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OK, so you got the ultimate $2000 microphone! Now you plug it into your $30 mic preamp to record and we’re set to go, right? Uhmm, no. Not so fast!

Your mic is producing $2000 worth of sound, but the preamp is only letting $30 worth of it through! Why spend all that money on the mic, and then cancel it with trashy processing?

What is a preamp? Basically it is an amplifier that takes the microphone level signal and amplifies it to line level, the standard used in recording systems. Also, it is often used to provide power to the microphones that require it.

A good preamp is important in maintaining and enhancing the sound of your mics. When the preamp amplifies the sound, it can add or subtract subtle shades in the character of the sound. That’s why it’s important to use high quality preamps. You don’t want them affecting the sound in a negative way!

Another thing to look for is the self-noise. I have two preamps in my studio, and I basically use the one all the time. The other one has so much self-noise that I hate it! This is important for each track, because when you mix all your tracks together, you get all the noise added together. The result may be much louder than you expect!

So don’t get a cheap mic preamp. I do think it is more important to spend money on a microphone, but don’t skimp on a preamp. The processing they add is very subtle, but you can definitely tell a difference from a $100 preamp to a $1000 preamp.

BTW, if you want to know the lingo, a preamp is also called a mic pre, or just a pre. Now, go impress your friends!

What should you look for when shopping for a mic preamp for voice recording? If you’re getting a high end preamp, look for things much the same as you would regular pres.

Keep things like self-noise and trim level in mind too. You will most likely want phantom power too, so look for that. What cables do your microphones use? Make sure the mic preamp will accept them.

Read some reviews on different preamps, and see what people are recommending.

Now, you have your singer, vocal microphone, and mic preamp. You’re ready to record, right?

Yes! Now comes the fun part — doing the actual recording.

A cheat sheet of basic setting..

20 Hz and below – impossible to detect, remove as it only adds unnecessary energy to the total sound, thereby most probably holding down the overall volume of the track

60 Hz and below – sub bass (feel only)

80(-100) Hz – feel AND hear bass

100-120 Hz – the “club sound system punch” resides here

200 Hz and below – bottom

250 Hz – notch filter here can add thump to a kick drum

150-400 Hz – boxiness

200 Hz-1.5 KHz – punch, fatness, impact

800 Hz-4 KHz – edge, clarity, harshness, defines timbre

4500 Hz – exteremly tiring to the ears, add a slight notch here

5-7 KHz – de-essing is done here

4-9 KHz – brightness, presence, definition, sibilance, high frequency distortion

6-15 KHz – air and presence

9-15 KHz – adding will give sparkle, shimmer, bring out details – cutting will smooth out harshness and darken the mix

60Hz with a Q of 1.4 — Add fullness to kicks.

100Hz with a Q of 1.0 — Add fullness to snare

200Hz – 250Hz with a Q of 1.4 — Adds wood to snares

3Khz with a Q of 1.4 — Adds atack to snare.

5Khz with a Q of 2.8 — Adds attack to Kicks

7Khz with a Q of 2.8 — Adds Sharpness to snares and percussion

10Khz with a Q of 1.0 — Adds brightness to hats and cymbals

ok kick drums i usually cut the bass below 90 to keep the phatness w/o conflicting with the bass

I usually notch somewhere around 250 which seems to clear up a bit of muddiness

cut all sounds below 20hz as they also mud up the mix

kick drums which I cut below 75Hz

for your vynil masters make a harsh cut at 12khz or preferably de esser in that region.(this applies to mastering tasks for vynil only)

for cd masters, that gives the desired air on top……

what can be said abt the 4500hz region is, this is the main content of any human vocals.so if noone understands your voice sample and you want it to be understood,boost it…..

to find the sweet spot of a sound…

solo it..

make the q as small as it will go and boost the eq 6dB and sweep the frequency untill you really hear the sound come out (usually on the attack)…

then reduce the amount of q and gain….

this also works if there is something you want to get rid of in a sound.. find that sound by using this same method and reduce the gain…

if you want to add OMMF to the kick or snare..

tune an oscilator to the same pitch as the kick or white noise to the snare…

and KEY it with the Kidk or the Snare and it will add that ommf your lookin for..

heard alot in hip hop on the kicks and in the 80′s on the snare..

another way of doing it if you dont know how to key an oscilator… is just get a sample and have it play at the same time as the kick or the snare.. the keying just does that for you. hehe

Something that often gets over-looked is COMPARING to the original. Whenever you re-EQ someting you NEED to be able to cut everything you’ve just done and compare it to the original sound. Theres no use doing it if you can’t look back on how it was to see why you EQ’d it in the first place.

