How to Decide Whether to Cut the EQ or Attenuate the Gain


EQ Cut Or Gain Attenuation?⁠
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Knowing the correct approach to fix an issue that you uncover in a mix comes with experience and discernment. Let’s say you feel the mix is congested around 300Hz and you determine that the guitar channels are causing the congestion. Now you’re faced with the decision: ‘Should I cut the guitars around 300Hz, or should I lower the guitars gain to reduce the congestion’? If the tonal blance of the guitar is great, then lower the gain. If it's too thick, then apply an EQ cut. Make a conscious choice after listening!⁠
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In The Pretender by Foo Fighters, mix engineer Rich Costey took the approach that it was better to maintain the thickness of the guitar sounds and attenuate the volume to get all the guitars fitting in perfectly. ⁠
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Costey approaches mixing as if he’s conducting an orchestra where filtering the woodwinds to reduce an oboe sticking out is simply not possible. He believes the oboe player should play more softly so the rest of the reeds can be heard. This interesting approach conserves the body of the audio and in this record lead to an incredibly rich sound. ⁠
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Source: https://www.masteringthemix.com/

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