Recording - March 2010 - 6

Note to faithful writers: When sending your letters by email, please remember to include your name and where you hail from. Working with limited eq Hello! I recently read Sean Shannon’s article on mixing bass guitar (October 2009). You explain rolling off the low frequencies from other instruments that don’t need it, to help clear out room for the bass and kick drum frequencies. I totally get it and I’ve learned to get better mixes by learning to understand the frequency spectrum and panning instruments and vocals in the stereo field by reading many of the articles in this magazine. My question to you is, which frequencies do I roll off if I don’t have access to all of them in my mixer’s eq? I am currently working with a Roland VS-1880 hard disk recorder which has a built in 3-band eq (low/ mid/ high). I understand from your article that I can add or roll off frequencies from either of the 3 bands to make room for the bass, for example adding a few dB of 500 Hz on the bass and roll off a few dB of 500 Hz from other instruments. What I am wondering is how to maximize this procedure if, for example, my kick drum sounds better with a couple of dB at 60 Hz versus the 500 Hz on the bass. And then what about other instruments such as those in the high k spectrum? What are the best choices using the 3 band eq? I appreciate any advice you can give me on getting better mixes using the frequencies with a 3-band eq. A loyal reader of Recording Magazine, Irving Louis Lattin via email Then the musical answer, from Lorenz Rychner: Hello Irving, and thanks for writing. Allow me to pick up on just one thing I saw that has me thinking that a quick explanation might be helpful to you. Your question about 60 Hz and 500 Hz makes me wonder if you have fully grasped the way Hertz numbers relate to the sound of the instruments we record and mix, and the way equalizers work. If you were able to make adjustments at exactly 60 Hz, typically no instrument other than piano, bass and kick drum could be affected, because none of the others have any information down there. If you had a low-cut filter, it would be a good idea to roll off that low end on other tracks even though they don’t contain any music, to eliminate low room rumble you may have recorded and don’t want. However, with the Low band on a VS-1880’s 3-band equalizer you cannot do that—as Mike points out, it’s a shelving eq, so all frequencies below your chosen setting are lowered equally by up to 12 dB, not totally filtered out. And you’re affecting many frequencies around your target when you do. As for the High band and what you call “the high k spectrum”, your High band of shelving eq will do even more to drastically alter the sound of your tracks. This is because of the overtone structure of your sound sources. As you know, all instruments produce overtones, and these overtones are more or less strong and at various frequencies relative to the frequency of whatever note you play—that variety in strength and frequencies of overtones is the reason that instruments all sound different from one another, as do notes produced by the same instrument. We start by noting the range of each instrument based on its fundamental, the lowest frequency it produces. The (tuning) A above middle C on a piano is at 440 Hz, the A just below middle C is at 220 Hz, the A an octave lower is at 110 Hz, another octave lower it’s A at 55 Hz. The low E string on a guitar resonates at around 82 Hz. Look at the table of instruments and their sounding ranges in Hertz numbers at www.ka5cvh.com/sound/musicrange.gif and you’ll see what I mean. Then realize that the table only shows the musical pitches you can play on those instruments (i.e. the fundamentals)—you have to take into account the overtones, too, and they will reach up much higher than what is displayed and your shelving High band, if set to the fundamental, will affect them all. Hope this helps. I’m glad to read that you’re getting good information from our magazine—keep reading and learning! Cheers–LzR First the gearhead answer, from Mike Metlay: Irving, when you carve out space in the frequency spectrum of one instrument to make room for another, the best tool is a parametric eq, which gives you precise control over the center frequency you’re cutting, how much you cut, and how wide a notch you’re cutting into the spectrum (the bandwidth or Q) around the frequency you’ve chosen. Ideally you’d have several bands of parametric eq to work with, so you can push and pull frequencies to taste. Unfortunately, the VS-1880’s eq doesn’t have that much flexibility—of the three bands you mention, only one is parametric, the Mid, and that one only reaches from 200 to 8000 Hz. The High and Low bands are shelving bands: they gently boost or cut everything below the chosen frequency by the same amount. These bands are used for general tone shaping or for controlling low-end rumble or high-end hiss; you can’t really do surgery with them. Your best bet is to place the Mid band where it does the most good, and then use the High and Low to “tilt” the spectrum so the instrument sounds its best. You’ll have more options available to you if your VS1880 has one or two VS8F-2 effects cards installed; with those, you can add more powerful parametric eq as an insert on tracks that really need it, and do the frequency carving that way.—MM Write to us at: Talkback, Recording Magazine, 5408 Idylwild Trail, Boulder, CO 80301 Or save stamps and send email to talkback@recordingmag.comRECORDING MARCH 2010
http://www.ka5cvh.com/sound/musicrange.gif

