The EQ Frequency Chart
Find problem frequencies. Fix your mix.
Pick multiple to see where they overlap and compete for space. That's where masking happens.
Select an instrument above to see its frequency breakdown and diagnostic tips.
Pro tip: Select two or more instruments to see where they compete for space - that's where your EQ decisions really matter.
The EQ Moves That Fix Most Mix Problems
Practical techniques from 20 years of mixing
Control the Low End
This is a two-part move. First, high-pass everything that doesn't need weight and sub energy - vocals, guitars, synths, keys. Every microphone and virtual instrument generates low-frequency content that just stacks up, eats headroom, and muddies your mix. Start around 60Hz and push higher until things thin out, then back off slightly. Second, once the sub-rumble is clean, find the fundamental of the instruments that do need low end - kick, bass, 808s - and give them a bell curve boost right where their weight lives. You're not just cutting lows, you're reshaping them. Remove what you don't need, reinforce what you do. That's how a mix sounds fat and controlled at the same time.
Cut the Mud (200-500Hz)
This is where home studio mixes fall apart. Bass, kick, guitars, piano, vocals, and synths all pile their energy in the low mids. You don't need to cut this range on everything - but you do need to decide which instruments keep their body here and which ones give it up. Load a genre preset in the frequency chart above and look at how many instruments stack up between 200-500Hz. That visual is why your mix sounds woolly and undefined.
Add Presence, Sparkle and Air (5-10kHz)
Most properly recorded raw tracks sound fairly dull - that's normal. Once you've controlled the low end and cleaned up the mud, the next move is adding definition back in. A wide Q boost in the 5-10kHz range brings presence, sparkle, and air to almost everything. On vocals, it's what separates a demo from a polished mix - the breath, the consonants, the sense that the singer is right there. On guitars and keys, it adds string definition and shimmer. On the full mix, it's the difference between sounding flat and sounding finished. Keep it gentle - 2-3dB is usually enough.
Carve Space for Vocals
The vocal needs to cut through without being louder than everything else. The key is subtractive EQ on the instruments competing with it, not boosting the vocal itself. The vocal presence range sits at roughly 2.5-5kHz. Try cutting 2-4kHz on your guitars, piano, or synths by 2-3dB with a wide Q. The vocal steps forward without you touching its fader. This is what making space means in practice - reducing frequency masking so each instrument has room to breathe.
EQ and the Bigger Picture
Corrective EQ before compression, tonal EQ after. Sweep and cut problem frequencies before the signal hits the compressor - the compressor reacts to whatever you feed it. Remove the problem first, compress a clean signal, then shape tone after. The Compression Visualiser can help you see how compression interacts with your signal.
Panning reduces the need for EQ. Two guitars panned hard left and right have far less frequency masking than two guitars sitting in the centre. Before reaching for EQ to solve a masking problem, check if panning solves it first. Panning is free and doesn't change the tone. EQ costs you something every time you use it.
Want to keep exploring? Ask Dan anything about EQ, compression, or mixing - it's an AI tutor trained on 20 years of mixing experience. For more hands-on tools, check out the Learning Hub including the Compressor Calculator and Loudness Lookup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about EQ, frequency ranges, and fixing mix problems.
What is an EQ frequency chart?
It's a visual reference that maps the entire audible spectrum from 20Hz to 20kHz. The spectrum is broken into bands - sub-bass, bass, low-mids, mids, upper-mids, presence, and air - each with its own character and common problems.
A frequency chart shows you where each instrument lives in the spectrum and where typical issues occur. Instead of guessing where to cut or boost, you can look up the instrument, find its problem zones, and make targeted EQ moves. It's one of the most useful references you can have open while mixing.
Explore the interactive EQ Frequency Chart above to see all 21 instruments mapped across the spectrum.
Should I cut or boost EQ when mixing?
Cut first, boost only if you still need to. Subtractive EQ removes problems without adding noise or phase issues, and it's almost always more effective than boosting. A good rule of thumb is roughly 3 cuts for every 1 boost across a mix.
Here's the thing most people miss: cutting one instrument in a crowded frequency range often makes another instrument sound better without you even touching it. That's the real power of subtractive EQ. If you find yourself boosting a lot to make things sound right, there's usually a problem somewhere else that a cut would fix more cleanly.
The EQ Frequency Chart above highlights common cut and boost zones for each instrument.
What does Q mean in EQ?
Q controls the bandwidth - how wide or narrow the EQ curve is. A high Q value gives you a narrow, surgical curve that affects only a small frequency range. A low Q gives a wide, gentle curve that shapes a broader area.
The general rule is: use narrow Q to cut, wide Q to boost. Narrow cuts let you remove a specific problem frequency without affecting the character of the sound around it. Wide boosts sound more natural and musical because they shape a broader range, which is closer to how we actually hear tonal changes. Most EQ plugins show the Q shape visually on the frequency display, so you can see exactly what you're doing.
The EQ Frequency Chart above shows recommended Q widths for different types of EQ moves.
