Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

This problem mainly has to do with track-by-track EQ'ing.  First, 
somethings should be mentioned which you might have already heard.  
Basicaly, every intrument has a fundamental tone/frequency it 
produces which we register as a certain pitch.  Though we perceive a 
certain pitch as the note struck, the intrument is also producing 
different volumes of frequencies through pretty much the whole 
frequency range (harmonics).  It doesn't matter if its a vocal 
track, guitar track, bass guitar track, or a kick drum track.  
Independently, they may sound great and full of colorful sound.  Put 
them all together and the frequencies will conflict.  The frequency 
range of one insturment will bleed into the frequency range of 
another, causing the tracks to lose their defining characteristics. 
You end up getting a muddy sound of jumbled frequencies in your bass 
ranges, among others. Though you can adjust the EQ on the master end 
to reduce the muddy frequencies, its going to cause your mix to lose 
whatever punch it had and overall quality.  What you have to do is 
EQ each track seperately before the master mixdown.  Here is exactly 
how the process works to EQ each track so they fit together like a 
puzzle.  Take for example a kick drum track and a bass guitar 
track.  You might want to cut the bass guitar frequencies say 
about  -5db at around 60hz, maybe boost about 5db at around 500hz, 
and cut agian about -3db at about 5khz.  Then on the kick drum track 
do the exact opposite at the same frequencies.  So you'd boost 5db 
at around 60hz, cut about -5db at around 500hz, and boost about 3db 
around 5khz.  Individualy, the tracks my not sound as good and full 
as before, but when you put the two together they compliment each 
other.  Giving the two a better overall pressence. This is what 
should be done to all of your tracks.  The result will be cleaner, 
clearer tracks with much better punch, feel, dynamics, and 
instrument definition.  It will also alow you to get your mix a lot 
louder in the mastering process.  There are certain frequency 
analizer programs out there that will help assist in this.  They 
alow you to see the overpowering and conflicting frequencies between 
each track, taking a lot of the guess work out of the process.  
Otherwise, you'd have to realy on your ears; which can be hard to 
do, beacuse of the sound system and speaker frequency response and 
room accoustics affecting the true sound.  If you have anymore 
questions about this, I'll be happy to try and answer any of them.

Peace,
Brandon  


--- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, "revpathomas" <revpathomas@y...> wrote:
>
> I multi-track my music on Fantom X8 & EMu MP7.  I do vocals on Akai
> DPS12i + DPS16.  I monitor through a pair of Event PS6's and/or 
Sony
> Studio Monitor Headphones.  
> 
> Problem: I have made CD's from the DPS and from the Fantom.  My 
mixes
> on both always come out bass heavy and muddy. Is this a frequency 
(EQ)
> problem or a monitoring problem?  Would a sub-woofer help in the
> mixing process?  Is this a possible problem with the bass or kick 
drum
> patches that I am tracking?  
> 
> Again, the overall mix is find.  I'm just not getting a good 
reading
> of the low end in my current setup.  Any help would be much 
appreciated.
> 
> Rev-P
>