3
Harmonic or Overtone
Fundamental Note
31.5
63
125
250
500
1000
2000
4000
8000 16,000
Kick Drum
Tom Drum
Snare Drum
Cymbals
Chimes
Bass Guitar
Lead Guitar
Female Vocal
Male Vocal
Blues Harp
Saxophone
Organ
Piano
Synthesizer
String Bass
Violin
Cello
Clarinet
Flute
Trumpet
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS vs. EQUALIZER BANDS
31.5 Hz, 63 Hz, 125 Hz, 250 Hz:
THE SLIDERS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD!
The four bottom sliders on your TEN roughly correspond to the bass
control on your amp or receiver - or rather we should say that your receiver’s
bass tone control is what’s rough.
31.5 Hz.
Truly a piece of the rock. This lowest of lows is what you’ve
always wanted more of. It’s the frequency that you feel as well as hear. The
frequency that kicks you live at concerts.
Unfortunately, the whole signal chain conspires to remove it. Even $1000
microphones are not flat that low; studio recorders roll off in this area. It’s
hard to master and pretty near impossible for most speaker woofers to
reproduce.
So, even if you run the 31.5Hz slider up to +15Hz, your speakers will
probably be 5dB or more down at this gutrocking frequency.
Lay it on thick, if you have the amp power to handle it.
63Hz.
Here’s the bass you were after when you used to turn on the
loudness or bass tone control. It’s the deep, tight,strong bass that makes rock
solid. It’s also where most speaker systems start giving out, as you probably
saw when you response-analyzed your speakers and room. But, if it didn’t
take a lot to flatten the response of your system, feel free to add some more.
Most studio producers and engineers actually cut down on this frequency
to compensate for teeny radios and bubblegummers’ cheap compact stereos,
so adding some 63Hz is not “gonna be no sin,” as B.B. King put it.
It’s the slider that makes the bass drums and floor toms “bigger” and
broadens bass guitar parts. And, even does surprising things to operatic basso
voices. (Forget it on Neil Young’s, though.)
125Hz.
This is the bass that jukeboxes and cheap stereos specialize in. It
