How to EQ like a PRO - 11 EQ Mistakes That RUIN Your Mixes 😖
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- Опубліковано 12 чер 2024
- 👉 Download my Essential Mixing Guide here [FREE]: bit.ly/3PgKwWj Using EQ properly is an important and often misunderstood concept in mixing - regardless of genre or DAW. Learning how to use eq properly can make a huge difference to the quality of your mix.
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These 11 eq mistakes could be ruining your mixes, so in this equalizer tutorial I show you how to instantly correct them all, and it will show you how to get a perfect mixdown.
In this video we go deep into:
00:00 - Intro
01:36 - Mistake 1: Using Surgical EQ Sweeps Too Much)
04:37 - Mistake 2: Not Using High and Low Pass
07:49 - Mistake 3: Not Using EQ Automation
10:03 - Mistake 4: Not Training Your Ears
10:59 - Mistake 5: Only Using Subtractive EQ
11:57 - Mistake 6: Only Using Digital EQs
15:31 - Mistake 7: Not Using Spectrum Analysers
17:39 - Mistake 8: Relying on EQ (Before Sound Selection)
18:58 - Mistake 9: Not Volume Matching Gain Staging
21:55 - Mistake 10: Not EQing in Context
24:17 - Mistake 11: Not Having an Intention
You don’t need lots of fancy, expensive equalizers - often the stock EQ included with your DAW is absolutely fine for 90% of the time.
But what is eq, and how do you use eq properly? It’s simply adjusting the volume of specific frequencies in an audio signal, to create a balanced frequency spread that enhances your mix and - ultimately - your final master.
So, if you want to learn how to get a perfect mixdown, or advice on using eq for mixing, this tutorial is a must!
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In this tutorial we go in-depth into:
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Cheers, and happy producing!
Will
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#mixing #eq #tutorial
I have been watching your videos for the last couple of years. Your videos have helped me to become a producer. Currently I have signed 6 tracks to a record label. Your teachings have contributed to my small success.
Thank you
Keep going 💪😎
have you were success yet
Great 🎉
Tip number one is the most frustrating one for me! I ALWAYS scream at the screen when UA-camrs incessantly encourage surgical EQ when they themselves don't know how to use it! You only really need to surgically use EQ if you can clearly hear a resonant frequency that needs cutting. You shouldn't have to search for it.
I agree, but it definitely helps to boost when hunting for the one you can hear
Not everyone has a perfect world recording situation.. It can be helpful if the room is trash lol
i do this for my grid leads if i got a lot going on and i just needs some space so the chaos isnt to muddy or cluttered. But i too made the mistake of doing too much. Now i will try and find some horrible sounds boosted like in the video if i have two lead tracks in similar or same key frequencies and i will do one cut on each where it sounded most crap but not so narrow a curve, and only if it sounds like soup in mono. for me its just for clarity and making frequency pockets for other stuff not to "improve the sound" which I'm certainly not doing not that naive anymore but its to improve the mix as i will always do it not in solo
@@llewellyn.7466 if the room is trash use headphones. i only use headphones cos i aint got a decent room but i do test in rooms with speakers
@@matthewtoomer2181 Room its recorded in*
But yeh definitely good advice on the headphones if the speakers are creating chaos in a springy room lol
Made a summary again. Thanks for the video :)
01:36 - Mistake 1: Using Surgical EQ Sweeps Too Much (=sweep with high q and high boost and listen for problems and turn down those frequencies - Solution: Don't overdo it. Personal note: Make them dynamic in ProQ3)
04:37 - Mistake 2: Not Using High and Low Pass. You get a muddy mix without these. Solution: Use lots of low and high pass filters to balance your mix. Don't be afraid of it sounding thin - it's about the context, not the individual instrument.
07:49 - Mistake 3: Not Using EQ Automation. Especially with Audio Recording (dynamic Track / things are changing throughout the recording - adapt the eq to the change)
10:03 - Mistake 4: Not Training Your Ears. Do it a couple of minutes a day. For example here: Soundgym / Quiztones. Personal note: Syntorial is great, too.
