A Guide to Surgical EQ

Thanks! The other times I'd seen surgical EQ explained it was part of something else, but you go in depth with the examples so I can actually finally hear the off frequencies you're cutting so it finally makes sense.
 
fletch m8, i ran into a prob recently when doing this notch eq'in that i found myself finding a lot of resonate spikes across the sweep but by time i had sorted them all out, my bass sounded poo poo compared to the original one b4 the notch eq'in...... Is there such a thing as too much or a case of compromise?

you're looking for the resonances that are bad like room reflections, out of tune sidebands from synths, etc not all resonances. ;)
keep in mind eqing for separation of elements, headroom is a bit different.

also sweeping a boosting peak can give false positives certainly in spots where your ear is more sensitive, so be objective with a/bing that you are cutting what you meant to. the biggest struggle for me is looping a sound too long and i start to "hear" every boost or cut i make; that's when i need to step away for awhile.

... one more thing. parametric eqs are going to have a ripple effect on nearby frequencies so even a small narrow notch is altering a much larger range.
 
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Exactly the opposite of what i do, i have taught myself not to sweep for frequencies as well, as i noticed it does more harm than good for me.
Instead i just go on and listen for the problem frequencies, in the context. If i can´t hear any ( and i´m not creating space for anything else) , i have no need to take anything out.
 
You know the "resonant" points change when the sound changes even a bit in pitch, that's why I don't do this, only when there are actually resonant points I eliminate them.
 
yeah man good little tut.

"Surgical EQ" is a funny one..

some people really over do it..

and their drums sound dead

and instruments sound flat..


go easy people...


fletch, did you do dank loads of surgical eq on the snare of your most recent upload?
 
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