10 Mixing Tips in 10 Days: Day Seven - High Pass Filter

Welcome to day seven of the 10 Mixing Tips in 10 Days series. Glad to have you! Today we're going to look at using high pass filters to get your mixes less muddy. High pass filters are by far one of my favorite tools when mixing, and I can't wait to share with you how much of a difference they can make in your mix.


Let's get started.

Mixing Tip:

Use high pass filters to clean up the low end of your mix. 

High pass filters are amazing tools for cleaning up unnecessary low end information in your mixes. Using them can lead to cleaner and less muddy projects. High pass filters are easy to use and can help your mixes go a long way when first starting out. 

What is a high pass filter?

High pass filters are basically steep eq curves that only allow the higher frequencies to pass through the mix, hence the name high pass filter. They are also some times referred to as a low cut filter as they cut out the low end of the mix. I prefer that name because I don't have to think backwards. 

One thing to note about low frequencies is that they carry a lot of energy. This basically means that as they compound on themselves they can really add a lot of unnecessary information in the bottom end of your mixes that creates a sort of muddy and unpleasant sound for your ears. High pass filters help us to rid certain tracks of that information. 

Now you don't want to use high pass filters on everything. For instance, don't use high pass filters on kick drum or bass. These are two instruments that you want the low end information to come through. But on most other tracks I think they are helpful to use. 

Here's a video on using high pass filters for drums to give you an example of the difference they can make.

Need mixing or mastering? Check us out! -Will Sterling Productions