There’s a lot that can get confusing about mixing - there are just so many topics;

•  Gainstaging
•  Compression
•  Phase manipulation

And the list goes on and on.

I like to live my life by Pareto Principle which just means that 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort.

My goal in life is to find the few things that work and then spam them over and over again.

Equalization fits the Pareto Principle perfect for me - 80% of my mixing process focuses on EQ.

Most of *good* mixing technique comes down to volume control. Equalization is powerful because it allows you to control volume by frequency.

We’ll talk more soon about the deeper science - for now, let me just give you 3 practical ways to start using equalization to improve your beats. I’ll give you the first one today, then I’ll be back in a few days to talk about the next one (then we’ll do that one more time for part 3.

At the end of this unit, you will feel more confident in your ability to consistently make bangers. The goal is to have you prepared to win an on-the-spot beat battle (I have done this many times and won purely by having better mixes).

Let’s get started 👇

1 - Make a habit of EQ’ing low end trash

This is one of the best things you can do to get your 808s and kicks to hit harder. Instead of looking for the loudest and most distorted 808 sample in an attempt to find something that cuts through the mix, use equalization to ‘move’ other sounds out of the way.

One way I do this is by making sure that my console EQ is set to cut at 90Hz for any instrument or sound that isn’t a kick, 808, or bass. Like this 👇

This leaves more frequency space for the 808 and kick, allowing them to ‘smack harder than ever believed possible.’

It’ll seem subtle, but your homies will definitely notice that your beats are hitting cleaner.

And this works because you are subtly but definitely reducing the overall volume of all low-end that is not your 808/kick. Mathematically speaking, this will always lead to cleaner, harder hitting 808s.

I hope this makes sense! Now get in the DAW and try it out.

Hit me up in a reply if you need any assistance, my beautiful sith apprentice.

Blessings,

Chu

PS. If you want access to my mixing sauce on a deeper level, peep the Centerfold Drum Kit 👁️