10:59 - Mistake 5: Only Using Subtractive EQ. Don't be afraid for additive EQ.
11:57 - Mistake 6: Only Using Digital EQs. Visual Eqs can destract. Use analog modelled EQs, too. There you focus on your ears more. And, analogue modelled EQs have more rounded / smoothed harmonics. Especially use it for additive EQs
15:31 - Mistake 7: Not Using Spectrum Analysers. Tip: Span by Voxengo. Use also reference tracks. Compare the spectrum graphs. Personal note: Metric A/B (VST Plugin) is great on this.
17:39 - Mistake 8: Relying on EQ (Before Sound Selection). Sound Selection can be a lot more effective - make sure you choose a working sound first.
18:58 - Mistake 9: Not Volume Matching Gain Staging. Loud sounds better. Therefore don't confuse your ears by comparing different volumes.
21:55 - Mistake 10: Not EQing in Context. Don't EQ in solo. Only do it on solo as a first run and then in conext. Also mix in hierachy from most important to less important.
24:17 - Mistake 11: Not Having an Intention. Trust your ears. Know what you want to achieve. Don't just EQ because for the sake of it.
Great work…thank you for posting!
;This video is so helpful and well presented.... Anyone interested in mixing needs to watch this
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it
@@EDMTips Ye mate seriously you are a legend, Will! Thankyou!!!!
Only a few days remaining for my $10,000 music production giveaway! 👉 www.edmtips.com/100k-subscribers-competition/
You really hitting it out the park with these latest videos Will! Top quality stuff.
A tips for people who are searching for the right kick sample or synth preset that comes directly from 3DFX here is this: Bring in all your samples / presets from a construction kit or etc in your daw in an empty scene. Mute every single channel, then solo each & compare to the other samples/ synth presets. When you found your top favorites: copy them to a Favorite folder of yours. So you know exactly where to look when you are writing your tracks. Now you know whats the best kick sample or which synth preset mixes the best with which !!!This will save you a bunch of time both for planning your mix & get better mixes quicker! Thank me laterz! // 3DFX out !!! 👍
if there are a few days left, I already have the track, only a few details are missing and I'll upload it.
I already sent mine! Good luck to us all 🤞🤞🤞
Finally someone who explains this in detail and in a coherent way. Thank you i am trying this in my new track. 🙌🤘
Glad it was helpful! Anything else you're struggling with?
@@EDMTips Well i was wandering what is a good level of volume for a heavy electro kick? I know this sounds stupid but sometimes i either kind of mute the bassline with the kick or viceversa. I wanna have a good volume balance between heavy kicks and the bassline.
It's been about a year since I've watched one of your tutorials and this one blew me away with how clean your points have become and how sharp your editing has become! Bravo!!!
Cheers, Aisha, I am glad you found them helpful and improved :)
Thank you for watching and supporting the channel! 🙌🏻
I'm 15 minutes in, I have already gained a few hundred thousand dollars worth of real life applications for my home recording.
The explanation is absolutely unrolled off, and full of non stop wisdom
Thank you, I really appreciate the kind words of support 🙌🏻
Another amazing vid Will , always improving / pushing your students. Thank you 🙏
Something else to geek out on in 2022.
Great video with great production quality Will!
Been watching videos on mixing/mastering for 2 years now. This channel is my favorite and imho has the best advice!
I went off watching production videos for a bit but back at it a few weeks now. Video production quality has improved massively. Fair play Will
One of the best tutors on here! Very helpful. Thank you.
Amen brother, cheers for your knowledge!!As always its a great help!!
I learn so mutch from you hope you Will keep this up for Manny years 😊
I’ve recently been watching some of your videos, and they’ve really helped me out. Thank you 🙏🏼, your content is amazing ❤
You're so welcome! Glad my videos have helped you so far! 🙌🏻🙂
love it man, feel quite proud with myself listening that I already avoid most of the mistakes you talked about here, the point about boosting with analog and cutting with digital eqs is something I definitely gotta try, awesome vid!
