whats a "scooped mid"?

fourmations

hi

i reckon I know the sound but where
does the "scooped" word/phrase come from?

rgds

4

Karl Hungus

http://www.sweetwater.com/expert-center/glossary/t--ScoopedMids

I assume the scoop is descriptive of the shape on a graphic EQ, and that's where the term comes from.

Voodu Child

The phrase was probably popularised by Metallica, or at least in reference to Metallica.

In the early/mid 80s, they were using Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ amps with the 5 band EQ (much more powerful in terms of tone-shaping than the standard tone controls) set into a V or 'scooped' formation i.e. 'scooping' out the mid frequencies.

They certainly werent the first to use that kind of sound, but anyway, that's what the scooped term refers to.

Karl Hungus

Generally, I don't advise scooped mids though, it sounds crummy. The rythm channel on my Engl has the mids up to max.

Voodu Child

Ah, it's just a general idea; turning the mids all the way down on any old amp will indeed sound pretty crummy, probably won't cut through the mix very well at all.

The gain architecture of the Mesa Mark-series (IIC+, III, IV, Studio, Quad) happened to work particularly well for this kind of tone, because there was shedloads of mids anyway, and the lead channels bring out a lot of distorted overtones, it's just a very particular (and amazing) sound that you won't find on any other amp. So even scooping out the mids still leaves a lot of sonic content in that area of the spectrum.

But yeah, just turning the mid knob on your marshall down to zero is going to sound pretty lousy.

Karl Hungus

Yeah, I know what you mean about the Boogies, but aside from that, scooped mids just remind me of guitar noobs. I'll never forget when a friend was over once, he was messing about with my amp, and scooped the mids, when I went to play something, I was puzzled as to why it sounded so crap all of a sudden, then I noticed the EQ.

Personally, I scoop the bass. I'm tuned to B or Bb most of the time, and you don't want too much bass there at all, because it sounds like a wet fart if you're not careful.

Voodu Child

Karl Hungus wrote: »

Yeah, I know what you mean about the Boogies, but aside from that, scooped mids just remind me of guitar noobs. I'll never forget when a friend was over once, he was messing about with my amp, and scooped the mids, when I went to play something, I was puzzled as to why it sounded so crap all of a sudden, then I noticed the EQ.

Well, that's what i mean when i say it's just a general idea. Turning the mid knob all the way off on any old amp is of course a far too literal understanding of that idea.

You'll find a lot of metal-orientated amps nowadays are literally 'pre-scooped' - i.e. the voicing of their preamp sections has been deliberately designed to head in that direction already. So often you'll find guys who say they arent running 'scooped mids' actually are anyway when you hear them. Like I say, it's all subjective.

cornbb

Also known as the "metal smile"

deaddonkey

'scooped mids' is just a polite way of saying '**** tone'

fish-head

If you have alot of guitars and you want them all to sound exactly the same, scooped mids are for you!

Rustar

Not a fan of the scooped mid guitar sound at all...I vastly prefer the late-60's heavy mid/neck pickup sound typified by Hendrix/Beck/Trower/Clapton.

Now bass guitar on the other hand...
Most bass amps these days have a 'shape' control that emphasizes bass/mids to the left, and cuts mids/boosts highs to the right. Shaping to the right gives you that slap/pop/tap/funky sound.

I have my bass head set up with the normal amp sound fairly bassy, and with a footswitch can flip to the Shape control, which I have set fairly well to the right. It's almost like having a modeling amp!

-=al=-

ah the sound inst that bad if ur recording guitars most rhythm guitars will have less mids than the lead, so when u record the lead over it its a lil warmer and fills the nicer guitar frequencies

but im genreally not a ran of scoopng them a lot, too harsh