Advice on EQ’ing - process, rules of thumb

[David W.D. McCormick]

Hi all, I’m looking for advice on your process for EQ’ing pedal steel to fit different rooms. I’m still pretty new to dialing in live, and I often hear problems but don’t always know how to fix them efficiently.

Typical issues I run into are harsh “ice pick” highs and I am not sure what frequency range to look at first, muddy or boomy low end and where I should usually cut, and getting more perceived loudness and helping the steel cut through the mix without just turning up the volume.

I’m running a studio EQ in my digital chain with adjustable mid frequency and Q, so I can make fairly precise moves. I would be interested in any step by step approach you use when you arrive at a venue, including what you listen for first and what order you make adjustments in.

I would appreciate any practical workflows or rules of thumb.

[Dennis Detweiler]

This is my usual "waffling" points (high, mid, low) depending on the room:
Live:
Treble: 2500hz Usually bring it up to cut through the band mix
Presence: 10,000hz Usually bring it up a little if I bring up the treble.
Mid: 700hz to 800hz Usually 700 area to brighten the mids and cut through the mix a little more
Bass: 60hz Adjusted to slightly cut the honk or boom to clean up the bottom end.
If in the studio, I soften it up more.
I usually keep my delay the same, but adjust the reverb pedal to the room ambiance. If the room or crowd sucks up the reverb, I add a little more.
All of this is just based on what you prefer for tone and/or cutting through the band mix and room ambiance.
Also, setting the speakers on the floor straight ahead, tilted or on a chair will make a difference how you adjust EQ. On the floor gets you more bottom end. On a chair cuts the bottom.
If it's mic'ed and coming through the PA you're at the mercy of the sound man for what the crowd hears. Speaker on a chair in this case.

[David W.D. McCormick]

Thanks Dennis, appreciate the reply.

[Dennis Detweiler]

Let me know if this gets you in the ballpark. I think, if you set those frequencies, then play around with the volumes on those frequencies, you should find something pleasing. If your eq has bandwidth controls, it gets into a little more detail and more to deal with.

[Bob Hoffnar]

The ice pick sound is right around 2K. It gets exaggerated sometimes by the dip in the mids in 15" speakers. Maybe a high pass roll off under 60hz. Below that just muddies things up on stage and nobody can hear it anyway. For me the money is in the midrange and I get that by getting a bunch of pick on the string by picking even and hard as best I can. I guess overall I go for a pretty flat EQ setting.

[Dave Grafe]

Rule #1: Begin with all faders at their center "0dB" position (hopefully there is a tactile detent that lets you know it is centered). Adjust any I/O gains to yield the same volume with it in-line and bypassed.

Rule #2: All audio filters introduce phase and intermodulation distortion that increases with gain, so strive to identify and cut the frequencies you don't want to hear and avoid boosting what you do want.

Rule #3: Due to the aforementioned distortion introduced by filters a two- or three-band parametric eq is much preferable to a multi-band fixed "graphic" filter set.

Rule #4: Only use stompbox eq's when absolutely necessary. Most rack mounted equalizers have noticeably less noise and distortion coupled with much higher headroom than 9v devices can deliver.

[Bob Hoffnar]

Also I pretty much never adjust my tone for the room. Everytime I tried that I ended up chasing my tail and it didn't work anyway.

[David W.D. McCormick]

Thank you Bob and Dave!