QUALITY SOUND REFERENCE FULL

Most graphic equalizers (or GEQs) have 31 bands. Having said that, common reference tracks include songs by Steely Dan, Toto, and Peter Gabriel, while my personal favorite is Let’s Groove by Earth, Wind, & Fire - that kick drum is perfect! Graphic Equalizers *Author’s Note: It’s far more important that you use reference tracks that you’re familiar with, rather than tracks other engineers are using. If you do notice any problems, take note of the original EQ curve (so you can reset it at the end of the night), flatten it out and start over. As the ancient proverb says “Never judge an engineer by the curve of their graphic equalizer.” Either way, it’s always important to listen first and spin knobs second. Maybe they had no idea what they were doing and they just made a smiley face on the graphic EQ. Maybe whoever tuned the PA last did a pretty good job and you don’t actually need to make any adjustments. Is the low end overpowering? Do any particular frequency ranges stick out? Is there anything missing from the mix? Walk around and see what it sounds like up front, way in the back and over at the bar. Get a feel for what your reference tracks sound like in this room compared to your studio, home stereo, car, etc. It doesn’t do you as much good to check the system with Thriller if you’ve got a Norwegian black-metal band coming in. It’s especially helpful if the tracks are in a similar genre to the bands you’re mixing that night. Start by testing the system with a few high-quality tracks that you know really well. The key to a good sounding show is a good sounding room, but if you don’t have one of those, you can try to fix a not-so-good sounding room by using a graphic EQ to “tune” the PA system.

Unfortunately, most of your first gigs will be in small spaces with minimal acoustic treatment, a bargain analog console, and a rack of graphic equalizers.

The room itself has probably already been tuned by a trained acoustician as well.

QUALITY SOUND REFERENCE FULL

Now, if you’re mixing a show in a one thousand capacity concert hall, you’re most likely using a state-of-the-art digital console with full parametric EQs to fine tune your mix. Others are dingy bars with a half-working PA and literally no acoustic treatment whatsoever.Įither way, the show must go on and it’s your job to make it sound as good as possible. Some are gorgeous concert halls with ornate architecture and elaborate acoustical considerations.

Quality sound reference