EQ

Color category, instrument-level.

A three-band channel EQ: one control for the low end, one for the middle, one for the top. Where Tone tilts the whole instrument with a single knob, this lets you name the part you want to change.

Controls

Low. A shelf on the bottom end. Turned up it adds weight and body, turned down it clears boom and rumble. Flat at the centre.

Mid. A bell in the middle, where most instruments do their talking. Turned up it brings a part forward, turned down it hollows it out and makes room for whatever else lives in that range.

High. A shelf on the top. Turned up it adds air and detail, turned down it softens harshness.

Advanced controls

The card keeps the frequency controls behind Advanced, so the everyday version stays three knobs.

Low Freq and High Freq move the corner of each shelf, which decides how much of the spectrum that band covers. Mid Freq moves the bell to the frequency you want to change.

Mid Q sets how wide the mid bell is. It sits on the card rather than behind Advanced, because the band handles on the display can drag frequency and gain but not width. Narrow is surgical, for removing one ringing frequency. Wide is musical, for shaping the general character of a part.

There are no presets. The bands are the whole effect.

When to use it

Reach for it when an instrument sits wrong rather than sounds wrong: a bass that booms, a pad that crowds the vocal, a lead with no air. Cutting is usually safer than boosting, because a cut makes room and a boost takes it.

To clear space between tracks in a busy mix, use the Graphic EQ instead: its bands line up with the ones the mix harmonizer measures.