Pourquoi entraîner son oreille aux fréquences ?

Parce qu’égaliser, c’est d’abord savoir où chercher. Un ingénieur du son qui entend « c’est boueux vers 250 Hz » ou « ça siffle vers 8 kHz » règle son égaliseur en quelques secondes, là où on tâtonne longtemps sans repères. C’est le premier réflexe travaillé en formation mixage.

Comment se déroule une carte ?

Le son joue deux fois : d’abord l’original, puis la version passée dans un égaliseur qui accentue une bande de fréquences de 12 dB, sur une octave environ. Choisissez la fréquence parmi trois réponses, puis retournez la carte pour découvrir ce qui vit dans cette zone et ce qu’elle donne quand on en met trop.

Par « Pour commencer » avec le bruit rose, qui contient toutes les fréquences à parts égales : 125 Hz, 1 kHz et 8 kHz sont faciles à distinguer. Passez ensuite à une famille à la fois, puis à la batterie et au piano, et enfin au mode « Atténuation », bien plus difficile : on entend ce qui manque.

C’est préférable. Les haut-parleurs d’un ordinateur portable ou d’un téléphone ne restituent presque rien sous 100 Hz : les cartes à 63 Hz y sont impossibles. Réglez un volume modéré, surtout pour les aigus.

D’où viennent les sons ?

Le bruit rose, la batterie et la basse sont fabriqués directement dans votre navigateur. Le piano est le Salamander Grand Piano (Alexander Holm, licence Creative Commons Attribution 3.0), déjà utilisé par nos jeux d’oreille.

Recognise frequencies by ear

A sound plays twice: first as it is, then with a band of frequencies boosted on the EQ. At what frequency? Listen to a card, choose from three answers, then flip it to find out what lives in that part of the spectrum.

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Sound EQ

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Understand it all, in five questions.

Why train your ear to recognise frequencies?

Because EQing starts with knowing where to look. A sound engineer who hears “it’s muddy around 250 Hz” or “it’s hissing around 8 kHz” sets the EQ in seconds, whereas without reference points you can fumble around for ages. It is the first reflex trained on a mixing course.

How does a card work?

The sound plays twice: first theoriginal, then the version run through an EQ that boosts a band of frequencies by 12 dB, over roughly one octave. Choose the frequency from three answers, then flip the card to discover what lives in that zone and what it sounds like when there is too much of it.

Where should I start?

With “Getting started” and its pink noise, which contains all frequencies in equal parts: 125 Hz, 1 kHz and 8 kHz are easy to tell apart. Then move on to one family at a time, then to drums and piano, and finally to “Cut” mode, which is much harder: you hear what is missing.

Do I need headphones?

It is better. Laptop or phone speakers reproduce almost nothing below 100 Hz: the 63 Hz cards are impossible on them. Keep the volume moderate, especially for the highs.

Where do the sounds come from?

The pink noise, drums and bass are generated right in your browser. The piano is the Salamander Grand Piano (Alexander Holm, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence), already used by our ear-training games.

Où voir les 9 fréquences en un seul tableau ?

The 9 frequencies in the game, what you hear there and what too much of them sounds like
Frequency	Zone	What you hear	Too much gives
63 Hz	Lows	Sub and weight: kick drum, bass. You feel it almost more than you hear it.	Too much: a heavy, droning sound. Too little: a mix with no foundation.
125 Hz	Lows	Warmth and roundness: the body of the bass, the thump of the kick drum, the bottom of male voices.	Too much: a bloated, boomy sound.
250 Hz	Lows	The low mids: the body of instruments, where they pile up the most.	Too much: a muddy, muffled sound. It often pays to cut a little here.
500 Hz	Mids	The boxy range: snare, toms, guitars, the body of vocals.	Too much: a hollow, “cardboard” sound. Too little: a thin sound.
1 kHz	Mids	The nasal zone and the core of the sound; it is the range a telephone reproduces.	Too much: a nasal, honky sound, like a car horn.
2 kHz	Mids	Attack and bite: the crack of the snare, the grit of guitars, consonants.	Too much: a harsh, tiring sound.
4 kHz	Highs	Presence: the ear is most sensitive here, and this is where the voice becomes intelligible.	Too much: a shrill, aggressive sound.
8 kHz	Highs	Sibilants (s, sh) and the sparkle of cymbals.	Too much: whistling esses; this is de-esser territory.
16 kHz	Highs	Air: the extreme top end, which opens up the sound and lets it breathe.	Too much: hiss. Many adults can hardly hear anything above this point.

Want to mix by ear, and fast?

EQ is at the heart of the professional course “Terminez, mixez et masterisez vos morceaux pour les plateformes” (in French): 70 hours with a trainer, in person in Grenoble or live online, fundable by AFDAS and France Travail (French training and employment bodies).

Discover the mixing and mastering course (in French) The effects game → Delivery standards →