EQ Mastering Audio Tips

EQ is the most important part of the mastering process and also the most skilled (p)art of mastering.
There are 4 basic ranges in the frequency spectrum for audio EQing.
Low end, Low mids, High mids, High end.
Low end is from 0-100Hz, Low mids from 100-1000Hz, High mids from 1-5kHz and High end from 5-20kHz.

To get a good master you need each of these frequency ranges to sound just right separately and together as one.

You want the low end to be tight and controlled so there is no boomy sound. Compression can be used in the low end to try and fix low end problems in a mix. I will go into mastering compression more in "Beginners guide to Mastering: Compression"

You want the low mids to be clean. This range is where the muddy sound comes from. So a lot of the time you might want to cut the low mids to get a cleaner sounding master. Try starting with a moderately low Q (wideish) with the gain right down, and sweep the low mids until you hear the tight round low end and no muddiness at all. Then bring up the gain and make the Q tighter until you only get rid of the mud and not the warmth and power of this frequency range.

The high mids are where a lot of clarity comes from, but beware this is the same frequency range where harshness comes from. And harshness is the last thing you want in a master. The harsher a mix, the less the listener will want to listen and the less the listener will be able to enjoy the master. Think smooth when working on the high mids.

The high end is where more clarity and high end sparkle comes from. Try boosting from 12k upwards with a tightish Q, and try boosting with a smaller Q around 5K for presence. Sometimes boosting 3K with a thinish Q can work nice to bring out snare and vocals in a mix.

Hope this helps. This is only to give you a good starting point in understanding how to use EQ to master music.