Old 05-18-2022, 01:48 AM   #1
jwillans
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 9
Default Taming harsh notes in piano treble

I recorded a solo Jazz piano album at the weekend. This is now mixed and I'm very happy with the result with one exception. Across the tracks, there are one or two treble notes that have a harsh ringing. I'd like to tame these notes without losing the richness and sparkle that I've captured in the recordings. As a relative novice to mixing, how might I go away achieving this?
jwillans is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 02:09 AM   #2
Cosmic
Human being with feelings
 
Cosmic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Online
Posts: 4,896
Default

I would use a dynamic eq
__________________
it aint worth a bop,if it dont got that pop
Cosmic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 02:11 AM   #3
Judders
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 11,044
Default

Yep, dynamic EQ is the way to go.
Judders is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 02:41 AM   #4
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

Sometimes it's capsule resonance on the microphone/s.
Dynamic EQ, not too steep. You'll likely only kill the ringing completely by killing the life and details in the recording. It's a balancing act.
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 02:48 AM   #5
jwillans
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 9
Default

Thanks, that's helpful. I guess as a novice, it would be useful to understand the capabilities of a DynamicEQ I might use (ReaEQ?) - in terms of isolation / identifying the frequencies and the filters / parameters to apply?
jwillans is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 04:18 AM   #6
locombiano
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Pereira, Colombia
Posts: 151
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jwillans View Post
it would be useful to understand the capabilities of a DynamicEQ I might use (ReaEQ?)
ReaEQ is not a dynamic EQ. ReaXComp is Reaper's dynamic EQ.

TDR Nova is good and free.
locombiano is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 05:50 AM   #7
Judders
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 11,044
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by locombiano View Post
ReaEQ is not a dynamic EQ. ReaXComp is Reaper's dynamic EQ.

TDR Nova is good and free.
ReaXComp is a multiband compressor, not a dynamic EQ.

TDR Nova is probably the best freebie to try first.
Judders is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 06:32 AM   #8
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Judders View Post
ReaXComp is a multiband compressor, not a dynamic EQ.

TDR Nova is probably the best freebie to try first.
Strictly speaking they're basically the same thing.
Either one can do the job of the other.
A dedicated dynamic EQ should be better for EQ duties, with more dedicated features for equalisation. Horses for courses, but the comparison is fair.
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 07:45 AM   #9
Judders
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 11,044
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Softsynth View Post
Strictly speaking they're basically the same thing.
Either one can do the job of the other.
A dedicated dynamic EQ should be better for EQ duties, with more dedicated features for equalisation. Horses for courses, but the comparison is fair.
If we're speaking strictly, then they are very different!

Multiband compressors split the signal with pass filters and sum the result. That's why you can't have notches like a dynamic EQ.
Judders is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 08:28 AM   #10
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

Semantics. Trying to be fair to Locombiano. They are largely (though not completely) interchangeable in practice.

Multiband compression splits the signal and therefore affects the signal just by being there. No compression has to have even taken place for this distortion to be introduced to the signal.
By contrast to this dynamic EQ only affects the signal when it is operating, therefore it is a little more transparent.

Though there is linear phase multiband compression too.
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 08:44 AM   #11
Judders
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 11,044
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Softsynth View Post
Semantics. Trying to be fair to Locombiano. They are largely (though not completely) interchangeable in practice.

Multiband compression splits the signal and therefore affects the signal just by being there. No compression has to have even taken place for this distortion to be introduced to the signal.
By contrast to this dynamic EQ only affects the signal when it is operating, therefore it is a little more transparent.

Though there is linear phase multiband compression too.
I think it's important to make the distinction right off the bat for someone just starting out.

It's not really semantics because they operate differently and produce a different result. They're not often used interchangeably.
Judders is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 09:23 AM   #12
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

We can agree to disagree on their uses. I certainly agree that the difference should be made clear from the outset.
People who know better than us:
https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/mul...namic-eqs.html

"Differences
As you should be able to tell by now, dynamic EQs and multiband compressors are extremely similar, and it’s no wonder that they’re often used interchangeably.

The absolute simplest way to differentiate them is that a multiband compressor functions mostly like a compressor, but with some aspects of an EQ. A dynamic EQ functions mostly like an EQ, but with some aspects of a compressor."

