Scooping the mids

[jezzaboy]

I have read this many times over the years but what does it actually mean? What is scooping the mids? 

[SteveXFR]

Just turning down the middle frequencies in the EQ. 

Some basses and amps have the mids low even with the EQ set flat. 

[BigRedX]

Smiley face shape in the graphic EQ, or boosting the lows and highs over the middle frequencies. Sound great when you play your bass solo but generally disappears in the typical rock band mix.

[TheGreek]

I tend to push them up - gives a phatter tone

[T-Bay]

18 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

I tend to push them up - gives a phatter tone

This^^^ As said above it sounds amazing when you are at home then turns to mush when you are playing with others. It seems counterintuitive to not boost the bottom end but it works.

[Maude]

Imagine a graphic equaliser with all the band adjusters in a straight line. Now take an ice cream scoop and scoops out the mids. 

 

[Horizontalste]

Mids, Noun, meaning - where tone lives 😁

[SteveXFR]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

Smiley face shape in the graphic EQ, or boosting the lows and highs over the middle frequencies. Sound great when you play your bass solo but generally disappears in the typical rock band mix.

 

Generally a great tone in isolation won't work in a rock or metal mix. If it sounds like fried buttholes in isolation you're probably about right.

[Lozz196]

Does depend on the bass as well, it can be fine scooping mids on a Precision as they have a ton & a half of them.

[Grimalkin]

I've found in a gig situation, you need quite a bit more wattage to get that sound from the rehearsal room to a full on gig. The mids are the definition in your sound, everything has top and bottom but the mids are the 'voicing' if you like. If you take out the definition, you need more volume. Quite a bit more.

[jezzaboy]

Cool guys, ta for the explanation.

[Munurmunuh]

Something that is frustrating is when people conflate boosting the treble and bass with actively cutting the mids. Usually it helps to understand the individual perspective that comments are coming from. 

 

[spencer.b]

1 hour ago, Ricky Rioli said:

Something that is frustrating is when people conflate boosting the treble and bass with actively cutting the mids. Usually it helps to understand the individual perspective that comments are coming from. 

 

What's the difference?

[Boodang]

I'm in a covers band, this time as the drummer but I usually play bass. The bass player in the band is borrowing my kit and to get a good mix live we are boosting the mids. Specifically around 800hz and as the bassist is playing finger style there's also a slight boost around 3k. Sits in the mix nicely. 

[casapete]

It’s taken me years to realise that although I’m a mid scoop fan it doesn’t really translate

to a live situation. I often don’t like my onstage tone ( amp set reasonably ‘flat’ or thereabouts) 

playing solo at soundchecks, but when joined by the rest of the band / on the gig it seems to

work just fine. Never need to change my EQ on the gig, in fact rarely touch the amp at all.

[Jakester]

4 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

Something that is frustrating is when people conflate boosting the treble and bass with actively cutting the mids. Usually it helps to understand the individual perspective that comments are coming from. 

 

Why is it frustrating? Surely irksome, perhaps irritating, occasionally annoying - but frustrating? I think you need to take a chill pill..

[Munurmunuh]

7 hours ago, Jakester said:

Why is it frustrating? Surely irksome, perhaps irritating, occasionally annoying - but frustrating? I think you need to take a chill pill..

 

⌨ + 🕐 + 🍻 = 🙈

[stewblack]

I do love the classic Trace Elliot mid scoop button. 

Yes live as well as at home. Sounds awesome, receives a ton of plaudits from band and audience alike.

The truth is a good bass sound cannot be defined. It's like saying your favourite colour is the only correct colour.

[Sparky Mark]

36 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I do love the classic Trace Elliot mid scoop button. 

Yes live as well as at home. Sounds awesome, receives a ton of plaudits from band and audience alike.

The truth is a good bass sound cannot be defined. It's like saying your favourite colour is the only correct colour.

I totally agree with this. My Trace Elliot heads are the only ones where I use the pre set EQ button. The pre set (or pre set shape 1 on SMX series) on Series 6 heads sounds awesome live with plenty of definition. I do reduce the red 30 Hz slider almost as a HPF but everything else left flat. Somehow the Ashdown mid shape has never worked for me in the same way as the Trace original. 

[chris_b]

22 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Does depend on the bass as well, it can be fine scooping mids on a Precision as they have a ton & a half of them.

 

This is why the Precision bass worked so well in the studios and on gigs for the last 70+ years. They have such strong mids that no matter what you do to them the bass line just stands out.

[deepbass5]

On 24/09/2022 at 17:27, Horizontalste said:

Mids, Noun, meaning - where tone lives 😁

 

Where unwanted bass - blooms uncontrollably if not scooped 😁

[tony_m]

6 hours ago, stewblack said:

I do love the classic Trace Elliot mid scoop button. 

Yes live as well as at home. Sounds awesome, receives a ton of plaudits from band and audience alike.

The truth is a good bass sound cannot be defined. It's like saying your favourite colour is the only correct colour.

 

5 hours ago, Sparky Mark said:

I totally agree with this. My Trace Elliot heads are the only ones where I use the pre set EQ button. The pre set (or pre set shape 1 on SMX series) on Series 6 heads sounds awesome live with plenty of definition. I do reduce the red 30 Hz slider almost as a HPF but everything else left flat. Somehow the Ashdown mid shape has never worked for me in the same way as the Trace original. 

 

Likewise, though in my case I use the Shape knob on an Ashdown 12-band Graphic EQ/DI pedal which applies a variable amount of mid-scoop similar to the TE pre-shape 1 (+8db @ 50Hz & 4khz, -8db @ 400hz). Seems to work well within our country-rock band setup (electro-acoustic 6/12 string, mandolin, Strat rhythm, Tele lead, electronic drums, single-coil P bass).

Edited September 25, 2022 by tony_m

[Lozz196]

I use the Shape on both my Ashdown amps, and on my Sansamp reduce the mids on the 500hz setting. Seems to suit a Precision in a rock type setting with hum bucking guitars.