Groove3 EQ Explained Review

We take a look at one of Groove3’s informative tutorials – ‘EQ Explained’ in today’s daily review…

Manufacturer Groove3
Price $39.99
Contact Groove3 +1 800 460 7509
Web www.groove3.com

A long with compression, EQ is an essential tool for creating a professional-sounding mix. Although it’s arguably far easier to understand how equalisation works than compression, there are still many types and techniques to learn if you are to become a mix master.

Following on from his Reverb Explained tutorial, then, producer and engineer Eli Krantzberg takes an in-depth look at EQ theory and practice in this new tutorial from Groove3.

The 18 chapters total just over three hours and can be either viewed online or downloaded to watch at your leisure. It’s essentially a game of two halves, with the first section focusing on EQ and filter theory and the second on practical tips, including recording and mixing a pop rock track. Krantzberg begins part one lecture-style, working through some slides and discussing the frequency spectrum, different types of filters and shelving, graphic and parametric EQs before finishing up with some general strategies to approaching EQ tasks and a separate video on spectral and EQ matching.

Although this section is a little on the dry side and the presentation isn’t particularly slick, the information is presented in a very thorough way and would form a great starting point for anyone looking to understand the fundamentals of EQ.

Things get a lot more interesting in part two, in which Krantzberg looks at how different mic techniques for guitars, vocals and drums can affect the tone of a recording, with different placements used for each instrument and the recordings then compared side-by-side.
We then move on to mixing each section of the track, with videos on the drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar and vocals before an excellent chapter that passes through each section of the song and A/Bs the EQ plug-ins in and out. The final video takes a look at linear-phase EQ and applies some mastering processing to add some polish to the finished track.

We felt that more could have been made on the differences between regular EQs, linear-phase and Pultec-style analogue curves, but overall this is a very thorough look at the fundamentals of mixing using equalisation, with plenty of tips on how to approach common mix tasks.