Back when I first started learning how to use an EQ, I made a lot of mistakes that made my job much harder than it had to be. After I’d nail the initial volume balance, I caught myself reaching for EQ to “enhance” my tracks. And while using EQ wasn’t the actual issue, the mindset I had going into using the tool is what became destructive to my mixes. In the beginning, what felt like enhancements to me were, in fact, just a bunch of boosts I made on the EQ.
Need more low end on my bass?
Let’s boost the low end with a low shelf by 3 dB.
Want more presence in a vocal?
Boost the upper midrange 3 or 4 dB and call it a day.
It was decisions like these that led me to pile on boosts across every track, really missing chances to fix problems by cutting out frequencies that were actually making the mix worse. For example, if I wanted more low end in a bass, instead of reaching for a low-shelf boost, I could have cut some of the muddier energy around 300 Hz, giving me the same sense of added lows without boosting at all. But I never really thought about it that way early on.
At the time, I didn’t understand just how much this habit was disrupting my workflow, leading me further away from pro-sounding results. Because I was so focused on “enhancing” everything with EQ boosts, I wasn’t really training my ears to pinpoint the specific frequency issues that were keeping the track from sounding its best in the context of the mix.
In today’s edition of Sound Advice, I want to share a simple three-step framework for using EQ in your mixes that will help you avoid creating bad habits with EQ, helping you tackle frequency issues first, then look for opportunities to enhance your tracks.
Why Boosts Fool Your Ears
Before we dive into the framework, I just want to quickly address why it’s so easy to fall into this trap in the first place. Boosts can trick you into thinking your tracks sound better, but often that’s because we’re also making it louder. Louder often reads as fuller and more exciting, and as those boosts stack up, it’s actually harder to tell if we’re making improvements or just cranking the volume.
Because boosts increase gain, we also risk moving away from the initial balance we set with our faders, which is one of the most important things to get right from the start. That’s why it’s so important to manage your gain staging when you’re making bigger EQ moves. A good habit is to level-match back to the original volume before you decide whether the boost or cut is actually helping, but in my experience boosts are much easier to overdo,so watch your meters.
- Cut the Constant Stuff First
EQ cuts remove frequency energy, while boosts add even more of it. Cuts help preserve the initial fader balance and headroom you set in the beginning far better than stacking EQ boosts.
When reaching for an EQ, I first listen for opportunities to cut constant, consistent issues using a static EQ cut. By constant, I mean that the frequency problem exists throughout the entirety of the recording. To find these problems, I apply a broad, subtle EQ boost so I can exaggerate the frequency band and sweep the frequencies in the context of my mix until I find an area that contains a consistent problem where frequencies clash with other tracks in the mix. With that same band, I cut and remove as much of those frequencies as it takes to feel it really lock into place and resolve the issue. With cuts, you feel it a bit more than you hear it, so don’t get tied to a specific number or get too carried away when cutting.
Consistent problems can be either imbalances in the audio source itself or masking issues that are happening with other elements in the context of the mix. This could sound like an overly boomy kick, a boxy or nasal tone in a vocal, low-mid mud in a bassline, or a bass masking the thump of a kick.
- Go Dynamic on the Momentary Issues
Once I’ve addressed the constant problems, I look for moments where I can resolve momentary issues using dynamic EQ cuts. This could be more like harsh s sounds in a vocal, buildup in an instrument only when it plays certain notes or phrases, or resonance in a track that builds and clashes with other sounds in certain sections of the song. I’m tuning my ear to search for problems that happen briefly and then disappear, and I use dynamic EQ to remove them only when they become a problem rather than using a static cut that dents the mix when the issue isn’t present.
- Look for Areas to Polish Your Sound
Once the problems have been addressed, I look for areas to enhance the track. I apply broad, static EQ boosts to add a sense of polish and enhancement. I’m often looking to add more presence and clarity, low-end weight, or detail and air to the track, depending on its needs. This is the moment to accentuate the best parts of the track, and it’s always done in the context of the mix, not in solo. Lastly, make any gain changes to compensate for your EQ moves; aim to match your gain to the same level before processing so you can get an accurate comparison.
Once I started working this way, I finally felt like I had a process I could repeat with my EQ. My mixes started sounding more cohesive, I maintained my initial headroom, and I didn’t have to rebalance my faders over and over until I wanted to rage quit and start over.
So try this process in your next mix and see how much of a difference it makes when you search for problems to cut first instead of always reaching for boosts.
