Transcription
Yo yo, what's going on you guys? Your boy Devontor in raw form, and welcome to another Help Me Devon Raw tutorial. And today, in this Help Me Devon Raw world tutorial, I'll be showing you guys probably, or hopefully, the last EQ video tutorial that you'll need to understand EQ.
Now, when I say this, what I'm really, really trying to get at is I want to show you guys a way to approach your EQ. I want to give you a mentality and a workflow so that when you approach your EQ, you know exactly what you want and you make better decisions. I am ultimately trying to get you to make better decisions when it comes to your EQ because, let's be honest, when it comes to certain things, really what it comes down to is: are you supposed to cut here? Are you supposed to boost here? When are you supposed to leave things alone? And that's basically what we're going to accomplish right now with this video. A huge understanding to give into your workflow and your mixing theory so that when you go to your mixes for any sound source, you have an understanding of what you're trying to accomplish and do with your EQ.
Okay, so first and foremost, let's listen to this vocal. And this is a vocal that has no EQ on it whatsoever. It's just a vocal with a little bit of compression. And listen to it in context to the music. Check this out.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. How to approach. [Music]
So, I heard that vocal, and there's some things that I heard within the mix and context of the music that I want to change. I feel like I want more clarity out of the vocal. I want some more presence. I also want to, uh, get rid of some of that muddiness that I hear, especially in the bottom end. So, now that I've said this to myself, I say to myself, "Well, what in the EQ will help me to accomplish these things?" And this is exactly what I'm going to show you.
Now, before we go any further, I just want to say, please subscribe and like on this channel to keep this thing going. And you can also visit helpmedevon.info for a lot of goodies that we have, vocal chains, presets, etc., uh, for pretty much all DAWs. Check it out. Descriptions in the bio. helpmedevon.info.
Now, what I'm going to do is I'm going to show you the concept of how to approach your EQ. So, like I told you, I already addressed my problems. I felt like I had a little bit of that low-end rumble that I want to get rid of. I also want to clean up that muddiness. I want some more brightness, and I want some more presence. So, all of those things are taking into account, and now I'm going to attack that with my EQ.
Now, I think the most important thing that I can show you, or what I'm trying to get across to you, is going band for band. If you understand the individual bands of the EQ, this will help you to make better decisions. So, I break it up like this: lows, low-mid, mid, high-mid, and then highs. If you can understand what each one of those bands do, especially within the frequency ranges, it will make you make way better decisions.
So, let's listen to 90 Hertz and below, which I classify as the lows. Let's solo this and listen to what the lows sound like.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. How to approach.
So, that's the lows. It's really that stuff way, way down there, kind of like the low-end rumble, um, the, the room tone, the, a lot of noise, a lot of things that you probably don't need, especially in vocals, are down there in this frequency range. So, if I'm saying to myself, "I really want to get some rid of, uh, that low-end, uh, rumble, uh, I want to make some more space and clarity out of the vocal," this is a great place to start. 90 Hertz and below. I'm gonna take some of that stuff out. So, check this out.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. Know how to approach you. I see them and I know they out of pocket. I could imagine in your DM. There you go.
Where you really, really notice this difference is that place where I say "CM" and then "out of pocket." When you listen to that "pocket," you hear that plosive sound. When you're very close to your microphone, you get the proximity effect. And when you get the proximity effect, pretty much those P's and, um, plosive sounds will be even stronger. My suggestion: back up from the mic. But if you have a recording and you just need to fix it in EQ, what I suggest is rolling off that 90 Hertz and below, and it'll get rid of that low-end rumble that you hear at that bottom.
So, check this out. Let's go on, on over to the plosive sound of the "pocket." Let me listen.
Oh, I see them and I know they out of pocket.
So, let's take this off. Listen to the "pocket" part right now without the 90 Hertz rolled off.
Oh, I see them and I know they out of pocket.
Do you see that "pocket" kind of pop right out? And that sound is there. Now, let's put it back on and let's roll off even more. Let's roll off about 100 Hertz.
Oh, I see them and I know they out of pocket.
Now, it's not completely gone, but it did soften it and contained it a little bit. So, when you hear these plosives and when you hear this low-end information on your vocal or any sound source, for that information that you really don't want there, try rolling off that 90 Hertz. When you're looking at low-end, uh, and as far as rumble and, and, and that stuff down there, 90 Hertz, roll it right off. Now, you keep this in your mind: 90 Hertz, I hear rumble. Oh, I'm going to 90 Hertz. You roll that thing off.
Okay, next thing I'm going to do is jump on over to this other band. And this is still in the low-mid band. We're now in the low-mid frequency band. We're in this low-mid frequency band, but when it comes to low-mids, I like to break my low-mids up into two bands. So, there's like a low-mid and then I have an upper low-mid. Don't get confused by that, just follow along. What I classify in my low, low-mids is 100 to 300 Hertz.