Thank you, I am really glad you found this helpful! 🙂🙌🏻
Man thank you so much for this tips. They will definitely make a difference on my mixes from now and on
You got my like and subscribe . Awesome video with great explanations in detail! Exactly what I needed to see as I'm currently stuck on the eq side of it all, will definitely apply these tips. Thanks heaps. Amen brother haha
Great video , I was curious about making drastic cuts off the low end on tracks that didn’t need it , and after watching this I realize that its ok as long as it works in context . There are times with I need the low end for an acoustic guitar to sound full during an intro and knowing how to automate the eq for cutting out unnecessary low end is very helpful when kick and bass come into the spectrum . Great video again ! Thank you :)
I'm learning, thank you!
have been practise my eq skills for 7+years now , and still making improvments every day! Wish there was a vid like this when i started out producing 10 years ago.. Well done! Keep it up =)
Appreciate it, Tommy, and glad it was helpful! Anything else in particular you’d like me to cover?
funny, i used to say i shouldn't have spent the last 20 years producing, i could have lived a decent life, now i can just go on UA-cam and learn everything in one week! lmao
@@EDMTips have you covered paranell compression? You have very detailed videos very valuable
Thanks for all the great videos you’ve helped me so much!
I absolutely love your mixing videos. I may not produce EDM, etc, but you have helped me in so may ways! Thank you
You're welcome! The techniques I teach can be applied to pretty much ANY genre of music :)
Thanks a lot for the tips, very clear, pleasant and efficient ! :D
Superb teaching as usual !!
I love the idea on #6. Thanks!
You're welcome, and glad you found it helpful! 🙂🙌🏻
Another awesome one. Every videos a banger. Awesome!
Thank you, Jeremy, I am glad it was useful ☺️🙌🏻
Great , helpful videos as usual ... and thumbs up for your project with Simon , such a good lad ...
He is indeed! We’ve got a couple more tunes coming up, too :)
Such a helpfull video, thanks!
Another banger, thanks man!
You're welcome, glad you enjoy it! 🙌🏻
Some great tips in this video. EQing tracks effectively takes lots of practice. I really appreciated the examples. Thank you!
You're welcome, glad it was helpful! 🙌🏻
Best EQ video I have ever seen! Great Job Bro!
You're welcome...Thanks for watching and supporting!
Thanks for sharing!
Really good tips man thank you 🙏
Another great video. Thanks for reinforcing stuff I kinda thought I knew and teaching some new stuff. Namaste. Hear, here!
'It doesn't matter how crappy the plugin is as long as it's resizable.' - Will. I've put words in your mouth. 😀
I think I've been watching your channel for too long as I don't make these mistakes anymore. You're a hero!
Legendary video, thanks :)
Excellent info. Thanks for this.
Dunno why, but that "Boom" at the beggining had me in stitches hahaha
this video is very helpful!
As always a really valueable video, Will. For the surgical EQ i advice not to boost the frequencies to identify bad frequencies. As you stated already, you will mostly have a bad sounding frequency, even if you only boost it for a few dB. The more accurate way is to listen to the frequencies on the flat curve. FabFilter ProQ allows you to listen to that certain frequency by clicking on that little headphone icon, so you can only hear that frequency where you are with your dot. You then sweep through the whole spectrum (while still on that flat curve, no boosting or cutting), and then you will hear the frequencys that cause problems. These frequencies can be then lowered to the desired amount.
Another tip would be to use a dynamic EQ, like TDR Nova for example.
Keep up the good work! :)
Yep, that’s a great feature in pro q! Good idea re: the dynamic eq, too
@Broken Drum Machine No problem, you're welcome. :)
THANKS FOR INCLUDING THE TEST!!!! I don’t have a mentor UA-cam is my mentor and I don’t have 1 on 1 lessons for someone to tell me I’m listening to something wrong. The tests let me calibrate my ears to what’s actually happening and I’m not forced to mix and master and pray that I’m getting better. Wish I knew this sooner cause I hate starting bad habits cause they’re so hard to break I would’ve did this from the jump so I didn’t have to unlearn this shit. Thanks once again!!
You're welcome, glad you found it helpful! 🙂
Anything else in particular you’re struggling with and would like me to cover on the channel?
