EQ Settings for a live soul sound

[supakneegrow]

I'm curious about the lowest common denominator for EQ settings for achieving a good bassy live soul sound emphasizing warmth and roundness but remaining clear. I mention "Lowest common denominator" because im looking for a good base-line to work out from (I often am using lots of different amps depending on the backline available).

I tend to go heavy on the mid range and lows but fighting mud can often be an issue.

[ga_edwards]

As you may well know, there is no perfect eq setting that does it all, so it's case or tailoring what you have to get 'your' sound.

If mud is the only issue I would recommend getting an in expensive parametric eq, something like the Artec SE-PEQ. You can then dial in the heavy low end you want on the amp you are playing through, and notch out the muddy frequency.

Or, get your own preamp unit, whether it's a pedal or multi fx unit, amp modeller etc. Use that to get 'your tone' and set the supplied backline amp as close to neutral as you can and use it literally as a basic amplifier - to make your sound louder. You can also then use the eq on the amp to compensate for room acoustics.

[MNAirHead]

Eq is to flatten/neutralize a rooms acoustics


Deep bassy =sound subharminic synthesizer+ subs

[abemo]

Try boosting around 200 and dropping the lower eqs, bass is not actually a bass freq instrument, its closer to low mid, so when you overdo the low eq it gets muddy. Also, if you want smooth tone, drop the highs way down, let it ride with the low mids and then tweak from there.

Using flats insteads of rounds helps too.

[MNAirHead]

Originally Posted by supakneegrow

I'm curious about the lowest common denominator for EQ settings for achieving a good bassy live soul sound emphasizing warmth and roundness but remaining clear. I mention "Lowest common denominator" because im looking for a good base-line to work out from (I often am using lots of different amps depending on the backline available).

I tend to go heavy on the mid range and lows but fighting mud can often be an issue.

Are you talking amp or pa?

[fokof]

Asking about EQing in general is about the same thing as asking about odors over the internet.
-Smell good to you does not necessary smell good to me.
-What do you mean by "smell good" ?
-I use to take This & that product and it smells exactly what your describing.
-Just remove a little citrus


There are sooooooo many variables , you have to be there to hear it.

There is no magic recipe.

Use your ear.

[KingRazor]

Originally Posted by abemo

Try boosting around 200 and dropping the lower eqs, bass is not actually a bass freq instrument, its closer to low mid, so when you overdo the low eq it gets muddy. Also, if you want smooth tone, drop the highs way down, let it ride with the low mids and then tweak from there.

Using flats insteads of rounds helps too.

40Hz is absolutely a bass frequency. The bass guitar is a bass instrument, even electric guitar is.

But I get what you're trying to say anyway. Anything under about 60Hz is pretty worthless musically.

[Brad Johnson]

Originally Posted by supakneegrow

I'm curious about the lowest common denominator for EQ settings for achieving a good bassy live soul sound emphasizing warmth and roundness but remaining clear. I mention "Lowest common denominator" because im looking for a good base-line to work out from (I often am using lots of different amps depending on the backline available).

I tend to go heavy on the mid range and lows but fighting mud can often be an issue.

There is none. Here's what I do when I'm not using my own amplification*:

Starting with my bass, turn the volume up and center the EQs. Then...

Set the EQ on the amp flat, turn any voicing switches off. Turn the gain(s) on the amp up to gig volume and see what I've got.

Tweaking EQ at less than gig volume on a gig is pointless IME. Forget what sounded good at home unless you were practising at gig volumes in the mix. And the biggest tonal variant I've come across is the individual player. Your touch matters... I know guys that I can hand my bass to and while I had it sounding like Jamerson, they can make it sound bright like stanley Clarke. That's cool if that's the vibe you're after, if not, figure out why you sound one way and the next guy doesn't and then you should have at least those two tones in your arsenal and you can build from there.

Because the same EQ tweak will give you different results with different heads, cabs, basses and players, focusing on a particular tweak again is pretty pointless. Do what I described then LISTEN. What do you think is not desired? That's the key. And don't fall into the trap of adding EQ because you think you need more of something. Quite often the best way to get more of what you want is by removing what you don't want to let the other frequencies shine. Let's say you want to fatten up the sound, do you add what you think will fatten it up or do you pull back the highs to let the rest come forward in the mix?

