⏱️Music Education: MIX AND TRICKS WITH COOL JB 2

THE REAL-LIFE EQUALIZATION  #volume 1....

CURTAIN RISE!!!

 

"Equalization" is one of the few big words that might tend to scare you a little bit, on your way to becoming your dream producer or engineer, or both.

Good news!!  Grab a glass of cold beer (or kunu!) and relax... The word is bigger than the process it represents (hey, at the farthest look).  But let's start from here. 

Equalization is simply the use of (a) specialized equipment to alter the tone of any given audio material. "Tone," in this context, refers to the general feel or "colour" of sound, based on the different frequencies it contains, and its texture.

A BIT OF JARGONS!!!

 

Let start by diving into a very tiny aqua of acoustics theory (like an old friend would say). 

First,  it is important to know how sound is produced.  Sound is a form of energy produced by a body in very rapid vibration (e. g.  guitar strings,  drum membranes or human vocal cords). No sound is produced without some form of vibration of a body. This "body" could be anything from tiny a invisible molecule, to a large chunk of igneous rock. The size and speed of the vibration will determine the nature of the resultant sound. 

Second (and more essential to this topic),  is the fact that no sound produced naturally is "pure". Simplified, every sound produced naturally is made up of the actual sound itself, produced by vibrations such as discussed above, plus other sounds which are not clearly noticeable and cannot be heard as distinct on their own.

However, even though these accompanying sounds cannot be heard distinctly,  they affect the sound by "contributing" to its tone colour. 

Put in mind that these sounds are not produced by demons or jinns!! (just for clarity) They are products either of microscopic interactions between vibrating air particles (Which are the medium through which sound reaches the observer),  or of other vibrations produced without direct  deliberate action. 

Take for example, playing the same musical note on a piano and the same note on the saxophone. The note is the same but the tones of the two instruments are different.  Tone is what distinguishes the sound of a violin from  that of a trumpet. Tone is what distinguishes your speaking or singing voice from your cousin's etc. It is upon the concept of tone that the idea of equalization is built. 

"A good tone" is one of the things we pursue stubbornly as musicians, producers and mix engineers.  We prefer a Yamaha motif 7 to a Cerox CSR-1700 because the former has a better and "sweeter" tone.  We spend minutes or hours scrolling through our sample libraries just searching for that snare sample with a tight full tone. Equalizers are there to help in their little way,  in our quest for the tone we really want for that hi-hat,  strings section, backing vocals  etc.

TUNE YOUR HEAD FIRST!!!! 

The first thing to do before embarking on a journey-of-no-return into the realm of equalization, is to have the right mindset.  Not only to equalization,  but also to every other form of audio processing that exists. 

It is key to note that the metric tons of audio processors available to you,  are not magic wands. They're there to make things better,  not to make things just different (except on days when the sky is red). Let there be good reasons you're doing whatsoever you're doing. If you're EQing (equalizing: welcome to the hood!), make sure the need is there to do that.  If not, hold back.

Some people feel it's bad to not use this processing or that. That's not true!!  Sometimes, an unprocessed vocal sound is what you need. Not because you don't know how to process, but, if the lead vocal was properly recorded,  what need have i of EQ?  

So, I'm not here to hand down a magic book i unearthed in a cave somewhere in the Himalayas. I'm here to teach you a tool you need to master,  for the times You'll need it.  However,  it is only fair on my part to let you know that equalization is among the top three audio processes..... In the (present audio) world!

🛑 NEXT TIME OUT!!!

In the next volume of this very lesson on equalization,  we'll be delving into the actual process of using equalizers to make positive changes to your sounds.  

Send your questions,  comments,  contributions etc.,  to the author:

theonlycooljb@gmail.com

+2347087768613

Hussain Joshua, popularly known as COOLJB. 

Thanks and God bless.