Practical Recording Techniques, 7th Edition

Chapter 10 Equalization (EQ)

DOI: 10.4324/9781315696331-10

An equalizer is a sophisticated tone control, something like the bass and treble controls in a stereo system. Equalization (EQ) lets you improve on reality: add crispness to dull cymbals or add bite to a wimpy electric guitar. EQ also can make a track sound more natural; for instance, it can remove tubbiness from a close-miked vocal.

Equalization can be hardware, as in a mixing console, or software, as a plug-in in a DAW. A plug-in is software that runs a particular function within a larger recording program called the host.

To understand how EQ works, we need to know the meaning of a spectrum. Each instrument or voice produces a wide range of frequencies called its spectrum—the relative ...