Eureka moment - CUT! CUT! CUT!

[Dayo]

Ever have one of those breakthrough moments in your recording career? You make something sound so utterly gorgeous that you're spinning round in your chair, punching the air and whooping like Homer locked in a donut factory?

What happened was this; (cue groans of "chestnut! Told you so!" From myriad old hands on here)

Maybe it's a guy thing, but I always figured that the knobs on my EQ went one way only; clockwise. So for ages I've been trying to figure why my recordings on female voices sometimes sound a tad brittle and nasally. I'd been reading about Pultec EQ's, not that I own one, but it made me think more about cutting than boosting. I mean how can taking something away improve my sound? We guys want MORE - not less! Right?

Er.... not so.

A narrow cut at 800 Hz of 3 dB or so, a similar cut at 3kHz and EU-BLOODY-REKA! Spittiness gone. Nasal quality disparu. Left with; warm body and gorgeous airy highs.

I know this is standard practice for many, but just in case you are still resisisting it, try cranking that EQ anti clockwise. Subtracting CAN add mojo by the spade!

Going off to listen to my stuff again. Tra la la....

[Tapeworm]

Cutting leaves space for something else. It's a beautiful thing.

[RCM - Ronan]

Welcome to the light. It will just keep getting better once your ears get trained to working that way.

[Mark Kaufman]

I want to be saved.

But my hand keeps pushing it UP!

[area51recording]

Mostly I cut. But I've learned to not be a pussy with additive EQ when it's called for...

[James_Avery]

Originally Posted by Dayo

Ever have one of those breakthrough moments in your recording career?

I find it pretty hard to believe you're a working professionsal if you've only just discovered that cutting EQ is more useful than boosting.

You must have a history of some pretty muddy mixes!

I mean no disrespect, I'm just pointing this out.

[Dayo]

Originally Posted by James_Avery

I find it pretty hard to believe you're a working professionsal if you've only just discovered that cutting EQ is more useful than boosting.

You must have a history of some pretty muddy mixes!

I mean no disrespect, I'm just pointing this out.

In the context of a mix, yes. Individual elements, not so much. And I work in v/o, so perhaps we tend to think differently to most of you guys on here. No disrespect taken

[Ciozzi]

Originally Posted by Dayo

Ever have one of those breakthrough moments in your recording career? You make something sound so utterly gorgeous that you're spinning round in your chair, punching the air and whooping like Homer locked in a donut factory?

What happened was this; (cue groans of "chestnut! Told you so!" From myriad old hands on here)

Maybe it's a guy thing, but I always figured that the knobs on my EQ went one way only; clockwise. So for ages I've been trying to figure why my recordings on female voices sometimes sound a tad brittle and nasally. I'd been reading about Pultec EQ's, not that I own one, but it made me think more about cutting than boosting. I mean how can taking something away improve my sound? We guys want MORE - not less! Right?

Er.... not so.

A narrow cut at 800 Hz of 3 dB or so, a similar cut at 3kHz and EU-BLOODY-REKA! Spittiness gone. Nasal quality disparu. Left with; warm body and gorgeous airy highs.

I know this is standard practice for many, but just in case you are still resisisting it, try cranking that EQ anti clockwise. Subtracting CAN add mojo by the spade!

Going off to listen to my stuff again. Tra la la....

I've got to the point I solely use subtractive eq

[banevt]

Some times you say yes sometimes you say no. The magic is in knowing when to say yes and when to say no.

[mr jkn]

+1!

Got this revelation when attending a mix session with this great mixer a few weeks ago. He constantly boosted eq on a single track, but within the context of the mix - almost never soloed anything. He then swept this boost over the spectrum until he found the spot when the whole mix sounded dull and ugly, then - CUT! He did this on all tracks.

This is the way I approach mixing now.

[Washington]

Well, after reading so much about subtractive EQ, I personally saw the light when - after making sure nobody saw me - I started to indulge a little boost once in a while. Goes a long way to tell about second-guessing and the "monkey see, monkey do" of the learning curve.

[Dayo]

Elegant. Simple. I like it.

Originally Posted by mr jkn

+1!

Got this revelation when attending a mix session with this great mixer a few weeks ago. He constantly boosted eq on a single track, but within the context of the mix - almost never soloed anything. He then swept this boost over the spectrum until he found the spot when the whole mix sounded dull and ugly, then - CUT! He did this on all tracks.

This is the way a approach mixing now.

[mr jkn]

Indeed, Dayo.

Just in case there is some misunderstanding, he wasn´t dogmatic about using this approach, there was some boosting still. But to make general space in the mix, and separate sources, this is the sh*t. Different strokes though, it´s only music.