Basically make sure whatever you use to EQ has some form of bypass so you can flip between before-after. If you have something that will take ‘snapshots’ then thats even better as you can listen to a few different versions of EQ setting to see which fits best.

probably one of the most important things to remember with eq if you ask any engineer; i haven’t seen anyone mention it, so i will.

when it comes to eq, try as hard as possible to use a cut rather than a boost. this will give you more room to work with. one of the most common uses for eq is to resolve conflicting instruments. rather than boosting the one that you want to stand out, try cutting the frequency in the instrument that doesn’t quite require it.

but i normally cut off kicks at 80-100 (with a not-too gentle roll off) and take a big piece out at 300ish. i also usually boost snares aroung 150-200 and 1000-1500. 150-200 is where the meat of the snare is, and 1000-1500 is where the snap is.

Boost or Cut? Or both in combination?

I just recently read an article that recommended EQing sounds in the mix (not solo) and then finding the most prominent frequency range (by sweeping a heavily boosted paramteric EQ) and boost that just as much as needed to bring out the target sound in the mix, not more.

Then use a heavily cut parametric EQ and sweep below the frequency you just boosted, to see if you can find a frequency range that is good to cut in order to bring the target sound out in the mix even further.

I find I often use cutting frequencies to remove irritating ringings, rumble, noise etc but I don’t think I’ve thought about it in terms of actually listening if it brings out the sound more in the mix by subtracting some of the frequencies of said sound.

on some sounds where it seems too sharp & hurts your ears, lower/notch it at around 3KHz

i definately think that its best to start by cutting frequencies rather than boosting as this gives you a lot more room to play! you can allways boost things a bit more later if you need more OOMPH in that freq range!

fatness at 120-240Hz

boing at 400Hz

crispness at 5kHz

snap at 10kHz

Voice: presence (5 kHz), sibilance (7.5 – 10 kHz), boominess (200 – 240 kHz), fullness (120 Hz)

Electric Guitar: fullness (240 Hz), bite (2.5 kHz), air / sizzle (8 kHz)

Bass Guitar: bottom (60 – 80 Hz), attack (700 – 1000 Hz), string noise (2.5 kHz)

Snare Drum: fatness (240 Hz), crispness (5 kHz)

Kick Drum: bottom (60 – 80 Hz), slap (4 kHz)

Hi Hat & Cymbals: sizzle (7.5 – 10 kHz), clank (200 Hz)

Toms: attack (5 kHz), fullness (120 – 240 Hz)

Acoustic Guitar: harshness / bite (2 kHz), boominess (120 – 200 Hz), cut (7 – 10 kHz)

Bassdrum:

EQ>Cut below 80Hz to remove rumble

Boost between 80 -125 Hz for bass

Boost between 3 – 5kHz to get the slap

PROCESSING> Compression 4:1/6:1 slow attack med release.

Reverb: Tight room reverb (0.1-0.2ms)

Snaredrum:

EQ> Boost above 2kHz for that crisp edge

Cut at 1kHz to get rid of the sharp peak

Boost at 125Hz for a full snare sound

Cut at 80Hz to remove rumble

PROCESSING> Compression 4:1 slow attack med release.

Reverb: Tight room reverb (0.1-0.2ms)

Hi-Hatz:

EQ> Boost above 5kHz for sharp sparkle

Cut at 1kHz to remove jangling

PROCESSING> Compression use high ratio for high energy feel

Reverb: Looser than Bass n Snare allow the hats and especially the Rides to ring a little

BASS:>

Compressed, EQ’d with a full bottom end and some mids

I find myself often having to boost the midrange in my drums lately, last night I did a track and had to put a +3 dB EQ in the 800-3000 Hz range on the final mix (obviously not the most optimal choice but I’ll fix it in the sequencer later with specific channel EQing and so on).

EQ Reference: Frequencies

50Hz

Boost: To thicken up bass drums and sub-bass parts.

