February Sticky?Everything is an EQ!

[drumsound]

Everything is an EQ?

I read an interview with a Nashville engineer who made that statement. It may have been Steve Marcantonio. Its something I?ve carried with me and used a lot since reading it. Think about it. Everything we do from an engineering standpoint and many things from a producer?s standpoint is essentially EQ.

Examples:
Moving a directional microphone closer to the source yields more low frequency content. Moving an omni directional mic closer to the sources can eliminate some of the room sound because you can turn the gain on the preamp down. Different pres sound different because their components react differently to different frequencies. Each mic has its own characteristic tone, as do effects, compressors and actual EQs.

Then there are instruments. How many times have you swapped out a guitar, or snare drum, or keyboard patch to fit better within the song? A lot of that is to make the frequencies work with the other instruments, or the character of the song.

Then there is the room your recording in. Is it bright and reflective, or dark and dead? Do you use gobos or blankets to tame the room? Have you ever put a clipboard under a snare, or put a mic at one end of a tube? I recently made a makeshift megaphone out of a Willie Nelson poster and had the singer using it stand about6 feet from the mic. Then I had him move around the room for each harmony overdub.

Let?s not forget playing technique in the mix either. I call guitar picks the $ .25 EQ, especially effective on acoustic guitars, basses and mandolins. Strumming direction really can change the tone. How about having the drummer play rimshots on the snare or playing the edge of the crash instead of the ride cymbal? A mute on a horn can change the whole character of the song in about half a second.

So keep in mind even if you have a small home studio with one outboard pre and one compressor and a small handful of dynamic mics, you still have tons of EQ to work with, because?

Everything is an EQ!

[mjau]

EDIT: NEXT MONTH'S STICKY, BRIEFLY REVEALED.

[drumsound]

Man, you giving away next month's sticky! [EDIT] I'm [/EDIT]going for a theme.

[cgarges]

Man, you giving away next month's sticky! I've going for a theme.

Is it a bad grammar and punctuation theme?

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[drumsound]

I think its just bad typing!

[cgarges]

Man, you giving away next month's sticky!

Oh. Okay.

CG

[Phiz]

Moving a directional microphone closer to the source yields more low frequency content.

With non-omni microphones, you can also EQ by turning them a bit off axis, and thus roll off some of the high end. I find myself doing this often with acoustic guitars and cheap LDCs with hyped high ends.

[Doublehelix]

As has been discussed here before, mic placement effects the TONE of a source, and if you want to consider that anything that changes the TONE of a source to be EQ, then I will agree.

But to be pedantic, EQ is just ONE way of altering the tone of a source.

The term "EQ" or "equalization" came about a long time ago with the radio broadcasting industry as they tried to get the broadcasts to sound "equal" or normal, so an EQ is just one way of altering the tone.

My personal view on this (which is shared by most folks on this board I'm sure) is that it is best to get the sound right at the source, which means that we are sending the best-sounding signal possible to tape. It certainly makes our jobs a heck of a lot easier come mix time!

Having a control room where you can sit in relative isolation and listen to the effects of mic placement is key. If you are working alone, and for example are trying to audition drum mic placement on your own is a total pain in the behind! We all need (free) assistants! Standing in front of a booming kick drum with headphones on does not make it imho!!!

To me, I the biggest tonal changes come from where on the instrument or speaker you stick the mic, and then playing with the proximitry effect of cardiod mics. I am not as familiar with the use of omni mics as Phiz suggests, but would love to hear some more on that.

I am also pretty picky about guitar sounds, so swapping guitars, pickup positions, tone controls on the amp, etc.

I like to "triple track" heavy guitars...one panned L, a slightly different sound panned R, and then a third track, TOTALLY CLEAN panned center, and much lower in the mix. It is felt more than heard, but when it is taken out of the mix, it is quite obvious! Tone baby!!!

How about the room effects? Would anyone like to comment on how ambiance can effect tone?

[Phiz]

I am not as familiar with the use of omni mics as Phiz suggests, but would love to hear some more on that.

My comment was actually about non-omni microphones. For example, notice the different lines for different frequencies shown on the cardiod polar pattern below:
<br>


By moving the source to somewhere besides 0 degrees, the relative levels of the highs and lows will be altered.

[Doublehelix]

I am not as familiar with the use of omni mics as Phiz suggests, but would love to hear some more on that.

My comment was actually about non-omni microphones. For example, notice the different lines for different frequencies shown on the cardiod polar pattern below:
<br>


By moving the source to somewhere besides 0 degrees, the relative levels of the highs and lows will be altered.

CRAP! I am an idiot, and can't read! Sorry about that, and thanks for the clarification. This of course makes perfect sense, and is used very commonly with guitar cabinet and drum close-miking. I need to slow down and read posts before I comment!

I just use omnis so infrequently (like, "never" other than room mics) that I was hoping to learn a new technique. I hear folks talk a lot about all the cool things you can do with omnis, and I guess I am just not "in-the-know" and was hoping for some new cool info te get me off my butt and start experimenting.

[drumsound]

As has been discussed here before, mic placement effects the TONE of a source, and if you want to consider that anything that changes the TONE of a source to be EQ, then I will agree.

I was being completely generic with the term EQ.

But to be pedantic, EQ is just ONE way of altering the tone of a source.

I think you get what the spirit is here, as you nicely gave examples in you post.

[surf's up]

So a talented engineer using all these techniques to modify the tone is like a Pultec, while someone like me is equivalent more to the channel EQ on a Behringer Eurorack???

[JGriffin]

So a talented engineer using all these techniques to modify the tone is like a Pultec, while someone like me is equivalent more to the channel EQ on a Behringer Eurorack???

Don't sell yourself short; I'm sure you're at least a Spirit Folio...


Personally, I'm the "tone" knob on a 1983 Hohner 15w practice amp.

[surf's up]

So a talented engineer using all these techniques to modify the tone is like a Pultec, while someone like me is equivalent more to the channel EQ on a Behringer Eurorack???

Don't sell yourself short; I'm sure you're at least a Spirit Folio...


Personally, I'm the "tone" knob on a 1983 Hohner 15w practice amp.

haha

one thing's for sure. my room is a very wide band crap-pass filter.

[drumsound]

So a talented engineer using all these techniques to modify the tone is like a Pultec, while someone like me is equivalent more to the channel EQ on a Behringer Eurorack???

Don't sell yourself short; I'm sure you're at least a Spirit Folio...


Personally, I'm the "tone" knob on a 1983 Hohner 15w practice amp.

haha

one thing's for sure. my room is a very wide band crap-pass filter.

That sounds like a Funk Logic product.