Tilt EQ in plain English
A tilt EQ is a seesaw for tone. Push it one way and the treble goes up while the bass goes down, which makes the sound brighter and lighter; push it the other way and it gets darker and fuller. The point the seesaw balances on is called the pivot, and the frequencies right at the pivot don’t change at all.
Inside, a tilt EQ is two shelves set to the same frequency. A low shelf turns everything below that frequency up or down by one amount and a high shelf does the same for everything above it. A tilt EQ links them, so when one goes up by 2 dB the other goes down by 2 dB, and you only ever touch a single control.
That’s why tilt EQs are popular on whole mixes and masters. Most tone problems on a finished mix are about balance, where the whole track feels a bit dull or a bit heavy and no single part is to blame. A tilt fixes balance in one move, because it takes from one end what it gives to the other. Hardware tilt EQs exist too: the Tonelux Tilt is one, and Softube makes a plug-in version of it.
This page goes into the tilt on its own. The EQ lesson covers every band type, and the shelf EQ lesson explains the shelves a tilt is built from.
Reading the lab
The lab is the EQ from the main EQ page, cut down to two bands. Band 1 is a low shelf and band 2 is a high shelf, linked as a tilt EQ: change the gain of either one and the other takes the opposite gain, and change the frequency of either one and the other follows. A tilt plug-in does this with one knob; here you can still see each half, which is the easiest way to see how a tilt works.
The pink line on the big screen is the EQ curve, with boosts above the middle line and cuts below it. Behind it, the teal shape is the spectrum of the sound coming out, over the pale line of the original. Hover anywhere on the screen and the lab tells you exactly how many decibels the EQ adds or takes away at that frequency, which is where the curve values on this page come from. The level changes come from the Right now panel, which measures the whole loop after the EQ.
To build your own tilt, drag the point of either shelf up or down, or turn its Gain knob, and watch the other follow: +2 dB on band 2 puts band 1 at −2 dB. A/B switches the EQ off and matches the loudness of the original, and on a tilt you need it more than you’d expect, as the section on level below shows.
Inside a tilt EQ
Take a tilt of 3 dB brighter with the pivot at 1 kHz. The high shelf is set to +3 dB at 1 kHz and the low shelf to −3 dB at 1 kHz. Each shelf is halfway to its full gain at its corner, so at 1 kHz the high shelf adds 1.5 dB, the low shelf takes away 1.5 dB and the two cancel out exactly.
Move away from the pivot and the curve leans. Half an octave below, at 707 Hz, the sound is 1.8 dB down, and a full octave below, at 500 Hz, it’s 2.6 dB down. By 250 Hz it reaches −3 dB and stays there. The top end mirrors that: +1.8 dB at 1.4 kHz, +2.6 dB at 2 kHz and +3 dB from about 4 kHz upwards.
So the difference between the deepest bass and the highest treble is 6 dB, twice the number on each shelf. Keep that in mind when you read a tilt knob, because a setting of 3 can mean 3 dB at each end or 3 dB between them, depending on how the plug-in counts. The drawing of the curve settles it either way.
The lab’s shelves do most of their work within an octave either side of the pivot, so the tilt looks like a gentle S with flat stretches at each end. Some tilt EQs use gentler shelves, which spread the lean over more octaves until the curve looks almost like a straight slope from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. They sound similar at small settings; the gentler kind moves more of the mids.
Reverse the tilt and everything flips. The bass goes up 3 dB and the treble down 3 dB, the hi-hats soften and the low end gets warmer.
The pivot frequency
The pivot decides which part of the sound counts as the low end and which as the high end. Some tilt EQs fix the pivot in place and some let you move it, which gives you a second way to change the sound.
Bring the pivot down to 250 Hz and the low mids join the treble side. A brighter tilt there turns the kick and bass down by 3 dB and lifts the guitars, keys and vocals with the cymbals, so it works as a way of thinning out a heavy mix. With the pivot up at 4 kHz, the treble side is only the very top: a darker tilt there softens the hi-hats and the s sounds of a vocal while everything below them comes up 3 dB.
