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Honk if You Can Answer This


SpondonBassed

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Although two of the frequency bands are at odds with each other between the list that Douglas found and the graphic that Woodinblack posted, they agree for the most part.

Good enough for me.

It's just a list of descriptive words that I like, that's all.  I spend far too much time behind the keyboard and far too little behind the fretboard.

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6 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

31Hz Chest/Gut
63Hz Bottom
125Hz Thump
250Hz Fullness
500Hz Honk
1kHz Whack
2kHz Pluck
4kHz Edge

I thought the OP settings looked plausible for a good band mix with a precision in a difficult room without mid preshape.....but much depends what one is aiming for in character of bass sound and one has to be guided by ears not by eyes.

Does this just apply to a bass? I mean if you boost a bass guitar at 500Hz it will be perceived as 'honk' but if you did the same boost to a guitar it would not be perceived as 'honk'?

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On 20/10/2020 at 08:45, Woodinblack said:

The terms seem quite consistent

EQChart.jpg

Pale blue: Death metal.

Grey: Heavy metal

Brown: Rock

Beige: Pop

Purple: Prog

On 20/10/2020 at 09:24, BigRedX said:

What's the difference between the blue and red portion of each line? 

I think blue is the basic range of the instrument, red is the range of significant harmonics.

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48 minutes ago, BreadBin said:

Most of the pro engineers I know use the frequency in Hz as a reference. It's a measurable and demonstrable absolute, not subjective.

IE - 3db cut at 500hz, instead of roll off a bit of honk.

Yes... but ears are subjective.

No point telling someone 'if it sounds like there's too much gain around 500Hz try -3dB at 500Hz.'

Subjective descriptions let them put the sound in a ballpark, and even a pro engineer will know what frequency to tweak from a learned skill and listening to the song.

If you want to be objective you can look at a Fourier analysis of the music and apply corrections until it matches the ideal profile for the genre... Yes, I know there are websites that will do that for you but hand's up who thinks they do a better job than pro engineers and their subjective ears?

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21 minutes ago, Norm said:

I always thought that "Honk" referred to the sound of a fender jazz bass on the bridge pick-up, being played with a fair amount of "digging in" near the bridge? 

Presumably the extra harmonics caused by that style of playing are in the honk-zone?

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On 20/10/2020 at 09:45, Woodinblack said:

The terms seem quite consistent

EQChart.jpg

They left out gutsy, growl, snappy, bite and zing and I am sure many more, not least words like griddy, grindy and raunchy that is more commonly used for different overdrive and distortion characteristics, where the word crunch(y) from the above graphic really also belongs.

And boomy and punchy are definitely not the same.

I have a feeling that the above graphic is very much homemade and home-thought, like as just one more example what about definition, as far as I am concerned something sounding defined is not frequency dependent, or well it can be I guess, but I mean then it will be more of a question about EQ'ing the individual instrument just right than a strictly defined limited frequency spectrum common for neither all types of or individual musical instruments. 

Edited by Baloney Balderdash
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9 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Yes... but ears are subjective.

No point telling someone 'if it sounds like there's too much gain around 500Hz try -3dB at 500Hz.'

There's every point - learn the frequencies for clear accurate communication. I used to run live monitors and could eliminate feedback really quickly by knowing which frequency to cut on an equaliser. 

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4 hours ago, BreadBin said:

There's every point - learn the frequencies for clear accurate communication. I used to run live monitors and could eliminate feedback really quickly by knowing which frequency to cut on an equaliser. 

How do I 'learn the frequencies' as I don't have perfect pitch?

The only practical answer is some sort of subjective guide to how sounds translate into frequencies, which is what that graphic tries to do. Every book I've read on sound engineering (OK only two) and most websites uses similar terms to try and help you translate what you hear into what frequencies to adjust.

Put it this way... would you think your Lighting Engineer was being more objective if he said 'Increase the 550nm light source' if you asked for a green spotlight?

 

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1 minute ago, Stub Mandrel said:

How do I 'learn the frequencies' as I don't have perfect pitch?

The only practical answer is some sort of subjective guide to how sounds translate into frequencies, which is what that graphic tries to do. Every book I've read on sound engineering (OK only two) and most websites uses similar terms to try and help you translate what you hear into what frequencies to adjust.

Put it this way... would you think your Lighting Engineer was being more objective if he said 'Increase the 550nm light source' if you asked for a green spotlight?

 

Very few people do have perfect pitch, but what you call honk will translate to a certain frequency. Learn what that frequency is, communicate that frequency to others and there is no room for interpretation. Other people will have a different impression of what constitutes honk, but 500hz is always 500hz. 

Lighting is far less subjective, not really a comparable point in my opinion.

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1 hour ago, BreadBin said:

...Lighting is far less subjective, not really a comparable point in my opinion.

Having done lighting for several years, I'd have a different opinion. 'Warmer', more 'shine', 'depth', 'shocking' and so many more terms used daily by lighters, dancers, musicians... People, in fact. Us techs would communicate in 'Lee' filter numbers, but most meant nothing to those on stage ('Can you bring up the 203, please..?. As for light frequencies... 9_9 Lee even have sets of filters for evoking particular moods, called, logically enough, 'Mood Boards'. This is their proposition for 'Sympathy', for instance ...

qlwxhVv.jpg

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4 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

Having done lighting for several years, I'd have a different opinion. 'Warmer', more 'shine', 'depth', 'shocking' and so many more terms used daily by lighters, dancers, musicians... People, in fact. Us techs would communicate in 'Lee' filter numbers, but most meant nothing to those on stage ('Can you bring up the 203, please..?. As for light frequencies... 9_9 Lee even have sets of filters for evoking particular moods, called, logically enough, 'Mood Boards'. This is their proposition for 'Sympathy', for instance ..

Interesting, so essentially artists talk a lot of guff which techs have to somehow translate into reality 😂😛

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18 hours ago, BreadBin said:

Interesting, so essentially artists talk a lot of guff which techs have to somehow translate into reality 😂😛

I've met many a tech that talked 'guff', and even some artists that knew their onions..! 9_9

(And what is this 'reality' of which you speak..? o.O )

...

:lol: :P

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On 20/10/2020 at 08:45, Woodinblack said:

The terms seem quite consistent

EQChart.jpg

I'd agree with the Honk positioning. Chest Thump I'd say was actually a higher frequency.Punch is in the right range though, that's good. Interestingly Heft is in the Bottom and lower end of Boom range. 

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35 minutes ago, Dood said:

I'd agree with the Honk positioning. Chest Thump I'd say was actually a higher frequency.Punch is in the right range though, that's good. Interestingly Heft is in the Bottom and lower end of Boom range. 

And so the subjectivity is proven. 👍

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