Low Mids

[Matt Smith]

Do you guys find yourself pulling low mids out of the guitars or bass (or drums, for that matter)? I've found that you really have to watch that area if you want a clear mix, but at the same time I'm always afraid of taking too much body away from the guitars or bass. Any thoughts or pointers? I know every tone is different, but do you guys usually find that most of the bass guitar energy resides in that specific frequency range and choose not to touch it, or do you always pull some low mids out of the bass?

Andy, how much EQing do you usually find yourself doing over the course of a mix? The old "whatever your ears tell you" cliche is so very true, of course. But generally speaking, are you closer to the "don't add/subtract more than 3db" school of thought, or do you get pretty extreme with it?

Thanks,

 

[Andy Sneap]

yeah, thats where you have to be careful definately, and its a fine line not to make things thin ala black metal. Bass I find has its place around 160 and those gtrs usually need compressing around there. Drums - usually with the smaller toms I'll be rolling out around 400 then by the time I'm at the bigger toms and Kick around 250.
As far as the amount, that just depends what needs doing

 

[Matt Smith]

AWESOME, thanks Andy.

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

Personally i've had joys with boosting the toms a little higher than that. Recorded a new song with this done on the toms and they sound absolutely bad assed. I'll post it soon.

 

[Andy Sneap]

Im certainly not boosting those frequencies!

 

[Kevin Kitchel]

Sometimes I give the snare a little 200 for some thump. And some low male vocals get down into that range (not screaming).

 

[Omega_Void]

Regarding frequencies, do some googling and you'll find some quite detailed tips pages.
I found a Tech Talk page which was very helpful, and there were some extremely useful tips from Mr Sneap on the site through which I found this forum. I can't remeber the URL but search "recoring, tips, andy sneap" and yu should find that one too.
Good luck with Eq, it's my least favourite bit. Keep comparing with reference CDs as you go - but make sure the volumes are matched between your mix and the reference material - search also for "Fletcher-Munsen" if you don't know why...

 

[Impy]

I'd recommend searching for Fletcher-Munson tho, there will be much more appropriate results that way

 

[Matt Smith]

Drums - usually with the smaller toms I'll be rolling out around 400 then by the time I'm at the bigger toms and Kick around 250.
As far as the amount, that just depends what needs doing

Andy, do you usually pull these frequencies out with a broad or narrow Q? I usually start with a Q of around .7 and adjust to taste, but maybe that's too broad or too narrow...

 

[Andy Sneap]

yeah quite a wide Q normally, but I try not to kill the tone of the drum