Blend, Separation and Clarity: EQ

Next in the series on balancing, separating or blending mix elements is EQ (equalization). The first thing to keep in mind is that what we're really talking about here is the overall tone of any musical element; this is the combined result of all aspects of the sound's heritage. For an acoustically recorded instrument, this includes the instrument itself, the musician's playing technique, any amplification or effects applied by the musician, the choice and placement of the mics, etc. Even in the case of the synthesis/samples, all of the original characteristics of the patch become part of the overall tonal presentation.

EQ is a complicated characteristic of recorded sound. One reason for this is that EQ affects not only the perception of each individual sound element, and the relationship between the elements, but it also is part of an overall tonal profile of the blended mix. As a result, you can't simply make EQ judgments for a particular element based on its sound alone. There are many times when an instrument, when considered in isolation, may have a tonal profile that seems imbalanced; for example, an electric guitar that sounds too bright and thin. Yet, if that guitar is playing very tightly and consistently on top of a very warm and solid bass, the overall combination may be just what the audio doctor ordered! Conversely, if an engineer tries to pack the entire frequency spectrum into each element, with a full-bodied tone that covers the whole range, the result is likely to be a mix where each element in isolation sounds wonderful, but when combined are fighting each other for space and attention. The result is a confusing busy mess. This is unfortunately a common mistake for beginning sound engineers.

So with respect to the desire to blend sounds together, the ability to lay sounds on top of each other is directly affected by the tonal combination those elements create. If your arrangement dictates that you want certain elements to lay on top of each other (playing at the same time, and especially with the same rhythms) try to make sure that the tonal characteristics of the layered sounds complement each other, rather than reinforce the same frequency ranges. Try to let warmth come from one element, clarity from another; sparkle from one element, solidity from another. Stay aware of the overall tonal spectrum that each layered combination presents, and don't clutter up the tone with too much of any particular EQ range. Your mixes will breathe easier, with more transparency and punch.

So the lesson here is this: yes, of course it is important to understand how to shape the tone of the i

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The Rookie Singer in the Studio

Have you ever worked with a singer who was experienced on stage, but inexperienced in the studio? Even if they're reasonably talented as singers (and if they aren't, well, it's going to be a long session for you anyway :), there are sometimes some challenges that occur.

One problem that sometimes arises is rookie singers not knowing what to do with their hands. After years on stage, some singers are so used to holding a mic that they feel uncomfortable with empty hands as they stand in front of your nice large diaphragm condenser or tube vocal mic. You sure don't want them handling that for multiple reasons, but you don't want them distracted thinking about the problem either. Solution? Grab a old SM 57 or SM 58, or any handheld stage mic, and let them hold it as a dummy mic while they sing. They get something to hang on to, and you get a singer with one less thing to worry about.

Another issue you may run into with a singer new to studio work is if they try to sing too directly up into your mic. Again, this is a holdover from the normal live behavior of "eating" the mic. If you're not already using a pop shield, this is definitely the time to bring it out. If you are using one, but the singer is still getting too close to the mic, simply swing the pop shield further from the mic so that if the singer eats anything, it will be the shield and not the mic. Related to this, remember that if the mic face is just higher than the plane of the singer's breath (usually about nose height), but still angled down toward the singer's mouth, you will have less breath blast or proximity issues to worry about while still maintaining excellent positioning in the mic's pattern.

Oh, and if that singer can't hold pitch, grit your teeth and plan on utilizing your pitch correction plug-in :)

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Your Ears' Natural Compression

You may not be aware that your ears (along with your brain) have a built in compressor. When the volume is high, your ears "go into" compression mode. Understanding little things like this about the incredible mechanism of sound perception gives a creative engineer ideas about how to use them to our advantage, and this is a good example. Monitoring loudly feels good (especially if you're working with talented musicians!), but if it's loud enough for your ears to go into compression, you're not hearing the actual volume balance of the mix, because that natural compression effect is "flattening" your perceived mix. So whenever you're doing a mix session, make sure to occasionally turn the volume way down. Any elements that are too soft or too loud will tend to become immediately perceptible.

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Checking Pitch? Turn it down!

You're in the studio, listening to a track or mix. You're arguing with yourself as to whether that instrument or vocal is just a bit out of tune. If you're monitoring at a pretty loud volume, the solution is simple; turn it down!

This is not widely known, but here's the deal: your perception of pitch can be affected by volume. At high volume levels, your ears/brain will sometimes perceive a slightly out of tune pitch as being in tune. As a result, turning down the volume will help you get a better sense as to whether the performance in question is in tune or not.

You can test this yourself by playing back two test tones that are about an octave apart (i.e. the higher pitch double the frequency of the lower pitch). If you set them so they are just a little out of tune, you will be able to hear that clearly at a moderate volume. However, if you turn up the volume significantly, it will sound as though the pitch corrects itself.

By the way, there's an interesting corollary to this. Have you ever been to a concert, experienced it live, and then been surprised by how bad the recording of the same concert sounded when you heard it later? While a number of factors can be involved, this "volume fixes pitch" perception is almost certainly involved!

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