Re: [Harp-L] EQ'ing for harp

[Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> ?  I recently used a mixer that had 2 knobs for mids. I know that 
> basically, harp players usually turn up bass and lower trebles, but what 
> do ya'll do with your mids?

I can't recommend this enough: monkey with the knobs until it all sounds 
good to you. Or at least take the advice you get here as merely a starting 
point.

When I got my first recording rig in 1996, Samplitude Studio for the PC, I 
figured I'd call all the engineers I knew who owed me favors and they would 
give me some of their recipes.

HA!  It wouldn't matter if you saved a family member from certain death, 
engineers do not tell you anything useful unless you work under them for a 
long time.  Trade secrets are trade secrets.

I was a little bummed at first, but then it occurred to me: my whole life 
as a musician has been about NOT sounding like anyone else, about 
developing my own approach and then developing a new one.

So I dove in and came up with recipes of my own.

There are too many legends about what is right and what is wrong.  Always 
go with the opposite of what people tell you is wrong and develop from there.

Here's an example of why you should go with your ears.  I played my first 
recordings for a guy I worked with who was a soundtrack composer who 
engineered his own recordings.  His axe was guitar and he was a monster, 
and he really knew alot about recording guitar.  I was kinda hoping he 
would give me some pointers.

He listened to a few tracks in great stillness.  After that he looked up 
and said "Your guitar sounds incredible.  What mic did you use?"  I told 
him that I had a piezo on my Martin D-18, and I just went straight into the 
computer with a cheap direct box.

"No, no, really, what mic did you use?"  I wasn't kidding, I just went 
direct.  He told me that wasn't possible, that it was universally known 
that going direct with an acoustic guitar produced a lousy sound.

I'm glad I didn't know that when I was mixing that record.  I don't think 
this guy ever believed me.

You'll learn alot more about how to eq your harp by playing with it until 
it sounds great to you.

A friend of mine, one of the engineers who kindly let me develop my own 
approach by not telling me anything useful, worked as a tape op at Bell 
Sound in NY in the 60's.  At that time, if you looked at the Billboard 
chart you'd often find that 75% of all the records on it were either 
recorded, mixed or mastered at Bell.  There were four studios, each the 
fiefdom of a genius engineer.  Nobody else was allowed to engineer in those 
rooms, just the one guy.  Each guy had his own sound, one that had made 
many hits.  You hired the engineer and the room because you wanted his 
sound.  You didn't ask how he got that sound.

My friend assisted one of the geniuses.  The first day he was in the room 
he couldn't help but notice that a towel hung in front of the Pultec 
compressors.  Nobody was allowed near the compressors.  The settings on 
those things was a key to the engineer's recipes.  It took months before 
the engineer trusted him to see the settings and to adjust them at his 
instruction, when necessary.

Arrive at your own settings and then hide them behind a towel.

K