Cut: Below this frequency on all vocal tracks. This should reduce the effect of any microphone ‘pops’.

70-100Hz

Boost: For bass lines and bass drums.

Cut: For vocals.

General: Be wary of boosting the bass of too many tracks. Low frequency sounds are particularly vulnerable to phase cancellation between sounds of similar frequency. This can result in a net ‘cut of the bass frequencies.

200-400Hz

Boost: To add warmth to vocals or to thicken a guitar sound.

Cut: To bring more clarity to vocals or to thin cymbals and higher frequency percussion.

Boost or Cut: to control the ‘woody’ sound of a snare.

400-800Hz

Boost: To add warmth to toms.

Boost or Cut: To control bass clarity, or to thicken or thin guitar sounds.

General: In can be worthwhile applying cut to some of the instruments in the mix to bring more clarity to the bass within the overall mix.

800Hz-1KHz

Boost: To thicken vocal tracks. At 1 KHz apply boost to add a knock to a bass drum.

1-3KHz

Boost: To make a piano more aggressive. Applying boost between 1KHz and 5KHz will also make guitars and basslines more cutting.

Cut: Apply cut between 2 KHz and 3KHz to smooth a harsh sounding vocal part.

General: This frequency range is often used to make instruments stand out in a mix.

3-6KHz

Boost: For a more ‘plucked’ sounding bass part. Apply boost at around 6KHz to add some definition to vocal parts and distorted guitars.

Cut: Apply cut at about 3KHz to remove the hard edge of piercing vocals. Apply cut between 5KHZ and 6KHz to dull down some parts in a mix.

6-10KHz

Boost: To sweeten vocals. The higher the frequency you boost the more ‘airy/breathy’ the result will be. Also boost to add definition to the sound of acoustic guitars or to add edge to synth sounds or strings or to enhance the sound of a variety of percussion sounds. For example boost this range to:

Bring out cymbals.

Add ring to a snare.

Add edge to a bass drum.

10-16KHz

Boost: To make vocals more ‘airy’ or for crisp cymbals and percussion. Also boost this frequency to add sparkle to pads, but only if the frequency is present in the original sound, otherwise you will just be adding hiss to the recording.

Specific Instruments

Vocals

General:

Roll off below 60Hz using a High Pass Filter. This range is unlikely to contain anything useful, so you may as well reduce the noise the track contributes to the mix.

Treat Harsh Vocals:

To soften vocals apply cut in a narrow bandwidth somewhere in the 2.5KHz to 4KHz range.

Get An Open Sound:

Apply a gentle boost above 6KHz using a shelving filter.

Get Brightness, Not Harshness:

Apply a gentle boost using a wide-band Bandpass Filter above 6KHz. Use the Sweep control to sweep the frequencies to get it right.

Get Smoothness:

Apply some cut in a narrow band in the 1KHz to 2KHz range.

Bring Out The Bass:

Apply some boost in a reasonably narrow band somewhere in the 200Hz to 600Hz range.

Radio Vocal Effect:

Apply some cut at the High Frequencies, lots of boost about 1.5KHz and lots of cut below 700Hz.

Telephone Effect:

Apply lots of compression pre EQ, and a little analogue distortion by turning up the input gain. Apply some cut at the High Frequencies, lots of boost about 1.5KHz and lots of cut below 700Hz.

Hi-Hats

Get Definition:

Roll off everything below 600Hz using a High Pass Filter.

Get Sizzle:

Apply boost at 10KHz using a Band Pass Filter. Adjust the bandwidth to get the sound right.

Treat Clangy Hats:

Apply some cut between 1KHz and 4KHz.

Bass Drum

General:

Apply a little cut at 300Hz and some boost between 40Hz and 80Hz.

Control The Attack:

Apply boost or cut around 4KHz to 6KHz.

Treat Muddiness:

Apply cut somewhere in the 100Hz to 500Hz range.

Guitar

Treat Unclear Vocals:

Apply some cut to the guitar between 1KHz and 5KHz to bring the vocals to the front of the mix.

General:

Apply a little boost between 100Hz and 250Hz and again between 10KHz and 12KHz.

Acoustic Guitar

Add Sparkle:

Try some gentle boost at 10KHz using a Band Pass Filter with a medium bandwidth.