As a starting point, put the pivot near the middle of the instrument’s range for a single part, and around 1 kHz for a whole mix. If the tilt seems to change only one end of the sound, the pivot is probably near one edge of where the sound has its energy.
How much to tilt
Most of the time you need less than you’d expect. On a whole mix, half a decibel each way can be heard on good monitors, and 1 to 2 dB each way is a clear change. Past about 3 dB each way, a tilt stops sounding like a change of balance and starts sounding like an effect, because the gap between the two ends gets so wide.
At 6 dB each way, the full loop in the lab loses its weight and turns hard and thin. A/B makes it obvious, because once the level is matched, the original sounds fuller and smoother.
Tilt EQ and level
A tilt only leaves the level alone when a sound has the right balance of energy on each side of the pivot. A 3 dB boost doubles the energy in the range it touches and a 3 dB cut halves it, so a 3 dB brighter tilt keeps the level the same only when about a third of the energy sits above the pivot. Most music has far less than that up there. On the full loop in the lab, about 92% of the energy sits below 1 kHz, mostly in the kick and the bass. A 3 dB brighter tilt at 1 kHz cuts that big share and boosts the small share above the pivot, so the loop comes out 2 dB quieter. The darker tilt makes it 2.6 dB louder.
That catches people out, because a louder sound nearly always seems better in a quick comparison. Tilt a mix darker, hear it get bigger, and the extra level can fool you into keeping a change that made the tone worse. Match the level before you decide, with the output control on the EQ or with A/B in the lab.
Pink noise shows the other side of it. It has the same energy in every octave, and about a third of the lab’s pink noise sits above 1 kHz, which is just the share where the boost makes up for the cut. The same 3 dB tilt changes its level by about a tenth of a decibel. The teal shape on the screen leans away from the pale line in exactly the shape of the curve.
Compare all of that with a single shelf. A 3 dB high shelf at 1 kHz on its own lifts the top end just as much as the brighter tilt, but leaves the bass alone, so the loop gets 0.4 dB louder where the tilt made it 2 dB quieter. A boost on its own adds level, while a tilt moves level from one end of the sound to the other.
Tilt EQ compared with a shelf and a bell
| Tilt EQ | Single shelf | Bell | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it changes | Both ends, in opposite directions | One end of the spectrum | One range around a frequency |
| Controls | Amount, sometimes pivot | Corner frequency and gain | Frequency, gain and Q |
| Effect on level | Small on balanced sounds | A boost adds level, a cut removes it | Depends on how wide it is |
| Best for | The balance of a whole mix or group | Adding or removing weight or air | One problem or one feature |
| Typical amount | 0.5 – 2 dB each way | 1 – 6 dB | 1 – 6 dB |
A tilt can’t pick out one problem. If a mix sounds dull because the vocal is buried, a tilt brightens the cymbals and the vocal together, and a bell on the vocal track does the job better. Reach for a tilt when the whole sound leans the wrong way and nothing in particular is to blame.
When to use a tilt EQ
On the mix bus or master
This is the most common place for a tilt EQ. After a long session, a mix often ends up a touch dark or a touch bright, and a 1 dB tilt moves the whole thing back without touching any of the balances inside it. Compare it with a reference track at matched level, and tilt until the two feel the same on top and underneath. The mastering chain lesson covers where it goes among the other processors.
On a group or a single part
A darker tilt on a pad, a backing vocal group or a reverb return pushes it back in the mix, because sounds further away reach your ears with less treble. A brighter tilt on a dull acoustic guitar or a muffled drum loop brings it forward without the thin, harsh sound a big high shelf can give.
To fix a recording that leans one way
A sample recorded through a dark microphone, or a loop bounced from an old drum machine, can be dull from top to bottom. A tilt suits that better than a set of bells, since the problem is everywhere. Switch the loop in the lab to Acoustic or Chords and try a brighter tilt at 500 Hz to hear the difference.
How to use a tilt EQ, step by step
- Decide which way the sound leansListen for whether it feels too heavy and dull, or too thin and sharp. If the trouble is one instrument or one note, use a bell on that track instead.
- Set the pivotStart at about 1 kHz on a whole mix. Move it lower if you mostly want to change the bass, and higher if the trouble is only in the top end.
