BORING MIX? TRY THIS...! | A dynamics deep dive

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION

Welcome back. I'm Streaky. Today, I'm going to give you a deep dive on Dynamic EQ. Why I use it, when I use it, how I use it and how you can use it to the best of its advantage. When I started mastering, we didn't have things like Dynamic EQ. We just use things like parametric or graphic equalizers. But now that things are online and you're in the box, you've got a choice of loads of different types of EQ and one of those is Dynamic EQ. So you might be asking yourself, what's the difference between a normal Parametric EQ and a Dynamic EQ? Well, this is a Parametric EQ. This is made by Maselec. The difference between Parametric EQ, where you have a fixed amount of gain on the EQ. With Dynamic EQ, as the level of a certain frequency hits, say that band, that's when it kicks in the amount that you've set, rather than it just being in all the time and being across everything.

So that way you can really tune into frequencies and just have it moving up or down when you want that to happen. Let me explain it better in the box. So let's go in there and I'll show you on a FabFilter Dynamic EQ.

Let's jump in this computer. I'll show you all about Dynamic EQ. So here we are inside of Pro Tools. I've got a vocal up first of all. We've got the FabFilter here. I've just said a couple of things out. Let's just turn those off for a sec. So we don't confuse ourselves. And so this is the FabFilter Pro Q 3. It's a dynamic EQ. You can use it in normal mode, so you can make it dynamic by right clicking here and clicking dynamic.

But let me show you how to use it. If you were using it on a vocal track and a mix, for example. Vocals, you're always doing cuts. You're always moving things around in the low end and trying to get the track to fit in as I've showed you in other videos, making space for other instruments. So when you're using a vocal like this, what you might want to do is yes, you would EQ it in a normal way, with the normal, say parametric EQ. And you might EQ it so that it's losing a little bit of the low mids and you've got a low cut on like this. And then you want to add a bit of brightness, but the beauty doing this in a dynamic mode. So if we make that dynamic and so it just comes up like that, and make that dynamic. So that it just goes down when we want it to.

The whole point of this is, it's not there all the time. I'll show you, when I show you on a full track, why it's good, that it's not there all the time, but in this is more the fact when it comes to a single instrument, like a vocal like this, that the tracks, is going to move with the vocal. Not only is it going to come in and out, it's going to make the vocal sound a little bit more lively rather than it just being on all the time. From a dynamic point of view, which is obviously why it's called Dynamic EQ, it makes the vocal a little bit more exciting. I'll show you now the difference between the two things. So, this is it playing normally no EQ. (Music playing).

Now let's listen with this rough EQ that I've put on in dynamic mode and see how that sounds. (Music playing).

You can hear that lines up a bit more. So if we clear those dynamics and just bring that down so that it's roughly how we had it, then you can hear exactly how it would sound when it's just on all the time. (Music playing).

You can hear it just adds a little touch of flavor and it makes it just a lot more exciting. I’ll just do it for you again so that you can hear. It just makes it much more exciting. Let's listen again. (Music playing).

As the vocals dynamics work, so do the dynamics of the EQ. So it makes it much more lively, much more exciting. And by using these cuts and things, it means that there's going to be as this kicks in, there's going to be other instruments happening in the mix where you're going to then allow space for those other things to happen. And the vocal sounds more lively because of the way that you've EQ it with a dynamic EQ rather than with just a straightforward on all the time parametric. So now let's listen to a track that's been sent in by a viewer. If you want to send a track in send demos@streaky.com, and then your tracks will be featured. Make sure they're copyright free. So let's turn this off, just turn this back to normal. Let me have an EQ while you're watching so that we can get a sound. I'll do it flat and then I can do it in dynamic the same way I just did it for the vocal. First of all, let's listen to what the track sounds like on its own without anything in. (Music playing).

It sounds quite flat if we just put some stuff in just to, let's just make something up here. I might put a bit of top on. Let's put some base in. I'll leave that cut in. Let's go about 60 something like that. Let's make that dynamic. So that'll give us a bit of low boost and then there, and then let's drop the dynamic. So clear the dynamics, right dynamic, and then let's just do a little drop around 160. This is more of doing a little drop here. We'll make it a little bit more open in the low mids. A bit more thumping the base. And then we're just opening it up here with a bit of 10k on a wide thing so this will make the top. Let's now hear how that sounds with it in. (Music playing).

Again, with the dynamic EQ, it just makes a more exciting track. As you can hear as these start kicking in, it starts moving with the beat. And so it just makes everything a little bit more exciting, fun, a bit of movement. Whereas let's just put these now, let's clear the dynamics and just put these in so that they are just normal and then you can hear the difference like we did before so it's in all the time. I'm not saying you shouldn't use a parametric EQ and have it in all the time. There's obviously a use for that too. Don't get me wrong. It's not that you should use dynamic EQ on everything. But there are time and a place for things. Dynamic EQ just offer a little bit more excitement. So let's listen to this now.

The thing for me is on the top end there, for example, because it's in all the time, there's some instruments there that coming in and then it's on those as well as the whole tops getting flavors, rather than just moving around, as the symbols come in, as things start happening. So again, let's just listen to that again and make it dynamic rather than keeping it in normal parametric mode. And then you can hear what I'm talking about, where it just makes, especially listen to it in the top end, because you'll probably pick it up better. And you can hear it just flutters around rather than just being everything brighter. (Music playing).

You can see this it makes a massive difference, much more exciting than in the olden days where all I had available was a basic parametric EQ which great. They have their place. And definitely there's a lot of times where I'm using both at the same time and you can do that in the Pro Q. You could have different frequencies happening and, and whatever. But this is just a demonstration of how you can use certain frequencies within the track. You might keep this on all the time and just have the top bit doing in dynamic mode and keep the bottom so that it's more solid. Totally up to you. And it's totally track dependent as well. So really, you've just got to listen to what you're doing. Try this stuff out. Try making stuff dynamic and see how it goes. It leads to a lot more exciting music, a lot more exciting tracks. And it's just a much better way of EQ-ing sometimes and just going straight parametric and leaving it all on all the time. So I hope this was helpful. If you want to see me master in Ozone, then that's coming up next and I'll see you on the next video.