PRESONUS STUDIOLIVE 16.4.2 - V1.12 User Manual page 111

5 Tutorials
5.4 Equalizers
What is an EQ?
5.4. 1
boosting pleasant tones of an instrument such as the attack. Take for instance, a kick drum. A kick
drum resonates somewhere between 60 to 125 Hz, but the attack of the kick drum is much higher at
2 to 5 kHz. By setting a narrow bandwidth and boosting the attack a bit, you can achieve a punchier
kick drum without overpowering the rest of the mix.
A broad bandwidth accentuates or attenuates a larger band of frequencies. The broad and narrow
bandwidths (high and low Q) are usually used in conjunction with one another to achieve the desired
effect. Let's look at our kick drum again. We have a kick drum that has a great, big low-end sound
centered around 100 Hz and an attack hitting almost dead-on at 4 kHz. In this example, you would
use a broad bandwidth in the low frequency band, centered at 100 Hz, and a narrow bandwidth
boosted at 4 kHz. In this way you are accentuating the best and downplaying everything else this
particular kick drum has to offer.
Shelving EQ
A shelving EQ attenuates or boost frequencies above or below a specified cutoff point. Shelving
equalizers come in two different varieties: high-pass and low-pass.
Low-pass shelving filters pass all frequencies below the specified cutoff frequency while attenuating
all the frequencies above it. A high-pass filter does the opposite: passing all frequencies above the
specified cut-off frequency while attenuating everything below.
Graphic EQ
The StudioLive 16.4.2 features a 31 band Graphic EQ that can be inserted on the Main bus. A
graphic EQ is a multi-band equalizer that uses sliders to adjust the amplitude for each frequency
band. It gets its name from the positions of the sliders "graphing" the resulting frequency response
curve. As explained in Section 2.10.4, the encoders in the Fat Channel are used to make amplitude
adjustments, and the meter LED's display the "slider" positions. The center frequency and bandwidth
are fixed for each band, the level (amplitude) for each band is the only adjustable parameter.
Graphic EQ's are generally used to fine-tune the overall mix it to a particular room. For instance, if
you are mixing in a "dead" room, you may want to boost high frequencies and roll off some of the
lows. If you are mixing in a "live" room, you might need to lower the high-midrange and highest
frequencies. In general, you should not make drastic amplitude adjustments to any particular
frequency band(s). Instead, make smaller incremental adjustments over a wider spectrum to round
out your final mix. To assist you with these adjustments, here is an overview of which frequencies
affect different sound characteristics:
• Sub-Bass (16Hz to 60 Hz): These very low bass frequencies are felt rather than heard, as with
freeway rumbling or an earthquake. These frequencies give your mix a sense of power even
when they only occur occasionally. However, overemphasizing frequencies in this range will
result in a muddy mix.
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