What is the difference between a bell curve and a shelf EQ?
A bell curve targets a specific frequency range and tapers off on either side. It's precise and surgical - great for cutting problem frequencies or boosting a sweet spot without affecting everything around it.
A shelf boosts or cuts everything above or below a set frequency. A high shelf lifting at 8kHz boosts everything from 8kHz upward - useful for adding air and openness. A low shelf works the same way but downward. Shelves are better for broad tonal shaping.
One thing to watch: be careful with low shelves on bass. A low shelf boost lifts everything below the frequency, including the sub range where the kick drum lives. You'll often get a cleaner result with a bell boost at the specific bass frequency you want to enhance.
Explore the EQ Frequency Chart above to see where bell and shelf EQ are most effective for each instrument.
What frequency causes muddiness in a mix?
Muddiness lives in the 200-500Hz range, with 200-350Hz being the worst offender. This is where the low-end energy of bass, kick drum, guitars, and vocals all pile up on top of each other. Nearly every instrument has energy here, and when it all stacks up, the mix sounds thick and unclear.
Cutting in this range - even just 2-3dB on the instruments that don't need it - is the single most common fix in mixing. It's the first thing to check when a mix sounds congested. A high-pass filter on instruments that don't need low-end content works here too. You'll be surprised how much clarity you get from cleaning up this one zone.
The EQ Frequency Chart above highlights the mud zone for every instrument in the database.
What does a high-pass filter do and when should I use one?
A high-pass filter removes all frequencies below a set point. Set it to 100Hz and everything below 100Hz is gone - rumble, low-end mud, mic handling noise, all of it. The frequencies above the cutoff pass through untouched.
Use one on almost everything except kick drum, bass guitar, and toms. Start at 80-100Hz for most instruments and vocals. In dense mixes, push it higher - 150Hz on guitars, 200Hz on overheads. It cleans up low-end buildup that you often can't even hear on its own, but it's eating up headroom and making the mix sound cloudy. High-pass filters are probably the most underused tool in mixing.
The EQ Frequency Chart above includes recommended high-pass filter points for each instrument.
How do I stop instruments from clashing in a mix?
This is called frequency masking, and it's the core problem EQ solves. When two or more instruments occupy the same frequency range at the same time, neither sounds clear - they fight each other and the listener can't distinguish them properly.
The fix is complementary EQ: cut one instrument where you boost the other. If the vocal needs presence at 3kHz, cut the guitar at 3kHz to make room. Put high-pass filters on everything that doesn't need low-end content. Use panning for stereo separation. And use a frequency chart to visually identify where instruments overlap before you start making EQ moves.
The goal isn't to make every instrument sound perfect in solo - it's to give every instrument its own space in the mix so they all sound clear together.
The EQ Frequency Chart above lets you compare frequency ranges across instruments to spot clashes.
What frequency range are vocals?
Male vocals sit roughly 80Hz-12kHz including fundamentals and harmonics. Female vocals range from about 160Hz-14kHz. But the fundamental pitch is only part of the picture - the harmonics, breath sounds, and consonants extend well above the fundamental range.
The common problem zone is 200-500Hz where boxiness and mud build up, especially with close-miked vocals. The 2-5kHz range is where presence lives - a gentle boost here helps vocals cut through a mix, but too much makes them harsh and fatiguing. Air and breathiness sit at 8-14kHz. A high shelf here can add openness, but only if the recording quality supports it.
Select "Vocals" in the EQ Frequency Chart above for a detailed breakdown of every vocal frequency zone.
How do I EQ a kick drum and bass guitar together?
Give each instrument its own frequency territory. The kick drum typically owns the sub range around 50-80Hz - that's where the chest-punch weight comes from. The bass guitar owns the body and note definition at 80-150Hz - that's where you hear the actual notes being played.
Cut 200-350Hz on both to reduce mud. Don't use a low shelf boost on the bass guitar - it lifts everything below the frequency including the sub range where the kick lives, and they'll fight each other. Use a bell boost at the specific frequency you want to enhance instead. Sidechain compression (ducking the bass slightly when the kick hits) also helps them share the low end without masking each other.
Compare kick and bass frequency ranges side by side in the EQ Frequency Chart above.
What is dynamic EQ and when should I use it?
Dynamic EQ is an EQ that only activates when a frequency exceeds a threshold you set. Think of it like a compressor that targets one specific frequency band instead of the whole signal. When the problem frequency is quiet, the EQ does nothing. When it gets loud enough to cross the threshold, the cut kicks in.
Use it for problems that come and go - vocal boxiness that only appears on certain words, bass booming on particular notes, or guitar harshness that only shows up during aggressive strumming. A static EQ cut would be working all the time, even when there's no problem, which can thin out the sound unnecessarily. Dynamic EQ leaves the signal completely untouched the rest of the time, which sounds much more natural.
The EQ Frequency Chart above identifies which problem frequencies are good candidates for dynamic EQ treatment.