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Eqing foley sounds

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 4:24 am
by DimensionX
I eq the frequencies that give away the source and combine them with other sounds that I may approach differently (for example accenting the frequencies that represent the sound and cozily fitting them with the others)

What is your thoughts/feelings/approach when eqing foley sounds?

Re: Eqing foley sounds

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 11:14 am
by legend4ry
Its all dependent on the sound isnt' it?

Different tones, mics and recording environments have different frequency spectrums - just do the best you can case by case.

Re: Eqing foley sounds

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 1:54 pm
by Tekvision
I have a little hard time understanding your question..
My opinion is exactly the same as when you EQ any other sound. EQ what needs to be EQ:d.

Re: Eqing foley sounds

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 10:00 pm
by DimensionX
Tekvision wrote:I have a little hard time understanding your question..
My opinion is exactly the same as when you EQ any other sound. EQ what needs to be EQ:d.
Oh wow hey Tekvison!! love your music!! Been listening to you for a few months now (love prismatic!!)

I know each sound can be approached differently but im trying to create single sounds out of a few sounds (like they fall into eachother like a domino effect), take Teddy Killerz Burnin for example at 4:06 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkHoAk9iTHk), there is a combination of sounds where the end of the sound is a pluck in a synth, but the initial attack is a foley sound eq'd in a way that makes it fit as if it was recorded as one sound.

What im asking is what are your ways of achieving these types of sounds that sound like they are recorded as one sound but are made of multiple foley sounds mixed with synths. BESIDES "good mixing/processing" and "having a good sound source". I suppose one could easily answer this with " keep trying to put together different sounds" but what are your thoughts on achieving these types of sounds?

Another way I just thought of is combining low quality sounds with high quality sounds so that they compliment eachother...

Re: Eqing foley sounds

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 11:13 pm
by fragments
I'd imagine envelopes on the sampler might make a big difference in making them sound "one" as well as a tad of compression. You'll probably want several layers of "glue", compression can be one. Something else though, maybe some subtle saturation, just make them sound like they were record onto the same medium...digital is too perfect...doing something to create some subtle artifacts across the entire end sound might be a way of making them sound like they are "one".

I'd say in some ways EQ is less important for what you really want to do than trying to glue multiple sounds together. I don't think combining high and low quality recordings is going to make this easier. My guess would be having all really high quality recordings then applying some mild parallel processing and subtle bus processing would yield better results. If every begins pristine and you degrade it a bit all in the same way it seems it would sound more like it was all the same source.

You might even go as far as arranging the sounds how you want then playing through a speaker or amp and recording that with a microphone.

Re: Eqing foley sounds

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 3:03 am
by DimensionX
Fuckin great response thank you, that speaker miking idea fell in the back of my mind, I was actually experimenting with putting metal sheets on my walls and had 300 pvc pipes that I made into walls to get interesting added room. Thank you for reminding me!

Re: Eqing foley sounds

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 3:14 pm
by Tekvision
I think that fragments has really good tips on this. Panning, volume automation, gluing with compression.. I also like to route the sounds to a bus and give them a little bit of saturation, and maybe a little bit of reverb to get the sense that they're in the same space. EQing might not always be necassary, like fragments said. And remember, it doesn't necessarily have to sound, like it's a one single sound, when played by itself. But it might sound like a one sound when played in the track, it's all about the context the sound is given.

And thanks a bunch for the kind comments :)