Have you ever seen one of these charts, showing you where different instruments live in the audible frequency range? I include this graph in my workshop workbook, but it’s included so we can talk about the bigger picture. After my last post on frequencies, I wanted to mention and elaborate on these commonly-seen, and deceptive graphs.

The idea of a chart like this is to give you a reference for what frequencies common instruments live in compared to a piano. For example, the chart shows that the human voice goes as high as about 1.6kHz. However, if you grab the high band of your EQ, which is typicially around 10kHz (2.5 octaves above 1.6kHz), and turn that knob up and down, are you going to hear a change? You betcha!!

The reason these charts are deceiving is that they show you the predominant frequencies for each instrument, which is not the whole picture. When a piano key strikes a string, that string vibrates at many different frequencies, each at different volumes. The loudest (predominant) vibration is what determines the note that you hear, and without all of the other vibrations, it would just sound like a simple tone, not a piano!

So, use these charts as an guide and more informational, not as a rule. They may help you understand what the natural sounds are for various instruments, but almost all inputs are a range of all frequencies. The bass drum, according to the chart goes up to only 200Hz, but I typically add some 1.5k – 3k (Hz), which is 3 octaves higher, to give it some attack so even without  subwoofers moving a lot of air, you can still hear the kick.