The boost/cut range for each band is usually either 6 dB or 12 dB. So you can imagine that your EQ is “tuned up” to B0, B1… up to B7, and then have two more bands above for the timbre control. There is no particular note corresponding to this sequence of frequencies, but the closest one would be B. The graphic equalizer with one octave spacing contains 9-10 bands within the human hearing range, which are conventionally set at 31 or 32 Hz (10-bands only), 63 or 64 Hz, 125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1 kHz, 2 kHz, 4 kHz, 8 kHz and 16 kHz.
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The huge range between the 4.2 kHz and 20 kHz (over two full octaves) is responsible not for the musical tones, but for their character, such as timbre and shape. To put it into perspective, the lowest note on the piano, A0 registers at 27.5 Hz and the highest, C8, at 4186 Hz. It is generally accepted that human ear can distinguish the sounds spanning from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. A “smile” on the EQ is a sign of a clueless DJ – partially true… but… keep reading.If you equalize out the groove noise you will inevitably lose the musical content with it – wrong.There is no cure for reverberation – wrong.There is nothing useful either below or above the mid-range on the shellac – wrong.In order to convey this technique in a reasonable amount of space, I will not try to prove each and every statement here, as you can (and should!) test it all for yourself. If you don’t have a 10-bands EQ, scroll down to the section with the advices on various types of EQ to try. In my own experience, using home sound system, be it a Walmart bookshelf audio or British hi-end system alike, is grossly inadequate for this kind of experiments. Please, do not use EQ in iTunes – its incredibly slow response time will prevent you from clearly hearing the differences in your experiments.Īlso you will need either a pair of high quality DJ headphones, or, better yet, an hour of time to yourself and your music at the venue where you regularly DJ, before the milonga. In order to try this technique all you need is a 9 to 10 bands graphic EQ with 12 dB boost and cut, either in software, like this one:
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Feel free to let me know whether you like it or not in any form. I will not provide any “before and after” sound examples – the technique is entirely yours to try at your venue, to improve, to use or to lose. I strongly believe that it can dramatically improve your sound, and, at the same time, you would spend less time tweaking the equalizer, cursing the bad recording and/or inadequate sound system, etc. It was initially tried and tested in several milonga venues in Toronto in 2014, and further improved with the feedback from the DJs from all over the globe. The technique defines a set of simple rules which allow to obtain repeatable results in any tango venue, on any recording, with minimal adjustments between the tandas. More specifically, we are targeting the electric recording era, from 1926 to 1949. This article is about a simple and effective technique for getting the best sound out of your tango recordings.