Frequency Chart

A quick reference for where instruments live in the spectrum, where problems usually hide, and what the words engineers use actually mean in Hz. Keep this page open while you mix.

Starting points, not rules

Every recording is different. A "mud" area of 250 Hz on one vocal might be 400 Hz on another. Use these ranges to know where to start sweeping, then trust your ears. The EQ lesson explains how to sweep and cut.

The Spectrum at a Glance

Region	Range	Feel	Too much	Too little
Sub-bass	20–60 Hz	Weight, rumble	Boomy, eats headroom	Thin on big systems
Bass	60–250 Hz	Warmth, punch	Boomy, heavy	Thin, weak
Low mids	250–500 Hz	Body	Muddy, boxy	Hollow, cold
Mids	500 Hz–2 kHz	Presence of most instruments	Honky, nasal	Scooped, distant
Upper mids	2–6 kHz	Clarity, attack	Harsh, fatiguing	Dull, lifeless
Highs	6–12 kHz	Brilliance, sibilance	Sibilant, brittle	Muffled
Air	12–20 kHz	Openness, sparkle	Hissy	Closed-in

Instrument Frequency Ranges

The fundamental range is where the notes themselves sit (the lowest to highest pitches the instrument normally plays). Harmonics extend much higher, which is where most of the character lives.

Instrument	Fundamental range (approx.)	Boom / weight	Mud / box	Presence / attack	Air / sizzle
Kick drum	40–100 Hz	50–80 Hz	250–500 Hz (cardboard)	2–5 kHz (beater click)	—
808 / sub bass	30–100 Hz (note-dependent)	30–60 Hz	200–300 Hz	700 Hz–1.5 kHz (harmonics for small speakers)	—
Snare drum	150–250 Hz	150–250 Hz (body)	400–800 Hz (boxy ring)	2–5 kHz (crack)	6–10 kHz (wires)
Toms	70–300 Hz	80–200 Hz	300–600 Hz	3–5 kHz	—
Hi-hats / cymbals	Mostly noise; energy from ~300 Hz up	—	200–500 Hz (clank)	3–6 kHz	8–15 kHz (shimmer)
Bass guitar	41–400 Hz (4-string E1 up)	60–100 Hz	200–400 Hz	700 Hz–1.2 kHz (growl), 2–4 kHz (string)	—
Electric guitar	82 Hz–1.3 kHz	100–200 Hz	200–400 Hz	2–4 kHz (bite)	5–8 kHz (fizz, often cut)
Acoustic guitar	82 Hz–1 kHz	80–150 Hz	200–400 Hz	2–5 kHz (pick)	8–12 kHz (sparkle)
Piano	27.5 Hz–4.2 kHz (A0–C8)	50–150 Hz	200–400 Hz	2–5 kHz (hammer)	8–12 kHz
Male vocal	~80–700 Hz	100–200 Hz (chest)	200–500 Hz	3–5 kHz	5–9 kHz (sibilance), 10 kHz+ (air)
Female vocal	~160 Hz–1.1 kHz	180–300 Hz (body)	300–600 Hz	3–6 kHz	6–10 kHz (sibilance), 12 kHz+ (air)
Violin	196 Hz–3.5 kHz	200–300 Hz	300–500 Hz	2–5 kHz	8–12 kHz (bow)
Cello	65 Hz–1 kHz	80–200 Hz	250–400 Hz	2–4 kHz	—
Trumpet	165 Hz–1 kHz	—	300–600 Hz	1–3 kHz (brassy edge)	6–9 kHz
Saxophone (alto)	138–830 Hz	—	300–600 Hz	1–3 kHz (honk/edge)	6–9 kHz (breath)
Flute	262 Hz–2.1 kHz	—	—	2–4 kHz	6–10 kHz (breath)
Synth pad	Varies	Often high-passed at 100–250 Hz	200–500 Hz	1–4 kHz	8–16 kHz

See Drum Programming and Mixing Vocals for how to treat each of these in context.

Problem Frequency Words

Engineers use descriptive words to talk about tone. Learn what each word means, and which way to move the EQ.