Will your vids are so helpful! You are an amazing teacher brotha!! 🤘😎❤️😎
Thank you, Randy, I am glad you found them helpful! 🙂🙌🏻
Anything else in particular you’re struggling with and would like me to cover on the channel?
WOW!! Great tips bro! THANKS!
Glad it was helpful! Anything else you're struggling with?
12:00 - awesome advice!
Very great work, fantastic video for all music producers.
Thanks for watching, I am glad it was useful!
Ive come back to find this exact video and tell you how much of an impact your tip for raising the q and searching for the hz that you take away from the sounds sharpness ive been trying to sharpen my sounds for so long and dipping those unwanted literally change the game for me thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience 😮
You're welcome, Trevor, glad you found it helpful! 🙂🙌🏻
@@EDMTips see you tomorrow 11 oclock cant wait to see what happens
Hope you enjoyed! 🙂
This is great! Thank you
You're welcome, glad you found it helpful! 🙌🏻
This was GREAT! Thank you!
You're welcome, glad it was helpful! 🙌🏻
love it, thanks
Just fell over this one again and watched it all, great tips!
Love the work you put into these videos 🫶
struggle with EQ cut/boost and which frequencies, watching this video has helped, as I now know what I need to look for and have an idea where
Thank you!
Great clear advice. Thx. JPMusic
You’re welcome, James! Glad it was helpful 🙂🙌🏻
thanks bro, learning lots
Stoked to hear this! Thank you for watching and supporting the channel 🙂
Solid advice!
Cheers, glad you found it helpful! 🙂
Hey Will. Great vid as always. Quick one - on the analogue EQ - any particular recommendations? There are SO many, so any pointers would be much appreciated. Cheers, Mark
well taught bless bro
Very well explained, thank you 🙏!
You're welcome, glad it was helpful! 🙂🙌🏻
Thanks ! Great tips.
You’re welcome! Glad it helped
Mucho Grazie Broski. Very well said
BOOM! 🙌🙌 😎
very helpful. thanks bro
You're welcome! Glad it helped :)
It's funny, I have always used the fabfilter proQ to do my EQ cuts early in my chain, but then I always use an SSL EQ to do my additive EQ towards the end of my chain because I just loved the color that the SSL added. This wasn't a very conscious choice based on advice I'd been given or anything, I just liked how it sounded. Then today I see this video and you're saying "Use a parametric EQ for reductive, and an analog modeled for additive" and breaking down why that makes sense to do. It just makes me feel good about having trusted my instincts on that.
Good tips for sure. Regarding EQ level matching, it's better to adjust the output of the EQ itself rather than inserting a gain tool. You avoid unnecessarily using an insertion slot and also avoid unnecessarily using CPU cycles. This 2nd point is important for those running DAWs on modest computers.
Well done.
Awsome, great tutorial again, this was a huge help, Thanks Amen bruvaaa
Hell yeah! Thanks for watching and supporting the channel! 🙌🙏
I have been doing quite a bit of this wrongly. Thank you!!!
You're welcome, glad you found it helpful! 🙌🏻
Excellent video! I agree with all of these. As far as EQ plugins, I also use the Fabfilter Pro-Q3, which is my favorite. My other EQ plugin is the Waves GEQ Graphic Equalizer. It has 30 bands, and it's great for using your ears to hear the frequencies that you're cutting or boosting. It's $30, but WELL worth it!!!
Amen Brother!!!!!! Great Videos!
🙌🙏 Thanks!
Amazing video thank you!
My pleasure! Glad it was helpful! :)
Thankyou brother👍🏾👍🏾✅
Thank you, that was helpful
You're welcome! Glad it was helpful :)
enjoyed this video and found it useful thank you :)
You're welcome! Glad it was helpful :)
Amen Brother, that was sensational, thank you
You're welcome, glad you enjoyed it! 🙌🏻🙂
that gain staging explanation is going to be a game changer for me.
Awesome, I am glad I could help! 🙌🏻
Nice one as always Will. I'm still working on my track for your contest. It's taking me awhile because, like I said, I'm still new to making music a year in August. I'm going to make sure I get it in before midnight on the 21st though. Thanks for everything Will
Good luck
@@zackgriffith5012 Thanks man
Great tips!
