Interesting EQ technique (Reaper example)

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by b1j

Those like you who know can help the rest of us find an efficient workflow for something like multiband compression. That would help us with the “how.”
But first it would be useful to know why and when we would want to use it and what results we can aim for.

DupleMeter's likely got better advice on this than me, but first, there's lots of info out there. With a quick look, this looks like a decent tutorial, that includes a "why":

https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/mul...ring-tips.html

Way more info than anyone's going to type in an AGF post.

I'd say a lot depends on what you're recording. For example, if you look at that article, they talk about things like compressing the kick drum in a mix without affecting other things - this seems to assume you're at a mastering stage where you already have a mix, and can't, for example, just go compress the kick drum track, (tho I didn't read the whole article).

For the other extreme, solo guitar, which is at least all the original video showed, I'd say the use of multi-band compression is somewhat limited (or unnecessary)- as Rick says, you should be able to get a good guitar sound by mic placement, without a lot of this kind of stuff.

That said, I do often use either a multi-band compressor, or more often, a dynamic EQ, which is a similar thing. In both cases, what I'd be trying to do is tame something without affecting everything else. You can use either tool to reduce the volume of some harsh string attack without actually cutting the treble everywhere, and without having compression trigger on bass notes just because you dug into some treble strings too hard - vice-versa. Probably the biggest use for me is to tame some occasional boomy low notes. You can zone in on the problem frequency, and set thresholds to only trigger (compress) when the problem occurs, so you're not cutting bass over all, just improving that one note or two that is leaping out. or reducing a squeak or harsh treble without cutting the highs all the time.

I think the key is "what problem are you trying to solve?". Thats not real clear in the video here, he seems to just be saying "lets split up the bands so we can muck with everything separately". If you have a specific issue (muddy mids, boomy bass, harsh trebles, etc), then you can tackle those and there are a variety of tools to help with that.

Of course, the best thing would be to record the sound better to start with, thru playing, the guitar, mic placement, room acoustics, so you don't have anything to "fix". But it is all relative, even with a track that sounds great to start with, you might start zeroing in on some little thing you might want to improve, so it's good to know how to use the tools. It's also easy to start with a good sound and destroy it with too much processing.

[DupleMeter]

One of the tools I use in mastering is a very capable EQ called Kirchhoff EQ (now sold through PluginAlliance).

It does all this (and more) in a single plug-in with various phase modes: minimal phase, analogue phase, and a smart mode that chooses the best option based on latency.

If you have to go down this rabbit hole, this is the tool I would turn to first. Though, if you have the option to spend a little more time getting a better recording, it always off better than triage in the mixing stage.

[KevWind]

I am by no means a pro mix engineer. But I agree with the notion of just get a good recording first and foremost...I once heard "get a good recording and everybody is a pro " perhaps overly simplistic but aimed in the right direction me thinks ..

Now perhaps I am not exactly understanding the goal in the OP,,, But if boosting the just the highs of an acoustic guitar is the goal ?? then why would not someone just use a multi band EQ, with adjustable Q , and then maybe a compressor after the EQ ?

[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by KevWind

I am by no means a pro mix engineer. But I agree with the notion of just get a good recording first and foremost...
Now perhaps I am not exactly understanding the goal in the OP,,, But if boosting the just the highs of an acoustic guitar is the goal ?? then why would not someone just use a multi band EQ, with adjustable Q , and then maybe a compressor after the EQ ?

Exactly. That’s what I meant by “making a left turn by making 3 rights”

It’s just over complicating a very simple task. If you were mixing for a living you’d go broke taking all that extra time for such a simple, everyday task.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Now perhaps I am not exactly understanding the goal in the OP,,, But if boosting the just the highs of an acoustic guitar is the goal ?? then why would not someone just use a multi band EQ, with adjustable Q , and then maybe a compressor after the EQ ?

In the digital realm, one of the great things is that there is usually more than one way to do something. In this case, use a multiband EQ, duplicate tracks and EQ/compress them separately, use various sends, etc. etc.

One of the annoying things in the digital realm is that... there is usually more than one way to do something. What seems easy and makes sense to you might not for someone else. Workflow is a highly personal thing.

Certain techniques might be more useful at some times than others, but I wouldn't knock something just because that's not the way I'd do it.

Whether or not the technique in that particular video is useful to you, Kenny has provided a huge service with other videos showing how to use the Reaper interface: settings, features, demos etc. that I use frequently when I'm not sure how to do something in Reaper--it's usually possible, I just need help figuring out where to look and what buttons to click.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

In the digital realm, one of the great things is that there is usually more than one way to do something. In this case, use a multiband EQ, duplicate tracks and EQ/compress them separately, use various sends, etc. etc.

One of the annoying things in the digital realm is that... there is usually more than one way to do something. What seems easy and makes sense to you might not for someone else. Workflow is a highly personal thing.

Certain techniques might be more useful at some times than others, but I wouldn't knock something just because that's not the way I'd do it.

Whether or not the technique in that particular video is useful to you, Kenny has provided a huge service with other videos showing how to use the Reaper interface: settings, features, demos etc. that I use frequently when I'm not sure how to do something in Reaper--it's usually possible, I just need help figuring out where to look and what buttons to click.

No doubt it comes down to personal perspective and I was not making a judgement ,,,simply offering my thoughts on accomplishing highlighting the high end of a guitar ......

An I completely agree Kenny Gioia's videos were a godsend to me when I tried a 60 day trial of Reaper (a number of years ago when PT started charging a yearly update fee)

Because having known only PT the Reaper GUI and nomenclature was so foreign to me, that without his videos I likely would have given up. But using his videos I was able to be up an recording and mixing pretty quickly and gave it the full 60 day workout.

[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

Whether or not the technique in that particular video is useful to you, Kenny has provided a huge service with other videos showing how to use the Reaper interface: settings, features, demos etc. that I use frequently when I'm not sure how to do something in Reaper--it's usually possible, I just need help figuring out where to look and what buttons to click.

Being able to teach someone how a DAW works is not the same as being a good engineer. Let's not confuse that.

I can show you some really cool advanced Excel features...but I should not be doing your accounting or taxes. Trust me on that

It's important to maintain perspective, especially with online resources. Not everyone is who they say they are...unfortunately.

[TBman]

OP here, no "motive" to post this other than my own ignorance and curiosity. I had no idea that the creator of all those Reaper videos has his head in a place it shouldn't be.

[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by TBman

OP here, no "motive" to post this other than my own ignorance and curiosity. I had no idea that the creator of all those Reaper videos has his head in a place it shouldn't be.

You shouldn't feel bad about posing that. I think it's good to gut check anything you're ingesting as knowledge. That's one of the reasons I feel so fortunate to have mentors who I can bounce things off of. Some of whom I was buying stuff they recorded/produced when I was in high school.

Carry on & post away!