That's the trick.




*it's also what I use with my own amplification.

[supakneegrow]

thanks guys so much great food for thought!

[Gearhead17]

Originally Posted by supakneegrow

thanks guys so much great food for thought!

Keep in mind, what works for one room will not work for another. Acoustics are going to mess with you every night. Learn what each frequency sounds like and keep experimenting. Then you will know what to boost and cut in a live situation.

I highly suggest cutting frequencies that are too strong FIRST, then BOOST only a LITTLE at a time to see what works for you. In many cases, cutting the strong sounding frequencies makes it easier to hear your bass tone. You may not even need to boost.

[ga_edwards]

Cut to fix, boost to shape.

Meaning, only cut to fix a bad sound, but boost to enhance the tone you have. Avoid boosting frequencies to fix a weak frequency - you can add in what isn't there.

However, you can boost the 'sweet spots' of your tone that are already to bring out the qualities you require. More attack? boost around 800hz, more punch? boost 150hz etc.

So, always cut first to fix maybe a boom, mud or resonance, then shape the sound as needed to gel with the rest of the band.

it would be worth learning how the frequency spectrum affects the bass guitar, so when you do play through an unfamiliar amp you'll be able to quickly adjust it to get a pleasant tone.

Munjibunga put together a helpful list of frequencies and how they affect the bass guitar in another thread:

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

Magic Frequencies
Excerpted from The Mixing Engineer's Handbook
by Bobby Owsinski

Before we examine some methods of equalizing, it’s important to note the areas of the audio band and what effect they have on what we hear. The audio band can effectively be broken down into six distinct ranges, each one having enormous impact on the total sound.

• Sub-Bass — The very low bass between 16Hz and 60Hz that encompasses sounds that are often felt more than heard, such as thunder in the distance. These frequencies give the music a sense of power even if they occur infrequently. Too much emphasis on this range makes the music sound muddy.

• Bass — The bass between 60Hz and 250Hz contains the fundamental notes of the rhythm section, so EQing this range can change the musical balance, making it fat or thin. Too much boost in this range can make the music sound boomy.

• Low Mids — The midrange between 250Hz and 2000Hz contains the low order harmonics of most musical instruments and can introduce a telephone-like quality to the music if boosted too much. Boosting the 500Hz to 1000Hz octave makes the instruments sound horn-like, while boosting the 1kHz to 2kHz octave makes them sound tinny. Excess output in this range can cause listening fatigue.

• High Mids — The upper midrange between 2kHz and 4kHz can mask the important speech recognition sounds if boosted, introducing a lisping quality into a voice and making sounds formed with the lips such as “m,” “b” and “v” indistinguishable. Too much boost in this range — especially at 3kHz — can also cause listening fatigue. Dipping the 3kHz range on instrument backgrounds and slightly peaking 3kHz on vocals can make the vocals audible without having to decrease the instrumental level in mixes where the voice would otherwise seem buried.

• Presence — The presence range between 4kHz and 6kHz is responsible for the clarity and definition of voices and instruments. Boosting this range can make the music seem closer to the listener. Reducing the 5kHz content of a mix makes the sound more distant and transparent.

• Brilliance — The 6kHz to 16kHz range controls the brilliance and clarity of sounds. Too much emphasis in this range, however, can produce sibilance on the vocals.

For those of you who have an easier time visualizing the audio spectrum in one-octave increments (like those found on a graphic equalizer), here’s an octave look at the same chart.

Easy-To-Remember Golden Rules Of EQ

1. If it sounds muddy, cut some at 250Hz.

2. If it sounds honky, cut some at 500Hz.

3. Cut if you’re trying to make things sound
better.

4. Boost if you’re trying to make things sound
different.

5. You can’t boost something that’s not there
in the first place.

31Hz Rumble, "chest"
63 Hz Bottom
125Hz Boom, thump, warmth
250Hz Fullness or mud
500Hz Honk
1KHz Whack
2KHz Crunch
4KHz Edge
8KHz Sibilance, definition, "ouch!"
16 KHz Air