Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Equalization: That Thing Which Changes The Tone

Equalization, or EQ, is that little piece of magic which modifies tone of an instrument. Here is a helpful list of instruments and their important EQ elements, and some terms people use for certain frequency ranges.

  • Bass (20 Hz – 100 Hz) – Boomy, Thick, Depth, Bottom
  • Mid-Bass (100 Hz – 500 Hz) – Full, Warm, fat
  • Midrange (500Hz – 2 kHz) – Nasal, overly focused, Horn like
  • Upper Mid Range (2k Hz – 8 kHz) – Harsh, Bright, Presence, Edge, crisp
  • High Range (8 kHz – 20 kHz) – Airy, Openness, Treble, Brilliance
  • Snare Drum – Fat at 240 Hz, crisp at 5 kHz
  • Hi hat / cymbals - Full at 240 Hz bright at 7.5 kHz–12 kHz
  • Bass Guitar – Thick and Bottom at 60–80 Hz bright at 2.5 kHz
  • Electric Guitar – Full at 240 Hz, nasally at 600hz to 900hz, edge at 2.5 kHz
  • Acoustic Guitar – Bottom end between 80-120 HZ, competes with vocals at 950 to 1 Hz, full at 240 HZ and bright at 2.5 kHz
  • Strings – Full and Warm at 240 Hz treble between 7.5 kHz – 10kHz
  • Vocals – Full and warm at 120 Hz-240Hz, nasally at 800 to 1.5 kHz (very individualized), presence at 5 kHz
  • Horns – Full and fat at 120-240 Hz, harsh and bright between 5-7.5Hz
  • Piano – Bottom end at 80-120Hz, presence at 2.5-5 kHz with crispness at 10 kHz
If you can figure out how to use EQ effectively you are already heads and tails better than most "engineers".

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