Sound Effects For Your Music Production

To produce different sound effects for your  Music   Production , let me begin by covering the different types of controls you will generally find in filters and EQ effects.

Cutoff frequency/Cutoff point. At this point a filter comes into play and starts to affect the sound. This determines what part of the frequency spectrum the filter works on.

Attenuation. This reduces the target frequencies.

Level/Gain. It allows you to cut (attenuate) or boost (amplify) a set of frequencies.

Bandwidth/Q/Resonance/Emphasis/Peak. The filter effects the range of frequencies either side of the cutoff point and measured in Hertz, so it relates to frequency. However, it would be more useful if it was measured in octaves.

FYI… The terms ‘bandwidth’ and ‘Q’ are most commonly used in recording circles. ‘Bandwidth’ is the most useful, because it tells you about the overall sound control. Q is an abbreviation for ‘Quality’ or, more exactly, ‘figure of Quality’ although these fuller descriptions are never used. Today, ‘Emphasis’ and ‘Peak’ are rarely used.

Resonance boost the frequencies round the cutoff point and is particularly common in synthesis. It can also be used to put the filter into self-oscillation, which is not something you should do with a recording.

To control the sound effect, you need to learn about different of EQ types. Here are some EQ types to encounter.

The 5 different EQ types are:

Fixed EQ. This is typically a single control such as Treble or Bass. A mixer might have Low (bass) and High (treble) EQ controls. The cutoff frequency here is fixed and you control the amount of cut or boost.

Graphic EQ. The frequency ranges are fixed divided into a series of bands to make cut and boost individually. Each row of sliders control a specific frequency band. They are common on hi fi systems. It also stands alone studio devices and can be found in software. Nevertheless, you can technically divide the spectrum into any number of bands, typical divisions on hardware units are 15 and 31 covering two-thirds and one-third of an octave ranges respectively.

Parametric EQ. With parametric EQ you change the frequency of the bands. It has typically three or four bands, each with three controls – cutoff frequency, bandwidth and level, allowing you to use specific frequencies within a very tight range.

Paragraphic EQ. This is a kind of super-parametic EQ. It blurs the line between graphic and parametric. It offers several bands like a graphic, but with user-definable frequency bands like a parametric; However, as this can become quite complex, they also tend to have highly-graphic interfaces to watch exactly what frequencies are being affected.

Sweeping/Semi-parametric EQ. This is the middle between a fixed EQ and a full parametric EQ – while the bandwidth is fixed, you can control the centre frequency (the cutoff point). It’s common to many mixers. Normally, you can find fixed Low and High EQ with a sweepable mid range control.