30
TUTORIAL
SERVED
BY
TUTORIAL
MECHANIMAL
MUTAGEN RECORDS
FOLLOW HIM AT:
Mechanimal launched its first live in October 2009 and has been
blasting full power trance music around the globe since. Now with
over 20 successful releases and ever growing experience Mechanimal released its debut album rocking dancefloors worldwide!
Psychedelic e-Mag catches up with Mechanimal for this month’s music production tutorial.
EQ Tips from Mechanimal
31
Cutting bad frequencies
I used to boost and sweep across the frequencies until something negative popped out and then made
a cut. This technique, although “easier”, has a flaw: some frequencies will ALWAYS sound bad if boosted for example around 3-5khz will always sound harsh but if taken away the track will lose presence.
For problems make a bell shape CUT and sweep across, when you are either side of the bad frequency
it will be apparent. Slowly hone in to the area and make adjustments to taste. By doing it this way you
are dealing with the real problem.
Top End
I have seen many producers always go straight for the top frequencies of around 8khz – 20khz rather
than using their ears to determine what they really want to achieve. There are strong differences in the
zone of 4khz and 20khz and understanding them can really help improve your mix.
Mixing using an analyser
When I mix a track I normally have a frequency analyser on the master channel. I find that 80% of well
mixed music has more or less the same frequency shape.
With knowledge of this I can use it as a guideline to balance the instruments and make EQ adjustments.
12khz-20khz: Detail & sparkle
6khz-10khz: Air