How to EQ a tight djent?

[jammers33]

hey guys

im just looking for some more tips on EQing a tight djent using nuendo.

I usually cut 100hz and 10K

sort of dip at around 5k and boost around 2k a little

is there anything else i should be doing?

many thanks

[Mattayus]

try scooping a touch of 250hz and 650hz to make it nice and percussive, also dip around 8k, which i usually do to get rid of hiss. apart from that mate i'm not really sure, i'm kind of in the process of experimenting myself!

[MF_Kitten]

if you put an EQ in front of the distortion (amp or pedal), and boost the mids from 700 Hz up to about 2000 Hz, in a nice "bump" shape, you´ll be djenting your arse off!

and yeah, post distortion, remove some of the 250 Hz area, and the 100 Hz area. maybe you´ll wanna boost the 60-80 Hz areas to get a nice deepness in the guitars, but if you wanna leave that to the bass, that´s fine. if you want to add some fatness, you could do that by pumping the 400-900 Hz area. if you want more cutting power, then 2000 Hz is a nice place for that

[Ryan]

Try palm muting harder. ;-)

[Mattayus]

Originally Posted by Ryan

Try palm muting harder. ;-)

doesn't always work that way man, especially if you've got a shitty tone to begin with

[FoxZero]

I'd move the high cut to 12K.

That's all I can say cause my eqing is kind of weird and isn't geared towards tightness. Edit: in a djent sense.

[Mattayus]

I never thought i'd say this but i think i'm actually going off djent. i'm getting back into a more traditional, but not so scooped metal tone. sorta latter pantera, killswitchy, chimaira-ish, sorta thing

[Dylan S]

Djent definitely works well for a lot of things, but I love how the 7 strings sound on Nevermore albums (in particular dead heart in a dead world and this godless endevour) and also on Dream theater albums.

As for EQ-ing a tight djent, a lot of it can be in how tight you are as a player, and how you lay down your tracks when recording. Your tone might not be snappy enough to your ears as just one track, but if you roll back on the gain, and play some very definite start/stop riffs, and get them dead on time with each other, the gain will layer up and you will have a very djenty sound. Obviously you want to get your tone as close to sounding djenty as possible before you record, but when you record, the tone does change slightly, the more layers of tracks you do, so that is just something to consider.

[MF_Kitten]

i love having lots of pre-distortion high-mids. so i boost those.

i love meshuggah´s tone on re:nothing, wher you hear the timbre of the strings insanely well, and you hear what string they´re using from the tone of each note.

i still haven´t found my perfect tone though, that stuff takes tiiiiiime :P

[Dylan S]

It does, but oh my god, Meshuggah have some insanely wonderfully EQ'd tone. I love it. The tone on obZen are just amazing. The perfect amount of snap but still chug and djent is the best. It is definitely some of the best tone I've ever heard (imo).

I used to be all about achieving the djent, but now I'm sort of searching for a djent tone, that has a lot more warmth and body to it, so I guess you could say I want the high end to be djenty rather than fizzy, or something else....but still have a nice round sound.

The tone on DHIADW by Nevermore is just to die for.

[Mattayus]

do you guys prefer your mids scooped, or boosted?

I like them slightly boosted, maybe 2,5 db or so.

[zimbloth]

Djent is a technique.

Originally Posted by zimbloth

Djent is a technique.

seriously zimmy, you need to let go of that, words evolves.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Mattayus

doesn't always work that way man, especially if you've got a shitty tone to begin with

Then there is no hope then

[Jason]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

Djent is a technique.

True. As is palm muting and soloing but you can dial in your tone a certain why to better suit those techniques.

[Mattayus]

very true.

i think boosting your mids goes the opposite way to djent tbh. obviously dont scoop to an extreme or it just sounds like mud, but it's in the highs and lows that the trickery of djent lies i feel, the mids are just a catalyst if you will

[Dylan S]

Originally Posted by Mattayus

do you guys prefer your mids scooped, or boosted?

Well I boost mine fairly high, but I'm using a marshall with my 7 string, so if I have them scooped, I get no definition at all.

I used to get a scoopey tone with a BBE sonic maximiser but it broke and I couldn't be bothered fixing it because it's an old one from the 80's.

I recently aquired an MXR 10-band EQ, that I use to give myself a much more even sounding tone, and a lot of good punch, but I found it doesn't sound as good when I'm recording. what I mean by that is, when I mic my amp to record, it sounds better without the EQ, which is a little weird, but hey...whatever works I guess.

I'd say what I'm boosting and cutting on the EQ but I'm about to go to bed and couldn't be bothered going and getting it.

[Mattayus]

yeah well like i said, i don't like a super scoop, like dimebag or 'tallica on justive for all, that's a bit TOO scooped for my tastes. But i dont like boosted mid sounds, sorta like Shadows Fall, i think it's a bit anorexic if you know what i'm sayin. I mean, 7 strings dont suit being too scooped anyway because of their bass frequencies, but it does sound evil as ...., and if you sculpt the highs well enough it sounds distinctive too

[jammers33]

Originally Posted by Desecrated

I like them slightly boosted, maybe 2,5 db or so.

yeah man i boost around 2k too

cheers for the tips guys!

[FoxZero]

Yeah, that's what I want, sort of djent but with a lot of warmth to it. I think my Cobra does it personally. Lately though, I find myself not using my Screamer pedal a bit, like I don't want too much djent

I use a switch on my amp that kills most of the mids except for a bit for the low mids, as long as the upper mids are scooped I'm happy. I plan on buying a 31 band eq soon

Also, best Meshuggah tone? I vote for Destroy Erase Improve

[Mattayus]

I like meshuggah's tone for meshuggah, just like i like bulbs tone for bulb. but it wouldn't suit my music i don't think. i'm after my own sound which sorta draws its elements from everything metal. it's djenty, but not crazy prog djenty, if u get me... infact, it's a little bit like Dinos in a sense. but less industrial lol

I tried boosting at 2k, just made it sound hissy and horrible personally. maybe i'm doing something wrong? upper mids are a no no in my book, but that's just my preference

[drawnQ]

i'd try boosting at or around 2k, but don't go extreme with it. you can do it at a smaller amount then compress and redo. just remember how compressing will affect signals you have not eq'd

[FoxZero]

Originally Posted by Mattayus

I like meshuggah's tone for meshuggah, just like i like bulbs tone for bulb. but it wouldn't suit my music i don't think. i'm after my own sound which sorta draws its elements from everything metal. it's djenty, but not crazy prog djenty, if u get me... infact, it's a little bit like Dinos in a sense. but less industrial lol

I tried boosting at 2k, just made it sound hissy and horrible personally. maybe i'm doing something wrong? upper mids are a no no in my book, but that's just my preference

Yeah I personally cut cut between 1.5K and 2k. Upper mids equal honk for me, especailly amps with EL34s it seems like.

[Mattayus]

exactly man, that horrible ....in round sound, eugh!! scoop da whoop!!

btw, i've jst written an article on eq on my site with some examples. have a peep

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