Quick Start Guide
This section will have some quick tutorials and tips for getting started with some of my favorite freebie plugins.
AiXcoustic Creations Electri-Q - Paragraphic EQ
AiXcoustic Creations Electri-Q
I have been looking for an EQ like this for a long time and finally found one.
64 bands is far more than any normal person would ever need. This is an essential plugin for everyone to have, even those with lots of other plugins. It can be as complicated or as simple to use as you want it to be.... I'll explain what I mean by this after a basic explanation of the functions.
As with anyother parameteric EQ, you use the mouse to adjust the nodes (the little dots) on the screen in order to make changes to the EQ. Double clicking on a node opens the parameter box for that node, which allows you to change the frequency, gain, and bandwidth for that node. Clicking anywhere on the background outside the parameter box will close the box.
Now here is a very cool trick you can do with the parameter box: Click on words for Freq., Gain, or BW which ever one you click on will turn grey. This will lock that parameter and not allow you to change it until you click on it again. So for example, if you have the frequency set at a certain frequency that you don't want to change then you can lock it so you won't accidentally change it. If you get something just the way you like it you can lock all three so you can't accidentally change anything. This also keeps it locked when you close the dialog box and use the mouse to move the node around.
The fequency, gain, and bandwidth parameters can also be adjusted by using the mouse to move the nodes. Holding down one of the Ctrl/Shift/Alt modifier keys while using the mouse allows you to adjust each one individually.
Ctrl: Adjusts only the frequency
Shift: Adjusts only the volume
Alt: Adjusts the bandwidth
Holding shift while double-clicking on a note resets it to its original position (volume, frequency, and bandwidth are all reset). You can also draw a lasso around several (or all) nodes and use this method to reset multiple nodes at once. Right-clicking on a node and selecting "Bypass" will bypass only that node without affecting the others. This can be very useful when comparing to the original sound before you made the EQ change.
To add more nodes, just simply double click anywhere on the frequency curve. You can add up to 64 nodes.
If all of this seems really complicated do not fear, remember when I said this plugin can be very easy to use? This plugin is actually a great EQ plugin for beginners and here's why:
Choose the 22nd preset called "Graphic EQ"
This preset has 31 nodes all lined up equally spaced from each other. You will notice that when you move the nodes you can only change the volume and not the frequency. This preset has the frequency locked (as explained above) for each node. Therefore you can only change the volume and it acts just like a regular graphic equallizer. Only with this you can actually see the frequency curve it to see what changes you are actually making to the audio. You can also change the bandwidth of each node, which cannot be done on a typical graphic equalizer. This is really a very versitle plugin.
The Store and Load buttons at the bottom of the plugin are NOT storing or loading permanent settings. If you remove and remove this plugin from a track and reload it all your stored settings will be gone. So this is more of a temporary storage just as long as you don't remove the plugin from the track it is loaded on. To save your EQ settings permanently on your hard drive go to the Plugin menu at the top of the plugin and choose "Patch Save". This will allow you to save and load EQ settings for differnt tracks or even completely different projects.