Carving EQ

Now it’s time to sculpt your mix.

Carving EQ may seem similar to corrective EQ. That’s because it is. Only in this step you are correcting your frequency with the other tracks in mind. Everything will start to fit a bit better in this step. The pieces start to interact. This might sound crazy but good carving EQ sometimes means taking good parts of a frequency out.

But don’t fret (no pun intended). Do it so that all your tracks will mesh better. This is going to sound even crazier, but at this stage your track may even sound bad when it’s soloed. No worries. As soon as it’s in the mix it’ll sound great. This is because you carved your tracks down with the other tracks in mind.

Think of your song like a novel. Every track can’t be the main character. There have to be some other characters to fill out the story. Carving puts your characters in order. For example, carving EQ allows you to take unnecessary low-end off your keys so that it doesn’t mask the kick and bass. You might have two elements battling each other at the same frequency. Like vocals and synth. Carve a space for each by cutting the frequencies on one while boosting the same range on the other.

Creative

This is the final, and most creative stage in your equalizer journey. It’s the part where you get to make your track into exactly what you want to hear. Normally I’d call this step enhancement, but it doesn’t start with a C so… Give your tracks personality. Dress them up. There's an equalizer for just about everything.

Now is the time to make your vocals jump out of the speaker. Or make your kick bash and your snare explode. Or make those synth lines extra heartbreaking.

Try several different EQ plugins. Put 2 or 3 different EQs in a row. Some EQs will be good at one thing, and not another. So get the best of everything by stringing them together. There is no wrong way to do it. The only thing you can do wrong is hold yourself back from experimenting.