General:

Try applying some mid-range cut to the rhythm section to make vocals and other instruments more clearly heard.

kick>> bottom depth at 60 – 80 Hz, slap attack at 2.5Hz

snare>> fatness at 240HZ, crispness at 5 KHz

hi hats/cymbals>> clank or gong sound at 200 Hz, shimmer at 7.5 kHz – 12 kHz

rack toms>> fullness at 240 Hz, attack at 5 kHz

floor toms>> fullness at 80 – 120 Hz, attack at 5 kHz

horns>> fullness at 120 – 240 Hz, shrill at 5 – 7.5 kHz

strings>> fullness at 240 Hz, scratchiness at 7.5 – 10 kHz

conga/bongo>> resonance at 200 – 240 Hz, slap at 5 kHz

vocals>> fullness at 120 Hz, boominess at 200 – 240 Hz, presence at 5 kHz, sibilance at 7.5 – 10 kHz

When mixing bassline and kick drum, give the kick some extra dBs at 90-something Hz (listen to the sound and find where it has it’s punch) and remove a few dB from the bassline sound at this same frequency. Then go to around 400 Hz on the kick drum (where it’s boxiness resides) and remove a few dB, this will make it feel more punchy and thumpy, in a nice way (at least it has worked well for me in the sound I am trying to achieve). Finally add a few dB to the bassline at this same 400-something frequency, this will increase the presence and audibility of the bassline when played at the same time as the kick.

Good point – those frequency tips are taken from many different sources and I think I’ve learned more over the time now so I wouldn’t say that particular tip is really something to rely on. I more often cut at around 400 Hz, add at around 100 Hz, notch at 250 Hz and also I always cut my kicks at 70-80 Hz. Though sometimes I also layer sub hits underneath

just to add to the bass-kick debate, for those using fm kicks ala; teebee, dom n roland. I found that cutting 16-30hz and boost at 250hz worked a treat. But im increasingly comming to the conclusion that there really is no one size fits all rule when it comes to kicks, apart from getting rid of the lower end of the bass spectrum to make way for any basslines in your tunes

Bass Guitar is very hard to mix. It is always the main reason why the mix sounds either dull, thin or mud. The major problem is that all instruments have bass frequencies, but not so heavy as bass guitar and a kick drum. In a mix, all instruments are played together and the primary problem lies in the bass frequencies, it is why every time you heard tracks that are not mix, it sounds mud.

I have been mixing for years and I love to present these two techniques I learned from experience in mixing. Basically you can only apply one technique per song. But you will have two choices how to approach mixing bass guitar in the mix :

a. The Rock Bass Guitar Sound Mix - in this mix, the objective of the bass guitar is to sound heavy and partly dominant in the mix. As a rock producer, I like the bass guitar to sound aggressive and up front in the mix. Did you notice that once you hear rock tracks today such as Trapt, Green day, Simple Plan, their bass guitar is very dominant? It is a secret of sound engineers in how to make bass guitar loud while avoiding mud.

As a guide, we will designate 45 Hz to 250 Hz as the bass frequencies where kick drums and bass guitar mainly reside. The problem is how to blend those two together.
Since the bass guitar needs to sound heavy and dominant, it should occupy mainly the bottom 45 Hz to 250 Hz. But….

We will dip 100 Hz for the kick drum spikes to shine through. I usually dip the bass guitar around 100 Hz with Q settings of around 2.0 and -9dB reduction.

To balance, I will boost kick drum at around 100 Hz with Q settings of around 2.0 and 9dB~12 boost.

To sound better, I will apply high pass filter (so it will attenuate frequencies lower than 50Hz) on kick drum around 50 Hz -3dB reduction, for the deep bass guitar frequencies to dominate the sub woofer, making it sound heavy.

But I will not apply boosting to bass guitar at any frequencies between 45Hz and 200 Hz.

I finally boost 250 Hz for bass guitar to make those notes more audible, I use Q of 2.0, and boost at 3dB.

As a rule the kick drum needs to be dip at around 250Hz to 400Hz with Q of 2~3, to remove those card board sound, this makes the bass guitar notes more audible as well as the distortion guitar.

What about other instruments??? It is simple. All instruments are to be applied with high pass filter at around 250Hz -6dB reduction.
This will make the bass frequencies 45Hz to 250Hz, a place just for bass guitar and kick drums.

