Curve EQ by Voxengo - Layering Made Easy

Tutorial | Oct 31, 2024

In this video, I rediscovered an old plugin called Curve EQ, which I've had for around 20 years and find invaluable for layering drum loops by using its match EQ feature to remove overlapping frequencies. Instead of constantly adjusting a regular EQ, I've shown how to use Curve EQ to statically match and inverse the frequency spectrum of a simple kick and snare loop with another drum loop, achieving perfect layering without CPU strain. I also expressed a wish for some of these features to be integrated into the main GUI for easier access, and suggested it to the developer, Alexei.

You can watch the Video on Youtube

• support me on Patreon
• Voxengo CurveEQ

Summary #

Maybe you don't watch the video, here are some important takeaways:

In this video, I dove into the exploration of an old plugin that I've revisited after many years, something that tends to happen when I momentarily trade older plugins for newer, flashier ones. This time around, I'm focusing on Curve EQ, a plugin I've had for about 20 years, and explaining its richness of features through an example.

I started with a very basic kick and snare loop, which I described as lacking top and texture layers, essentially serving as a foundational synth layer for a drum and bass loop. To enhance this loop, I decided to layer it with another drum loop that I had prepared. This additional loop also contained a kick and snare, thereby overlapping into many of the same frequencies, but also occupying some unique frequencies not present in the initial loop.

To mesh these loops effectively, rather than using a conventional EQ to adjust frequencies manually, I opted for a match EQ approach. Instead of my usual go-to match EQ, the Ozone 8, I utilized the Curve EQ plugin. I expressed how sometimes the newer plugins may not offer the precise features needed for certain tasks and highlighted the utility of Curve EQ through this example.

The process involved using Curve EQ to analyze the frequency spectrum of the initial kick and snare loop and capturing a snapshot of it. I then moved this snapshot to our new drum loop, repeating the analysis and capturing another snapshot. By setting the first spectrum as the reference and the second as the target, I used the plugin to match the two spectrums but opted for an inversion. This inversion allowed me to effectively carve out frequencies in the second drum loop that were already occupied in the first loop, facilitating a harmonious layering or merging of sounds.

I discussed how this static EQ matching is particularly beneficial compared to dynamic EQs like Soothe or DSEQ3, which tend to be processor-intensive and constantly fluctuate with the audio. Curve EQ, with its static application, offers a more stable and CPU-efficient alternative. I also demonstrated the unique feature of selecting, adding, or removing specific EQ points manually within Curve EQ, allowing greater customization beyond just the amount and smoothing knobs typically found in other match EQs.

Finally, I extended advice to those who've ignored this plugin over time or are unfamiliar with its capabilities, recommending they give it a try in similar layering contexts. However, I also suggested a few interface improvements for the developer, such as integrating key features from the pop-up menu into the main GUI for quicker access. I wrapped up by inviting viewers to leave feedback on the video and expressing thanks for their viewership.

Transcription #

This is what im talking about in this video. The text is transcribed by AI, so it might not be perfect. If you find any mistakes, please let me know.
You can also click on the timestamps to jump to the right part of the video, which should be helpful.

