A mix that sounds muddy almost never needs more of anything — it needs less of something. Two console tools do most of that work: a parametric EQ that carves specific frequencies out of a whole channel, and a saturator that makes a part louder-sounding without making it louder.
|> eqTrack [highpass 40Hz, peak 350Hz -2.5dB 1.2, highShelf 9kHz 2dB] is a cascade of one to twelve biquad bands on the mixer bus. It is spelled eqTrack on a track pipe (the voice-level eq is the fixed 3-band tone stack); bus declarations and master inserts take eq [ … ] as well.
The band constructors are peak f g [q] (the bell), lowShelf f g and highShelf f g (fixed slope), lowpass f [q], highpass f [q] and notch f [q]. A highpass that throws away what a part does not need is the single most useful move on a desk — do it before you reach for a boost.
Every slot is a Param, so a band can ride a macro: peak sweepKnob -4dB 2 sweeps the whole spectrum, because a macro-driven slot reads as normalized [0, 1] travel across the slot's range rather than surface hertz. Constants are clamped to 10 Hz–20 kHz, ±24 dB, Q 0.05–36.
saturate amount ["shape"] [mix] waveshapes the bus — "drive", "tube", "clip", "fold" or "tape" — with RMS gain compensation built in, calibrated at −12 dBFS. A part comes back with harmonics and density but roughly the same meter reading, which is exactly what "louder without louder" means.
mix (default 1) is a linear dry/wet crossfade after compensation, so saturate 0.7 "fold" 0.4 is parallel distortion in one insert and mix 0 nulls exactly. crush amount [mix] is the same idea with the bitcrusher — deliberately un-antialiased, and best used parallel.
The starting point#
The lesson opens with this song in the editor. Every edit recompiles and plays.
-- EQ & saturation: everything is fighting for the same 200 Hz.
tempo = 128bpm
pad = patch {
source = saw (freq pitch) |> unison 5 22,
ampEnv = adsr 250ms 300ms 0.7 500ms,
cutoff = 2200Hz,
gain = vel * 0.35
}
drums = sound !"bd ~ sn bd, hh*8"
chord = play pad !"c3 eb3 g3 bb3"What to watch#
Open the spectrum before and after the highpass: a whole shelf of energy under 200 Hz disappears and the part sounds bigger, not thinner, because it stopped competing with the kick. Under saturation the scope's peaks barely move while the spectrum grows a stack of new harmonics above the fundamental — that gap between the two pictures is the effect.
Goals#
The workbench checks these as you work; the solution is there when you want it.
- Put an EQ on a channel
- Clear the bottom with a highpass
- Lift a channel with saturation
- Stretch: weld a crushed copy underneath
Make it yours#
Find the ugliest 300 Hz on the pad by boosting a narrow bell hard (peak 300Hz 9dB 4) and sweeping its frequency until it screams — then flip the gain negative and narrow it further. Boost to find, cut to fix.
Further reading#
EQ and frequency balance in the reference.