If you are taking the Intro to Music Production course through coursera.org, please skip to the next paragraph. If you are not, here is a quick debriefing on what this blog post is all about : ) I enrolled in the aforementioned production course online (it’s free, by the way, so you might want to check it out for yourself) and part of the evaluation process involves us having to re-teach an element of the coursework. Since this information might be useful to other people, I thought I’d post these assignments on my blog. That being said, I am a student (not an expert), so don’t take what I say here as the ultimate truth. In fact, if you have other insights that might enhance or correct my understanding of the content, I’d love for you to leave a comment at the bottom of the post : )

Digital technology makes it easy to have more options and manipulative power over the parameters in our various DAW plugins. But, more isn’t always necessarily better and it can be easy to get lost in the mix (literally!). Looking at the EQ section of a physical Large Format Mixing console (like the ones used in large, professional recording studios), we can get a good idea of which filters/filter types are the most important across all mixing contexts.

Recommended settings for The 5 primary EQ filters
(based on standard large console boards)

1) High Pass Filter (HPF). Often located in the input section, its purpose is to remove noise and rumble that may have been picked up during recording (especially important for quiet tracks) by only allowing frequencies above the cut off Frequency to pass through.

Type of Filter: Shelf
Q Factor (in this case, slope): 18 db/OCT
Gain: Does not apply
Cutoff Frequency: 75 Hz

2) Low Shelving Filter. Cuts/Boosts the low end; affects bass tones and warmth.

Type of Filter: Shelf
Q Factor (ratio of center frequency to bandwidth): 1
Gain: 0 dB
Cutoff Frequency: 80 Hz

3) Low Mid Parametric EQ. Often used to remove unwanted resonances that stand out just a little too much.

Type of Filter: Bell
Q Factor (ratio of center frequency to bandwidth): 1
Gain: 0 dB
Cutoff Frequency: 400 Hz

With a bell shaped filter, the cut off frequency represents the middle of the bell shape. Though 400 Hz is not (numerically) half of 2000 Hz, Setting the cut off frequency to 4oo Hz will make it the mid point for this filter which (based on the large format consoles) ranges from 100 – 2000 Hz. This is because frequencies are not spaced the same way as the decimal system (see below. Gain has been increased to 6dB so you can see the bell shape). The same principal will apply when setting the High Mid Parametric EQ settings.

 4) High Mid Parametric EQ. Same as Low Mid Parametric EQ, but higher in frequency range.

Type of Filter: Bell
Q Factor (ratio of center frequency to bandwidth): 1
Gain: 0 dB
Cutoff Frequency: 2000 Hz

5) High Shelving Filter. Cuts/Boosts the high end and affects the “brightness” of a track.

Type of Filter: Shelf
Q Factor (ratio of center frequency to bandwidth): 1
Gain: 0 dB
Cutoff Frequency: 12, 000 Hz (12 kHz)

Saving these settings as a preset in Pro Tools LE 8

So you can re-use these settings in other sessions without having to look up and enter all the parameters again, here are the steps to create an EQ preset:

STEP 1) In the DAW, insert an EQ plugin with at least 5 bands into the track you want to work on. For this tutorial, I am using DigiRack EQ III.

 STEP 2) Click the “In”  button for each of the 5 primary EQ filters listed in the configuration section above. This will make those filters active and insert a colour coordinated dot to represent each filter on the graph. Also be sure that the “Shelf” (not “Bell”) option is chosen for the High Pass, Low Shelf, and High Shelf filters. Don’t worry about the Mids. They are automatically set as Bells and you can’t change it.

 STEP 3) Set each of the parameters for each filter (i.e., frequency, Q, etc.) by adjusting the knobs or double clicking and typing into the numerical field box.

This is how it should look once all 5 are entered:

STEP 4) Now that the plug in is configured, decide whether you want to save the preset to the session or the system. Saving to the session, means that the preset will follow the session files, no matter what computer it is opened on. Saving to the system means the preset can be opened in any session that is operating on that computer. Then go to the “Preset” menu and select “Setting Preferences”.

To save to the Session: make sure the settings preferences are set to “save plug-in setting to” the “Session Folder“. Then go back into the Preset menu and select “Save Settings As…”, create a subfolder for your custom presets, give your custom EQ a good title that you’ll remember (perhaps “Large Format Mixing Console”), and save! :)

To save to the System: make sure the settings preferences are set to “save plug-in setting to” the “Root Settings Folder“. Then go back into the Preset menu and select “Save Settings As…”, create a subfolder for your custom presets give your custom EQ a good title that you’ll remember (perhaps “Large Format Mixing Console”), and save! :)

STEP 5) Now when you look through your preset library, you’ll see your new custom subfolder and, within that, your new custom EQ preset :)

Now What?

EQ helps instruments shine by highlighting the frequencies they are best at and getting them “out of the way” of frequencies that other instruments are best at. Now you can start playing with the levels of each filter to enhance the sound of individual instruments/tracks and, more importantly, the interaction of multiple instruments across tracks and the musical piece as a whole (manipulating the spectral balance). But Mirror EQ techniques are a lesson for another day! :)

I hope this has helped!

Happy filtering! :)