We had a great group at our 6-day Recording Boot Camp in LA last week. It looks like one of the students got hired by a VERY major mixer the following week. Of course we take no real credit for that, but it’s great to see good things happen for our alumni. We have just put the next 6-day Recording Boot Camp on the books.
This will be our last 6-day workshop this year, so sign up early if you want to guarantee a spot. Speaking of 6-day workshops, we are looking at the possibility of doing one in North Italy in January or February. If you think you might like to attend, send me a direct email to get first priority. http://recordingbootcamp.com/courses/recording-boot-camps/
SHELVING EQ TIP
Shelving EQs do more than you might think. The simple explanation of “Shelving EQ” is that a low shelf cuts or boosts frequencies below the EQ frequency point, and a high shelf cuts or boosts above the selected EQ frequency point. While this is more or less correct, one thing that many people overlook is that Shelving EQs will affect frequencies above the frequency point of a low shelf and below that of a high shelf; with certain EQ “slopes” this can be quite dramatic.
Check out the image below of the EQ plug-in. It shows an 8dB boost on a low shelf at 100Hz. While it’s true that it’s boosting everything below 100Hz, notice how with this particular shelf slope, it is boosting frequencies all the way up to around 1k (1000Hz)!!! Even with a steeper slope this boost would still be boosting frequencies upwards to 500Hz or so.
The reason this is so important is that when you are using a shelving EQ to alter one end of the spectrum you are also affecting frequencies closer to the mid-range. This really came to light last week when I was mastering a Big Band jazz album. I was using the the low shelf boost on an A Designs EM-EQ to push a little more power into the acoustic bass, but the client and I were both amazed how much my 60Hz boost was affecting the tone of the horns. The good news is that on most of the songs it actually helped the horns, but on a few tunes, because of the range the horns were playing in, it started to muddy them up a little so we had to choose a lower frequency, and in one song actually switch to another EQ all together for the low boost.
Even on individual tracks shelving EQs can affect the sound in ways beyond what you were planning for. Once you start to get a feel for this, it will make EQ an even more powerful tool for your mixes.
A good word of warning, Ronan; thanks for sharing. I’d like to add that you can limit how much the frequencies above the frequency setting of the EQ by adjusting the Q or bandwidth to a higher value. Of course, using the Gain will also change how much said frequencies are affected. I like using shelving EQ’s to boost the HF frequencies. To reduce the low frequencies, I prefer to use a LPF over the shelving EQ.