Chris Rutkowski, Composer/Pianist

To follow this thread from the beginning, follow this link.

Step 5: Attempt to remove the boominess of the bass drum in the original audio.

The challenge: The audio was mixed down to stereo, and thus has all the instruments on it, not just the drums. Therefore, removing the frequencies where the boom occurs in the drum will also remove those frequencies in other instruments.

As it happens, the boom seems to be most pronounced at around 130 hZ, which is around B an octave below middle C. That’s a very prominent frequency for the bass instruments: trombones, bassoons, tuba, et al. I used two different kinds of equalization (EQ) to mitigate the boom. First, a mild shelving (-7dB) EQ at around 62 Hz. (quite low) to lessen the very low part of the bass drum. Second a more surgical EQ at 138Hz with a parametric EQ around that frequency to remove the most resonant part of the boom. I think the result is a considerable improvement, although when played through a system with a sub-woofer, it’s still a bit too boomy for me. I’m not sure much more can be done, though, given the limitations imposed by the original audio.

Here’s a link to the latest EQ of the third movement.