Cakewalk 30th Anniversary Celebration

30 QuadCurve EQ Presets for Fabulous Filtering

Ah yes…the QuadCurve. It not only provides the functionality you

These 30 presets provide a variety of ways to use the QuadCurve

Please note that the presets load only the QuadCurve EQ, so you’re
on your own if you want to add other ProChannel modules.
However, it’s easy to transfer these EQ settings to an existing
ProChannel setup:

1. Choose the Console view.

3. Ctrl+click on the small QuadCurve graph in the console channel (not the graph in the
ProChannel), and drag into the small target QuadCurve graph.

Note that presets are a point of departure; you’ll often need to do some tweaks based on the
instrument or musical context. So we won’t just love you and leave you—each preset has
suggestions on which parameters you should consider for tweaking, and how those tweaks
affect the sound. So…let’s do some fabulous filtering.

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1. Airy Background Vocals. This will help you get those massed, airy background vocals like
10cc’s “I’m Not In Love.” Adjust the HP Freq to dial in the correct amount of low
frequencies, and the High stage gain to vary the brightness.

2. All About the Bass. I call this a “mesa” response because it resemble the mesas in the
southwest. It can bring up the kick and low toms in a drum track, or the bass in program
material. You can “focus” to narrower or broader range of frequencies by changing the
Low or High Mid band Freq, placing the Lo Mid band in between them, and adjusting the
Lo Mid gain (and possibly Q) to produce the most even response.

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3. Amp Sim Mellower. The LP stage introduces a sharp dropoff around 5 kHz (like a real
cabinet). Raise the Freq for more highs. The High Mid stage gives more articulation, but
if the sound is harsh, reduce its Gain. You probably won’t need to change the HP
frequency because it’s mostly about reducing frequencies below the guitar’s range.

4. Amp Sim Tamer. Amp sims sometimes have “fizzy,” buzzy annoying frequencies. Use
the Lo Mid Freq control to tune this out; the frequency will likely be in the range of 2.5
to 10 kHz. The LP Freq shaves off the highs that typically aren’t present in cabinets,
while the High Shelf increases the perceived treble to compensate for the notch filter
that takes out the annoying frequency.

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5. Bass Amp Push Growl. If you’re using a bass amp sim that has some built-in growly
distortion (e.g., the CA-X Bass Growl or Bass Rock amps), the Low Mid boost will cause
those frequencies to go into distortion before other frequencies, which increases the
amount of growl and makes for a more aggressive bass sound. Increase the Lo Mid Gain
for more growl, change the Freq to focus on different bass frequencies.

6. Bass Pick Emphasis. This accents pick noise and harmonics, which can make a bass more
prominent in a mix without increasing the level per se. Adjust the amount of Hi Mid
boost to taste.

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7. Bass Round and Smooth. Use this when you want the bass to own only the lower
frequencies. Edit the LP Freq for the treble response; the Low stage boosts the bass’s
lowest notes. If this “fights” with a kick drum, move the Low Freq a bit higher (e.g., 100
Hz) and narrow the Q (higher values). Note that this uses the QuadCurve’s “Pure” curve
for a broad, gentle response.

8. Bass Tight Low End Boost. The sharp HP filter tightens the overall sound by reducing the
very lowest frequencies, while the Low boost emphasizes the lower bass notes.

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9. Create Space for Male Vocals. You’d apply this to something like a guitar or piano track
if it masks some of the male vocal frequencies. Edit the Lo Mid Freq to cover the range
covered by the vocals, and create more space for them by reducing the Gain further.
The Hi Mid dip is optional; it reduces frequencies where vocal intelligibility occurs.

10. Crisper Drums. The Low band reduction reduces “mud” to tighten the sound, while the
High shelf brings out more “sizzle” and crispness. The key to changing the effect is
editing the Gain parameters for the Low and High bands.

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11. Digital Hash Tamer. Some digital gear, particularly older instruments, generate high
frequencies that aren’t needed and can contribute to a certain kind of harshness. This
uses a steep HP filter to take out most of the super-high frequencies, along with four
stages set to notch out high frequencies (at 17, 18, 19, and 20 kHz) even further.

12. Drums More Kick and Sizzle. This uses the “mesa” response described earlier to bring
up the kick, and a High band boost to bring up percussion, cymbals, etc. For information
on editing the mesa, see the description for in “All About the Bass.” Vary the High gain
to determine the amount of brightness.

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13. Drums to the Front. The Lo Mid band reduces “mud” around 170 Hz, while the Low
band accents the kick, the Hi Mid band emphasizes the snare and higher toms, and the
High band adds brightness (supplemented by the Gloss stage). To change the amount of
emphasis in each section, simply vary the appropriate Gain control.

