Dangers of Harsh EQ

Equalization is a process that allows you to adjust the frequencies of a track. EQ can be used to find unique sounds, and tweak something to fit more to your liking. It's a great tool for mixing and making room for tracks in a mix. However, too much EQ can make a song sound off and lead to difficulty in finding a great mix.

To me, harsh EQ means one of two things. It can be massively cutting to boost, or making boosts and cuts all over the place.

Take for example a kick drum. It might be effective to cut out all the high end, and boost it to have a loud low end. This can work, but sometimes it's the high end of the kick that helps it cut through a mix. Doing this can make the song sound muddy. Another example could be guitars. It might be effective to cut out all the low end, to make room for the bass and drums, but too much can make the song sound thin.

With vocals it might sound good to make adjustments all over the place, but this can lead to the track sounding off. It won't fit in the mix because it's being forced to sound good. Say you have a loop with a vocal sample, but you tried to cut out around drums and guitar. This sort of EQ surgery can lead to the track sticking out in the mix.

Ideally, you want to use as little EQ as possible. Tracking guitars was always difficult for me until I learned that it all starts with what's coming through the headphones. I used to think that the guitar was gonna need a lot of processing anyway, so I could fix the tone in post. Now I find that if I can get the guitars to sound good through my headphones, before I even record, then it won't need much processing. With drums you need to find the right sounds, and with drum loops the correct tone. Meaning, if you're programming drums find the best mix of sounds, and if you're processing a loop understand what it calls for. Don't force a tone out of a loop that doesn't work.

I'd suggest viewing the whole song as a base for what needs to be EQ'ed. What does the song need, not each piece. Each track needs to stick together to sound like they belong, and with harsh EQ's on each one that's difficult.

Thank you for reading.