When creating sound, how do you set Presence and EQ High?

[earthir840]

When creating sound, how do you set Presence and EQ High?
If there’s been a discussion on this before, I’d love to know.

When recording a real amp, the sound often comes out quite muddy, and I find myself wanting to boost the high end in the DAW.
But in the end, the real amp tone seems to match best with vocals and drums in the mix (even though strong tracks like Serum and other Synth can get in the way,).

 

[Zedhed]

When creating sound, how do you set Presence and EQ High?
If there’s been a discussion on this before, I’d love to know.

When recording a real amp, the sound often comes out quite muddy, and I find myself wanting to boost the high end in the DAW.
But in the end, the real amp tone seems to match best with vocals and drums in the mix (even though strong tracks like Serum and other Synth can get in the way,).

Obviously every amp & Cab combo is going to need different settings. But in general, I find using subtractive EQ more pleasing to my ear.
So if there's not enough high end, I'll first try lowering some of the bass and mid frequencies before raising treble.
I tend to use the presence in conjunction with amp master gain to find a balance.

Synths can tend to occupy a lot of the lower end in a mix so again, cutting some low frequencies can help carve out a space for guitar (and Bass guitar).

 

[Search Sound]

Hello!

- I cut highs (<80hz) and lows (>7000) in the cab block. (Learn this on wiki on Axe II page)

- I put a PEQ after cab and increase 2dB in freq 770 with Q=035 (there is a post on this forum)

- at the end of grid, I put another PEQ blocking highs and lows as before (axe standard habit)

- when the solo, I activate a PEQ with freq 2000 hz boosted with 3db (there is a video from piguitars made by Ivan Fonseca talking about that, unfortunately the video is only in Portuguese. Infact, he uses another freq).

But I need improve that. I play at home most of the time.

Oh, there is also a video on G66 channel made by Leon about frequencies very useful.

 

[Piing]

 

[wesleyamltd]

If you want to capture what you hear in the room, it starts with mic and mic placement.

There are tons of videos on this matter.

Subtractive eq is a great approach too.

Use graphic eq to boost a certain frequency to see if that’s the problem and then reduce its amplitude.

Remember to serve the song.

Meaning, make sounds that fit the style and genre of what you’re making or you’ll be fighting to force a square peg into a round hole.

 

[Budda]

“it depends” is the right answer. Im not usually making a sound meant to be recorded in a mix.

 

[My name is mud]

If your goal is recording a song, set it for the song . If the goal is to play alone set it to your taste. Personally I play and use mix ready tones with cuts

 

[Admin M@]

My approach is as follows. Bear in mind that I do everything myself, sequentially, so I can never listen to a whole band until I am done.

1. Record what I think is a good sound. Commit, commit, commit!
(That said, if possible, I also capture a DI of the performance.)

2. If the guitar tone turns out to be hugely problematic in a way that mixing can't fix, re-amp, or re-record.

 

[chris]

When making tones I always play some music while I do it, whatever matches the band mix and song style the tone is for. This lets me instantly know if it’s cutting through if it needs too, or if it’s too shrill. High cut in the cab block when needed, and treble and presence as needed too. Same for low end. And mids for “appearing” in the mix.

 

[FusionFanatic]

Based on my experience, whether playing at home, recording (direct) or on the stage using a guitar cab .. I treat each differently. I tend to like my midrange area (where much of the guitar lives.. while not using to much bass/low end, and have my treble/presence/high end for clarity and definition. You have your bass frequencies, low mid, mids, high mids, and treble… these frequencies cross into each other. Different amps, microphones, and cabs have either more or less low end and high end… same with your guitar. We all have our own gear, and taste in what we want to hear. In the end, use YOUR EARS. Does the low end from the bass guitar and kick drum cut through the mix? The high end not get in the way of the cymbals? Etc. When everything can be heard and it ‘sits in the mix’, you’re in the right direction. I don’t obsess over it to much… I use my ears and listen to the results.

 

[squealie]

An interesting effect I've been messing with...is to boost frequencies that I've nuked with a high or low pass previously in the chain.

Slipperman spoke of this in his chronicles way back in the day. ripping a 10k shelf after a low-pass at 8k on the cab block has made for some cool 'air' on heavy guitar tracks.

But I'm quite impaired.

 

[∞Fractals]

Someone once reminded me not to mix/tweak using the solo button … good advice for me.

 

[touch33]

^^^ not for me. Sometimes I need to hear something all by itself so I can figure out what’s bugging me/not working and zero in on it — then dial the correction and quickly pop it back into the mix to see if it works.

 

[giantslayer]

I find it helpful to think of Highs as coming at the beginning of the amp (Preamp), and Presence happens further downstream at the Power Amp. Try to differentiate what is happening in the Preamp vs Power Amp. If you want that glassy, overdriven treble, I would turn up the Highs more. The Presence control is a bit different as it lets the highs bypass the negative feedback loop, which cleans and tightens the sound. Presence helps the highs feel less choked. In my current Plexi setting, I have the Presence dimed out, but I also am using a dynacab with the distance and position maxed to approximate a more natural listening position.