Internalize these nine frequencies and make faster, more accurate EQ decisions for life.
Pivot EQ lab
Choose a frequency. Shape it. Hear it.
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Selected pivot
200 Hz·Thickness & Mud
Pink noise makes frequency changes easy to identify. Drag the coral node to change gain and snap between pivots. Start listening low; toggle Bypass EQ to compare. Local audio files stay on your device.
What it feels like
200 Hz—Thickness & Mud
Almost everything overlaps here. Too little feels hollow; too much leaves the whole mix bloated.
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Boost to…
Add authority to a vocal or body to a bright, pingy piano.
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Cut to…
Clear gunk from acoustic guitars and pads, or improve separation between sub and mid instruments.
The full framework
Read the eBook below — or grab the PDF
Stories, reference tracks, and expanded boost-and-cut examples for every pivot point.
If you’re serious about creating professional, polished mixes, wielding EQ with confidence and authority is critical. Tell me if you’ve said any of the following during a service:
“That vocal sounds thin and tinny, like she’s stuck in a Folgers can.”
“I can’t make out the lead electric parts. They feel distant, muddy, and dull.”
“The cymbals feel WAY too bright and edgy. And just plain painful!”
Good thing — we can address those tonal problems with EQ, your most powerful audio tool.
Bad thing — you won’t find an “un-bright” knob, a “bail me out of a Folgers can” button, or a “de-mud” parameter.
Your console doesn’t speak the same language as you. Humans describe sound with adjectives. Equalizers measure sound with math. I’d say Shaq is insanely tall; a piece of gear would say he’s 7'1".
The solution: learn to translate the adjectives and analogies you hear while mixing into actionable EQ moves — the same translation your car stereo already does with BASS and TREBLE knobs.
That’s the 9 EQ Pivot Points.
Nine key frequencies, each with two adjectives. Here’s it in action:
Listen and isolate a specific tonal problem (muddy vocals, harsh cymbals).
Describe the issue using one of the adjectives in the framework.
Cut or boost the associated frequency (pivot point).
This is way more powerful than memorizing a few EQ curves or leaning on presets. I’m teaching you to fish.
Best part: you only have to remember three numbers — 5, 1, and 2. Those give you the starting digit for each frequency. Then add the appropriate zeros:
After you put this to work, email me at michael@producedbymkc.com. I’d love to hear how it lands. Now hop to it.
Up first, 50 Hz, our subby friend all bass heads love. This is waaay down in the basement, the foundation of our mix. It’s what rattles my brother’s pickup truck and gives Kanye a career.
Single out 50 Hz and you’re quite close to the fundamental of a low G on a bass guitar. You’ll find the core and body of a kick drum down there as well.
Boost to…
make your kick drum hit you in the chest harder. Because everyone loves that oh-so-powerful feeling.
add some depth to bass guitar (Use a low shelf. Boosting with a narrow Q on parametric will make just that one note (G) stick out too much).
Cut to…
make room for your bass guitar to sit “under” your kick. Two instruments competing for the same parking space can get dicey, so cut 50 Hz on your kick to make a nice deep pocket for your bass guitar to live.
prevent low frequencies from drowning out higher frequencies. Low end’s hard to control since it usually takes longer to decay (go away) than high frequencies. Tightening things up here gives your mix more focus.
Next is 100 Hz, that friend who wants to give you a bear hug every time you see him. He’s a bit two faced, though. Warm and cuddly most times, but will turn around and punch you if you make him mad (Dad joke alert. Sorry, not sorry.)
I like to think about 50 Hz vs 100 Hz this way — 50 Hz slugs you in the chest, 100 Hz punches you in the throat.
We can learn from live sound here. Many subwoofers start to hand off custody to the main PA around 100 Hz (depending on where your frequency divider is). So, if you feel like the low end overall gets out of hand, I’d check your subwoofer balance to make sure it’s playing nice with your mains. In the same way, we can treat our 100 Hz and below range like our subwoofer balance (you might even have a sub in your studio).
