Should You EQ Your Samples When Making A Beat?

Over the years I’ve seen a lot of people ask the question… “Should you EQ your samples when you are making a beat?”  Surprisingly, I’ve heard people argue on both sides of this.  In reality (for people who actually make beats people like) there is only one correct answer…    If you ever wondered whether or not you should EQ your samples when you make a beat, then read on…

The number one argument I hear for NOT EQ’ing your samples is this…

“These songs were professionally mixed and mastered by professional engineers!  There is no need to EQ them!”

Although this can be true*, you have to remember that these songs were mixed for whatever genre of music they are a part of.  Mixing records is all about balancing all of the elements of a song to perfection.  The second that you add one extra sound to that sample, you have disturbed this balance.  So EQ’ing samples is absolutely OK and generally a good idea.

Does this mean you should always EQ your samples?  No. You will definitely come across samples that can work well in your mix without EQ’ing them.  But always leave the EQ option in your beat making tool box.  There are no rules in music.  So always leave every option you have open.

* If you are dealing with non major label samples, this can be the complete opposite of the truth.