"If you want to attenuate certain frequencies by a large amount, a dynamic EQ is usually a better call than a multiband compressor. Dynamic EQ is more transparent than compression, and a multiband compressor trying to aggressively compress a signal may be audible enough to become distracting in the mix. Strong attenuation will usually be less distracting with a dynamic EQ."
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 09:34 AM   #13
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

I haven't even got a commercial parallel compressor, I would just use Nova GE.
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 10:45 AM   #14
Judders
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 11,044
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Softsynth View Post
We can agree to disagree on their uses. I certainly agree that the difference should be made clear from the outset.
People who know better than us:
https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/mul...namic-eqs.html

"Differences
As you should be able to tell by now, dynamic EQs and multiband compressors are extremely similar, and it’s no wonder that they’re often used interchangeably.

The absolute simplest way to differentiate them is that a multiband compressor functions mostly like a compressor, but with some aspects of an EQ. A dynamic EQ functions mostly like an EQ, but with some aspects of a compressor."

"If you want to attenuate certain frequencies by a large amount, a dynamic EQ is usually a better call than a multiband compressor. Dynamic EQ is more transparent than compression, and a multiband compressor trying to aggressively compress a signal may be audible enough to become distracting in the mix. Strong attenuation will usually be less distracting with a dynamic EQ."
I would respectfully disagree

You can't get a bell filter out of a multiband compressor. They can be more interchangeable if using very wide and shallow bell filters or shelving filters, but I would call that crossover (pun intended) rather than interchangeability.
Judders is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2022, 11:29 PM   #15
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

I see little to no solid case for having or using a multiband compressor if you have dynamic EQ, unless it's more CPU friendly, or you actually want that colouration?

In a nutshell (as far as I can make it out) dynamic EQ is the more more transparent successor to the more crude multiband compression, and can be set to act like multiband compression anyway.

I guess suck it and see. Maybe someone here swears by multiband compression and doesn't like dynamic EQ?
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-19-2022, 05:22 PM   #16
maxdembo
Human being with feelings
 
maxdembo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: All Hallows End
Posts: 2,132
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Softsynth View Post
I see little to no solid case for having or using a multiband compressor if you have dynamic EQ, unless it's more CPU friendly, or you actually want that colouration?

In a nutshell (as far as I can make it out) dynamic EQ is the more more transparent successor to the more crude multiband compression, and can be set to act like multiband compression anyway.

I guess suck it and see. Maybe someone here swears by multiband compression and doesn't like dynamic EQ?
I would love more people to chime in on this, as multiband compressors are a blind spot of mine that I havent really looked into but I'm a dedicated dynamic EQ user (DMG Equality is my go to), usually before the compressor in an fx chain.

So basically, I can strike off looking into multiband compression if I'm essentially doing the same thing?
maxdembo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-20-2022, 02:19 AM   #17
Judders
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 11,044
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by maxdembo View Post
I would love more people to chime in on this, as multiband compressors are a blind spot of mine that I havent really looked into but I'm a dedicated dynamic EQ user (DMG Equality is my go to), usually before the compressor in an fx chain.

So basically, I can strike off looking into multiband compression if I'm essentially doing the same thing?
They sound different. I very rarely use multiband compressors, but some people swear by them.

As a very general rule, I use dynamic EQ to fix problems where static EQ would do more harm than good, and multiband compression where I want the sound it brings (which isn't very often at all).

It's just different ways of working. Some people use multiband compressors to fix problems all the time.
Judders is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-20-2022, 03:07 AM   #18
enroe
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 1,575
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jwillans View Post
... Across the tracks, there are one or two treble notes that have a harsh ringing. I'd like to tame these notes without losing the richness and sparkle that I've captured in the recordings. ...
I would use spectral editing.
__________________
free mp3s + info: andy-enroe.de songs and weird stuff: enroe.de
enroe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-20-2022, 04:43 AM   #19
Judders
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 11,044
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by enroe View Post
I would use spectral editing.
Good call!
Judders is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-20-2022, 05:30 AM   #20
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Judders View Post
Good call!
+1
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 09:52 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.