What is the result? A heavy bass guitar sound typical for rock music.

b. The Pop Bass Guitar Sound Mix- this is very easy and simple to do. The principle is to avoid heavy bass sound to emphasize clarity, punch and elegance of vocals and guitar instruments. This is mostly applicable in pop music as well as country music.

The Principle:

The kick drum solely occupies the 45 to 150 Hz spectrum; this will make the kick drum sounds so fat and strong very catchy for pop music.

The bass guitar will rest at 200 Hz, it won’t produce strong bass but the bass guitar notes are highly audible and it will be there to support the song “groove”.

Specifically, the kick drum is boosted 6dB at 80Hz with Q of around 1.0. To prevent heavy muddiness which can affect clarity and airiness of pop music, both the kick and bass guitar are applied with high pass filter around 3dB reduction at 50Hz.

Also the bass guitar is applied with high pass filter starting at 200 Hz, so it will attenuate frequencies below 200 Hz, making the sub woofer and the bass frequencies mainly composed of kick sound.

What about other instruments? Again a simple high pass filter will be applied in all, as we do not need their bass frequencies to shine (such as electric guitar, acoustic guitar and vocals). I will set it at 250Hz, so below that frequencies, it will be attenuated.

The result? A very clear and defined mix for bass, ideally for pop and country music.

MOTU has introduced its small MicroBook audio interface on Tuesday. Powered entirely by a USB connection and compatible with Macs and Windows PCs, the MicroBook gets four inputs and two outputs, letting users connect a microphone, guitar, keyboard or other stereo line level device and record simultaneously. A 3.5mm input and output lets users connect sources such as iPods or other portable audio devices, as well as computer speakers.

The mic preamp has a 20dB pad and 48V phantom power for condenser mics. The analog, digital and headphone outputs are programmable and allow for live monitoring. An XLR-to-quarter-inch adapter is included to let users plug in a wider range of microphones.

An optical output is present, which provides the same output as the main outputs. There is a digital trim for all outputs, and an independent volume control for the headphones. CueMix FX is onboard with no-latency mixing and monitoring with EQ and dynamics processing, as is a 7-band parametric EQ and compression. The MicroBook can generate test tones and white/pink noise.

The MicroBook, which includes AudioDesk DAW software for Macs, will ship in July for $269.

Looking for a great condenser microphone that is also affordable?  Finding one that features warmth, sensitivity, and low noise can be difficult, especially if you are on a budget.  However, there are five mics that have all of these qualities plus more, and they’re all under $500.

The AKG C 3000 B Mic Condenser
This condenser mic is built to be taken on the road, used excessively, and still function just like new.  Its gold-coated capsule uses both large diaphragm and micro transducer technology to produce the best sounds possible.  It has a 6dB low frequency cut, a range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, and an integrated windscreen.

Audix CX-212 Multi-Pattern Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
The Audix CX-212 features three polar patterns: figure 8, omni-directional, and cardioid.  Its frequency response goes from 30 Hz to 20 kHz, and it has a bass roll-off filter that helps eliminate hum and rumble in the lower frequencies.  It also features low noise preamp circuitry and can handle sound pressure levels of up to 132 dB.  This is a great condenser mic for strings, acoustics, vocals, and ensembles.

Blue Baby Bottle Microphone
It might have a strange name, but this handcrafted, solid-state discrete condenser mic features a gold-sputtered capsule located inside a lollipop grille.  It uses a fixed cardoid pattern and has a frequency response of between 20Hz and 20kHz.  The Blue Baby Bottle mic is perfect for vocals, percussion, and acoustic instruments.

Groove Tubes GT57 Mic Condenser
The Groove Tubes GT57 Mic Condenser is one of the most versatile large capsule mics available.  It features a 3 micron gold evaporated Mylar diaphragm that allows it to make use of the highest frequencies to add depth and detail to its sound.  It has three polar patterns for flexibility in recording and uses a pattern selection switch and a dual sided capsule to create optional figure 8 and omni patterns.  It’s good for both instrument and vocals.

Shure KSM32/CG Cardiod Studio Condenser Mic
Last but not least, the KSM32/CG uses a transformerless preamp to avoid creating distortion.  It features a three-state pop-protection grille and internal shockmount system to prevent noise.  This mic has a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz, and it has a 15dB attenuation switch that can handle high SPLs.