This blog post goes with my YouTube video showing how to add Equalisation to a piano recording.
As I’ve indicated before, Video and Audio production used to be very much reserved to only those people who could afford expensive equipment and, more importantly, had very finely honed skills that took years and years to develop.
Luckily for us, things are now so much more accessible that even we amateurs can give it a try
My previous post looked specifically at how to apply ‘Reverberation’ to our audio. Today we’ll look at how to apply EQ as it’s generally called. You’ll find hundreds of hours on how to use EQ on YouTube – I don’t intend to do an exhaustive deep dive here. Rather I’ll just cover off a ‘quick’ way of doing it without really needing to understand all that much about how it works. You’ll simply use mouse to select and your ears to judge whether or not you like the result!
For best results, you need good quality audio
You’ll need an external microphone for your smartphone to make this effective (I introduced to you one in a previous post). It’s the Shure MV88 (see below to find it on Amazon) – although there are many others you could look at depending on your budget and phone manufacturer.
What is equalisation?
First of all, what is Equalisation? I’m sure anybody of my age will remember the famous ‘Graphic Equaliser’ controls on our old record and CD players? Basically a few sliders or dials that allowed us to add more bass, add more treble, boost the middle range (or indeed lower any of these). Basically, we’re making different sound ranges sound slightly louder or softer (boosting frequencies in technical language). The downside to these sliders and dials is that you need quite good ears to fine tune things properly.
Equalisation presets
Often now, you don’t even really need to work out the settings for yourself to add equalisation to a piano recording. Have you noticed on your iPhone that in the Setting App, you can apply EQ to your iTunes music? Take a look, you click Settings, Music, EQ and then a screen will open with a whole list of what they call ‘Pre-Sets’ (things like Acoustic, Classical, Hip Hop, etc.).
Here, experienced sound engineers have created the EQ settings for you. These suit various different types of music – hence the names they are given. Try for yourself listening to music whilst changing these EQ Pre-sets. You will hear changes in how it sounds. If you then use the right pre-set for the right style of music, you do hear a definite improvement.
I’ve actually got great news for you – there are also ‘pre-sets’ available to apply EQ to our audio file all right inside our Digital Audio Workstation. We looked at Plugins and Presets when we considered adding Reverb.
I’m a Mac user and so I use Garageband given that it’s free. Of course, there are Windows equivalents.
Garageband EQ Plug In
Garageband provides what they call an Equaliser ‘Plug In’. This has a similar function to the EQ in the Settings App on your phone. This plug in has a range of Pre-Sets (so just like the ‘Classical’ and ‘Hip Hop’ we saw on the phone) – pre-configured settings designed for certain circumstances. You’ll be delighted to hear that there are a good few of these that are specifically designed for the Piano. It’s a case of selecting them whilst listening to the file to see which one sounds the best to you. Don’t forget, this is not an exact science – the best one will depend on the music you are playing, the piano you are playing it on and the room you’re in.
If you want to see how this is done, I’d recommend going to the Video where it will be easier to follow.
Fine Tuning
There’s no need to stop at just using pre-sets to add equalisation to a piano recording. If you have the time, the patience and more importantly the ears, then you can really fine tune the EQ. This will make it absolutely perfect for the precise piece you are playing. You can even change the EQ in different sections of the music for added effect. All of this is directly available within Garageband. Note, no clever computer skills are needed.
Of course, if you’re happy with the pre-sets, there’s no absolute need to go any further. Generally you’re recording something that people will listen to on their phone through their standard headphones. They may also have an EQ pre-set chosen on their phone anyway.
Listen to example
In the video, you can see an example of one of my earlier Facebook recordings where I basically applied Reverb and EQ to a file I’d recorded using the Shure MV88 mic plugged into my iPhone 6 (video captured on my iPad).
My next video and blog post will be about some simple (yet incredibly effective) Video editing techniques to make the visuals a little more interesting. Again, something else that in our modern world is remarkably easy for any of us to do.
If you prefer to watch rather than to read, then my YouTube Record Your Piano Playlist is just the thing for you. For much more detailed, step by step instructions, then download my free eBook series.
