Recording school, 1st semester: : It's easier to move a microphone 1", than it is to fiddle with the best EQ.

JUSTIN! I love you !!! Thank you for making engineering so much more of a blessing than it already is - and for helping me truly grasp concepts that I otherwise would not be able to - you are a gem to the world - and such such such a powerfully important role in so many of our lives. I genuinely think you are one of the most special humans ever - there is a certain spark to your charisma that translates so effortlessly in everything you say and do. I don't know how you even have the energy to put these videos out nonstoP! I really need to step my game up haha! This is just some thoughts I wanted to share because I am immensely lucky to have found your channel way back when I did. I am going to buy mixing breakthroughs soon! you are the best !! Thank you!!

What I learned from studio classes I took 40 years ago is that any analog EQ - cheap or expensive / $200 board or $500,000 board - employs a physically, or more importantly, an electronically "longer" signal path when boosting frequencies then when cutting frequencies. To boost a signal in a specified frequency range requires more electronics (capacitors, amplifiers) and introduces more and more delay in that portion of the signal the higher you boost it, than just cutting it (1 resister may be enough!) which is much simpler electronically and introduces much less delay in the original signal. Higher frequencies are much more sensitive to phase shifting since they are often phase shifted enough to cause comb filtering and our ears are able to hear even slight shifts in phase if it's combined with the source sound. Boost highs a lot and you'll get more and more noticeable phase shifting as you boost higher and higher. Cutting frequencies requires a much shorter signal path. So "phase shift" is not how boosting highs or even how EQ's work. (I just saw another youtuber say a similar thing). They work by boosting or lowering a signal within the specified range by sending it through more electronics and amplification, which adds a delay, which is thus moved back in time and is phase shifted behind the original source material. The frequencies are actually made louder by making them louder (amplification) and the introduction of phase shifting is from the delay added by the longer / slower signal path required to make them louder. Phase shift is the generally unwanted side effect of the longer signal path that slows/delays the signal simply because that is the result of having to boost that signal by going through a longer signal path. Digital EQ "could" avoid this by doing the signal processing all in the digital "number values" domain, because it could process the entire frequency spectrum at that same time on each channel, or delay the rest of the signal to match a slower portion, or even match all the other tracks that are being processed... but I don't know if any do. Some digital EQ's can provide "Linear" EQ, meaning it skips the delay of the extra electronics and does it all without any phase shifting signal delay (Fab Filter for example). I don't know which built in EQ also provide this feature. I've never gotten a definitive answer from someone who really knows if Digital EQ on one or another DAW avoided this problem or comes with built in linear EQ or not, or if they could, if they instead choose to emulate it so that their EQ sounds more like analog and they model in the delay! Thanks for the video.

All worth the time. Thanks. Especially @ minute 23: Great takeaways.

Great video Justin. Thank you.

Great like always Justin!!!

Tchad Blake really turned me on to creative phase distortion. Once you get a feel for it, it opens up a whole new world of fun. He likes to talk about SansAmp, but phase rotators on multi-mic setups are also powerful tools.

Thanks for this video! I always have these myths in the back of my mind, but I’ve also learned to just make the track sound good.

Excellent 👏🏻

maaaan that final tip is gold. Such a simple concept that I'm constantly trying to remind myself of. "Maybe I don't need to EQ this... maybe I just need to balance the level". Thanks as always!!

When you cut frequencies that need it on a source first, especially mud and low rumble, it's going to open up the mids and highs somewhat, so you may find yourself not having to boost quite as much in those areas if you hadn't cut first. I think the main reason it's preached so much, is because as a new mixer, you're going to have a tendency to boost way too much, especially high end, but lows as well. If you get someone new to think about cutting out the bad first, they may in turn make better decisions when boosting.

