Solid Mix Series

Individually, these effects provide powerful, easy-to-apply enhancements. Together, they form a cohesive toolset for shaping and ‘exciting’ your sound.

SOLID EQ: Two models in one, with switchable curve shapes. A precise 6-band equalizer for all kinds of jobs, from subtle shading to aggressive shaping.

SOLID DYNAMICS: A clean, musical dynamics section, combining a stereo compressor, expander and gate in one single effects unit. Works best on single channels.

SOLID BUS COMP: More than a bus compressor. Use it on anything – single channels, subgroups, master channel – for consistently rewarding results.

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EQ is an essential tool during mixing for defining the low-end, adding sparkle to vocals or percussion, and for separating tracks with similar frequency ranges. It’s also useful for correcting recordings. For example, if a guitar has an annoying resonance, you can reduce the resonating frequency with EQ.

Almost all EQs work the same way: select a frequency or frequency range, then adjust the level up or down. EQs are often described as having 'bands'. This means that the whole frequency curve is split into sections — a 3-band EQ lets you manipulate three sections of the curve individually.

Parametric EQs also have a ‘Q’ control in addition to Gain and Frequency. Q refers to the width of the curve used for the adjustment — the bandwidth. A high Q setting means a low bandwidth and a narrow curve — more like a spike. A low Q setting gives you a wide curve, covering a wide range of frequencies.

As a rule, it sounds more natural if you use a low Q (wide bandwidth) when boosting, and a high Q (a narrow spike) when cutting.

• Parametric — Refers to the adjustable parameters. Fully-parametric = Q, frequency and gain. Semi-parametric = frequency and gain only. Not parametric = only gain is adjustable.
• Shelving filter — Raise or lower a frequency and everything above or below it. A low shelf has a plateau at the bottom end, a high shelf at the top. This is the kind of EQ behind the 'Bass' and 'Treble' knobs on your HiFi amplifier.
• High-cut, Low-cut filter — Cuts the frequencies above or below a certain frequency. Also called high-pass and low-pass filters, the important aspects are where the cut (or pass) starts, and the slope of the downward curve. A steep slope sounds less natural, but can be more precise.
• Graphic equalizer — Divides the frequency-spectrum into (usually) 31 bands, each with a gain control only. Often used live to equalize room-resonance on a PA.

Before you do anything else, use a low-cut (or high-pass) EQ setting on your vocals. Remove the entire low end, and audition the signal until you can hear the vocal track getting thin — then roll back a little.

Using a full-parametric EQ, choose a high Q setting and increase gain up to 10 db. Now sweep through the frequencies and listen out for the point where the signal resonates — it might sound buzzy or boomy. Once you've got it, drop the gain to anywhere between -3 db and -12 db, depending on how annoying the resonance is.

• Bass: from about 40 Hz to 200 Hz: Booming, full, solid
• Low Mids: from about 200 Hz to 800 Hz: Body, fatness, fullness, warmth
• Mids: from about 800 Hz to 5,000 Hz: Clear, present, forward
• Highs: from about 5,000 Hz to 8,000 Hz: Bright, alive, brilliant
• Ultra Highs: above about 8,000 Hz: Crisp, radiant sparkling

Producers use a combination of compressor plus gate/expander to sculpt sound. This is known as dynamics processing.

A compressor is basically an automatic volume control, making the quiet parts of a track louder and reducing over-loud peaks for a more consistent, even sound. Find out more...

An expander reduces the level of any sound below a specified threshold — if a sound isn't loud enough to reach the threshold, the expander makes it even quieter. Technically, it's expanding the dynamic range downwards.

A gate is the extreme form of the expander: it simply silences sound below the threshold. When the gate is closed, quiet sounds below the threshold — the ones that got recorded by accident — can't pass. When the sound is loud enough, the gate opens and the signal can pass through.

Gates and expanders are essential for scraping off background noise such as the sound of your computer, amplifier hum or bleed from the headphones. On multiple tracks, even the quietest background noise can stack up and cause problems in a mix, so use a gate whenever you're mixing vocals or recorded instruments.

Unless you're recording in a premium studio, your recordings will have some background noise. Find a section of the track without singing, and listen for the pops and mouth sounds. Gross. Audition that section, and slowly raise the threshold of the gate until you can't hear the noise. Check to make sure that you're not cutting bits off the vocal performance, and you're done.

If a snare is recorded with two microphones (one for the top, one for bottom), use this trick to make the snare really snap: Invert the phase on the bottom mic track, then add a gate effect with the top mic track as sidechain input.

For interesting rhythmic effects, use a gate on a pad sound, with your drum track as sidechain input. Listen to this effect in the ‘Gated Pad Demo’ above.