EQ quick reference cheat sheet

Kick Drum EQ
1. Boost 35 - 80 Hz for more power on the bottom end
2. Cut 250 - 450 Hz to eliminate the boxy sound
3. Boost 2.5K - 7k for more of the sharp attack

Beefy Kick (Yamaha)
35HZ boost 10 to 15 db
50HZ boost 10 db
3.5KHZ boost 5 db
8KHZ boost 14 db
    

Snare EQ
1. Boost 150 - 300 HZ to fatten it up
2. Cut 500 - 1000 HZ eliminate low end boxiness
3. Boost 5 - 7 KHZ to make crisper Cut to give distance
4. Boost 8 -15 KHZ to add snap

Beefy Snare (Yamaha)
150 - 200 HZ boost 10 db
500HZ - 1KHZ cut 10 to 15 db
5KHZ boost 2 db
10KHZ boost 3 db

Tom EQ
1. Cut in 300 - 800HZ
2. Boost around 240HZ For more body on the rack toms
3. Boost 80 - 100 HZ For more body on the low toms
4. Boost 4 - 6KHZ For sharper attack
5. Boost 8 -12.5K  For more high end snap

Hi Hat EQ
1. Roll off everything below 300HZ
2. The fundamental freq. Is 400 - 1000  (600 to 800)
3. Boost 8 -12 K for more brightness

Overhead EQ
1. Roll off from around 150 Hz on down
2. Cut in 400 Hz area
3. Cut at 800 Hz for a tighter sound
4. Hi Shelf  10-12.5 KHz  for brighter airy sound
        
Bass EQ
1. Mud generally happens in the 200-300 Hz range, cut just a little if bass lacks definition
2. Roll off from around 80 - 50 HZ on down to tighten up the bottom
3. Boost between 100 and 200 Hz if bass sounds flat or thin
4. Boost between 500 Hz and 800 Hz for more string pluck and high end definition
5. Boost between 2.5 and 5 kHz accentuates the attack, adding a little brightness

Guitar EQ
1. Roll off below 100 Hz to get rid of any bottom end that is not needed
2. Boost between 120-250 Hz adds warmth
3. Cut from 250-500 Hz if it sounds boxy
4. Add mids from 900Hz to 3.5 kHz for clarity
5. A boost at around 4 -7 kHz can add some bite

Acoustic Guitar EQ
1. If the sound is too boomy, cut somewhere in the 80 -200 HZ range. Cutting around 300HZ
    may help as well.
2. Boosting a little at 700HZ - 1.2KHZ for more of the resonant sound of the body of the guitar.
3. Boosting from 7-10KHZ will give you a brighter edge.
4. The pluck or sound of the pick on the strings is around 10 K

Acoustic Piano EQ
1. Boost around 3 K gives a piano more cut or edge
2. Boost at 12k for more airy sound.

Vocal EQ
1. Boost 200 HZ to add fullness
2. Boost 3K for more hard-edged stand out vocal cut 3K softer sounding vocal.
3. Boost 5K for more vocal presence.
4. Cut 4 - 7K to reduce S sound of vocal boost to sharpen a dull singer.
5. Cut 10K to reduce S sound boost to brighten vocal.
6. Boost 15K to brighten vocal.

EQ Lexicon
Gain - The amount of boost or cut
Cut off frequency - The frequency at which a high or low EQ takes affect
Pass band - The frequency range that is allowed through
Stop band - The frequency range that is not allowed through
High pass filter - A filter that rolls off the low frequencies
Low pass filter - A filter that rolls off the high frequencies
Band pass filter - A filter that affects a selected high or low range of frequencies
Notch Filter - A filter that affects a very specific or narrow range of frequencies
Q - How broad or narrow a range of frequencies is affected
Parametric EQ - An EQ section with controls for frequency gain and Q
Graphic EQ - An equalizer with a number of thin slider controls on octave or third octave centers. The face of this EQ reflects the graph of the EQ boosts and cuts thus the name.
Shelf - A high or low frequency EQ that starts from a set frequency and extends to the highest or lowest frequency in the audio range
HF - High frequency
LF - Low frequency
Mid - Midrange frequency
Treble - same as HF