Now, within this frequency range, what I notice and what I hear is boominess, warmth, and muddiness. Now, I did say something positive in there because I do want you guys to realize that you don't always go to certain frequencies and just cut. Sometimes you want those frequencies there, and it can work in your favor. For instance, when it comes to that 100 to 300 Hertz range, what I noticed with the 100 Hertz ranges, when it comes to bass frequencies, that's where I get some of that, that, uh, uh, that clarity out of the bass in the sense of, I can actually hear it. It's intelligible on speakers. Granted, you can go higher up, but when it comes in at a 100 Hertz range, I notice that I get a little bit more presence out of the baseline when it's there.
Now, for the vocals, what I notice what it does for me personally, 100 to 300 Hertz, is it can give me boominess. It can be where the mud is, and it can also be where I get warmth out of the vocal. So, you have to make your decision on which one is it that you want to actually attack. So, I said to myself earlier, remember my problem that I said I need to get, uh, rid of some of that muddiness, and I want some more clarity out of the vocal? So, my mentality is to cut in this frequency range. So, I'm gonna go to the middle of the frequency range, which is about 200, and we're gonna make a cut. Let's listen.
Oh, I see them and I know they out of pocket. I could imagine in your DM, they be wilding. But I swear to God, baby, I'm solid.
And let's bring it back a little bit more so we could hear it from the beginning. And check this out. I'm going to bypass it back and forth. Listen to what I did.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. Know how to approach you. I see them and I know they out of pocket.
Now, you heard that, and you can notice when I actually have it engaged, you notice that there is some more clarity that we get out of the vocal. You even realize when I bypass it that you feel like this muddiness kind of tone to it. Now, let me exaggerate this for you just so you get an idea of what is actually in that frequency range. Check this out.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. Know how to approach you. I see them and I know they.
Feel this smoothness. You feel like the vocal just, uh, un-gets uncovered. And this is where that frequency range lies when it comes to, uh, trying to find, um, how to get rid of some of that muddiness in your vocal or any sound source for that nature. Usually, when you're trying to clean something up, those plosives kind of, uh, dissipate. A lot of things in that range with the low-end really get cleaned up when you start there.
Now, granted, if you were looking for warmth in this vocal, let's say, for instance, you had a vocal and you really wanted to get a little bit of warmth out of it, you can boost here. Let's say you didn't have a problem with it, and you felt like, "I just want more warmth." You can boost in this frequency range, and you'll notice that you'll get a little bit more warmth out of the vocal. Be very careful with this, though, because this place right here can really dirty things up.
Okay, let's listen to this in context with the music. So, it's bypasses back and forth. Listen to what I did by rolling off that low-end and getting some of that boominess or muddiness out of the vocal. So, without first.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? [Music] [Applause] [Music]
Now, to my ears, yes, there's a volume difference, and I will match the volume. But what I noticed is that I noticed that my vocal gets out of the way of the bass and the kick and that, and that low-end stuff. So, I feel like the vocal just kind of moved up a register, and I hear more clarity out of the vocal. The vocal feels a lot more clear in the sense of its intelligence and stuff like that. So, let me match the volume just a little bit. Let's boost it a dB and check this out.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? [Music]
So, you can really hear this when I match the volumes, and you hear the relationship between the bass or the 808 and the vocal. You feel like the 808 and the vocal now live in a place where they're kind of away from each other, and this is why this is so powerful. I'm now creating, shaping, and toning that so that I have space for that vocal. Now, that vocal is cutting through in the mix a lot better.
So, you understand now that low frequency, which is those rumbles and stuff like that, as far as 90 Hertz and below. And then at 100 Hertz to 300 Hertz below, uh, in between there, is is the muddiness. Is the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, just the frequencies that basically really can give you clarity when it comes to the entire vocal. So, that was the lows and the low-mids. So, now that I've done that, I'm ready to move on to the other section of the low-mids that I told you guys about. So, check this out. Let's move on over to here.
Now, this frequency range is the 350 to 600 Hertz range. This is what I like to call this. We're still in the low-mids, but we're just on the upper side of the low-mids, and this is from 350 to 600 Hertz. This is where I typically go. Basically, this tone gives me a boxy tone. So, from 350 Hertz to 600 Hertz, I notice a boxier tone. So, check this out.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. Know how to approach you. I see them and I know they out of pocket. I could imagine in your DM.
So, when I exaggerated, you can really hear it. It has like this kind of effect like a cup is covering over your vocal or your sound source, and this is the boxier tone. Now, I do want to take out some of this, but be very careful when you take out this boxy tone because what can happen is you can wind up, uh, taking too much of this out, and your vocal sounding hollow. So, not all of this is bad, but there is a little bit of a boxiness sometimes, and some microphones can give you when you're looking at or hearing boxy sounding, uh, sound sources. This is where it's at in that 350 to 600 Hertz range, and you can pull this out and really get some, um, a better sound as far as getting rid of that boxy tone.
