Re: [microsound] Parametric EQ

[Rob Danielson <type@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 12:20 AM +1000 5/9/06, Julian Knowles wrote:
>On 08/05/2006, at 9:25 PM, Mark R. quoted:
>>- you grab a hold of the notch filter of the parametric and, like tuning a
>>radio real slow, as you tune through the frequency . . . BINGO . . . it will
>>find THE frequency and the feedback will go away, and that's exactly where
>>the notch should be. Then you feather it out, and then you are done. Why is
>>this not done so much today? Why are we not hearing people doing that? Did
>>they forget? Hell, THIS IS SCIENCE. You can't forget science. Some people
>>today just don't understand. 'Let's use a graphic EQ.' That's the worst
>>thing that ever hit us, the damned graphic EQ.
>
>While a parametric eq with a large number of bands can be used to 
>tune a PA, most parametric eqs have 4 bands or less, making them of 
>limited use for PA tuning. In a difficult room, 4 bands is often not 
>enough. I also think that a fixed band graphic has several 
>advantages over a parametric in that when something rings during a 
>gig, you can reach for the frequency and pull it out straight away. 
>This is much quicker than finding the frequency on a parametric and 
>when you are dealing with feedback, speed is of the essence.
>
>Some digital parametrics, with large numbers of bands are useful in 
>PA applications, in fact I've used a BSS Varicurve to tune a PA on 
>several occasions
>
>http://www.bssaudio.com/products/equalisers/fcs-926/images.html
>
>but I would have to say it can be a more complex and slow process 
>getting the same result and I'm not convinced the result is better 
>than with a good graphic. I would therefore question the position 
>presented above which makes some pretty naive assumptions about how 
>people might use a graphic for live sound.
>
>julian
>

You have a great point about performance reaction times.  Or 
sweepable mid in the mixer that's waiting and ready. I use parametric 
EQ for room prep  almost exclusively. It's rare (luckily) but I've 
encountered very narrow peaks in rooms that I had to hit with over 
40dB! before taming it. I use Eqium which affords a unlimited  number 
of bands.
http://www.elementalaudio.com/products/eqium/
A fairly dead room might only require a half dozen bands, but quite 
often, many more. Material with broad bandwidths (especially the pink 
noise content of field recordings) can require unique EQ for each 
location/piece. I've been using a very warm pink noise track with 
Eqium to help seek out the low Hz surprises the room has in store. 
There are really fancy diagnostic tools that take timing into 
consideration that I'd love to try, maybe someday. Rob D.