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Crash course needed in EQ & COMPRESSION!


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Can anybody point me in the right direction here? I need to go on a crash course for the correct application of EQ & COMPRESSION using Logic. Any links to some good advice in these areas would be much appreciated as there's seemingly a lot of conflicting views out there (plus I have learning difficulties so the more straightforward, simpler & concise the better.) Thank you! Edited by Old Mac Donald
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A few good links on compressions are in the following thread: All About the Compression

 

... and here are a few on EQ:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/feb97/allabouteq.html

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may03/articles/sequencereq.asp

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec10/articles/reaper-tech-1210.htm

 

Ultimately there's nothing like practice. At first it struck me as odd when a very successful producer told me this.... but now it kinda makes sense: to get good at something, you need to practice. Not just do it when you need to do it, but literally spend for example one hour a day EQing a snare drum for a week. Then the following week you spend one hour a day EQing a vocal. Then the following week you spend one hour a day compressing a snare drum. A kick. A bass. A guitar. A synth. A mix. Etc...

 

The more you do that, the more acute your ears become, and the easier it becomes for you to hear those effects in other songs. And the more you detect effects used in other songs, and practice reproducing those sounds with the techniques you read in those articles (or even by hear), the better you become.

 

The only bad news is... you'll have to invest some very valuable things: time and energy. The good news is... it's fun! :D

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Thank you so much for your advice David! I will endeavour to put the time & effort in and work through the given links over the coming weeks (whilst striving to have fun at all times of course!) The reason for my post? I have a bit of a mental block when it comes to 'The Mathematics Of Music' for want of a better phrase! I personally need to get over this and demystify things in this area so I can move on and get back to trying to make better sounding productions That I'm happy with. To date I tend to avoid using both EQ & Comp in my recordings due to the fact that I have no confidence in my actions in these areas. This perhaps stems from a music teacher back at school telling me to avoid using EQ and processing and to just strive to capture 'the right sound' from the source by using correct mic'ing techniques. I recently went back to school as it were and attended a one-day course on EQ. I have to admit, it left me completely confused! Maybe it was the way it was put across but it seemed more akin to 'Rocket Science' than 'Music'! Looking back at my scribbled notes from the session it's just pages of numbers that I can't make any sense of! I'll take myself off now and see how I go on using the links you've kindly provided. Thanks again man!
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I guess if I had to describe compression and EQ in a few not-too-technical words, it would be:

 

Compression:

The compressor changes the level of your track during the playback of the track. It makes decisions based on the level of the audio coming from the track into the compressor. If the audio gets "loud" (you define how loud with the threshold parameter) then the compressor turns the volume down. Then when the audio gets softer, the compressor brings the volume back up to its original level.

You could think of a compressor as an assistant who has the finger on a volume fader of a channel strip, let's say the vocals. You tell him: "I can't hear her vocals when she's singing softly, but then her vocals get too loud when she belts it out. So keep them at a pretty good level so I can hear her when she's singing softly, and if she starts belting it out, bring the fader down. Then if she calms down you bring the fader back up."

 

EQ

You know the "bass, mids, treble" buttons you see on a boombox, or a guitar amp, or on your car radio... that's an EQ. You use it to raise or lower the volume of specific ranges of frequencies in your audio signal. If you think "That acoustic guitar sounds dull: itis too muffled and boomy, I need to turn down the bass and turn up the high frequencies to bring it back to life", that's a job for the EQ.

Of course engineers use more flexible tools. Instead of just bass, mids and treble buttons, they'll have several "bands" of EQ, a band being a range of frequency like bass, or low-mid, high-mid, etc... and then instead of just having the "gain" button (to turn that band's volume up or down), they can also adjust the exact center frequency of the range (cutoff) and the width and shape of each band (Q for quality).

 

Well... I guess I ended up using technical terms. :lol: I hope that helped.

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Hey David! I'm sorry man, I thanked Jarle but, prior to that I THOUGHT I'd posted a long reply thanking you along the lines of 'what great analogies' but it appears I obviously didn't!! OK, unfortunately I've got 'bass player's thumb' tonight and having to type with 'my left foot' so I'll have to keep it brief suffice to say ... it was great help amigo & really helpful. I'm slowly working my way through the reference material and the penny is starting to drop. This is a GREAT forum! I'm starting to put theory into practice by getting used to experimenting with the digital gear and trying to understand where best to place those low cut filters! Thanks again.
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