Snare EQ??
- Thread starter chuck1703
- Start date
brandy
Iguana Hell
Realy depends on Snare, Mic, Mic Placement, Room etc...
As a rule for thumb is: Boosting trebble/low end brings an instrument/voice in front.
Try to find the freq-area where the "point" ... the "attack" ... the *crack* of the snare is. I often boost a little around
1khz (*peng*)
2-3 khz (*snare*)
5-10 khz (brightness, sharpness)
Some like to put a high shelf on a snare.
The beef is usually around 160-220 hz....
Sometimes you might like to dip a little at 300-400 hz. Sometimes not.
Use the proper reverb/predelay for placing the snare in the room.
Short rooms are cool on snare - making the hits more powerfull and proud, but can move the snare away.
brandy
As a rule for thumb is: Boosting trebble/low end brings an instrument/voice in front.
Try to find the freq-area where the "point" ... the "attack" ... the *crack* of the snare is. I often boost a little around
1khz (*peng*)
2-3 khz (*snare*)
5-10 khz (brightness, sharpness)
Some like to put a high shelf on a snare.
The beef is usually around 160-220 hz....
Sometimes you might like to dip a little at 300-400 hz. Sometimes not.
Use the proper reverb/predelay for placing the snare in the room.
Short rooms are cool on snare - making the hits more powerfull and proud, but can move the snare away.
brandy
C_F_H_13
Protools Guru
I also like to duplicate the kick and snare track in PT. I usually do very gentle compression/eq on one, and absolutely destroy the other. Sometimes it's just a matter of relative level that'll make a snare sound upfront or in the back. Especially when I'm dealing with a quad tracked riff, duping the snare always helps it stand out a little more.
****EDIT*****
In terms of frequencies (the point of your question HA HA), I like to boost the low end (220 or so), a little dip at either 350 or sometimes 750 depending on tuning of snare, a high shelf at about 10k for air, and a boost at wherever the snare needs to "pop".
As Brandy said though, it's really all dependant on the drummer,snare,room,and all the other shit that goes into tracking, not to mention what the key of the song is, and all that good stuff. Worst thing is boosting a snare at 220 when the song is in B flat,B,A flat or G. All of a sudden it'll totally start rubbing with your bass.
I remember a friend of mine telling me he always boosts his kick at 73.5 HZ with a really tight Q, cause "it just works really well with heavy music". turns out everything he wrote was in D and all of a sudden he got a track that was in C and his kick sounded like complete garbage!
****EDIT*****
In terms of frequencies (the point of your question HA HA), I like to boost the low end (220 or so), a little dip at either 350 or sometimes 750 depending on tuning of snare, a high shelf at about 10k for air, and a boost at wherever the snare needs to "pop".
As Brandy said though, it's really all dependant on the drummer,snare,room,and all the other shit that goes into tracking, not to mention what the key of the song is, and all that good stuff. Worst thing is boosting a snare at 220 when the song is in B flat,B,A flat or G. All of a sudden it'll totally start rubbing with your bass.
I remember a friend of mine telling me he always boosts his kick at 73.5 HZ with a really tight Q, cause "it just works really well with heavy music". turns out everything he wrote was in D and all of a sudden he got a track that was in C and his kick sounded like complete garbage!
broken81
Used by Protools
Wow i never even thought about tunning of an instrument effecting what freq you boost and cut. mmmmm I guess just another aspect to look at when mixing different bands.
the tuning of instruments is something that MUST be taken into consideration at all times!
drums that are tuned super-low are going to require EQ at different frequencies then those aren't, and are also going to be tougher to control low-end rumble
guitars that are tuned to B are going to get high-passed a lot lower than they would be if they were in standard, and so on and so forth
this is why EQ presets = bullshit
C_F_H_13
Protools Guru
Yeah, I suggest at least at first, that you keep this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_key_frequencies close by when you're mixing. Of course it's totally cheating to not just "use your ears", but it'll help at first...I promise.
Grave Desire
Member
I agree with what most people here say about snares. I listen to the snare in the mix and think of what the problem areas are, then solo the snare...try to cut/boost what I feel needs it... then most importantly check it out in the mix...alot of times I feel I need less mids in the snare when it's solo'd...then when I bring the mix back up you need alot more than you usually think.
I agree with the Preset thing. Never done the same thing twice. Even with compressors.
I agree with the Preset thing. Never done the same thing twice. Even with compressors.
don't get me wrong...presets have their place - if you have a certain way of doing things, and don't want to start your shit from scratch everytime, save the preset
but also recognize that when you load it onto a different source later on, it's going to act as more of a starting point than an end result
but also recognize that when you load it onto a different source later on, it's going to act as more of a starting point than an end result
You shouldn't ever really solo something to eq it. Actually, to me, you shouldn't ever really solo anything for any type of processing, only for editing. The reason I say that is exactly what you mentioned (Grave Desire). If you solo an instrument to eq/comp/reverb it, it'll sound a lot different in the mix with everything back around it.
For example, a snare that is solo'ed and you start eq'ing it and compressing it and putting verb on it to make it sound like the godliest snare ever by itself is just a waste of time because once you have your guitars, bass and drums on top (not to mention vocals) you'll have to redo a lot of the eq anyway. Sometimes the compression and reverb are even a waste when you have it solo'ed too. You can have not nearly enough verb on it in the mix, but by itself it sounded spectacular...same with compression. You can have too much or too little compression for the sound you're trying to get in the mix.
~e.a
For example, a snare that is solo'ed and you start eq'ing it and compressing it and putting verb on it to make it sound like the godliest snare ever by itself is just a waste of time because once you have your guitars, bass and drums on top (not to mention vocals) you'll have to redo a lot of the eq anyway. Sometimes the compression and reverb are even a waste when you have it solo'ed too. You can have not nearly enough verb on it in the mix, but by itself it sounded spectacular...same with compression. You can have too much or too little compression for the sound you're trying to get in the mix.
~e.a
