Create More Balance and Clarity in Your Audio Mix: The QS on EQ
Bryant Falk has been a producer
and engineer for over 12 years
working with such clients as The
Ricki Lake Show, Coca-Cola, Sports
Illustrated, Valley National Bank,
and MTV’s The Shop. His company
Abacus Audio (www.abacusaudio.
com) handles many aspects of the
audio production field from creative
and production to mixing and final
output.
As I journey through this digital
age of video and film production, I
am finding trends that are leaving
people with less than ideal audio for
their projects. Either through budget
constraints or timing limitations, a
full dedicated audio mix is just not
possible. As an editor, you’ve been
hesitant to open the audio plug-ins
folder fearing a beast of confusing
knobs and sliders waiting on the
other side. Well, I hope to ease that
confusion and give you the QS,
(Quick Skinny) on a few tools to
create more balance and clarity in
your down and dirty audio mix.
There are three main types of EQ
to pick from when working on your
audio track:
For beginners, I recommend
the Graphic, as it’s the easiest to
implement and keep track of what’s
been done. Also, the most familiar
– as you’ve seen it on many stereo
systems and boom boxes.
What is most important in
your mix? That’s easy: Dialogue.
To hear it better, do you just
make it louder? No.
Think of EQ as a way to balance
all the random audio elements you
have going on at the same time. As
a visual example, it’s like putting
together one of those wooden puzzles
that when you’re finished look like
an elephant or a giraffe. Each piece
a specific place that supports the
final image.
Below are some EQ rules to help
carve your mix into a more balanced
and complete picture.
DIALOGUE
Most people don’t use frequencies
below approximately 85Hz, so take
those out of your dialogue track. (On
the graphic EQ, pull the sliders down
from 85Hz down. This will vary a bit
depending on the type of graphic EQ
you have.) Unwanted low end noise
issues will also be cleared out. Then,
to add a bit more clarity, push up
the sliders from between 2kHz and
8kHz. Try each slider to see where
it effects the vocal track best. This
range is large as people’s voices can
vary a lot in this range.
MUSIC
I like to think of music as the
glue that fills in all the cracks. It
shouldn’t be spilling over onto other
items. Just like the grout on a tile
floor has a specific place, so should
your music. On your EQ (for the
music track), try pulling the sliders
down at around 4kHz. Notice this is
the dialogue area? Also, pull down
any other area that has another
predominant sound like a police
siren of dump truck.
SFX
Usually very momentary. Shorter
effects usually need to be a bit
brighter to allow for more clarity.
Brighter is a relative term with SFX
because they can sit anywhere in the
audio spectrum. Try and pinpoint
the middle frequency of the sound
effect, and then, adjust accordingly.
Again, this is just the quick
skinny on getting some EQ up and
going on your mix. The more time
you put into understanding the tools
and researching other projects, the
better your mix will get. One of the
reasons I like audio so much is there
is always something to learn!
This article may not be reprinted in print or internet publications without express permission of StudentFilmmakers.com.
Check out this article in the October 2008 print edition of StudentFilmmakers magazine, page 42.
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