Description
Dynamic EQ – what is it and how do you use it video tutorial covers in-depth how a dynamic equaliser works and how to use it.
As technology moves forward so do the variety of processes on offer and one of the most powerful processors of all is a dynamic equaliser.
You can use dynamic equalisers on all source material, be it a stereo mix or just a solitary sound, and it will never fail to impress you. In this tutorial, I am using the wonderful TDR Nova GE dynamic equaliser on a simple mix of a few choice sounds.
Up until recently, we used to use compression to compress and equalisation to equalise. Today we use a combination of the two in a single processor and that processor is called a Dynamic Equaliser albeit with a difference. Most will state that a multiband compressor is much like a dynamic equaliser but there is a difference in that the crossovers in a traditional multiband compressor have fixed slopes whereas the dynamic equaliser has variable slopes. That has since changed with some multiband compressors offering variable slopes.
Multiband Compressor
A multiband compressor is a compressor that splits its entire frequency range into smaller bands that can then be compressed individually. Multiband compressors are particularly useful when the audio being treated has a wide variety of frequencies.
Dynamic eq
A dynamic equaliser applies the gain change directly to the gain parameters of a multiband parametric equaliser. As with most dynamics processors, the threshold determines at which point gain changes take place. You have control over the bandwidth denoted by the Q value and, much like a compressor, the response is controlled with the attack and release functions.
Now that we understand what a dynamic equaliser is we can start by using a combination of compression and expansion to shape the mix we are working on.
In the Dynamic EQ – what is it and how do you use it video I show you how to use a dynamic equaliser for a number of different equalisation tasks. I explain how it works and how best to use it on any source material. I use a short simple mix containing a kick drum, a bass sound, and a keyboard sound and explore various ways we can add dynamic motion to a mix using the modes available to us.
Plugins used in this video:
Topics covered in this video are:
- What is it and how does it work
- Threshold and Ratio
- Filter Types
- Slopes and Responses
- Cut versus Boost
- Phase – Minimum and Linear
- Flat-lining
- Range and Ratio
- Linking Nodes
- Inverted Nodes
- Complimentary Frequencies
If this tutorial was of help maybe these will also be of benefit:
What is an equaliser and how does it work
Eq Filters and Slopes/Responses
Active, Passive, Graphic, Parametric, Fixed and Peaking Eqs
Linear Phase Eq versus Minimum Phase Eq
