Subtractive EQ for Clarity - Acoustic Guitar EQ

Special thanks to Luchito for letting me use the stems in this tutorial. If you liked the guitar you can hear the full song here:

In this video we demonstrate a method of removing unwanted resonances, boomy frequencies and mud from a recording by using only subtractive EQ.

This method can also be used with Dynamic EQ or a linear phase EQ for a more trasparent result, but regular EQ works great too.
As with all techniques, let your ears guide you and don't be afraid to try something new :)

We show this on some acoustic guitar. When they start layering up, some frequencies fight with the mix and compete with the other elements in the mix (piano and strings). After listening in my speakers, I'd say that I probably pushed this technique a little too far and the result may have been a little thin for some folks liking, but that's why we check on different systems! It's all part of the fun.

[JPBofficial]

Really interesting to see which parts you pick for the subtraction. I normally loose my mind after 20 minutes and start hearing weird noises everywhere haha.

[Karthikeyan-erhn]

never stop ur work !!! i'm growing with ur teachings !!!

[devavratdubale]

Wow! Got no other thing to say but just how good it sounds when processed.

[drexflea]

Hey Michael, I'm 19 and I'm learning a lot from you bro. You literally have no idea about how much I've learnt from you. Thank you bro.

[ameltk]

Once, I used to think that I'd never be able to do these stuffs. Had no idea how n what to do. But thanks to you!
I'm 10× better than what I used to be. 😌❤️

[Epileptick]

That was such a great explanation. You're not annoying and full of ego like most of these guys. Keep up the good work.

[wasaththedev]

Finally i found the greatest Guitar EQ tutorial in the universe 👍👍

[philipdonovan]

You were able to show a mistake that I've been making while using this approach on acoustic guitar. I was sweeping with huge gain (+12, +18dB) so as you stated, "everything" sounded odd! I see now that should only 6 or so dB be boosted then just the more extreme resonances and problem frequencies be discovered. I'm looking forward to getting home to Reaper and my acoustic guitar with new Line Audio CM4 and make another go of it. I've also been working to see what extreme EQ will work best for close miced acoustic in the event of playing live and wanting as much gin before feedback as possible. Thanks, very good video.

[blazbone]

It's called Search and Destroy...My mentor taught me :D

[philipdonovan]

Well done and instructive video, this kind of thing is very valuable for a numbskull like me that is often forces to record in small hard paralleled wall rooms. You keep the mics close to capture as much direct acoustic guitar sounds as possible and minimize the terrible room reflection but then end up with a low end mess. And yes, the frequencies that you targeted here just happen to be a couple of the greatest offenders I deal with on my Martin GPC16 rosewood. Those are odd guitars and desperately need 150, 175, 220, 310, 410 Hz addressed or you have a muddy, boxy, woofy mess on your hands - unlistenable really, but, with alot of very diligent subtractive EQ approaches you can get a reasonably decent final guitar freq balance. I've nearly become an "EQ surgeon" first and performer 2nd. This video was a great fine tuning to what I already was aware of so, I'm grateful for the added confidence and techniques garnered from this vid. Thank you so much! Now time to go home and do some acoustic guitar recording in my 14' x 14" hard walled bedroom!

[thetrvth]

Quick, precise, no over explanation... Nice

[gustavosalmeron]

You are a producer angel. Thank you so much for your effort to help other producers!

[ronbynum]

Nice tips. Subtractive EQ definitely has an effect on “less-than optimally-tracked” instruments or vox. Good rudimentary mic techniques can eliminate the need to fix things later.

[MrMrDeeCee]

Perfect 👍🏼 I think I’ve found my favourite teacher

[TheAngelOlguin]

Dude honestly I'm a much better producer than before because of your tutorials. Please keep it up brother!

[ryashock]

Can't thank you enough for this! I'm using the Ample Guitar VST, and it tends to build up these low mid tones of the player hitting the body of the guitar when multiple notes trigger. These techniques helped me minimize them, and overall level out it's sound. Which now allows for percussion and other instruments to fit in naturally!

For those of you also using Ample, I high passed at 95hz, with some of the eq tail hitting 50hz. Then I ducked 189hz 10db. (I used pro q 2, but should still work in paramateric) Hope this helps! :)

[IzanSoria]

Firstly: THANKS, love your videos, they are the most useful thing I've found on youtube about this matter. I would love to listen a long video like this one but with the whole process!

[Windklang]

This is fabulous! Thank you, Mike - great hints for my future projects <3

[derekfromtauranga]

Great tutorial. Good tip about sweeping the bands with a narrow point. 😀

[DannSmely]

I love the trick where your headphones just magically disappeared from ur head at the end 😂😂