So, check this out.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. Know how to approach you. I see them and I know they out of pocket.
So, I took out about 2 dB of that. Now, let's exaggerate this and take a lot of it out. Let me show you what it sounds like.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. Know how to approach.
So, when I take a lot of it out, you'll notice that, um, it feels like the vocal loses a lot of its character. A lot of it's also gone. It feels like you just lost too much out of that vocal. So, that's why you have to be very, very, uh, careful with how much of that boxy tone you take out. In some microphones, there may be a lot of it, and that's why a lot of us will take that boxy tone and pull it out if necessary. But if you don't hear so much boxiness, you don't need to bother it so much. Maybe take out a dB, or maybe leave it alone completely. I'm trying to show you when to make these decisions, what you're listening for in order to make these decisions going down the line.
So, let's listen to this in context with the music and find it.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? [Music]
The vocal sounds so much more smoother. There is clarity, and we haven't boosted a single thing. This is how understanding EQ can make you make better decisions when you're going down the line of mixing.
Okay, let's go on to the next thing. The next band that is extremely important, extremely important, and this is probably the most dangerous frequency range that people mess up and I feel like play with all the time is the mid-range. We've done low, we've done low-mids, now we're moving on to the mid-range. Now, the mid-range, I classify, or to my ears, I say is from 1,000 Hertz to 4,000 Hertz. This is basically the presence frequency. This is where competition lies. This is where basically the bulk of your ears, uh, hone into. This is a very important frequency range, and this is the frequency range where harshness lives. This is the most dangerous frequency range that there is to your ears. 1,000 Hertz to 4,000 Hertz.
Now, for me, I say to myself, "Hey, I do want a little bit more presence out of this vocal." So, as soon as I think presence, first thing I think about is that frequency range, 1 to 4K. But at the same time, this is another place where harshness lives. So, you got to be very careful in when you boost this frequency range to avoid harshness. Now, if I boost in that 2,000 Hertz range, I'll notice that I do get a little bit of harshness out of the sound source. But if you feel that way, and you feel like the vocal has too much of it, maybe boost in the 1,000 Hertz range, just on that lower end of the spectrum for it. Check this out. Let's play this in context with the music. We're going to boost at the 2,000 Hertz range to get more presence. That was one of my issues. I wanted more presence.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. Know how to. [Music]
So, I like that. I got a little bit more presence out of the vocal. I did also notice that I got a little bit of harshness out of the vocal, too. We're gonna watch this as we go when we're mixing. But for the most part, where I'm at, sitting with it, I'm okay with it for the moment being right now. Granted, in a real situation, I probably put a de-esser on this from before I even do this, just to combat it. But just to show you the context of what we're doing, this is important. So, from that 1,000 to 4, 4, uh, 4,000 Hertz range, you're basically hearing a presence boost, and that's where that presence lives. This is where competition lives. I'm gonna help you understand what I mean when I say that.
Let's move on over to the main instrument sound that we hear, which is this. [Music]
Now, what I'm going to do is I'm going to bypass the EQ that I did on this actual, um, instrument part. And what I'm going to do is I'm going to play the vocal. Listen to the relationship between the vocal and the main instrument part.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. Know how to approach you.
Now, to my ears, it doesn't sound bad, but there's a tad bit of competition. And I feel like I want to combat that competition. And when I say competition, I'm saying that when you're actually mixing your vocals and instruments, you have to understand this same concept. Maybe there is a, uh, that presence frequency from that 1 to 4K that also interferes with that presence frequency in that 1 to 4K of the vocal. So, what do you do when you hear two instruments and you feel like they're just not living together? What do you do? Well, what I usually do, or sometimes what I like to do, is I like to go on over and think to myself, "Well, what is more important?" What's important to me is that vocal sound. I want my vocal to always be heard. I want my vocal to always take precedent over everything else. So, I go on over to that piano sound or that, uh, that, that, that instrumental sound, and I think to myself, "Well, let me pull out some of that 1 to 4K frequency so that the vocal has more room in that specific frequency range."
So, now check this out. I'm going to bypass this instrument sound back and forth and listen to the relationship between the vocal and the instruments.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. Know how to approach you. I see them and I know they out of pocket. I could imagine in your DM, they be violent. But I swear to God, baby, I'm solid.
When I engage it, you can feel like the actual instrument kind of takes a sit back and gives the vocal some room to breathe and to be its own. And that's what makes it so powerful. And that's why this applies for instruments as well as vocals, as well as any sound source. If you understand the concept of EQ in this way, you can make better decisions. And that's exactly what we did. We just made a decision to cut back on the instrument to give room in the actual vocal, and we knew this by just listening, knowing where most of the presence lied, and actually cutting that stuff out to make room for that.
