How to Use EQ Matching

Nowadays, you can quickly and easily get closer to your desired sound by using EQ matching. This process allows you to match the EQ curve of a sample and copy it onto your own recording.

Many plugins do this incredibly well, so we’re going to take a look into some of them in order to have a deeper understanding of how this process works, what it’s good for, and when to use it.

How Does EQ Matching Work?

We all know what it’s like to want a certain sound for our track. You can do loads of research, get the same gear, and record your instruments in a similar way. But you might never achieve the same sound because you don’t know the exact parameters that were used. Of course, the player makes a big difference, but you would imagine you could at least get close.

So then you break out your frequency spectrum plugin and try to match the curves from the reference track. You can try for hours, but at times you’ll feel that you’re getting further away from the intended result.

If you have a good EQ matching plugin, you don’t need to spend all this time searching. Instead, you can simply press a button and the EQ curve will be copied from your reference so you can paste it onto your track.

The way that these plugins work is by analyzing the spectrum from the target track. The more advanced the software, the better it is at understanding what cuts, boosts, and filters were applied. It can then copy this analysis onto another track or save it as a template.

The plugin can then analyze the instrument or track that you recorded and figure out how the frequencies are behaving. Now it will know what needs to be changed to match the reference. It just needs to copy the reference curve onto your track, and you’re much closer to what you want to hear.

When Should I Use EQ Matching?

You can use EQ matching whenever you want to replicate the equalization curve of a certain instrument. This can be useful for getting a sound similar to something you already love. If you’re writing a soundtrack for a spaghetti western, you might want to get a similar guitar sound to what Ennio Morricone used on the title track for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

However, it’s also great as a mastering tool. You may not want to use the exact EQ curve from a certain track, but you could want to head in that direction. You can use EQ matching to get close to that sound, then make any adjustments you find necessary.

If your style is under the pop banner, you can analyze tracks by someone like Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, or The Weeknd. This will give you an idea of how EQ is used on their master tracks. And if you’re looking for a folk sound like Iron and Wine and you don’t have a 4-track tape recorder, you can quickly get that lo-fi sound using EQ matching.

Great Plugins for EQ Matching

Let’s take a look at some plugins with EQ matching capabilities. We’re going to focus on a trio of fantastic plugins by United Plugins: Bassment, Electrum, and Voxessor. The first two were designed with Muramasa and are amp and pedalboard simulators, while Voxessor was designed alongside Soundevice Digital and is a vocal preamp.

While Voxessor is pretty straightforward to use, Electrum and Bassment have a lot of features that can give you many different results. That’s why we’re going to point out some of the highlights of these two plugins rather than go through the whole module step-by-step.

Bassment

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We’ll start with Bassment. This bass multi-effect gives you nine plugins in one. You have amp and cabinet simulators, EQ, a compressor, a sub boost, and more. It’s a fantastic plugin for shaping the sound of your bass like a pro.

The most impressive part of the plugin is the EQ matching. It’s really simple to use and gives you amazing results. Five simple switches and knobs will give you the sound you want: On/Off, Analyze Target Sound, Depth, Output, and Analyze Your Sound.

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If you want to start EQ matching using Bassment, add it to your reference track and begin by switching it on. The interface will light up. Now you can analyze the reference. You need to loop a particular section for seven seconds. Choose a part with no other instruments that could influence the EQ curve for the best results.

Now that it’s been analyzed, you can copy the plugin onto your track and match the EQ. Turn off the Analyze Target Sound button, turn on the Analyze Your Sound, and repeat the process of looping. After a few seconds, your track will have the same EQ curve as the target sound. With the Depth knob, you can choose how much it will affect your track (like a Dry/Wet knob). And the Output knob allows you to boost or cut the gain so that you can gain stage throughout the process.

As you can see from the images below, the original bass sound had less low-end to begin with, and the mids and highs slowly dropped as we moved up the spectrum. After matching the EQ, the low end is fuller, there are higher dynamics between frequencies in the mids, and the highs have a slight boost between 10k and 20kHz.

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Now that you’ve matched the EQ, you can focus on working on other parts of your sound. There are nine digital stompboxes, which can be set in any order you want. The names appear at the top of the interface in different colors, and you just need to drag them from side to side.

You can select a preset for the whole plugin, which will automatically choose settings for all the parameters, or you can select a preset on the individual stompboxes. This gives you an enormous amount of freedom in getting a perfect and unique sound.

