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Benedictus - Posted - 02/26/2023: 00:05:47
Hi everyone!
I'm actually recording a tune from an Rk35 and I basically have two questions... I have a very cheap mic (about $30) and I wasn't totally happy with the sound assuming it was that poor mic. Not that it was bad but just sounds like far even if the mic was place front of the banjo head. Until I started to play with the EQ... What definitely made a difference. I would like to know how I should set up the EQ on cakewalk (picture linked). I also post a pictures of my set up. I could buy another mic in a price range of $100. Any suggestions about that? I know it's not much but it's just not really my priority right now. Concerning the EQ setting. Please try to describe simply how I should set it up. I obviously don't understand anything about it and just try so set it ounce to record my banjo. Thanks to anyone taking on his personal time to answer me. Ben
banjoak - Posted - 02/26/2023: 18:09:31
Without hearing it hard to make any comment. Even with that, bit of subjectivity to what your taste is. One way to look at it is in what way do you want it to sound different, what's out of balance, or what's missing. One good way is to find an existing reference recording that you like; and compare.
Cakewalk has some built in tools; pro-channel presets that might play around with, besides EQ, has other channel strip... compression, saturation. You can also analyze a reference, look at the EQ, then try match so the peaks look similar.
As far as mic; the inexpensive ones have came along way; might not sound horrible, and workable (initially). Of course many cheap condensers, do tend to have a bit hyped high end bump, that can be a little harsh, grainy. They also tend to lack a bit of smoothness; and might have bit high self-noise and some other issues (compared to better mics). EQ can knock some harsh off, but other issues can be more difficult.
No matter mic quality, a critical thing about mic is the placement, how to control tone via different placement (can somewhat have bigger effect than the mic). Takes lot of experimenting, listening.
Keith Billik - Posted - 02/26/2023: 20:24:44
This may be a silly question, but if your banjo sounds distant even with the mic very close, have you made sure that the mic is facing the banjo, rather than away from it?
Re: EQ, the above comment is pretty much spot on. Tough to know without hearing how it sounds, how your room sounds, and what your goal is. In general, you can roll off anything below 100 Hz with no negative consequence (buit will often clean up a mix). Experiment a lot with mic placement. It will have a drastic effect on the sound you are recording, and is way better to solve an issue that way, rather than trying to fix bad sound with EQ.
Benedictus - Posted - 02/26/2023: 21:09:55
Thank you both! I got it fixed by ascending the line from around 400 all the way to 7000 it just sounds much better... Keith looking forward your next podcast 
Edited by - Benedictus on 02/26/2023 21:11:23
banjoak - Posted - 02/27/2023: 12:19:03
Glad it worked for you. Beware though that what you might have done by increasing all 400-7K is just made the overall louder; and can give illusion; without really change EQ much. A good way is to make A/B where the overall output level is same when comparing different EQ settings.
For better grasp of EQ, I would recommend looking at, playing around with different parts of spectrum and how they affect various qualities.
Sub bass (as mentioned, for banjo there is no info there, other than maybe room noise; good idea to just high pass this)
Bass ~ 80-200. Gives bit of fullness. Too much can sound boomy, thumpy, and contribute to muddy, lack of clarity.
Low Mids ~ 200-600. This is where most of the fundamental of banjo sits... can also give body, roundness and fullness; too little and can sound thin; too much can contribute to muddy.
Mids ~ 600-3K. Is where our hearing tends to focus, gives presence, maybe bit of warmness; but too much can sound nasal, honkiness; too little can sound hollow.
Upper Mids ~ 3k-8k. Can help add clarity and definition, pop to transient attacks; maybe sparkle. But too much is where gets harsh, brittle.
Highs 8k+ can give even more sparkle and/or air.
Rather than just what perfect settings... play around with these to hear the effect. Can do so by listening a bit to extremes. For example take Mid and push it way up; then try way down... and vary the center from 1K to 2.5K; listen for effect of muddy, thin, presence, warm, or honky nasal. Then back it off. Can also play with the Q slope.
The Cakewalk ProChannel EQ might be easier to use than the Sonitus FX EQ. Visual its easier, and it shows the frequency layout as played. Both work similar though, divide into basic frequency ranges.
The goal is to learn to hear and identify various frequency qualities and issues. This is useful for not just fixing in software, but in listening to mics and mic placement; as mentioned, starting with a good sound going in.
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FWIW, one other thing worth mentioning, if wanting to share your music; is monitoring set up... that is, what you listen on, how it's set up... affects the EQ mix. Might tweak to get sound okay on your computer setup, at least don't notice any issues; but it can sound vastly different (and disappointing) on others laptop, phone, car; or good hi-fi.
