EQ Cheatsheet

Acoustic Drums

Be careful when boosting top end on close mic’d tracks. This can accentuate cymbal bleed and
make the drums sound harsh. If you’re struggling to achieve brightness without bringing up the
cymbals, try using gates to reduce the bleed between hits. You can also layer in drum samples
(my first choice) and EQ them for brightness without bringing up the bleed.

There are two approaches for EQing overheads. You can either:
1. Filter out all the low end and use them as cymbal mics, or...
2. Leave them as-is and use them to form the overall sound of the kit
Option #1 will create a separated, sculpted sound that works well in modern genres.
Option #2 will lead to a more natural sound that works well for folk and acoustic music.

Try rolling off everything below 40 Hz on the kick. This can often tighten things up.

Since each mic has bleed, you should always EQ drums with all the mics playing together.

You can often filter the hi-hat aggressively. Try cutting everything below 500 Hz.

Acoustic drums will often need lots of EQ. Don’t be afraid to boost or cut by 10 dB or more.

Listen to a few modern records and notice how bright the kick is. The key to getting your kick to
cut isn’t more low end, but more top end.

Vocals

When boosting top end, listen for harshness. Often times, this will occur when your boost
extends too far down the frequency spectrum. If this happens, move the boost higher up or
tighten the Q. You can also add a small cut to the upper midrange to counteract any harshness.

High-pass filtering will often be necessary, but it’s not always needed. If you don’t hear a
problem, there’s no need to fix it.

You can high-pass female vocals much higher than male vocals without affecting the sound of
the voice.

Listen for resonances in the lower midrange. You can address and remove them using my
sweep and destroy method, ​which I explain here​.
Bass

To add presence, boost higher than you think. The solution is not more low end, but to bring out
the harmonics (start around 700 - 1200 Hz).

Distortion will often do a better job at adding presence than EQ.

Acoustic Guitars

Don’t be afraid to roll off the low end. Often times, all you want is the sound of the pick hitting
the strings.

Watch for resonances in the lower midrange. You can address and remove them using my
sweep and destroy method, ​which I explain here​.

Electric Guitars

Listen to them with the bass. Often times, you can remove quite a bit of low end. The guitars
may sound thin on their own, but with the bass, they’ll sound great.

Watch for harsh resonances in the upper midrange (2 - 4 kHz). You can address and remove
them using my sweep and destroy method, ​which I explain here​.

If electric guitars are recorded well, they often need little-to-no EQ.

For presence, boost around 4 kHz.

Synths

Your approach should vary widely depending on what you’re working with.

Many modern synths are ear-piercingly bright. Don’t be afraid to roll off top end. This can help
them sink back into a mix.

Often times, synths will fill up the entire frequency spectrum. In a busy mix, you’ll often have to
whittle them down using high and low-pass filters.

You can be aggressive when EQing synths, because we have no expectations about what they
should sound like. This gives you more flexibility than when EQing an organic instrument, where
you can’t stray too far from what the instrument sounds like in real life.

Piano
Boosting 5 kHz can bring out the sound of the hammers hitting the strings. This will make the
piano sound harder, which can help it cut through a busy mix.

My Top EQ Plugins
#1 Choice: FabFilter Pro-Q 2

For me, nothing beats the sound and flexibility of the FabFilter
Pro-Q 2. Its slick GUI is easy on the eyes, and the built-in
spectral analyzer is invaluable. I rarely use anything else.

#2 Choice: Waves REQ

This plugin is old school, but I like the way the shelves sound.
While I can emulate its behavior using the Pro-Q, it's still a great
choice.

#3 Choice: UAD Pultec Pro

A no frills, easy-to-use EQ. It’s hard to make this one sound

bad.

For more mixing tips, visit ​BehindTheSpeakers.com​.