Love it💯

toss in: ALWAYS COMPRESS BEFORE EQ (because the eq will undo your eq). this is a blind alley. i like eqing into compression and probably do this more often than not… i want to shape what the compressor sees. and i can get artsy with it. one of my new favorite things to do is setup compression on kick/snare with distressor/arousor then go back and twist around eq before compression to change the response… make certain freqs pump or not pump, carve out mud, etc. api 560 is lots of fun before compression… pultec.. andy wallace bass trick of boosting low shelf into ssl channel comp and playing the boost against HPF

@DaveChips

3 жыл бұрын

That's what I do as well... I'm trying to decide on my volume envelope beforehand, setting up compressor/limiter and then push an eq into it, I feel I have much more control over the final sound and saturatuon in that way and dynamics of the sounds stay more or less how I want it with some minor tweaks here and there. I used to do Eq/comp/eq... But it was a waste of an eq module

Wish I had watched this a month or so ago. KZread is awash with people claiming to be professional or handing out unimportant advice. Like so many of your videos this has answered so many questions I've been asking and quite often fallen down a rabbit hole chasing something that's not actually that important. Thanks again

Idea for a if it fits your content is choosing a Mic for a different source. Especially vocals and different guitar sounds.

@SonicScoop

Жыл бұрын

Will take it under consideration, thanks!

very cool video!

The concept of never boosting EQ comes from live sound reinforcement, where if you boost eq while playing back through stage wedges, the possibilities of runaway feedback are multiplied exponentially. In recording studios this is not an issue…. Thanks for your informational videos!

i like the second tip. i hear often folks saying not to touch the EQ cause it'll smear around the phase. well, you've got to do a lot of phase smearing before that becomes substantial. as far as non linear effects go, you can always reach for them.

"Mixing is a lot like an orange: first you have the skin.....and the sweet sweet inner..." 🍊 Seriously one thing I love, especially for orchestral mixes, is eq-ing groups.....once I'm happy with the balance and panning I bring on the group eqs and they get me really close to where I want to be in minutes....it would take me ages to get rid of the low end clutter one instrument at the time.....there's no reason.....I can hi pass the brass....I can hi pass the woodwinds....then I reach out for the individual eq and change specific things.....it is so much easier to hear what's going on and know where I'm going if I work that way.....

@luckyknot

3 жыл бұрын

well, that's kind of top down mix, right?

@FrancescoPirrone

3 жыл бұрын

@@luckyknot In a way, yes. 🙂

When you said 3 of the best plug-in companies I thought “soundtoys, arturia, maybe fabfilter” what are the odds

@Nyhde

3 жыл бұрын

Well, at least they are among the largest companies in the industry. Of course, being one of the heavyweights doesn't mean the company is also automatically among the best - just look at Waves, for example - but it does mean they have enough resources to bombard everyone with their advertising. Many smaller developers can't count on this advantage. Yet I'd argue that there are several smaller operations that deserve much more praise than, for example the three that were mentioned. To each their own, sure. But when it comes to companies, bigger doesn't mean better.

I think the only cut rule also comes from the fact that louder sounds better. And if you can get the sound sound better with cutting....

How about mono eq plug-ins on a stereo source vs dual mono linked where each side gets dedicated processing. Been wondering about this since in the analog world unless it’s a true stereo buss eq with shared controls, this isn’t possible. Are these plugins designed to recognize stereo sources unlike their analog counterparts. Apologies if nooby question

Whoever gave this a thumbs down needs a compressor to the face. One of the best channels on here. Bravo 👏

What about low end stuff...do you boost wide? If so, does it get muddy and if so how to avoid this? Thanks again Justin

@areyoujelton

3 жыл бұрын

I boost wide if I want more “oomph” but if it gets too muddy I usually put a hpf between 30-50hz depending on where I find the “sweet spot”.

@jerryk3280

3 жыл бұрын

You need to have appropriate monitoring to be able to determine what needs to be changed, if anything. Only boost what you can actually hear 🙂

Never seen fabfilter sponsoring someone !

With the phase shift is a relativity problem, so single sounds it won’t be noticeable, on multiple mics or parallel signals can become a problem, I see people phase aligning, for example, kick in and out, bass di/mic before eq‘ing, you shoul do your basic eq then phase align, that, I think where people use phase align tools for the drums get bad results, after eq the phase correlation is shifted, eq first, then phase align

Normal procedure with sonic scoop videos: first like then watch :D

Haha, Duke Nukem reference!? 🤣🤣

There's always a core of truth in every well-intended set of misleading ideas 🍀

Also more plugins means more latency, and latency is phase shift

If you're not familiar with mirror eq, you will probably want to learn about it.