- Tilt by 1 dB each wayTurn the knob towards brighter or darker and listen. Go further in half-decibel steps only if the first decibel wasn’t enough.
- Match the levelUse the output control so the tilted and bypassed versions are equally loud. On most mixes a brighter tilt needs a little more output and a darker tilt a little less.
- Compare and back offBypass it a few times. If you can hear the EQ as an effect, take half the tilt away; it should sound like the mix was always that way.
Starting settings
These are places to begin. Your ears and the bypass switch decide where you end up.
| Source | Direction | Pivot | Amount each way |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mix bus or master | Either | 800 Hz – 1.5 kHz | 0.5 – 1.5 dB |
| Dull acoustic guitar | Brighter | 500 Hz – 1 kHz | 1.5 – 3 dB |
| Pads and backing vocals, pushed back | Darker | 1 – 2 kHz | 1 – 3 dB |
| Bright drum loop or overheads | Darker | 2 – 4 kHz | 1 – 2 dB |
| Mix that’s heavy in the low end | Brighter | 200 – 400 Hz | 1 – 2 dB |
Common tilt EQ mistakes
Judging it by level
A darker tilt usually makes a mix louder and a brighter one usually makes it quieter, so the darker version tends to win every quick comparison. Match the level first, every time.
Tilting the master to fix one part
If the hi-hats are too loud, a darker tilt on the master turns them down, along with every other bright thing in the song. Fix the hi-hats on their own track and leave the master alone.
Tilting too far
Three decibels each way is already a 6 dB difference between the two ends of the spectrum. Most of the time a whole mix needs a third of that or less.
Stacking it on top of shelves that already do the same job
A high shelf boost on every track, then a brighter tilt on the bus, then another on the master, adds up to far more top end than any one of them shows. Check what’s already there before you add a tilt.
Train your ears
Choosing which way to tilt comes down to hearing where the energy in a sound sits. The quiz under the lab helps with that: it boosts one range of the sound by 9 dB with the screens covered and the level matched, and you say which range it was. Eight rounds take a few minutes, and your best score is saved in your browser. Once you can tell a 350 Hz boost from a 3.5 kHz one, it gets much easier to tell whether a mix is too heavy or too sharp.
Questions people ask
Is a tilt EQ the same as a high shelf?
No. A high shelf changes the top end and leaves the bottom alone, so a boost also makes the sound louder. A tilt EQ moves both ends at once in opposite directions, so the same setting changes the balance between bass and treble twice as much. On bass-heavy music a brighter tilt also makes the sound quieter, where a high shelf boost makes it slightly louder.
Where should I set the pivot on a tilt EQ?
Start around 1 kHz for a whole mix. Move it down to 200 to 400 Hz when you mostly want to change the bass, or up to 2 to 4 kHz when you mostly want to change the top end. If the plug-in has no pivot control, the designer picked one for you; the manual or the plug-in’s own curve display usually shows where.
Can I make a tilt EQ with a normal EQ?
Yes. Put a low shelf and a high shelf at the same frequency and give them opposite gains, such as −2 dB and +2 dB. That is exactly what the lab on this page does. Use the same shelf shape for both, or the two halves of the curve won’t match.
Should I put a tilt EQ on the master?
It’s one of the best places for one, in small amounts. Half a decibel to 1.5 dB each way is enough to make a whole mix feel brighter or warmer. If the master needs more than about 2 dB, one part of the mix is usually the cause, and fixing it on that track sounds better.
Why does my track get quieter when I tilt it brighter?
Most music has far more energy in the bass than in the treble, so the cut below the pivot takes away more level than the boost above it adds. On the full loop in the lab, a 3 dB brighter tilt at 1 kHz makes it 2 dB quieter. Turn the output up to match before you judge it.
Does a tilt EQ change the phase?
A little, like any shelf in an ordinary EQ: frequencies near the pivot get shifted slightly in time against each other. At the small amounts a tilt is normally used for, you’re unlikely to hear it on a single track. Linear-phase EQs can make the same curve without the phase shift, which matters more when the same sound sits on two tracks that get mixed together.