Joe Gilder's EQ Masterclass

[phcorrigan]

I just watched the first episode (of three) of this. To this amateur it's all sound advice (pun intended)!

https://www.homestudiocorner.com/eq-masterclass-part-1

[b1j]

Joe makes things approachable.

[KevWind]

Agreed , he does a great job for Presonus/S1, is pretty organized and concise

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Agreed , he does a great job for Presonus/S1, is pretty organized and concise

In this series he's pretty generic, other than the fact that the examples he's used so far use Presonus software.

[rick-slo]

Try equalization cuts first before boosts is the main point I appreciated.

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Try equalization cuts first before boosts is the main point I appreciated.

Agreed. He also emphasized to listen first, learn the sound of the various frequencies, and that, in most cases, less is better.

[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Try equalization cuts first before boosts is the main point I appreciated.

Except that was never a real rule among professionals...it's kind of a BS thing people say to sound like they're "pro". It kind of triggers me. It's such a stupid statement. Like "always high pass'. Which is another lie. Don't always do anything. It's art, not dogma.

I think people get more confused the more they hear these made up rules that are only getting in the way. Use whatever works for whatever source you have. In the words of Joe Meek "if it sounds good, it is good."

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by DupleMeter

Except that was never a real rule among professionals...it's kind of a BS thing people say to sound like they're "pro". It kind of triggers me. It's such a stupid statement. Like "always high pass'. Which is another lie. Don't always do anything. It's art, not dogma.

I think people get more confused the more they hear these made up rules that are only getting in the way. Use whatever works for whatever source you have. In the words of Joe Meek "if it sounds good, it is good."

He didn't say "always." He said "try first."

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by phcorrigan

He didn't say "always." He said "try first."

True. Every recording I get even on solo acoustic guitar IMO benefits from somewhat different post recording audio tweaks.

[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by phcorrigan

He didn't say "always." He said "try first."

Still BS. You "try" what's needed...and he can't hear what you're listening to...so just do what is needed & don't worry if you need to boost first. Hell. some very well known mixers made a living on extreme boosting almost exclusively.

The reality is, boosting what you want is roughly equivalent to cutting what you don't. You still end up with more of the good & less of the bad. And some very famous EQ circuits sound better boosting that cutting. Horses for courses.

[b1j]

Joe delivers where I live: amateur using Studio One. He’s given me the impetus to try simple procedures to get decent results. I’ve always taken his lessons as simplified ideas to encourage the home studio folks to keep at it. They’re not comprehensive and they’re not going to teach the pros anything. I just like that I can follow his “keystrokes” while learning and practicing techniques.

I’ll say a word in favor of subtractive EQ for the beginner, for me anyway. With multiple tracks, a premix sound can get loud fast. Taking down the dominant frequencies is an easy to grasp way to help tracks coexist and assume their distinct roles..

Joe’s examples get you started. What lies beyond them is the rest of your recording experience.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by DupleMeter

Still BS. You "try" what's needed...and he can't hear what you're listening to...so just do what is needed & don't worry if you need to boost first. Hell. some very well known mixers made a living on extreme boosting almost exclusively.

The reality is, boosting what you want is roughly equivalent to cutting what you don't. You still end up with more of the good & less of the bad. And some very famous EQ circuits sound better boosting that cutting. Horses for courses.

Steve not trying to argue (you certainly have more experience and better ears than me) And I agree there are no hard fast rules or universal suggestions that work on every mix or every situation.

But coming from a different perspective.
While no doubt "try what is needed" is very good advise I think it may be more relatable to an experienced professional mix engineer, than a home recording enthusiast (especially a new inexperienced one). Simply because they may have no clue as to what even might be needed, let alone what is needed
Understanding that critical listening is a long term intentionally learned skill, requiring time and experience (which a new home recordist does not have)

They likely only know it does not sound the way they had hoped it would .
They do not know what part of the frequency range they might want boost or cut and what not to , or why . And again I agree with just try different things

But if as you say, cutting is roughly equivalent to boosting, than trying cutting first as advice is certainly no less valid than trying boosting first is it ?.

And given the acoustic phenomenon where even slightly louder usually sounds better -- then boosting first may sound better to start with, but if one is boosting built up and possibly unrecognized as slightly distorted frequencies, (prototypical in home studio's) that could end up contributing to robbing depth and presence from the mix

And I think perhaps Gilder is saying try cut first because with new recordists (I know I did this ) they often go right to boosting EQ first (Oh lets boost 100hz to get more low end --- oh lets boost 4k to get more guitar body oh lets boost 10 k for more high end air and sparkle hummm ?? I keep boosting but it still sounds to thin or lackluster ???)

--just a thought...

[Brent Hahn]

As for the cutting vs boosting thing, where I see people digging themselves a hole is by not balancing before they do either cutting or boosting. Taking the elements they have and getting the best result they can by simply setting levels. At that point, the amount of eq (boost or cut) needed to make individual sounds work better within that balance might be a lot less than they initially thought.

[broy]

Joe mentions an important part of the journey is to develop your ears, with one suggestion to spend time listening to well mixed tracks. I'm only going to be recording myself, solo guitarist with some 'colorful' singing so trying to find examples

... would something like this work (Ray Wylie Hubbard Live) or would I be better finding something recorded in a studio?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9_xBIuV9nE&t=193s

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by broy

Joe mentions an important part of the journey is to develop your ears, with one suggestion to spend time listening to well mixed tracks. I'm only going to be recording myself, solo guitarist with some 'colorful' singing so trying to find examples

... would something like this work (Ray Wylie Hubbard Live) or would I be better finding something recorded in a studio?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9_xBIuV9nE&t=193s

Plenty of good examples in the forum "Show and Tell" part of the forum as well in this "Record" part of the forum.