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How To EQ

How to EQ – What Are Frequencies?

What Are Frequencies?

​By Lij Shaw - RecordingStudioRockstars.com

Ok so you just got started in Garageband or Protools even and you have all these killer new plugins at your disposal that you have never seen before. They look so awesome and seem so powerful!


So why does your head hurt when you start trying to figure out how to use all these amazing plugins? 

Lets start with the simplest tool and probably the most useful next to the level fader,

EQ = The Equalizer.



Despite the fact that it sounds like you will be endowed with super hero powers, here is what Wikipedia says about EQ:


The Oracle Wikipedia

Equalizers are used in recording studios, broadcast studios, and live sound reinforcement to correct the response of microphones, instrument pick-ups, loudspeakers, and hall acoustics.[2] ... ...Equalizers are also used in music production to adjust the timbre of individual instruments by adjusting their frequency content and to fit individual instruments within the overall frequency spectrum of the mix.[3]:73–74


Oops! That may not have helped that much. Now you’re even more confused!

So let’s dig in deeper. Most likely all you care about is how is this thing going to make my song sound killer when I mix it? Right? And thats a good question…

So Lets start at the bottom and work our way to the top.


First of all what is EQ?

  • In the simplest form EQ or equalization is a way to filter your audio to boost or cut certain frequencies with the intent usually of making your recordings sound better.
  • It may be that the microphone didn’t capture what you wanted when recording and you need to correct it.
  • Or it may be that you just want to change the overall sound of a track. Perhaps you want to give it an old timey filter for example…
  • EQ is a tool that you can use to change the sound and create something new.

Frequencies are the waveforms that make up sound. Sound is a wave of particles moving through the air just like a wave moving across the surface of the water. However a water wave is on a flat plane (sort of) while a sound wave is expanding out in three dimensions like a sphere.


If the waves are big with a long space between peaks then they are low frequencies, meaning that the frequency of waves is not that many per second.

frequency

Frequency Differences

If the waves are happening quickly then they create high frequencies. Low frequencies create sound like bass and subs in music while high frequencies create sounds like treble and "air".


Frequency is measured as the number of peak to peak wave forms happening every second.

So one Hertz is one wave per second. The Frequencies that we care about in sound are from the lowest 20 Hertz (or 20 Hz) to the highest audible frequency 20 KiloHertz or (20 KHz). This is the extent of what the human ear can hear (not including anyone with exceptional hearing).

Most of us can’t even hear the full range from 20-20k. You can test yourself to find out what you hear.


Frequencies in music can be described as octaves. An octave is a doubling of the frequency. So the first musical frequency that we can hear (or feel) is the C note, “C0″, that’s at 16.35Hz which is just below the lowest frequency we can hear at 20 Hz. Then the octaves double as they go up and you find middle "C" at 261.63 Hz four octaves up from the bottom. the highest octave on a piano is "C8" at 4186.01 Hz or almost 4.2 kHz. And finally the top of human hearing is about "C10" which is at 16744.04Hz or about 16.7kHz. This is ten octaves above the lowest note "C0".

( I referenced some of this from Easy Ear Training if you want to read more. )  

The bottom octave of hearing is 20 Hz to 40 Hz. While the top Octave of audio is a much larger range of frequencies from 10KHz to 20 KHz. Notice that the first octave is only a difference in frequency of 20 wave forms per second while the top octave is a difference of 10 thousand wave forms per second!


(There is a lot LESS room in music for a variety of low notes to be present than the vast amount of space available for higher frequencies. But that’s another discussion)


If you want to get more practice understanding EQ then I highly recommend a cool little app called Quiztones. This app lets you practice identifying various tones and EQ selections.

Good luck!

​

And please add your comments below: What did you find helpful about this post? What do you think I missed that is important to you?










uency

Hello Rockstars!

Hello Rockstars...

You have found the right place!

My name is Lij Shaw. I have been making records for the past 25 years in studios all over. Today I own my own recording studio, The Toy Box Studio. It is a privilege to be able to say that every day when I wake up I get to go to work with a smile on my face because I am doing what I love!

I have learned a ton about recording from all my experiences in the studio, and can now walk confidentially into almost any recording session knowing that by the end of the day I will have helped the producer, artist, or band achieve their creative vision and create their best music.

At The Toy Box Studio our motto is... You love to make music. We love to help you make your music great!

Lij Shaw
The Toy Box Studio

However I didn't always have the confidence to handle a recording session with real people spending real money on real projects!

I remember feeling like there was so much to learn in the studio (In fact I still feel that way. Hopefully that drive to learn never goes away).

I would get soooo nervous before the start of a recording session. I could hardly relax the night before a big tracking session, or I would have a hard time feeling confident about my mixes.

I wanted to know more about recording and become a better engineer and producer.

I just wanted to learn what the pros knew!

My heart was in it, and I trusted my passion for music, and my taste in music.​ But I felt like I needed a chance to work with the pros who really understood how to make great records.

All I wanted to do was have the chance to be in a real recording studio with the real pros!

Well I got that chance! After going to school for recording at MTSU I was able to intern at the world class, Woodland Studios in Nashville TN.

After my internship finished I had to move on. The studio didn't have an opening for an assistant engineer, and I wanted to be in the control room somewhere making records.

 At first I didn't find any work in recording and got discouraged. But I kept looking (and delivered a lot of pizzas!) until I finally found a studio that I loved, and people that I could connect with, Alex The Great

That was years ago. But one recording session led to another until I was able to open my own studio, The Toy Box Studio, in East Nashville TN, which has recently become a Grammy winning studio (Yeehaw!).

Here is a tour of The Toy Box Studio by my good friend Joe Gilder of Home Studio Corner. (BTW This was meant to be my Bonnaroo to Bonnaroo beard for 2015. Its been a year. I'm not sure if i'm keeping it. So you may see Facebook photos of me with and without the beard.)

​It can be easy to forget how much there is to learn as we become more experienced.

And understandably as we get better at recording we don't always think of the details of what we are doing. We just simply do it!

However those of you learning to record from the start or anywhere along the way for that matter are probably still itching to know more. You want to know how things are done and have them broken down for you into simple steps and easy to understand logic.

Thats where Recording Studio Rockstars comes in. 

I want to bring you into the recording studio to learn from the pros! Ill be creating articles, videos, tutorials, and then more involved courses to help you learn how to become a rockstar of the recording studio yourself. So you can make the records you want to make.

Podcast

I'm also launching a new podcast very soon. I will have inspiring guests on the show to interview them for tips, tricks, and guidance to give you the momentum you need to stay on your path to making great records!

So thanks again for joining me here, and stay tuned as I bring you more content here on the blog, on the podcast, and straight to your email.

I cant wait to meet you and hear the music you are recording. I want to help you become a Recording Studio Rockstar!​

In order to help me help you the best way possible please leave a comment below and tell me your top question or struggle with recording today.

What stands between you and becoming a rockstar in the studio?

please comment below...

Cheers!

Lij Shaw

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