Air in a mix, and the value of Spectrometers…

[Sundown]

Hey all,

 

We’re all on a journey, and mine right now is mixing and mastering (and more specifically EQ proficency).

 

I’ve been working on a track for a while, and having hit a few roadblocks, I pulled up my Wavelab Spectrometer to look at some of my reference tracks.

 

Despite what my ears were telling me, I was surprised to see a very even, very present frequency balance in the 10-16K range (or higher) with some of my reference tracks. Very clearly the tracks I had chosen were dipping unpleasant frequencies on key parts (and perhaps dipping with a wide Q), but they were remarkably even in overall response up to 15K or more.  

 

I pulled up my song and I saw that I had no frequency energy in the 10-15K range. I employed low-pass filtering too much and I sucked all the air out of my mix. 

 

I made changes tonight, and while I’m not quite there, I have a new appreciation for the 12-15K region of frequencies.

 

The biggest surprise came from Enya’s “On Your Shore”, which I posted about recently here.

 

If you look at the opening synth pad on a high-quality spectrometer, you’ll see an introductory part that doesn’t eclipse 3500 to 4000 Hz, with the rare exception of a narrow but very visible blip at 15K. That 15K wasn’t put there by accident.

 

I applied my learnings to my latest mix, and while I still have some things to fix, I have a new appreciation for the 12-15K region of frequencies. With the right application, Boy, those frequencies can really open up a part.

 

Todd

[Philbo King]

Before I had monitors with decent bass, I used a spectrum analyser on every mix to get the bass close to right.  It became a habit; I still do that.  

One useful thing to set is the slope of the analyser.  I use 3 dB/octave, which makes pink noise look flat.

[Anderton]

A common trick is putting a peak at 10 kHz - not huge, but enough to add some sizzle.

 

One advantage of paying attention to the higher frequencies is that you can balance the upper midrange better instead of having it do all the work.