unit it's model after
- In terms of how much to raise/cut, we want to slot the frequency in by changing it until we go too far, then bringing it back until we've gone to far. Then back in to the other direction until we've gone to far, then back and forth until it's just right.
Try these methods and your mixes should improve. Ask any questions you may have or post you results in the comments. Subscribe to the channel or mailing list to remain in the loop for more tips like these