14. Dynamic Mic Enhancer. Dynamic mics tend to have a darker/warmer sound than
condenser mics, as well as a tendency toward exhibiting the proximity effect that boosts
bass. Vary the HP Freq to control the amount of proximity effect, and the High Gain to
increase or decrease frequencies in the intelligibility range.
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15. House Music Drums. Most house music loops are equalized similarly to this curve, but
applying these settings on other drum loops makes them more “house music-friendly.”
The Low band boosts the kick, the High Shelf increases brightness, and the Hi Mid dips
the midrange around 830 Hz to give more space to vocals and other instruments.

16. Humbucker to Single-Coil Converter. Although not an exact emulation, this timbral
change creates a very useful alternative sound with humbuckers. Analysis captured the
spectral response of a bridge humbucker, then the response of that same pickup
rewired for single-coil operation, and finally, created a curve that matched the standard
humbucker to the single-coil version sound.

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17. Less Mud and Tighten. For program material whose overall sound lacks tightness and
sounds somewhat “muddy” or “boxy,” lower the Lo Mid Gain control to tighten further,
or raise to let some of the mud back in.

18. More “In Your Face.” This is applicable to individual tracks or program material. Be
careful, though; the ear is most sensitive in the 3 kHz range covered by the Hi Mid band,
so a little goes a long way. Don’t use this on every track in a mix, just the one or two that
need to be more “in your face.” If the sound is too harsh, lower the Hi Mid gain a bit.

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19. More Snare Snap. The Hi Mid bump at 3100 Hz adds punch and snap to snare drum
sounds. Although it works well with individual drum tracks, it will work with some
program material to pull the snare out a bit from the mix (however it may affect other
instruments as well).

20. Open Back Cabinet Emulator. Open-back guitar amps tend to have less bass response
because the waves emanating from the back cancel the waves coming out the front to
some degree. Dial in this amount of pseudo-cancellation with the HP Freq control.

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21. Percussion Enhancer. This is for percussion like congas, talking drums, frame drums, etc.
that emphasizes low frequencies. The HP filter reduces very low frequencies (which may
be too prominent when close-miking), while the Lo, Lo Mid, and Hi Mid controls boost at
particular frequencies. You probably won’t want to increase the boost much, but do
experiment with the Freq controls to dial in regions that best emphasize the percussion.

22. Piano Classical Grand. Some piano virtual instruments are recorded fairly “bright” to fit
in well with rock and country music. If you want a more classical grand piano sound, try
this preset. The High band reduces the brightness, while the Low and Lo Mid bands give
more “authority” to the bass notes.
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23. Piano Rock. This does the opposite of the previous preset—it takes classical piano
sounds and makes them more rock-friendly. The High shelf increases the brightness,
while the mild Lo Mid cut makes more space for other instruments and reduce
muddiness. The Low band adds an optional low frequency boost because the Lo Mid cut
reduces the perceived bass.

24. P-Pop Stopper. If your recorded vocal has p-pops, this may be all you need to fix the
problem. The HP control is crucial; vary the Freq control to trade off low frequency
depth for less pronounced p-pops. The Low band adds a steep notch to make the HP’s
slope even more drastic than the 48 dB/octave setting.
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25. Reduce Honk. This “reverse mesa” response reduces frequencies around 1 kHz. Try it on
program material to smooth out the midrange a bit, on acoustic guitar tracks that use a
piezo pickup, and some electric guitar tracks. For info on tweaking the mesa, please
refer to the “All About the Bass” preset.

26. Reduce Subsonics and DC Offset. You can’t hear subsonic signals or DC offset, but they
reduce the available headroom—so you might as well get rid of them. This uses the
steepest possible HP setting, and the Low, Lo Mid, and Hi Mid stages to attenuate the
low frequencies even more. So why the High stage boost at 37 Hz? This helps make for a
flatter response just above the “cliff.”

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27. Scoop. The Hi Mid control provides a fairly deep midrange scoop, while the Low band
boosts the bass a bit and the High band does the same for the highest frequencies. The
highs and lows seem more apparent because of their levels compared to the lowered
midrange. Try this on amp sims, program material, and drums if a track is really busy.

28. Tambourine Tamer. Tambourines are loaded with high-frequency content that can
dominate a track, even if they’re mixed at a fairly low level. The HP filter takes out the
lows (which can happen from “hand thumps” against the tambourine frame (or shell).
Edit the Hi Mid Freq to dial in where the tambourine high-frequency energy is most
prominent, and use the Gain control to set the amount of “taming.”
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29. Telephone / Megaphone Voice. The HP and LP filters remove the highs and lows, while
the Hi Mid band emphasizes the remaining frequencies. Increase the Hi Mid gain for a
more pronounced effect, or lower it for a subtler megaphone.

Voice Broadcasting / Podcasting. For a “radio voice,” the HP takes out plosives and
pops, the Low band offsets the bass loss caused by the HP filter, Lo Mid creates a slight
midrange notch, the Hi Mid band and Gloss increase intelligibility, while the High band is
a high-frequency shelf. The E-Type curve is the response of choice. Because of the vast
variation in voices and mics, experiment with the Freq and Gain controls.

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