Thank you mate!!
No problem 👍
Thanks, I’ll add to this with tip 4 about automating EQ. You could even create a duplicate track and use that for the part needing the EQ cut. Btw your mono switch tip is helping me level my mix’s.
Amazing video. Thanks
You're welcome, glad you found it helpful! 🙂🙌🏻
AMEN Brother. I love you heaps!
Thanks for these helpful EQ tips
You're welcome! Anything else you're struggling with?
@@EDMTips Thanks 😄I had an almost invisible mud in a Splice beat battle track that I didn't know where it was coming from. It could of been the reverb tail I put on the heavy kick (which I put only on frequencies above 200 Hz), which otherwise sounded pleasant. I guess getting super clean clear mixes is a must to get higher votes when competing. Due to time constraints the whole mix was a bit of a disaster on that last battle.
This video is awesome! Gracias
You're very welcome! Glad it was helpful!
yes yes Will. happy Friday 😁
Amen brother, also the most used break in the music history.
Appreciate it! 🙌🙏
Good stuff.
Very good Video.
I’m having issues learning how to master. And not having anyone who I can share and work with leaves me learning from trial and error, so I do appreciate video like this…
I am glad you found it useful! You can also check out my video on mastering which I've recently published :)
Genius move!
Thanks for the support!
Brilliant video Will thanks for taking the time to make it. Can you tell me what headphones you recommend for monitoring and mix when mastering the final track. I have Adam A3X monitoring speaks and these are great, but often I miss things and have been advised to cross check with headphones. I read somewhere on an internet board that Calvin Harris uses Sennheiser HD 25-1 II headphones and his mixes sound alright to me lol. So what do you recommend Will?
Thank you.
You're welcome, glad you found it helpful! 🙂
Hell yeah!!! Amen my brother!!!
🙌🙏
When He Said , Bedroom Producers , Just Like you . I Subscribed 😂🔥
thanks bro 🔥✌️😊
Thank you so much🙏🙏✨✨
You're welcome! Glad you found it helpful :)
So helpful and everything is well detailed, Thank you # From Africa ( Ivory Cost 🇨🇮)
Great video, very useful. One thing I remind myself of is, let the music breath, and if there is resonance I always cut, I almost never boost any frequency. Or in mastering, there is a total other situation. When you have to let sound, everything balanced and great. But then I use a Sontec or GML kinda parametic EQ.
Will great videos . You used utility to gain stage, what’s your thoughts on using limiter v’s utility for this?
I've been making electronic music since '92 and I've sorta learned by way of 'school of hard knocks' (i.e. no professional tutoring but just figuring things out), I've learned a lot about writing a tune that sounds good in a final mix is almost primarily based on the sounds you start with, so this was a very important thing to point out, imo. As well, I also don't use my eyes much at all except on compressors where I'm looking for just a little bit of interaction of the audio with the compressor. If I want flattening and 'loudening' of something, these days I actually use very subtle distortion or saturation effects instead of compressor/limiter just to round off the tips of peaks instead of changing the entire dynamic feel of the instrument.
That said, the other important thing I learned just by reading around after the advent of the internet is that mixing (not eq'ing) by subtraction is far more effective because then you create headroom and then you can boost everything back up in a meaningful way. I'm not a master at any of this, to be sure, but...I reiterate: writing your song where each voice has it's place in the choir, so to speak, makes the entire process much less of a hassle. You can't polish a turd, as they say, so start with pretty cool and colorful rock, throw it in the tumbler for a minute and polished it off into a lovely piece of geode. :)
Also, I do think using mostly/only your ears is extremely important. I meet folks who can't even properly chop a sample without looking at it and I'm like, 'Dude, does it sound good where you have it? No? Why is that?' And then they go and look at the sample and I'm like, "You literally can't hear that it's dropping too late and that you need to push the chop point up further on the sample?' Music is audio. If we expected or taught painters to paint by listening to how the paint hit the canvas, we'd all agree that's insane. Music is sound, ears are the way we know what's happening.