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EQing


djdiggla

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I never really EQ for each record unless I obviously need to... usually just drop the mids a little and bring the lows and highs up possible depending on the sound system... I adjust the gain of course and sometime drop the low of the record I'm mixing in or cutting.... What should I be doing? Or better yet, what is a good default setting for high, mids, lows--all straight up and down?

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EQing section on a mixer can be used for a few different reasons...

 

To allow 2 tunes to fit together without them clashing

Some times 2 tunes might sound fine on their own but when you mix them together certain frequencies start to get over power, a quick tweak of the eq can help. One common trick often used with the EQs is to swap basslines, so if you have 1 tune playing you bring in the second tune with the bass cut so the basslines don't clash, then when you want to swap to the other bassline you cut the bass on the first record and bring it in on the other. You can then continue the mix with the bulk of it brought over to your new tune until you are ready to mix out completely.

 

Stop scratch rumble

Like you already said, it's good to cut the lows a bit when scratching.

 

As an effect

Diffent EQs on different mixers have different characteristics, some are more exciting that others. The one on the Technics mixer for example has very strong characterics. EQ's can be used to do manual filter sweeps. You can cut the bass then punch it in for ever 4th kick, then 2nd and every kick to create a build up effect, same with the mids for snares. You just got to experiment with this stuff.

 

Make tune tunes you mixing fit together

The tune records you are mixing together my have been EQed differently so the transition maybe to sudden, an EQ can help fix the problem. It can also be used to make a badly EQed/cut record sound a bit better.

 

Compensate for a bad sound system and feedback

Not something you want to have to do as a DJ but it happens, if the sound system is too bass heavy or the sound engineer too pissed then you may have to adjust the EQ to compensate. Some times if there is too much bass you will experience feedback through the stylus and cutting the bass is the only remedy.

 

Hope that's helpful ;)

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i think it depends what your doing really. if 2 tracks fit together well with good phrasing then EQ doesnt seem to help at all. tweaking can make mixes sound a little smoother for sure but if its a short mix it doesnt really help to much coz u aint got time to do it all.

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^^That's kinda my situation--with hiphop it seems so quick that not really the time to fuck with the EQ too much other than possibly bass line swap like you were saying... so for hiphop is there a "general" alignment of the EQ knob/faders you would suggest? Like I said, I usually turn highs and lows up slightly and mids down a little for a starting point.

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^^That's kinda my situation--with hiphop it seems so quick that not really the time to fuck with the EQ too much other than possibly bass line swap like you were saying... so for hiphop is there a "general" alignment of the EQ knob/faders you would suggest? Like I said, I usually turn highs and lows up slightly and mids down a little for a starting point.

 

If everything is setup properly then you should just have the EQs at 0 or center (i.e. no boost and no cut)

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i tend to use the gains more when mixing hiphop, dropping the track your mixing in with the gain down slightly then bringing it up gradually as you notch the outgoing track down slightly to bring the focus to the new track.

 

that way mixes don't sound so abrupt.

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I do that but with the volume faders... or scratch in the other track to drop mix it in. But either way I use volume to bring it in so I can still hear it well in the headphones.

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i always like my line faders at the top, just how i've always had it. that's why i use gains, you can get finer adjustments from the gains too ;)

 

good point on the headphone part, adjusting the gain will affect the headphones while the line faders won't.

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  • 4 weeks later...
One common trick often used with the EQs is to swap basslines, so if you have 1 tune playing you bring in the second tune with the bass cut so the basslines don't clash, then when you want to swap to the other bassline you cut the bass on the first record and bring it in on the other.

 

Loads of people do this but it doesn't really work. It's not like the bass part is going to be completely contained with the frequencies controlled, especially the higher harmonics. It might work a bit with sub bass.

 

At best mixing with the bass eq is a way of rescuing a clashing mix, although most times I've done it I could still hear the clash as there is still quite a lot of the eqd bass part there.

 

I wouldn't ever try to use it deliberately to swap basses unless I'd worked it out first and was sure that the eq frequencies fell at the right spot.

 

Can you imagine a producer sampling a track and "removing the bass" with a radical cut at a fixed frequency? If your DJ mixer has a swept frequency on the bass it might improve things a bit but I don't think I've aver seen that..?

 

It always surprises me the number of people who leave both levels up full and reach straight for the bass eg to mix with. One of my mates was co-hosting my radio show with me the other day, happily driving the levels in to the red and distorting and when I pointed it out he said "but I've got the bass turned down"...

 

A harshly eq'd tune layered at full volume over another tune is just going to sound harsh and loud, IMO using the levels carefully and then eq carefully to tweak any troublesome frequencies or compensate for the quality of the source material leads to a far smoother mix every time :)

 

Dropping the bass on one tune does help if you find that you've got phasing issues between the kicks on the two tracks, but by the time the tune coming in is a full level you probably want to make sure the bass is full up (and maybe down on the other) cos it'll be affecting the sound of everything else (like the bassline and even the oomph of the snares)

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True won't work if the basslines have a lot of higher frequencies and they are not in tune with each other. But if you kill the low frequencies leaving only the higher harmonics and they work/are in tune with the other bassline then it can work really well.

 

Obviously it also depends one what EQ/mixer you have as the frequency bands differ and how much they actually cut the sound.

 

Basically it's not something that you can always do, but it can work well at times.

 

Just like all things with DJing, it works with some tunes and not with others and it's your job as a DJ to not do things which sound shit.

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One of my mates was co-hosting my radio show with me the other day, happily driving the levels in to the red and distorting and when I pointed it out he said "but I've got the bass turned down"...

 

LOL

 

Welcome to the forum BTW

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True won't work if the basslines have a lot of higher frequencies and they are not in tune with each other. But if you kill the low frequencies leaving only the higher harmonics and they work/are in tune with the other bassline then it can work really well.

 

Yeah - you'd have to know that first though...

 

I was just getting on my soapbox a bit cos so many people jump for a drastic eq by default!

 

I'm a bit anal about this stuff but I reckon it's worth it. Especially if you want to sound smooth in a club environment

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Just to add to that....with you're reference to producing, it's quite common (at least in the drum & bass, breakbeat world) for a producer to build up their bass using layers created using this method. For example you would take a noisy bass sound with loads of mid & highter frequences and cut all the actual bass out of it then use a sub bass patch underneath it. Obviously like you say though, more precise eq tools are available in that environment with sweepable frequencies and adjustable Q settings.

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One of my mates was co-hosting my radio show with me the other day, happily driving the levels in to the red and distorting and when I pointed it out he said "but I've got the bass turned down"...

 

LOL

 

Welcome to the forum BTW

 

Thanks!

 

my interest was piqued by x2k's blog. Some interesting stuff in here :)

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Just to add to that....with you're reference to producing, it's quite common (at least in the drum & bass, breakbeat world) for a producer to build up their bass using layers created using this method. For example you would take a noisy bass sound with loads of mid & highter frequences and cut all the actual bass out of it then use a sub bass patch underneath it. Obviously like you say though, more precise eq tools are available in that environment with sweepable frequencies and adjustable Q settings.

 

+ they wouldn't be doing it on full tunes.

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Yeah - you'd have to know that first though...

 

I was just getting on my soapbox a bit cos so many people jump for a drastic eq by default!

 

I'm a bit anal about this stuff but I reckon it's worth it. Especially if you want to sound smooth in a club environment

 

Fair enough...my original post probably did make it look like a general, works in all situations type of technique...thankyou for making it a bit more specific ;)

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