Question for Kevin about High Pass Filtering during recording

Alex Wyler · 9th February 2007, 01:49 AM

Kevin,

You are the man! And beyond. Thanks for being so generous with your answers!

Anyways, I noticed that you have a rack of Neve 1064's that you like to track through. That's wonderful!

I have a couple 1073's myself that I love to track trough. I did my apprentiship in a big studio where all the enginners would engage HP filtering during tracking on the neve 80 series console that included 1081 and 1064 strips. It was very common practice to do this and i sort of fell into doing that myslef as that is how i learned.

These vintage Neve units offer some basic HP filter settings and I enjoy using them and the entire Neve EQ section during tracking to get the sound as close to being done as I can. and also so that the individual sounds work well together. And besides, the Neve eq is very musical and in the right hands can do no harm.

I wanted to ask you where you set the HP filters during recording for the following instrumetns:

Bass Drum mic
Drum overhead mics
Drum room mics
Bass guitar DI
Guitar amp mics
Vocals
Acoustic Piano
Cello

Just curious to see where you would roll off on these things if you were to committ to it during tracking. If you record everything flat with no HP filters then just let us know where you would likely roll things off later when mixing.

Thanks Kevin

Kevin Killen · 9th February 2007, 08:03 PM

Alex,

As a general rule I do not use the HP Filter as a default. On my Neve's I find the first position (35 Hz i believe ?) is often ideal.

I tend to go out in the room and see if I can determine where the source of the problem is and deal with it there but thats not always possible. My Pro Ac's are a really good borometer, if the woofer is flapping around uncontrollable then I know I have some serious low end.

The lower resonances can be wonderful in a track and I would perhaps veer on the side of caution before filtering it out, unless of course it sucks .

Kevin

Natural Mystic · 10th February 2007, 04:54 PM

I'm glad this question got asked and I totally agree with your take on it Kevin. I know guys that high pass stuff religiously without even listening to the effect it has on the track. If there is no obvious problem in the low end why high pass it at all?

Thanks again for doing this, it's been a great February!!!

Kevin Killen · 12th February 2007, 02:59 AM

Totally agreed. We all have habits we need to break, so if it ain't broke, why fix it?

KK

**Jules** · 12th February 2007, 09:37 AM

This has inspired me to open a thread in the open forums..

http://gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php?t=109201

Carry on!

chymer · 12th February 2007, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Killen

Totally agreed. We all have habits we need to break, so if it ain't broke, why fix it?

KK

Your right, my bad habits arent broken, so Im not going to fix them

Mike Caffrey · 16th February 2007, 12:27 AM

Do you think that in all cases, as listed above, guitars will be interfering with the bass an the bass interfering with the kick?

Do you think it's possible to not need any HPF on any of them?

Kevin Killen · 16th February 2007, 02:11 AM

Jacklynn,

My first position is too just listen to how they all interact but if necessary I might do the following.

Depending on the recordings of course, one may find somewhere in the 100 hz - 250hz for the acoustics. For the kick, unless its really necessary I tend to gravitate towards the super lows 25hz-35hz. The bass I may try and sculpt using a parametric equalizer rather than filter.

KK

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9th February 2007, 01:49 AM	#1
Alex Wyler Gear maniac Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Toronto, LA & Alaska Posts: 293	Question for Kevin about High Pass Filtering during recording Kevin, You are the man! And beyond. Thanks for being so generous with your answers! Anyways, I noticed that you have a rack of Neve 1064's that you like to track through. That's wonderful! I have a couple 1073's myself that I love to track trough. I did my apprentiship in a big studio where all the enginners would engage HP filtering during tracking on the neve 80 series console that included 1081 and 1064 strips. It was very common practice to do this and i sort of fell into doing that myslef as that is how i learned. These vintage Neve units offer some basic HP filter settings and I enjoy using them and the entire Neve EQ section during tracking to get the sound as close to being done as I can. and also so that the individual sounds work well together. And besides, the Neve eq is very musical and in the right hands can do no harm. I wanted to ask you where you set the HP filters during recording for the following instrumetns: Bass Drum mic Drum overhead mics Drum room mics Bass guitar DI Guitar amp mics Vocals Acoustic Piano Cello Just curious to see where you would roll off on these things if you were to committ to it during tracking. If you record everything flat with no HP filters then just let us know where you would likely roll things off later when mixing. Thanks Kevin

12th February 2007, 09:37 AM	#5
Jules Gearslutz.com admin Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 11,814	This has inspired me to open a thread in the open forums.. http://gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php?t=109201 Carry on! __________________ Jules "...there are some amazing deals to be had in this right now. it brings battleship mixing closer to the jilted generation" - reptil

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9th February 2007, 08:03 PM	#2
Kevin Killen engineer / producer / mixer Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 312	Alex, As a general rule I do not use the HP Filter as a default. On my Neve's I find the first position (35 Hz i believe ?) is often ideal. I tend to go out in the room and see if I can determine where the source of the problem is and deal with it there but thats not always possible. My Pro Ac's are a really good borometer, if the woofer is flapping around uncontrollable then I know I have some serious low end. The lower resonances can be wonderful in a track and I would perhaps veer on the side of caution before filtering it out, unless of course it sucks . Kevin

10th February 2007, 04:54 PM	#3
Natural Mystic Gear maniac Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 186	I'm glad this question got asked and I totally agree with your take on it Kevin. I know guys that high pass stuff religiously without even listening to the effect it has on the track. If there is no obvious problem in the low end why high pass it at all? Thanks again for doing this, it's been a great February!!!

12th February 2007, 02:59 AM	#4
Kevin Killen engineer / producer / mixer Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 312	Totally agreed. We all have habits we need to break, so if it ain't broke, why fix it? KK

16th February 2007, 12:27 AM	#7
Mike Caffrey Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,616	Do you think that in all cases, as listed above, guitars will be interfering with the bass an the bass interfering with the kick? Do you think it's possible to not need any HPF on any of them?

16th February 2007, 02:11 AM	#8
Kevin Killen engineer / producer / mixer Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 312	Jacklynn, My first position is too just listen to how they all interact but if necessary I might do the following. Depending on the recordings of course, one may find somewhere in the 100 hz - 250hz for the acoustics. For the kick, unless its really necessary I tend to gravitate towards the super lows 25hz-35hz. The bass I may try and sculpt using a parametric equalizer rather than filter. KK