In today’s demonstration, we’ll dive into some of the basics to spectral analysis and how to create space in your mix. One of the main concerns in any mix is preventing too many sounds from bleeding into each other. This can easily be maintained through the use of high and low pass filters and some EQ.
High and low pass filters allow you to roll off unnecessary frequencies, thereby creating more space in your mix.
We can also use Reverb and Panning to give certain sounds more of their own sonic space.
For the sake of simplicity, we’ll focus on a drum groove, but you would use this sort of approach for tackling an entire mix as well.
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Start from the ground up…
You probably noticed that we had two kick drums in our groove. We want their relationship to be tight and cohesive.
Kick 1
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Kick 2
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As you can hear, kick 1 has a lot of sub bass in it. This means we should add a high pass filter around 30 Hz to prevent any low-end rumble. Then we’ll add a low-pass filter set to about 120 Hz to create more headroom for other sounds.
For kick 2 we’ll use a high-pass filter set around 70Hz to prevent any excessive bleeding into kick 1. We’ll also use a low-pass filter around 13.5 kHz.
NOTE: It’s worth mentioning that these frequency numbers are ‘relative’ and will change based on the nature of your sounds. This demonstration is more about the technique and approach to creating space in your mix.
We also have a (layered) snare/clap in our drum groove.
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In this case, we can rolled off any frequencies below 200 Hz. Then we added a high-pass filter around 14 kHz.
We also gave it more body with a slight boost around 400 Hz and created more space for our hi-hat by reducing some of the frequencies in the 5 – 7 kHz range.
Applying a spectrum analyzer to our hi-hat reveals that it occupies a frequency range of 1.5 – 18.5 kHz. Therefore, we can roll off most of anything above and below this range.
A Spectrum Analyzer can be a valuable tool if you learn how to use one. Most DAW’s come stocked with utility tools that can help you assess your mix. Be sure to use them!
Here’s the EQ applied to my hi-hat. In addition to the high and low cuts, you’ll notice that we’ve added a slight dip around 7 kHz. This was done to tame the huge resonant peak in this range.
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Summary
A little bit of practice goes a long way. You’ll find that you get better at this skill rather quickly. Apply this type of attention-to-detail to your entire mix and you’ll get a clean, polished sound.
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