Hey, I just stumbled across this thread (can you call two posts a thread?), and saw no one had gotten back to you about it. I'm checking out your sample, and I would like to get back to you after I listen to the sample a bit and think about what you say you're interests are.
Meanwhile, addressing EQ, I have learned the hard way over the years that the best approach to think ing about EQ is to exercise subtlety and restraint. Subtract frequencies first, before adding anything. I think that a natural tendency for some is to increase settings, rather than decrease them.
Listen to your recording and think about the one most important thing you think really needs to be corrected. Is too much bass really too much bass, or is it really not enough mids or highs? A lot of folks have decided that if something sounds bottom heavy, they just need to boost the mids and highs a bit to flesh it out a bit. This could be the solution in some instances, but in many cases, it could mean you're just adding unneccesary layers of noise to your recording. Maybe you really want to roll back some of the low-end frequencies a bit, and learn to listen in between each set of frequencies as you go. You will possibly find that all the mids and highs you need are there already, and a few stray low-end frequencies were just masking them.
That's just an example of a way to think about EQ-ing that might be helpful to you. There's a lot more detailed info that I won't bore you with, partly because I'm not very good with the technical lingo - I'm more of a hands-on guy, and I tend to use my ear more than to follow a strict mathematical approach. Although I will say that the guys who follow the technical rules have some excellent knowledge to share as well - I just don't speak that language very well.
Hope any of this is helpful to you!
I'm trying to get smarter on how I do EQ - I understand the principles in a very general way and have read the stickies, but I am looking for more targeted advice. I also want to avoid the instinct to post-process things that don't need it, as every playback system is different.
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Technique and mic choice aside, I want to think about how to post-process, or whether this recording even would benefit from it, other than a normal amplification. The bass response doesn't strike me as overwhelming, especially on a decent playback system, though again, I am wondering if there is a specific low frequency I could trim to make it a touch less muddy. I'm also indecisive about the treble.
Anyway, I know there is no silver bullet ever, but if you have specific suggestions of what you think this recording could use, I'd be interested to hear them.