CMU School of Drama


Saturday, February 14, 2015

Using Multiband EQ To “Fix It In The Mix”

Pro Sound Web: Before there was digital recording, before spring reverb, even before analog tape, there was EQ. Equalization is one of the oldest tools in the audio engineer’s arsenal, and one of the most useful.

Used judiciously, EQ can do wonders to de-clutter a crowded soundscape. Used with precision, it can remove offending sounds we hadn’t necessarily intended to capture.

1 comment:

Thomas Ford said...

I deiced to read this article because I’m the sound mixer for Wolves, and the desk that I’m using has a multiband EQ. It was actually a very embarrassing moment when I had to ask Sarah how to use it, because the EQ one of the more important parts of a desk, and of sound in general, so the fact that I didn’t know how to use it could easily be viewed as sad or pathetic. But, unfortunately, it’s just something that I was never exposed to but expected to know, which is so often the case at CMU (I’m not complaining aout it, I’m just putting it out there. Sometimes I actually like it, but other times it bothersome to be judged for not knowing something by someone who should have taught it to you). Anyways, although the article was written in the context of recording, it had some general tips that are applicable to what I’m doing with Wolves right now. Besides the in general rules of trusting your ears and not doing anything to extreme, it talks about attenuating typically being a better solution than boosting. It also described the process of specifically removing a bad sound, which is a big issue for Wolves. The mics have been ringing, and Sarah and I have been trying to attenuate just that frequency. Unfortunately, it’s in the talking range so we have to be very careful with what we’re doing. Things have improved a bit, but so far there’s still an issue.