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

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

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
>

I also wanted to add that monitoring is almost always a problem.  
Even if you have speakers that say they provide a flat response, 
what you hook them up to can also effect the sound.  Your recording 
is almost always going to sound alittle different where ever you 
play it.  Sometimes, I've made a mix that sounds great on my 
headphones and on my computer speakers.  I'll plug the mix up to my 
friends studio monitors and it will sound even better.  But when I 
play the mix on a hi-fi stereo or in the car, it sounds totaly 
different.  That's why its always good to test your master on every 
system you can come across.  It can be very frustrating at times.  
It just takes alot of time and patience to fine tune everything.     

--- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, "zerolatencyproductions" 
<zerolatencyproductions@y...> wrote:
>
> 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
> >
>