Duration: 37 minutes

Featuring: Alan Parsons with John McBride, David Thoener, Simon Phillips, and Jack Joseph Puig

A large part of being able to conduct a good recording is knowing how to listen. This section not only provides fact-based answers as to EQ frequencies and the various ways they can be adjusted, it also gives you tools that you can use to train yourself how to ‘hear’ more analytically.

Alan looks at EQ from all perspectives, from different frequencies and what they represent to the many different types of EQ device - graphic EQ, parametric EQ, shelving EQ, and filters - both hardware units and their software equivalents.

At one point Alan raises the question “What are we trying to achieve with EQ?” The answer may seem obvious but it is important to consider such a question before simply using EQ as a cure-all for any shortcoming in a recorded sound. Alan also makes the important point that EQ is relative: cuts in EQ can often have a far more powerful effect because they let neighboring frequencies shine through without competition. Continued ‘boosting’ of EQ can often produce a muddy and uncomfortable final sound.

The EQ section concludes with a case-by-case look at all the major instrument and sound types and which frequencies tend to be problem areas, or (often unexpected) areas where EQ adjustment can reap good rewards. Particularly interesting is Alan’s examination of drums, where, aided and abetted by session drummer extraordinaire Simon Phillips, he explores the relationship of one drum to another and their eventual desired appearance as a unified single ‘drum sound.’

Download EQ

Video Preview: