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The Best Way to Quickly Add Clarity to Your Mix: Inverse EQ Matching
Most of us have heard the saying, “there are no shortcuts in audio.” Although this may be true in most situations, sometimes new technologies come along that drastically speed up the audio editing, mixing, or mastering process.
For example, imagine trying to perform your digital edits on analog tape. The process would take hours as opposed to seconds.
It is of course possible then for another time saving technology to present itself.
This seems to be the case with EQ matching, a relatively new software that is making its way into more and more equalizers.
The best way to clean up your mix quickly is by using EQ matching amongst two similar instruments or instrument groups. Once the two have been matched, invert the gain of the matched track, to amplify the frequencies that made it different from the other track, and attenuate the frequencies that made it similar.
Let’s take look at how to perform this technique using FabFilter’s Pro Q 3.
Inverse EQ Matching
First you will need to record the audio into your EQ plugin. With the FabFilter Pro Q 3, place the insert on one instrument or group, and then side chain a similar instrument or instrument group.
For this technique, it isn't too terribly important which track you use as the reference audio.
Be sure to enable automatic gain function in the lower right of the plugin. This ensures that the two signals are of equal volume and can be matched accurately.
Click the Yellow 'A' to enable this function
Set your reference to either the input or to your side chain, and play the tracks simultaneously.
If you choose the side chain as your reference, playing both tracks automatically creates an EQ curve.
The FabFilter Pro Q 3 will prompt you to decide how many bands you want to create. I’d recommend choosing the maximum amount for the most detailed response.
Choosing less bands will result in a less detailed EQ curve.
Once your bands are created, highlight the entirety of the curve in the display window. Once they’re highlighted, adjust the gain to the opposite of its current setting.
Notice that the gain is set to roughly -11dB.
For example, if the gain setting is -11dB, change that to 11dB, or vice versa.
Notice that the gain has been adjusted to roughly 11dB.
Be sure to take the side chain out of the signal, and then play both instruments or instrument groups simultaneously again.
You should be able to hear increased distinction between the two. Adjust your gain settings, number of bands, and Q settings to personal preference.
Listen to a Before and After:
Before:
After:
Conclusion:
Using this technique allows for a quick and precise way to separate two signals. Even the most trained professionals wouldn’t be able to hear all of the distinct and nuanced differences and similarities between two tracks, let alone identify them. This trick offers an unprecedentedly fast way to create clarity between two instruments, or groups.
How do you clean up your mixes?
So, Why A Membership?
Let’s face it — trying to create professional mixes without the correct knowledge, tools, services, and network is like playing a concert with a broken instrument to an audience of no one.
That’s where the Sage Audio membership comes in — the membership gives you everything you need to create professional mixes consistently.
The membership is the secret to your success — it’s the difference between the 1,929,999,999 of poor-sounding mixes and the .00000002% of mixes that make people say 'WOW!"
There are 7 unique value-points included in your Sage Audio membership.
Let’s go over each one so you can decide if the membership is right for you.
1. Sage Audio University
SAU Flagship Mixing Course: 23-video in-depth mixing course that reveals the little-known secrets of mixing and matches the needs of the new music industry.
SAU Flagship Mastering Course: 19-video in-depth modern mastering course that dives into every nuance of making professional-sounding masters.
SAU Pre-Mastering Course: Concise pre-mastering course that details the latest industry standards for preparing your mixes for mastering.
SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from budding mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout each course.
Each SAU course includes Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website and social channels.
The Sage Audio private 1-on-1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us for advanced mixing feedback, in-depth discussions, and customized guidance that's tailored to your specific needs.
Unlimited private access to us for advanced mixing feedback, where we provide detailed suggestions for improvement.
Unlimited private access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve every aspect of your mixes and masters.
Customized guidance that’s tailored specifically to your needs.
Fast communication so you can improve your skills quickly.
Unlimited professional mixing feedback directly from us so you can consistently improve your skills and create professional mixes.
Mixing feedback is invaluable, and the Sage Audio membership gives you continual direct access to us for real-world feedback so you can improve every aspect of each of your mixes while you're in the process of mixing.
50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
You get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
Unlimited revisions with your dedicated mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with additional real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into categories so you can easily take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your skills at your own pace.
