Why is the mid-range EQ so important?
This is where your ear picks up most of the frequencies, mainly from the 20 to 20,000 Hertz range. Most of the main information picked up comes from between 5,000 Hertz down to about 200. That's where things get really tight and congested, and a lot of instruments play around that area.
That's why the mids are super important to get right, especially the low-mids. These give off the most energy, the most feel and the most width, and things like that.
The top end of the mids is more from 2,000 Hertz upwards, and that can start getting quite hard and piercing. Your ear picks up a lot of frequencies around 1,000 to 1,700 Hertz, things like that. When you start adding around 1,000 Hertz upwards, it's really going to start piercing your ear. You're going to be able to put less on at 1,000 than you would at about 400 because your ear picks it up more.
But really, what you want to do is try and leave the mids: leave the high end of the mids and the tops and just get the low-mids 🔅 really weighty and tight. I always suggest adding a bit there and just seeing if that actually pushes it out.
What you've got to watch out for in the low-mids is things can start getting a bit boxy, because there's a lot going on. It's quite a lot of information. Try not to get it boxy-sounding. Just try half a dB here and there – a good little tip just to get things sounding nice and fat and big, without sounding too harsh and in-your-face by worrying too much about the high mids.