Recording - March 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - March 2010

Recording - March 2010
Fade In
Talkback
Fast Forward
Become A Recording Songwriter
When You’re The Band
Cakewalk V-Studio 100
The Evolution Of A Song
Blue Bottle Rocket Stage Two
Demoitis—An Epidemic That Affects Recording Songwriters
It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights.  Chapter 1: Copyright
For Your Bookshelf
Audio-Technica AT2035
Readers’ Tapes
Plug-in Outlet
Recording’s Guitar Column
Recording’s Vocal Column
Once Over—Reviews In Brief
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - March 2010 - Recording - March 2010
Recording - March 2010 - Cover2
Recording - March 2010 - 1
Recording - March 2010 - Fade In
Recording - March 2010 - 3
Recording - March 2010 - 4
Recording - March 2010 - 5
Recording - March 2010 - Talkback
Recording - March 2010 - 7
Recording - March 2010 - Fast Forward
Recording - March 2010 - 9
Recording - March 2010 - Become A Recording Songwriter
Recording - March 2010 - 11
Recording - March 2010 - 12
Recording - March 2010 - 13
Recording - March 2010 - 14
Recording - March 2010 - 15
Recording - March 2010 - When You’re The Band
Recording - March 2010 - 17
Recording - March 2010 - Cakewalk V-Studio 100
Recording - March 2010 - 19
Recording - March 2010 - The Evolution Of A Song
Recording - March 2010 - 21
Recording - March 2010 - 22
Recording - March 2010 - 23
Recording - March 2010 - 24
Recording - March 2010 - 25
Recording - March 2010 - Blue Bottle Rocket Stage Two
Recording - March 2010 - 27
Recording - March 2010 - 28
Recording - March 2010 - 29
Recording - March 2010 - Demoitis—An Epidemic That Affects Recording Songwriters
Recording - March 2010 - 31
Recording - March 2010 - It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights.  Chapter 1: Copyright
Recording - March 2010 - 33
Recording - March 2010 - 34
Recording - March 2010 - 35
Recording - March 2010 - For Your Bookshelf
Recording - March 2010 - 37
Recording - March 2010 - Audio-Technica AT2035
Recording - March 2010 - 39
Recording - March 2010 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - March 2010 - 41
Recording - March 2010 - 42
Recording - March 2010 - 43
Recording - March 2010 - 44
Recording - March 2010 - 45
Recording - March 2010 - Plug-in Outlet
Recording - March 2010 - 47
Recording - March 2010 - 48
Recording - March 2010 - 49
Recording - March 2010 - Recording’s Guitar Column
Recording - March 2010 - 51
Recording - March 2010 - Recording’s Vocal Column
Recording - March 2010 - 53
Recording - March 2010 - Once Over—Reviews In Brief
Recording - March 2010 - 55
Recording - March 2010 - 56
Recording - March 2010 - Advertiser Index
Recording - March 2010 - 58
Recording - March 2010 - 59
Recording - March 2010 - 60
Recording - March 2010 - 61
Recording - March 2010 - 62
Recording - March 2010 - 63
Recording - March 2010 - Fade Out
Recording - March 2010 - Cover3
Recording - March 2010 - Cover4
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