How To Mix Live Music Chapter 12 - EQ for Acoustic Instruments

welcome to the next chapter about how to mix live music now we're going to start applying EQ to acoustic instruments such as guitar violin and brass some of these instruments are quite sensitive and care needs to be taken to avoid feedback even electro acoustic guitars that is hollow bodied guitars with built-in electronics

to capture the sound they can feedback if placed close to a stage monitor speaker so first a reminder of the golden rule always apply a high-pass filter we're going to follow a trend we set last time reduce the low EQ shelf by 6 DB for all the acoustic instrument mics unless it's specifically for a bass

instrument it's the mid bands where we're going to exercise our creativity first let's consider the acoustic guitar this will either have built-in electronics to use with a DI box or it will need a microphone pointing somewhere between the main hole and the base of the neck because of the feedback risk a mid band may be needed to reduce

the danger frequency to discover the danger greatly increase the mid band gain and sweep the frequency find the frequency which produces the loudest howl or squeal and cut the game there by 3 to 6 dB if you're using the TF mixer increase the Q to narrow the frequency band affected by the cut so the impact

of the sound on the instrument itself is minimized if you find there's no feedback danger or if you have an additional mid band available like TF mixers then you can consider how to shape the sound try reducing the gain around 600 Hertz to make a sound less boxy or reduce around 5 kilohertz for a

less stringy sound reducing frequencies between 1 and 2 kilohertz can help to create a greater sense of space for the lead instruments and vocals so it's always good to listen how several instruments work in combination now let's consider a solo acoustic instrument such as a violin always discuss mic placement with the performer