Graphic EQ

Color category, instrument-level.

Eight fixed bands, one gain control each, spread across the spectrum from the deep bass to the top. Use it to give each track its own space in the mix.

Controls

Each band is a gain control at a fixed centre frequency, labelled with that frequency. Turned up the band gets louder, turned down it gets quieter, and the centre position leaves it alone. There is nothing to tune and nothing to sweep, which is the point: you decide how much, not where.

The bands are the same ones the mix harmonizer measures, so a carve it recommends maps straight onto one control here. See mix harmonize.

There are no presets.

When to use it

This is the mixing tool, not the tone tool. When two tracks fight, find the band where they overlap and pull it down on the one that matters less. A pad that gives up some low mid leaves room for the vocal that needs it, and neither part has to get louder.

For everyday tone shaping, the three-band EQ is quicker, and for a single darker-or-brighter move, Tone is quicker still.