One of the standouts on Bassment is the Sub module. It gives you amazing low-end using three simple parameters: sub level, dry level, and bass level. The presets will quickly give you a great sound, or you can manually dial them in. It’s perfect for getting lower textures, and not just on bass. You can use this plugin on any instrument to get superb low-end. Position this module before the amp unit, and you can add some harmonics to the sub-level.

Another amazing feature is the Analyze Input Level setting. If you’re recording your signal directly, Bassment will analyze the input and automatically set the right gain level. Of course, you can still make adjustments manually using the Input, Output, and Tube knobs. There’s even a limiter and a tuner built-in, so you really have it all.

Electrum

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Next up, we have Electrum. This was designed by Muramasa as well and is similar to Bassment. It’s focused on guitars, so it has a few different features, like delay and reverb. In terms of the EQ Matching unit, it works exactly the same way.

After turning it on and running through the analysis process, your guitar can sound like your heroes’. By taking a look at the images below, you can see how much the matching process can shape your guitar sound.

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You can quickly see that the original sound had a sharp drop on the low end and the highest levels were in the low-mids. After that, it steadily drops, with not much content in the highs. After applying the EQ matching, there are higher levels of lows, and the strongest frequencies are around 1000Hz.

Once you’ve matched the EQ, keep experimenting to get a sound that’s unique to you. Go through the different parameters on Electrum and build off of the great foundation of the target sound. Just like Bassment, this plugin has an interchangeable order for the stompboxes, so you can really get creative.

One of the highlights of this processor is the Amp setup. This gives you five different amp types for different gain levels. Blue is clean, and Black is heavily distorted, with Yellow, Orange, and Red being in between. You can still modify the gain using the central knob, as well as plenty of other parameters.

Another standout is the EQ rig. It’s a graphic equalizer, so the frequencies are fixed values, which Muramasa Audio have chosen according to their calculations, so you can easily get a great sound. And then there’s the X fader. This secret weapon is going to sculpt your guitar sound to give it the edge it needs.

A lot of the stompbox units are similar between Bassment and Electrum, but while the bass plugin has an amazing Sub boost, for guitars you get extra distortion, delay, and reverb modules.

Another similar feature is Analyze Input Level, but with a great twist. Electrum comes with a Bassman knob. This analyzes the root of the chords you’re playing and allows you to add some fantastic low-end notes. It doesn’t copy everything you’re playing and lower it, just the most important notes to give your guitar some extra groove.

Voxessor

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Finally, let’s take a look at the Voxessor by United Plugins and Soundevice Digital. The EQ matching tool is very different from Bassment and Electrum, but gives you incredible results nonetheless.

This plugin has input and output knobs, compression, a gate, and a built-in de-esser. It also has what’s called Intelligent Matching, where your vocal take will be analyzed for its character. Soundevice Digital included ideal voicings in the software so that the matching program will give you the ideal EQ curve according to its algorithm. You can dial in this signal using the match knob, which goes from 0 to 100 percent.

The voice analyzer gives you a great starting point. After that, you can use the other amazing parameters to mix your vocals perfectly. You can choose different voicings, depending on the singer. Adjust between man, guy, woman, and girl for varied results. The wetness of this signal can be modified using the Intensity knob.

The de-esser is another incredible function that is so simple to use. The spectrum has already been set between 3,2 and 7,4kHz, and there’s a Depth knob, so you can make the sibilant dynamics more or less intense.

There are also very easy-to-use compressor and gate modules, varying between 0 and 100 percent. If that’s not enough, play around with the input and output knobs to get some deeper compression and saturation. The visualizer on the right will give you an accurate representation of how hard you’re influencing the gain.

Final Thoughts

So that’s what you need to know about EQ matching. It’s a fantastic tool that can get you a lot closer to your target sound in a short amount of time. It can be used on instruments, vocals, or even master tracks so you can sculpt your EQ curve to match your favorite references closely.

Many great plugins have the ability to EQ match, and United Plugins have three amazing examples. Bassment, Electrum, and Voxessor are really easy to use, give you quick results, and can stand up against plenty of other plugins.

Don’t forget that these plugins can give you a fantastic outcome on other instruments despite being designed for bass, guitar, and vocals. Who wouldn’t want to try Bassment’s Sub parameters on a kick drum or Electrum’s Distortion box to give some textured power to a pad? As long as you can find the sound you want, you’re doing it right.