Boost to…
bring PHATNESS to your snare. Bethel’s You Make Me Brave record has a fantastically PHAT drum kit accompanied by a wonderfully warm bass guitar.
give keys a stronger foundation when in a sparser band context. Many acoustic sets lack bass instruments, so championing a rhodes or synth carrying the bottom makes all the difference.
Cut to…
remove “throatiness” in a vocal or rack tom. Buildups in the 100–150 Hz range often sound “hoot-ey” as well (Blowfish not included).
stop your bass guitar from stepping on the kick drum. The 50 Hz region of a bass still provides the foundation, but a hole at 100 Hz will make room for the kick to punch through.
Ah, beloved 200 Hz. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. Here’s exactly why most folks struggle with 200 Hz — every instrument in your mix overlaps here. Drums, guitars, keys, vocals, shakers, didgeridoos, EVERYTHING.
A lack of 200 Hz makes a mix feel hollow and weak, but too much leaves you more bloated than Ron Swanson post-breakfast. I’m very selective with what instruments heavily occupy real estate in this range, especially if it’s a vocal-heavy mix.
Boost to…
add authority and meat to a vocal. Useful if they tracked far away from the mic (the proximity effect in action).
give body to a solo acoustic piano. It helps if said piano is especially “ping-ey” and bright.
Cut to…
clear out gunk in acoustic guitars and droney pads. As sure as the morning sun, there’s a buildup here in these instruments. Often rhythm electrics, too.
create separation between sub and mid instruments. Try it across your stereo mix and see if it helps bring some definition.
Ok, I know I’m reaching pretty far to come up with words like boxy and gargle…but stick with me. 500 Hz sounds like cardboard feels. And as for gargle, you know when you go to the dentist and they use a funny little tube to suck your face off after squirting a ton of ice cold water all over your teeth? THAT’S 500 Hz.
500 Hz functions like a bassist. Too busy? Super annoying. Not enough? Mix lacks energy. Just right? Now we’re cookin’ with Cold War peanut oil. It’s the life and center of your mix.
Just like 200 Hz, most instruments possess a good bit of energy at 500 Hz as well, so ration accordingly. Phil’s vocal on Great Things exemplifies 500 Hz like a champ. So does Darth Vader’s breathing.
Boost to…
bring out the “bottle pop” in your snare. The 1975 has that sound on lock.
add density to a droney pad or synth. This quickly gets out of hand, but a mix feels bigger with a stronger supporting cast.
Cut to…
clear out the “cheap” sound in a budget guitar amp. 500 Hz commonly builds up in electric guitars, even if you’ve got a Dumble.
stop the sneaky acoustic guitar from taking over your mix. Even though small in size, acoustics take up a GIANT amount of sonic real estate. Hack away if it interferes with some rich electric lines or steady keys.
Moving on up to 1 kHz (1,000 Hz). We’re now sitting smack dab in the middle of our human hearing range. I want you to pinch your nose and say the words, “Hi, my name is Squidward Q. Tentacles.”
1. I just got you to talk about SpongeBob’s second best friend. 2. Squidward embodies exactly what 1 kHz sounds like, nasally. 3. 1 kHz also reminds me of talking on a rotary telephone. It’s intelligible, but unnatural.
Second exercise: Can you click your tongue against the roof of your mouth? If not, at least knock on a wooden door? 1 kHz again.
Boost to…
make vocals more “in your face” without making them brighter. Joan’s Love Somebody Like You does a beautiful job with this.
give more “knuckles” and aggression to rhythm electrics. A little goes a long way here.
Cut to…
tame a nasally sounding vocal. The beginnings of consonants often stick out here. Try a dynamic EQ if you want to get fancy (I like Tokyo Dawn’s Nova).
simmer down an overly “thwacky” tom — the drum, not your best friend from high school.
We’ve officially arrived in the top end at 2 kHz. Folks usually hear problems in this frequency range first (which makes sense, since the most sensitive part of the human ear is 2–5 kHz).
A lift at 2 kHz can rescue what was once muffled and bring intelligibility. Too much, though, and things get pinched and brittle. I can always tell if I’m bringing in excess 2 kHz if I start squinting like Clint Eastwood. The vocal on Caught Air has plenty of 2 kHz.