All right, so let's move on over to another frequency range. Uh, we're almost there. We're going to move on over to the 5 to 8 Kilohertz, uh, frequency range, which, let me put this right here. Boom. So, for me, when it comes to the 5 to 8 Kilohertz range, this is where one problem: sibilance lives. And this is also where you get a brighter, more intelligible vocal. To me, I love that 5 to 8 Kilohertz, uh, tone, but you have to use this in moderation. This is where you'll get that intelligence out of the vocal, where you get that brightness. I call it personally, "bright bite." This is where I get that brightness that hangs on my ear, and it really holds me and feels like quality. And this is why you get a lot of sibilance, but you got to be very careful with how you boost it.
But remember, when I had my issue, what did I say? I said, "I want to clean up the vocal. I want to get rid of the muddiness. I want to add some presence, and I want to add some brightness to it." That was my entire thing. So, now I'm thinking to myself, "All right, time to add some brightness." All right. So, let's go on over to this frequency range, which is, I'm going to boost at the 6531 Hertz range. So, 6531 Hertz range, which is in between 5 to 8K. I'm gonna boost there. Let's see what happens.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. Know how to approach you. I see them and I know they out of pocket. I could imagine in your DM, they be violent. But I swear to God, baby, I'm solid.
So, when you heard it, you felt it. It instantly just hung on my ear. Just felt better in the sense of just the clarity of it. I heard the vocal. The vocal kind of pushed itself forward in this way to my ears. Granted, the issue you also hear is you hear more S's, you hear more T's, as far as the, uh, sibilance is concerned. What I would probably do is, or what I'm going to do later on, would be to de-ess those things and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, in this very instance, in that moment, I added the frequencies that I needed in that brighter section. I wanted some of that high-end information so that I can get the vocal to cut through on that mix a little better. And that's where I just basically set to live within that 5 to 8K when you're looking for that intelligence, that articulate, um, brightness sound, it's usually in there. But be very mindful of your actual sibilance.
Now, a lot of people, for instance, will boost in these frequency ranges for, uh, other instruments and things like that, and this same rule applies. When you boost in this frequency range, it can add certain things. But at the end of the day, this is where I like to add that brightness or that clarity out of the vocal for the most part.
All right, last frequency range is a frequency range from 10,000 Hertz and beyond, meaning up until the upper register. So, 10,000 Hertz and upper. This is where you add air. This is where I would add air into a sound source. And what the air can also do is it can give you a sign or a sense of, uh, quality, a sense of intelligence, um, and just a feeling overall. So, check out this air. Let's add it.
So, this is from 10,000 Hertz and above. I'm going to boost.
Oh, facts. Been wanting you, baby. Been watching you, crazy. What's up with it? Feel like I know you. Read all the comments. How. [Applause] [Music]
So, when I engage that, you can almost feel like the vocal kind of just opens up. It's this brightness that just feels really nice within the song. And now, uh, the vocal feels like it might be the brightest thing in the mix, which helps me focus in on it. So, adding that 10,000 Hertz and above range will add air to your sound source.
And now that you can look at this video, watch it a thousand times, and help you understand. If you understand what each band of the EQ does from a fundamental standpoint, you can then make and assess a problem within your mix or what you want out of it. If you say, "Hmm, this needs more clarity," where are you going? I'm going to that 5 to 8K or 10,000 and above range. If you say, "Oh, it sounds really dirty and muddy," where you going? You're going to the low-mid section. So, take some of that stuff out to give you that clarity. If you hear plosives and P's, you're going to roll off that 90 Hertz and maybe a little bit more over there. If you understand the problems that you have, and then you understand the fundamentals of the EQ range, you will make a lot better decisions when it comes to anything, um, in your mixes and your masters.
So, that was my video on basically helping you to understand the concept, the fundamentals, into just a better theory on EQ so that you can actually apply these techniques. I really hope that was helpful. Please make sure you subscribe if you got all the way to this point. Uh, make sure you comment, like, and subscribe again. Remember again, you can follow us at helpmedevon on the Instagram, and you can also join our Discord. Uh, there's a bunch of talented engineers and stuff like that, and, uh, in our Discord, in the description below, that you can go to and chat with them. Uh, there's also helpmedevon.info to keep this channel alive, where we have a bunch of templates and presets and all kinds of stuff for all kinds of DAWs. And, um, if you guys have any questions, comments, or concerns as well, make sure you email me at helpmedevon@gmail.com. Also, I just want to say we are almost at a hundred thousand, uh, subscribers on YouTube. Thank you guys so much. Please keep sharing. This is the road to 100K. I have a great surprise for you guys when we get there. Um, until next time, you guys, you.