This is what I work with.

Equalizing is the concept of applying artificial electronic filters to increase or decrease the amplitude (volume) of a certain part of the audio spectrum: The most simple version of this are the classic BASS and TREBLE knob buttons that allow you to respectively increase/decrease the lower and higher spectrum bands. More complex equalizers offer "pass-band" filters that you can adjust to increase/decrease selected bands. Very cheap ones have say, three bands (50-100Hz, 100-300Hz, 300-3000Hz) while better ones will have more precise bands and better range, going as low as ~20Hz and as high as 15-20KHz.

Depending on the need, you can equalize as you see fit. Ever seen those boomboxes with presets like "Rock Concert, Jazz, Disco, Dance, Flat, etc...?" Those are pre-programmed EQ settings. Avoid them like the plague.

When you write music, you want to hear precisely what you make so NO equalizing on your sound output. In my virtual studio however, I do TONS of it on every different channels.

No surround = no surround speaker/setup. You do know what surround is? If not I can explain in technical terms.
Double stereo = Two left speakers, two right speakers. Usually one pair in front and one in the back but both my pairs are in the front (tee-hee)
Flat amplification = I amplify everything, all the spectrum equally.

I'm gonna have so much fun answering this, you've pretty much bulls-eyed my center of interest.

Parma Ham wrote:

Aeroprism wrote:

Equalizing

I think I've been getting this confused with the process of "mixing". Or are mixing and equalizing related?
Not in the slightest. Equalizing means controlling the "volume" of a certain frequency range. Mixing is the art of putting two sounds together.

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Avoid them like the plague.

Why or when do I want to avoid them?
Because they usually are generic and unforgiving in their conception. "Rock concert? Cut ALL the bass and crank that treble to the ROOF!"

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different channels.

Are the settings typically listed under "EQ" or something similar in most software? And why do you do tons of equalizing on every channel when you just said not to do that? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
Lame analogy time: (And I am NOT patronizing, I am genuinely trying to be helpful and technical explanations can be a bit daunting when english isn't your first language) Suppose you're in an art class, building something out of many different components, a model made with a number of parts. The parts are all made of wood so initially, they are all the same color. You want to add color to this. Would you rather be able to pain all the component individually exactly the way you see fit BEFORE you glue them together (equalizing every instrument individually) or would you prefer to wait? Because if you wait and in the end you realize that one of the parts could use a bit more blue, you'll have to add some blue to the WHOLE project (equalizing the whole song).

This means that when I compose, I listen to each channel (instrument) individually and equalize them individually. There is another technical (and MUCH more important) reason for this but you're not there yet.

I never globally equalize, not on my virtual studio and certainly not on my stereo amp. Equalizing on your external amp is like painting colors while you're wearing colored glasses, your perception will be all wrong!

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No surround

That's when you have speakers set up all around your room, like 1 in each corner, or something like that, right? I know of the concept, but I've never had a surround system myself. Feel free to enlighten me further if you want.
While Stereo was a technology that allowed you to experience sound separated in a left to right environment, surround is a step up that allows you to feel the sound "moving" from behind to ahead of you. The process is relatively simple: you have five speakers (5:1 surround) or 7 speakers (7:1 surround). The main sound comes from a center feed in front of you. The four (six) others are distributed in pairs that we call satellites. The stereo feed is sent to the first pair and repeated to a second (and third) set of speaker with a delay of a few milliseconds added. This creates an illusion of "movement" and "echo". The process is actually a bit more complicated than this but this is a good, simple explanation.

Surround is AWESOME for modern games and movies. It is utterly useless for music.

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Double stereo

Why four speakers?
If you had the choice between being entertained by two lovely ladies and four lovely ladies, which would you pick?

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Flat amplification

Do you mean the volume on each channel, or something else?
I mean I amplify the whole song, not just part of it's frequency range.

Not a problem, I enjoy talking about this, the paragraphs just flow, you know?

I can TRY and explain the "very important reason" but before, let me ask you a few of my own:
-Do you know what frequencies are?
-How good are you with Maths?
-How familiar are you with the principle of decibels?
-Do you have a good ear?

Also: an external amp is any and all device used to amplify your song AFTER you've encoded it. The big box with the VOLUME dial between your speakers? That would most likely be your external amp.

Entertainment? Stories and laughter? Sure, why not. Not what I had in mind though


You also mentioned you needed a topic to discuss my music: this one would do just fine!

Better late than ... well this is very late but hey: though I do not plan to learn the piano any time soon, I have given Parma Ham's idea considerable consideration and I started to work with note quantization more. It's actually more efficient than I thought once you start to understand how the sequencer thinks.

For those who have seen the digital test I posted a few days ago, going from live recording to full mathematical insanity required insane amounts of quantization.