What Is Meant By "Sweeping" in EQ?

[PlasticMoonRain]

I keep reading this expression over and over, yet nobody explains it in their articles or books. Craig, you have it in your "Mixing and Mastering with Cubase SX" book, but I have no idea what this means.

 

What does the term "Sweep" mean in context with working with EQ-ing a piece of music?

 

For example: in Craig's book, he writes: "As the instrument plays, slowly sweep the frequency control."

 

I have no idea what that means. Can somebody please help so I can "sweep" too?

 

THANKS.

 

Drew

[linwood]

Put a narrow q on your par eq, boost it 6 or 8 db or so and scrub.( move it around) When you find the tones that bug you, pull them down.

[where02190]

Sweeping is another word of turning the frequency knob up and sonw tith a cut or boost in the gain to hear different frequencies more predominantly. Typically, you'll boost the eq a few db, and "sweep" or turn the frequency knob in a parametric or semiparametirc eq to find an offending frequency, then cut it a few db to reduce it's affects.

[phaeton]

heh..

 

how about "scooping"?

or "shelving"?

or "peaking"?

or "smearing"?

 

or all the other stuff sound engineers say... it's fascinating.

[Raw-Tracks]

Originally posted by phaeton:

heh..

 

how about "scooping"?

or "shelving"?

or "peaking"?

or "smearing"?

 

or all the other stuff sound engineers say... it's fascinating.

Scooping usually refers to some kind of cut.

Shelving is a type of eq, as opposed to a peaking type. Shelving can be either a High Shelf or Low Shelf. In either, there is a corner frequency, let's say 100Hz on a low shelf. With a 100Hz low shelf, everything BELOW 100Hz is either boosted or cut. A high shelf is just the opposite. On a 10kHz high shelf, everything ABOVE the corner frequency is either boosted or attenuated.

 

Peaking eq usually refers to a bell curve. These are usually the mid-band eq's. These will put a "hump" somewhere in the middle of the frequency spectrum. The greatest boost or cut will be at the selected frequency. The surrounding frequencies are affected to a lesser degree. Think of the boost as looking like a hill. Where the selected frequency is at the peak of the hill. The "Q" control, if you have it, on a peaking eq will determine how wide of a frequency band will be affected. Again, thik of the hill, how wide the base of the hill is, is determined by the "q" control.

 

As for "smearing", the only thing I can think of is that this refers to the phase distortion that is introduced by using equalization.

[Groovepusher Sly]

Sweeping simply refers to turning the frequency knob back and forth. "Sweep the frequencies"

Sometimes you get smearing from too many sample rate conversions or too many DA (digital to analog) and AD (analog to digital) conversions.

 

Sly

[Philip OKeefe]

Peaking can also refer to "clipping".

[Dan South]

Originally posted by Groovepusher Sly:

Sweeping simply refers to turning the frequency knob back and forth. "Sweep the frequencies"

 

The main point being that it HAS a frequency knob instead of being "fixed" at one specific frequency. Note that in a graphic EQ, the bands are NOT sweepable, they're fixed. If they don't match the frequency that you need to correct, you're out of luck.

 

Some "sweeping" EQ's also allow you to change the width of the frequency band. These are called "fully parametric EQ's." With an equalizer of this type you can adjust Frequency, Amplitude (boost or cut), and Bandwidth (also known as Q).

[Franknputer]

By the way - contrary to popular belief, sweeping the EQ does not mean brushing off the cruddy sound.

[Alon]

And sweeping isnt just for mixing, or for making tracks fit in the mix.

 

Automate those sweeps and play it like an instrument, for some interesting results.

 

aLoN

[Griffinator]

Sweeps - not just for breakfast anymore!

 

I got to hear the smear effect live and in my face last Wed. night when we had a problem with the speakers at our little coffeehouse gig at the church I attend - we tried desperately to EQ some highs back in with the chintzy little 7-band on the "bingo" PA head (crate 6-channel) - and it started getting so phasey it was disgusting.

 

Finally, someone copped another pair of speakers from the sanctuary (geez, if we'd known they were there...) and we got back to normal.

[phaeton]

I got to hear the smear effect live and in my face last Wed. night when we had a problem with the speakers at our little coffeehouse gig at the church I attend - we tried desperately to EQ some highs back in with the chintzy little 7-band on the "bingo" PA head (crate 6-channel) - and it started getting so phasey it was disgusting.

 

"Phasey" or "Phase-Cancellation Problem"... i'm assuming those two are the same thing...

 

Is this what happens when some bands are playing live, and everything sounds "out of tune" with everything else? It's not really an "out of tune", but like a really fast oscillation where (usually the guitars) kinda clash and beat against each other instead of blending. I guess it's hard to explain. But it's noticeable enough that if the guitars *were* out of tune, the band wouldn't start the next song until they've solved it.

 

Another great example of it is most of the album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Sometime when you're listening to that, pull it into mono and listen to the guitars grate on each other, it's awful.

 

So maybe Sabbath wasn't as bad about that as i thought they were, it was all just mixing and electronics. (all excuses are off for their problems with rhythm and timing though )

 

I guess i could probably *simulate* what i'm talking about when i get home and can sit in front of my 4-track for a bit. I've recorded twin-lead stuff in the past that sounds alright with stuff panned hard left and right, but when you put it together it hurts. Yet if i check each track by playing along with it, they are both tuned correctly to each other.

[KenElevenShadows]

Originally posted by Christopher Kemp:

By the way - contrary to popular belief, sweeping the EQ does not mean brushing off the cruddy sound.

Hey, can you do this? Is there some sort of an Anti-Suck Plug-in?

[Griffinator]

Originally posted by phaeton:

So maybe Sabbath wasn't as bad about that as i thought they were, it was all just mixing and electronics. (all excuses are off for their problems with rhythm and timing though )

Have you ever sat down and listened to the entirety of "Sweet Leaf"? Pay close attention to the breakdown in that song - it's basically free time for like 16 bars - Butler, Iommi, and Ward are all doing their own completely weird thing, but all come back together beautifully on the final 3-riff shot to roll back out into the foundation riff. It's a thing of beauty, and a real challenge to learn. I've played this song with two bands, and been in several others where drummer and/or bassist throw their hands up in disgust.

[phaeton]

Have you ever sat down and listened to the entirety of "Sweet Leaf"? Pay close attention to the breakdown in that song - it's basically free time for like 16 bars - Butler, Iommi, and Ward are all doing their own completely weird thing, but all come back together beautifully on the final 3-riff shot to roll back out into the foundation riff. It's a thing of beauty, and a real challenge to learn. I've played this song with two bands, and been in several others where drummer and/or bassist throw their hands up in disgust.

 

Haha!! I'm going to have to dig that out and listen to it. Interestingly, they have some rhythmic moments that really *shine*... sometimes stuff that i've shrugged off as "oh, they blew it there" but if you look at it in Big Picture Mode then you understand it. (like the section of SweetLeaf you're referring to).

 

Of course, they've got loads of songs all over the place (but especially on Masters) where like Iommi blows the downbeat for no good reason. Their first album is chock full of warts, false starts, punch ins/outs etc. But they were just a bunch of nervous HS kids, so i cut them slack

 

I can't remember if Iommi had the accident just before or just after recording their first album.

 

Btw, none of these observations changes the fact that they're one of my favourite (and at times *the*) favourite band.

 

Oh, and fwiw, i dig Geezer's bass sound.