High-pass filter on entire mix

I use a highpass on almost every single track and on most every bus including the master bus. The frequency i set it at is determined at the frequency of the instrument on that track and the frequency i set it on the master bus is determined by the sound of the entire mix. That being said, the average cut is around 40to 60hz's
Cj

Hi Ed,


As CJ mentioned, using high-pass filters on individual tracks does wonders for cleaning up a typical mix.

If you use a high-pass on the master, I wouldn't set it too high.
Just filter out the lowest of the sub-bass region. ~25-35Hz

If the target is MP3, then you may want to cut even lower, perhaps 17KHz or even 15KHz, because MP3 does not handle high frequencies very well. If the target is CD, then nothing above 20KHz will be of any value. Besides, 20KHz is the very upper end of what most people can hear, if they even have something that can reproduce it. Filtering on individual tracks is useful for keeping one instrument from stomping on another.

ORIGINAL: mose

If the target is MP3, then you may want to cut even lower, perhaps 17KHz or even 15KHz, because MP3 does not handle high frequencies very well. If the target is CD, then nothing above 20KHz will be of any value. Besides, 20KHz is the very upper end of what most people can hear, if they even have something that can reproduce it. Filtering on individual tracks is useful for keeping one instrument from stomping on another.

Mose. You are getting your highs and lows mixed up..

I do this alot since the lows are the frequencies that need the most isolation

How steep the HP filter needs to be (6dB, 12dB, 18dB...48dB, 72dB? /octave)?

I'm normally using a 36dB/oct filter ... is it steep enough?

Junski

ORIGINAL: plainfaced
Mose. You are getting your highs and lows mixed up..

AARRGGG!!! I still stand by the information, though.

If the target is MP3, then you may want to cut even lower, perhaps 17KHz or even 15KHz, because MP3 does not handle high frequencies very well. If the target is CD, then nothing above 20KHz will be of any value. Besides, 20KHz is the very upper end of what most people can hear, if they even have something that can reproduce it. Filtering on individual tracks is useful for keeping one instrument from stomping on another.

\

That's low pass filtering.

HPF are great for cleaning up the low "rumble" freq's that will only take up disproportionate amounts of headroom and have your speakers working harder for nothing.

I HPF almost everything but kick in most music.
I HPF the bass just enough to give the kick it's own real estate.
Then most everything else get the "thin" treatment :0)
Solo'd they don't always sound thick and heavy but with the kick nd bass, they gel perfectly and I know that my poor monitors aren't trying to reproduce 8Hz and the rest of my waveform isn't riding on a giant death wave!


For CD's and MP3s, unless the 9K-22.05K region is interfering with another instruments or sound too abrasive, I would not recommend filtering it out.
They don't harm anything and CDs and MP3s can use all the sheen they can get :0)

Great post!

The Sonitus EQ has a high-pass filter.

What would the Sonitus high-pass preset be, just as a starting point.

What do you suppose happened to my 2 band, etc?

Rick

What do you suppose happened to my 2 band, etc?

Since it is such an old effect, it is no longer installed by default. If you put the DVD in and go through the install, choosing ONLY to install FX, you can check-off all the old effects and just install them. Since we have much better tools now (Sonitus), Cakewalk leaves them available but does not install them automatically.

AARRGGG!!! I still stand by the information, though.

Well, it's a fact that quite a lot of music greatly benefits if you toss out anything below 17K.

[BTW I agree with Spindlebox that you shouldn't use it out of habit, although most here probably see it as a kind of cure-all.]

I'll leave the specifics (Q vs corner slope) for someone who has worked it out...

Yes, lets.

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-bandwidth.htm

If it needs doing, it needs doing. But there's plenty more that can muddy up a mix like ambience *not* in that register. I take down ambience on synths and samples before I even check the need for highpass. I'll concede that if you do mainly live recording with loadsa noise you probably use it a lot more than in a more sterile studio situation. I do check what my filters do during live recording at one point, and usually leave it on if I even suspect a rumble.

Studio talk refers to bandwidth in terms of octaves or parts of an octave. Design engineers, on the other hand, call this filter parameter Q, which stands for Quality.

http://www.ethanwiner.com/filters.html

FWIW I was just reading an SOS article where Tom Elmherst was talking about what he did as mix engineer for Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" and he refers to shelving her lead vox at 40 Hz.

Dean