Preparing electric guitar signals for a live mix using smart:EQ live

May 10, 2018 | Tutorial

smart:EQ live can do a tremendous job when it comes to preparing signals for mixing. This latency-free audio plug-in takes over basic tasks and thus saves you valuable time.

FOH engineer and music producer Toni “Meloni” Loitsch (Donots, Silbermond, Nautilus Studios) shows you how he processes an electric guitar signal with smart:EQ live. After just a few clicks, his new “digital assistant” has mastered the task and Toni can continue with the fine-tuning.

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Toni uses the guitar signal from his offline soundcheck session of the German punk band Donots. The smart:EQ live reacts immediately to the guitar signal and attenuates its frequency range at 2kHz (respectively at 1kHz). Toni uses one of the regular filter bands to set a low cut to prevent smart:EQ live from raising the guitar’s low frequencies. At the same time, the adaptive EQ boosts the highs slightly, giving the guitar signal more clarity and brilliance. To prepare the smart:filter for the type of input signal, you can also select the guitar instrument profile.

Toni shows you how to prepare guitar signals before mixing

Toni lets the plug-in learn continuously as it reacts to the different parts of the song. Thanks to smart:EQ live, the guitar signal is better balanced within a few seconds and any disturbing frequencies have been attenuated. With this solid starting point Toni can now continue to work creatively on his mix. He uses smart:EQ live as a mixing assistant; available to him at the push of a button.