The sound has lost something and you’ll want to boost it back. You can’t. Cut what’s left over until it sounds like the original again. Levels are matched, so listen to the tone, not the volume.
Fix it without a boost.
Subtractive EQ means fixing a sound by cutting what’s in the way, not boosting what’s missing. Here the sound is dull, thin or its mids are buried, and the instinct is to boost. You get only a low-shelf cut and a high-shelf cut. Everything plays level-matched, so louder can’t fool you into thinking it’s better.
How it works
- Flip between Bypass and Problem and decide what’s wrong: dull, thin or buried.
- Cut with the low shelf, the high shelf, or both (Tab switches between them).
- Listen to Your EQ against Bypass, then check.
How it’s scored
How close the tone of your fix gets to the original, ignoring overall level: 100 is a perfect match. Buried mids can only be approximated with two shelves, so a perfect score isn’t possible there. Pass with a 65 average over five challenges.
Levels
Five levels: dull, thin on a drum kit, dull or thin on a drum kit, buried mids in a full mix, and any of the three in the mix. It’s part of Mix Chops Pro, every level.
Step 6 of 7Next: Fix the MixLearn: High-pass and low-pass filtersLearn: Shelving EQLearn: Subtractive EQAll EQ exercisesDaily session