Source
r/synthesizers•
wetpaste

Hardware-only (OTB) users: What is your philosophy on EQ when working with synths and samplers?

Do you EQ at all? Do you rely on the equalizers on your mixer? Do you use insert EQs on any instruments? Do you put any EQ on your master? Do you EQ after recording?

Personally I don't have a system yet. I record straight into a stereo recorder without any EQs in the chain. I don't really use the EQs on my mixer very often, as they are very limited in their control. I mostly use the filters built into my synths and samplers to shape the sound to fit in the mix. My plan is to only EQ on the final mastering stage, but I miss being able to tweak EQ on every channel in a DAW with high precision. I'm curious to hear about what other synthfolk do and if you have any interesting uses of EQ in your live mixes.

Posted Sep 6, 2017, 10:09 PM UTC

1118
woundg•

I use the mixer eq's. One of my synths is pretty thin and a low boost helps. I have extra eq's around the studio for pa equipment, but routing each synth to a dedicated we would double my cabling. The filter itself is way more efficient at this, but every pa you plug into is different so you have to adjust based on your ear what comes across at best. Sound guys around where I'm from get scared when they see synths and never give me enough lows so sometimes it all becomes moot all together. Also I happen to play my synths with a lot of other folks playing other instruments at the same time as we are rehearsing for a live show. This makes fine tuning the eq almost useless as it's hard to hear the meticulous effort over drums, guitars, and bass. However, if my rig was more permanent as in a sound design application I'd be using every eq I have. I don't but expensive equipment so eq would help solve some of the idiosyncrasies like the one mentioned above. (Korg MS-2000R) I have a couple of rack parametric eq's that would be nice for this. Another thing that would be fun to try is a crossover. My crossover works for the whole mix and is not synth specific, but when the lows on my Yamaha AN-200 go through the mains and subs doing split duty the windows rattle. It helps the MS as well. It's known to be thin, but I wanted a cheap poly/vocoder.

7
fraghawk•

I think sound guys get scared of synths because if you don't have a big/powerful enough amp/speakers you could really do some damage with a synth as they can make more and louder low frequency sound than most acoustic instruments. Sounds to me like they were scared of you blowing their subs.

3
woundg•

I can appreciate that sentiment as I do sound as well. I believe where I'm at they expect the synth t be a lead instrument. There's not a lot of edm here so the bass and kick are what they give he lows to. I don't do edm necessarily, but my bass tones are lower than the actual bass player and m experience is that they don't allow me that headroom.

That being said I totally understand the danger of a fairly pure waveform through a sub that is underpowered. The cone just can't handle the travel.

2
fraghawk•

Yeah those square waves can be deadly... though if you came to my bar I wouldn't high pass filter you unless there's something weird going on :) properly driven 20" subs are cool and fun. I could probablely shake the windows out of the frames if there was no glazing, based on how the building reacts to my useage of Blank Banshee in my sound check ;)

6
proteus-ixWhat wuld you do with what you have now if you couldn't succeed?•

Uh... sound guys should have heard of brick wall limiters?

2
splitradixMidi in the streets, sysex in the sheets.•

I mostly cut with EQ rather than add. I'd avoid putting EQ on the master unless it's an amazing one that you know really well and you've already got the mix almost 95% perfect.

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fraghawk•

That's a great way to do live sound as it helps mitigate feedback but a bit of a boost in the studio can work wonders in certain situations like when recording heavy metal drums getting hollow sounding kicks sounding more deep and punchy, boosting 4k can really bring out the beater in the kick

3
RufussSewell•

For all hardware you'll want a mixer with decent EQs on the channels.

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pokemonfriendssoundcloud.com/jjxxnn•

I mix as I go it helps me find more room for sounds while I'm putting the beat together. Even when I'm going from a tape sample to my sp 404 I have a graphic eq between to roll off the noise 16khz plus. If I'm sampling piano sounds I will often cut below 200hz to leave room for bass and kick. It all depends on how you're using your samples and your philosophy on mixing/mastering.

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siegef4ceMinilogue, BS2•

Which EQ do you use before your SP404? A mixer, pedal or DAW?

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pokemonfriendssoundcloud.com/jjxxnn•

Its a stereo graphic eq sort of like this. Its nothing fancy but it gets the job done and it has the right input output (rca jacks) and it has a wider range of frequencies than would be on your typical mixer eq.

1
josephleone•

Everything runs into a mixer. EQ on every channel independently.

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HPPD2too much shit•

EQ on digital mixer (QU series), about as good as EQ in a DAW, just wish it had a lowpass. I tried the no/minimal EQ thing with an analog mixer for a while but it just did not sound as good. Sweepable highpass on each channel is most helpful for getting a decent mix.

1
CantinaPatron•

I flatten the EQ per channel, and overall. Then I sculpt the sound on the synthesizer(s). The only place I might apply EQ is in post production, after compression.

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proteus-ixWhat wuld you do with what you have now if you couldn't succeed?•

Presumably each instrument sounded good while you were playing/writing each part, and it's in the mix where things are getting weird. So start at the end with all instruments, effects and dynamics in the mix; if it needs a boost or a cut, EQ it working backwards to the source (ie on the channel, between effects, until you're just after the source). This allows you to tweak frequencies based on the final context which is what counts most. I mean theoretically you could stick an EQ between every point in your signal chain, but then you're probably just fiddling and not finishing your track.

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wetpasteOP•

I guess personally I haven't felt like my mixes are muddy or terrible that I'm trying to solve a specific problem. I'm more just wondering from a show-of-hands sort of approach what others are doing. I'm curious.

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proteus-ixWhat wuld you do with what you have now if you couldn't succeed?•

Do other people with good ears compliment your mixes? If so, then yeah, I'd ignore what other people say regardless. :D If not, then it's totally valid to explore what's possible. Just EQ is one of those things that can be talked to death, and in the end it comes back to your same ears and the ability to make finer discriminations in what is going to sound best for that music in that place on those speakers in that moment.

In other words... read my flare. ;D

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wetpasteOP•

That's a good philosophy. I haven't really had much criticism of my mixes, good or bad. In the past I wasn't very happy with what I did mix-wise but I made everything on a computer and had VERY busy tracks going on. I do things in a simpler way now, no multitracking, if I like what I hear I record. I don't really share my work in general, but I haven't gotten to the point where I'm not making sketches and making more complete songs. I can't go back and tweak small things in my mix, I have to start over with levels and EQ (everything is else is recalled from the sequencer).

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