Understanding and using EQ is essential for any audio engineer. Going beyond treble and bass and learning what frequencies sound like when they are too loud or missing from an input will allow you to shape the sounds into full, smooth, natural pieces of your mix. This post is going to focus on how to get some practice listening to different frequencies, shaping the sounds into the best they can be, and some common traps some fall into that you should try to avoid.

Not long ago I wrote a post about EQ and what the numbers mean. It’s one thing to be told that humans can hear 20Hz to 20kHz and that we consider 1,000Hz (1k) the mid-way point, but it’s another thing to  know what a kick drum actually sounds like with a bump at 2k and some low mids cut out at 400Hz. In this post, I’m going to talk a little about some of the basic concepts I use when applying EQ. I’m also going to give you some tools to help you along the way… if you haven’t found them already. The first concept I’m going to mention though, has nothing to do with EQ!

To start, I’m writing this blog for Steve W., who posted a question on the Facebook page for A Sound Church. If you have questions, ideas, suggestions or just want to stay in touch, I invite you to that page, and also my Twitter. Being relevant to what you want to know is my #1 goal, so bring on the interactiveness.

A channel EQ will typically be either a 3-band (Highs, Mids, and Lows) or a 4-band (Highs, Hi-Mids, Lo-Mids, and Lows) EQ. The confusion starts when your board has 4 bands, yet there are 6, 8, 12+ knobs. Look at the photo in this post. This is a 4-band EQ. There are 2 knobs each for the highs and lows (red and black knobs respectively). There are also 3 knobs each for the high- and low- mids (green and blue knobs respectively).

My guess is, if you’re reading this, that you are the type that always readjusts the treble and bass in your car, trying to find that ideal setting. If you understand treble and bass and how it affects the sound, you can start to build on that and adjust the mids, or high and low mids as well.

Let me ask you a question. What do you think of the sound of your room? What I want to know is how you think it sounds when you turn off the sound system. Have you heard an acoustic piano or drum kit played in the room while you sit in the seats and just listen? How about the voices of a choir, sans amplification? I’m guessing very few of you would say it sounds very good. Walk into any church and there’s a better than 50% chance you’ll find some kind of acoustic treatment on the walls, in the ceiling, under the stage, etc. If you’ve added these at your church, let us know if you noticed a big difference or not. I tend to find these treatments as band-aids, not resolutions.

One of the most common comments I get sounds something similar to, “We got this great sound system, and at first it was an awesome improvement from our old system. Now, though, it just sounds bad. I’m not sure what else we need to do!”

On one hand, I feel for these churches. They are right. They did invest in a good-sounding system. They believe the problem though, is with their gear. I think the problem, which is not the best word to use, though, lies someone else.