Cityscape, Go!
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Grahamstown, South Africa

Q: I have completed a piano composition recently and spent tons of time working on it... Now the issue is that the song in general (not simply specific instruments like piano, cello and bass guitar) seems to me to be to 'bassy'. What I want to do is to lower the bass of the entire piece by just a fraction and I think the equalizing would be complete. Is there a program which can help me do this sort of sound editing? I know audacity has a bass amplifier... but not bass remover.

This question has also come up with regards to fakebit compositions and so is still relevant to the forums... i think.

PS: What are your favorite post creation editing programs (used to equalize and what not) or do you simply do most of the equalization within the programs themselves (FL studio / Renoise etc)?

Can anyone direct me to some threads that I may have missed on the subject of... (see I'm not even quite sure what the correct term is... I want to say equalization / production but i may be off) sound quality, equalization and end product production. (I currently do alot of this sorta thing in the programs whenever possible, but use audacity to amp bass or to add certain effects.)

Peace.

Octothorpe
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In audacity there is a plug-in called "EQ" and you can draw a little squiggle in it  (Make the left of it lower) to change the bass or otherwise smile

Last edited by Octothorpe (Feb 28, 2011 3:34 pm)

chunter
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Brunswick, GA USA

I can link you to an article about EQ when I'm home again. It's rock-centric but it will do for what you want, I think. If you can use something like Reaper and get a plug like Voxengo SPAN, do so as soon as possible. It will be easier to EQ when you can literally see as well as hear the effect.

If the EQs don't seem to do the right thing, you can try a low-Q filter.

chunter
Offline
Brunswick, GA USA

My personal answer to part 2 of your question: I do as much to get the balance right in the source program/instrument first, so that there is less to do after. I do most of my mixing in Renoise with SPAN and Karma, Bootsy, and TAL plugins.

Cityscape, Go!
Offline
Grahamstown, South Africa

Thanks for the advice guys. Figured out the EQ in audacity just before reading your post Octothorpe... is this a good quality way of equalising a track if need be? Does it not maybe mess with the quality at all because its a free program?

Thanks Chunter I'll get my hands on those plugins, and try get them to work in renoise... still unsure about how to do that? Think you could give me a little direction? I have renoise 2.0

chunter
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Brunswick, GA USA

Ctrl-P and go to plugins, point the VST settings at the directory where you've installed your VSTe's and i's. VSTe's appear in your effects list automatically, look up tutorials for details.

By nature, all EQ effects the quality of your source, because you want them to; the matter is how the EQ effects your sound. It is helpful to experiment with many EQs to learn how they color sound and then choose the best for a job.

Cityscape, Go!
Offline
Grahamstown, South Africa
chunter wrote:

By nature, all EQ effects the quality of your source, because you want them to; the matter is how the EQ effects your sound. It is helpful to experiment with many EQs to learn how they color sound and then choose the best for a job.

Thanks for the advice, I'll do that.

chunter wrote:

Ctrl-P and go to plugins, point the VST settings at the directory where you've installed your VSTe's and i's. VSTe's appear in your effects list automatically, look up tutorials for details.

Well you see here is my problem. Cntrl-P doesn't do anything; the program simply states: "Nothing to paste". My plugin directory is correct, and it works within FLstudio (which uses the same plugins from the same directory) so I am struggling to see what the issue is here. Where do i find this effects list? I can't seem to locate it. Maybe the interface is different from your version, but it is far from obvious in 2.0 where the effects list is meant to be situated, if there is one at all?

I tried loading the vst's like one would samples or xnri packs but that didn;t work either. I've been stuck on this subject for over a year now...

Anyways, thanks for all the help thus far hey, its appreciated

Krubbz
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Fargo

I, personally, use Pro Tools for recording and mixing.  It's not free, but it's probably the best out there.  It comes stock with EQ plug ins that give you a visual representation of how you are affecting the frequency response.  There are better plugs, but these work.

Once you find a way to EQ, I'm thinking, most likely, you're getting a buildup in the low-mid frequencies which are the "boxy" sounding frequencies around 400-600Hz.  Rather than EQ the whole track, EQ each track individually, taking 4-6 decibels out of this frequency range on each.  Since most instruments fall into this frequency range, there can be a big buildup of these and it can make the mix sound muffled and boxy.  If you do this and it still sounds too bassy, subtract some 60-80Hz.  If you are going to EQ your master track, this is usually done after the fact and you usually will boost the low and high end by a tiny bit.  You may also try subtracting a tiny bit of 1kHz from the piano track and adding a tiny bit of 1kHz to the bass track to give the piano a little less "honky" sound and gives the bass a little more presence.  I know this is nearly a month later, but hopefully this will help at least in the future.

danimal cannon
Offline
buffalo, NY
Krubbz wrote:

I, personally, use Pro Tools for recording and mixing.  It's not free, but it's probably the best out there.  .

Protools is awful.  Proprietary madness and an extremely convoluted workflow.  But along with 5 other programs (which are just as good or better), it'll get the job done if you know what you're doing.

Last edited by danimal cannon (Apr 13, 2011 4:21 am)

Saskrotch
Offline
Chicago IL

i just want to recommend oZone as an EQ/Mastering VST. shits beautiful.

jefftheworld
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I really recommend rolling off your sub-bass (stuff below 90Hz) as that usually will just muddy a track and cut through other more important frequencies. This is especially important on bass guitars or other bass instruments where you want to hear details in the sound (for a bass guitar you want to be able to hear the performance of it, not just a deep wub wub wub of bass frequencies).

Sometimes you'll want to add a sub-bass to your song, but be very careful to keep this from taking over your whole track.

SKGB
Offline
Godzilladelph
Saskrotch wrote:

i just want to recommend oZone as an EQ/Mastering VST. shits beautiful.

agreed!

SKGB
Offline
Godzilladelph
jefftheworld wrote:

Sometimes you'll want to add a sub-bass to your song, but be very careful to keep this from taking over your whole track.

Subterrestrial
Offline
The Hollow Earth
jefftheworld wrote:

I really recommend rolling off your sub-bass (stuff below 90Hz) as that usually will just muddy a track and cut through other more important frequencies. This is especially important on bass guitars or other bass instruments where you want to hear details in the sound (for a bass guitar you want to be able to hear the performance of it, not just a deep wub wub wub of bass frequencies).

THIS. A high pass filter will do the job nicely. If you find that it's rolling off too much of the bass, try using a notch filter instead to cut out a more narrow frequency that's muddying the mix. You can use frequency analyzer while auditioning the track to help you narrow down the frequency you're looking to cut or just sweep back and forth through the lower freqs until the freq you're looking to eliminate disappears. I sometimes find it necessary to do this when I have a high freq that's bothering me but don't necessarily want to roll off all or most of the highs with a low pass.

Last edited by Subterrestrial (Feb 16, 2012 8:42 pm)

HPizzle
Offline
Neo Jersey

mixcraft is pretty good...basically a windows ripoff of garage band. your hi mid and low eq right thurr for each channel

an0va
Offline
danimal cannon wrote:
Krubbz wrote:

I, personally, use Pro Tools for recording and mixing.  It's not free, but it's probably the best out there.  .

Protools is awful.  Proprietary madness and an extremely convoluted workflow.  But along with 5 other programs (which are just as good or better), it'll get the job done if you know what you're doing.


THANK YOU