Boost with a wide curve, attenuate with a steep curve
Lately I have been doing some mixing work for the latest album of my electro project Raskolnikov’s Dream. I am going to share with you some things I learned during these mixing sessions.
When you are mixing you are going to need to use some EQ to make the instruments sit together. When you are boosting a frequency, try to use a wide curve. In that way, the boosting seems more natural and musical. On the other hand, when you are cutting frequencies, try to use a very steep curve.
When you are first using an EQ on an instrument use a band filter with a very high volume setting and a somewhat low Q setting, so that you can hear the various frequencies more clearly. Then boost or cut the frequencies you want.
High boost setting, low Q
A very nice way to make the instruments sit better in the mix, is to make a cut to a cerain frequency to all the instruments, when you make a boost in one of them. So for example, if you boost the 2000hz range in the guitar, then make a cut in this range to all the other instruments. Of course, this applies mainly to instruments who are on the same side of the stereo field. If you have panned two instruments hard left and right, you’ll probably not need this, as they’ll sit together anyway.
A wide boost
A steep cut