[00:00:00] Hey folks welcome back this is another video kind of the same thing as in yesterday's video
[00:00:06] where i rediscovered an old plugin an old friend and sometimes i leave these plugins for newer and
[00:00:13] flashier plugins but i always come back to them over the years and rediscover their richness of
[00:00:20] features okay so here we have a very simple kick and snare loop it sounds like this
[00:00:27] right very basic it lacks top and some textures on top so it's just basically the synth or the basic
[00:00:39] synth layer for a drum bass loop so kick and e-kick and e-snare very basic so let's say i want to layer
[00:00:46] in here some drum loops i have something here prepared let's pull this in so i have this drum
[00:00:56] loop here also kick and snare in there a lot of overlapping frequencies but also a lot of
[00:01:01] frequencies uh not being in the first uh yeah synth or basic synth kick and snare loop here so
[00:01:09] what we need to do is we need to eq out some of the frequency frequencies we already have here
[00:01:20] uh with this kick in the snare right so let's um cut this here and what you can do is you can
[00:01:27] just take an eq5 eq plus or some random eq and just eq around all the time but what what i do lately or
[00:01:36] recently is i use a match eq and i don't use my usual match eq which is the ozone
[00:01:42] uh eighth thing i use um the curve eq which is a very old plugin and i have this probably for around
[00:01:51] 20 years and like i said i sometimes leave these old plugins for newer flashier ones
[00:01:57] and that's most of the times okay but sometimes you need more features right so here we have this curve
[00:02:03] eq on the drum loop and we want to move it first to the drum bus here so we analyze or we can analyze
[00:02:12] the kick and the snare here so let's do this for a moment open up here the static and match feature
[00:02:25] so now we just took here a snapshot of this frequency spectrum of this kick and snare
[00:02:39] synth loop and we now can move not copy not clone we just move it down to the strum loop so there's no
[00:02:49] curvy cue anymore here on the drum bus it's now on this drum loop so here we can do the same thing
[00:02:55] right we open up here the static and match pop-up and we also want to analyze now the spectrum of
[00:03:02] this drum loop and then we want to take a snapshot so let's do this here
[00:03:05] so that's it so we took here a snapshot into the second slot and now we can do something like say
[00:03:27] the first spectrum is our reference and the second one is our spectrum we want to apply all the changes to
[00:03:33] so then we match the spectrums here with some points we can choose between a lot of different options here
[00:03:41] but let's say we want to have 40 nodes so match spectrum you can see we have now here this wacky eq curve
[00:03:48] so what this plug-in now tries to do is it tries to figure out the spectrum of the first
[00:03:57] uh kick and snare loop and it tries to apply it to the drum loop here to actually match in
[00:04:04] the frequency distribution that's not what we want to do we actually want to do the opposite and you can
[00:04:11] do this with this plug in here pretty easily by just hitting this button here called inversion
[00:04:17] um or invert right so we can invert this curve so now with this we can also change the amount of course
[00:04:24] um so now we eq out all the frequencies from this drum group here from this drum loop and that's perfect
[00:04:35] for layering or mashing these sounds together because we remove all the frequencies we already have with
[00:04:42] this kick in the snare from this drum loop and leave in all the frequencies that we don't have in the first
[00:04:48] kick in snare drum loop right so it's perfect so this is how it sounds now
[00:04:58] maybe too loud
[00:05:07] yeah and you can see it here on this on the graph we eq out the kick drum here and also the snare drum
[00:05:26] and then we boost here all the top end and we really um check out what frequency wise
[00:05:34] all the stuff from the drum loop into the first drum loop so it's basically perfect and do this
[00:05:41] sometimes also for percussion loops also for um drum and bass when you have a bass sound that has a lot
[00:05:48] of overtones you just you know analyze the spectrum of the uh drum bars and then you eq all the stuff out on
[00:05:56] the bass bass okay so you can say well why not use something like sooth or something like dseq3
[00:06:05] the problem with this is that these kind of plugins are very um cpu hungry most of the times and the
[00:06:14] spectrum is not static so they try to analyze constantly and constantly change also the frequency
[00:06:20] spectrum so this one is completely static you apply one eq curve that is perfectly static in time it
[00:06:28] doesn't change and you can count on it and of course um here the cpu or the latency is not that big
[00:06:36] we can also um switch this here to minimum phase if you have problems with some uh
[00:06:42] swooshy kind of sounds because uh when you have this here in linear phase right you have some drastic
[00:06:47] eq changes here it can sound kind of weird um and when this minimum minimum phase button here uh you can
[00:07:04] bring back the snap or the percussion percussion ness of the the sound of the of the drums so in my opinion
[00:07:14] very nice to have um on top of that you can also not only match just the spectrum you can also just
[00:07:21] select your multiple points let's say at the low end and you can apply a different amount right or just
[00:07:28] invert it or maybe use your shift and double click and remove all these notes bring on your own notes or
[00:07:36] maybe make here a low cut something like this change the range so we can pull this down
[00:07:42] and you can also select your only the top end and then you stand here the mount knob and only change this
[00:07:51] or just a few points or add points or remove points so you have all the um options uh for matching one
[00:08:00] spectrum to the other and if i use ozone but also enough just an amount knob and a smoothing knob and
[00:08:07] that's it i can't invert the spectrum i can't select points remove uh your for instance the base matching
[00:08:13] so sometimes when you let's say you have a drum loop right and you want to match this drum loop to a
[00:08:18] frequency spectrum of a full range track of an um yeah of a ready master track where there's this
[00:08:25] base in there a low sub in there and you match the spectrum and then of course on your drum loop you
[00:08:32] have no sub right so this magic you then tries to boost here the sub ends to no end and you can just
[00:08:38] step in here and just remove this or remove these notes and completely remove it from the
[00:08:43] matching process which is sometimes really nice to have so um that's what i want to show you here in
[00:08:50] this video curve eq is very old probably a lot of you have already this in place maybe try it out next
[00:08:58] time you want to layer something it's very nice and if this video is watched by alexei maybe alexei you can
[00:09:06] bring in some of these features of this pop up pop up here into the main gui to have some quick access
[00:09:12] access because you need to open up this pop up all the time and it's a bit annoying over time
[00:09:17] so it'd be nice to have something like here the reference button or the apply to button here in
[00:09:22] place right so you analyze the spectrum you hit reference this button and then it takes a snapshot
[00:09:29] and then puts it also at the same time into the reference slot same thing with apply to and then
[00:09:36] maybe here match spectrums uh button here that uses um then i don't know 30 points so just to have some
[00:09:42] quick access to these uh features outside of this pop-up would be nice to have um that's it for this
[00:09:49] video thanks for watching uh leave a like uh let me know what you think in the comments down below
[00:09:54] See you in the next video and bye.