2 kHz feels geometric. It’s got a hard edge to it. It’s the “click-y” attack on a kick drum. The grit and buzz on a distorted electric. The dictation and consonance in a vocal. The cayenne pepper in your secret chili recipe (I guess it’s not a secret anymore).
Boost to…
add energy to lackluster percussion. Shakers and tambourines = mix makers. Definitely don’t underestimate them.
bring a vocal forward in a mix. Sometimes that’s all it needs to push it over the top and sit just above the band with clarity.
Cut to…
relax a vocalist who’s singing a bit too high for their range. Vocal chords tend to strain and add some unpleasant artifacts in the top end when pushed hard.
tame an overly bright lead electric guitar. Some overdrive/dirt pedals add a bit too much here, especially on hard-picked transients.
5 kHz. We’ve now safely left the world of fundamentals and are 98% harmonics. This range sounds more like noise than it does music. Presence makes sense to me here since 5 kHz demands your acknowledgement. Your ears can’t help but pay attention. Like its edgy neighbor (2 kHz), too much 5 kHz brings ear fatigue, fast.
Ever had a cat angrily hiss at you? That’s what 5 kHz sounds like. (I honestly encourage you to recreate these sounds with your mouth and internalize them. They’ll stick more, promise.)
The “ch” consonant (as in churro) in human speech hangs here, too. It’s not technically an “s” sound, but a de-esser can help smooth out this area if needed.
Boost to…
get some CRACK on your snare drum. A snare with both PHATNESS and CRACK is my cup of tea.
make your acoustic guitar function like a shaker in a percussion-less mix. If there’s plenty of other tonal instruments in the mix, you can shift your acoustic guitar over to this more rhythmic role.
Cut to…
soften harsh cymbals. Or just throw your B8’s in the trash and buy some awesome dark, washy Istanbul cymbals.
create separation between your background and lead vocals. Leave the 5 kHz on the lead so they’ve got some bite to stand out with.
Up, up, and away to 10 kHz. It’s how all good fried chicken should be — crispy. Say “sizzle” out loud and take a listen. Chances are, both of the “s” sounds you just said contained quite a bit of 10 kHz.
Note here the snappy attack of your drums (think bottom snare), the splash on your cymbals, sizzly synth leads, the tippy top of your vocals, and the metallic quality in tambourines.
An excess of 10 kHz doesn’t “hurt” your ears like 2–5 kHz would, but the mix starts to feel strident and just plain annoying. On the flip side, not enough 10 kHz representation and things get dull, lifeless, and boring.
Boost to…
add “snap” to your snare. Ok, I promise this guide isn’t sponsored by Rice Krispies. BUT, 10 kHz gives you snap, 5 kHz gives you crackle, 500 Hz gives you pop.
give your vocals that elusive “expensive sound”. Many sought after vintage microphones have a lift in this area. Try a high shelf and see what magic happens.
Cut to…
make a rhythmic element in a mix less prominent and driving. I do this often on trashy shakers.
reduce sibilance in a pinch. A de-esser’s the best tool for the job, but you may not have one in a live situation. Cut too much, though, and they sound like they’re singing behind a snuggie.
We’ve made it to the penthouse suite, 20 kHz. As many of you know, most humans can’t physiologically hear 20 kHz. It’s simply too high. However, we hear frequencies near that range (15–18 kHz).
Air hits the nail on the head connotatively. It’s the breathy top end of a female vocal. The zing in a flying mosquito. I’m often tempted to add some extra pizazz up here, but too much energy up there brings an artificial and plastic quality to the mix.
Boost to…
add polish and shine to your vocal group. Start with a high shelf at 10 kHz and listen for what it does to 20 kHz as well.
bring some life to distant ambient/room mics. Carefully listen to your noise floor, though.
Cut to…
tame an overly choppy acoustic. Like I said earlier, acoustic guitars take up a ton of sonic real estate. The low E starts at 81 Hz and the string noise zips all the way up to 20 kHz!
soften sharp tambourine hits. Compression (or limiting) can help in this situation, too. Just make sure and have an ultra fast attack time (<1 ms).
Printable one-pager
The 9 EQ Pivot Points
Works best taped near the console — or shared with your tech director and worship pastor.