Word	Typical range	Sounds like	Usual fix
Rumble	20–40 Hz	Low noise from traffic, handling, air conditioning	High-pass filter
Boomy	60–150 Hz	Too much bass, a ringing low end	Cut or high-pass; check the room
Muddy	200–400 Hz	Thick, cloudy, unclear	Wide cut of 2–4 dB, often on several tracks
Boxy	300–600 Hz	Recorded inside a cardboard box	Narrow-to-medium cut
Honky	600 Hz–1.2 kHz	Like a horn or a megaphone	Cut a few dB
Nasal	800 Hz–1.5 kHz	Talking with a pinched nose	Narrow cut
Harsh	2–5 kHz	Hard, piercing, tiring after a few minutes	Narrow cut or dynamic EQ
Sibilant	5–10 kHz	Hissing "s" and "sh" sounds	De-esser
Brittle / tinny	Too little below 500 Hz, too much 3–8 kHz	Thin and sharp	Cut highs, add some low mids
Airy	10–20 kHz	Open, breathy, expensive (a good thing)	Gentle high shelf boost of 1–3 dB
Warm	100–300 Hz	Full and pleasant (a good thing)	Gentle boost, or saturation
Presence	3–6 kHz	Up front, close, intelligible	Small boost on the lead

Hear It: EQ Moves

Try it in your DAW

Put an EQ on a vocal or full loop (Ableton: EQ Eight; FL Studio: Fruity Parametric EQ 2; Logic: Channel EQ).
Make a narrow boost of about +10 dB and sweep it slowly from 100 Hz to 10 kHz.
Stop when you hear one of the words in the table above (muddy, boxy, nasal, harsh, sibilant). Note the frequency.
Turn the boost into a cut of 2–4 dB at that frequency and widen it slightly. Compare with the EQ bypassed at matched level.

Note-to-Frequency Table

These are the standard frequencies for equal temperament tuning with A4 = 440 Hz. Each octave doubles the frequency. Middle C is C4.

A notes

Note	Frequency	Where you hear it
A0	27.5 Hz	Lowest key on a piano
A1	55 Hz	Low 808 and sub notes
A2	110 Hz	Open A string on a guitar
A3	220 Hz	Low male vocal range
A4	440 Hz	Tuning reference (concert A)
A5	880 Hz	High female vocal range
A6	1,760 Hz	High whistles, piccolo, synth leads
A7	3,520 Hz	Near the top of the piano

C notes

Note	Frequency	Note	Frequency
C1	32.70 Hz	C5	523.25 Hz
C2	65.41 Hz	C6	1,046.50 Hz
C3	130.81 Hz	C7	2,093.00 Hz
C4 (middle C)	261.63 Hz	C8	4,186.01 Hz

Useful low notes for bass and 808s

Note	Frequency	Note	Frequency
E1	41.20 Hz	A1	55.00 Hz
F1	43.65 Hz	B1	61.74 Hz
G1	49.00 Hz	C2	65.41 Hz

The formula

frequency = 440 × 2^((n − 69) / 12) n = MIDI note number (A4 = 69, middle C = 60) One semitone up = multiply by about 1.0595 One octave up = multiply by 2

Use this to tune a kick or 808 to the key of your song: find the root note's frequency, then tune the drum's fundamental to match.

Producer tip

DAWs don't agree on octave numbers. Ableton and Logic (by default) label middle C as C3, and FL Studio labels it C5. The frequency is the same, 261.63 Hz; only the name changes. See MIDI.

A4 is Hz, so A5 is Hz.

A thick, cloudy sound around 200–400 Hz is usually called .

1. A vocal sounds harsh and tiring. Where should you start looking?

40–80 Hz
200–400 Hz
2–5 kHz
15–20 kHz

Harshness usually lives in the upper mids, where the ear is most sensitive.

2. What tool usually fixes sibilance best?

A de-esser
A high-pass filter at 100 Hz
A low shelf boost
A longer reverb

A de-esser reduces only the "s" sounds when they happen, instead of dulling the whole vocal.

3. What frequency is A2?

55 Hz
110 Hz
220 Hz
440 Hz

A4 is 440 Hz. Halve it twice: A3 is 220 Hz and A2 is 110 Hz.

4. A kick sounds like someone hitting a cardboard box. Which range should you cut?

30–50 Hz
3–5 kHz
10–15 kHz
250–500 Hz

The boxy, cardboard tone of a kick sits in the low mids. A modest cut there cleans it up.