I've tried Sonic Visualiser, Baudline, and programs like that in the past looking for some sort of tool that could show why a mix has a the particular EQ balance or tone that it has. I've never really been able to express what it is I'm looking for in that regard, because usually when I try to explain it, the reaction I get is that I'm being naive about the way audio works. That's entirely possible and even likely, but if that's 100% the case here, then when people say that a mix is "cold" or "metallic" or "thin" or whatever, if it's really true that I'm being naive in saying that's something that's something you ought to be able to reveal in software analysis somehow, then what people are describing when they use those words is basically voodoo --they're taling about something mystical and superstitious that doesn't really exist. I guess I think like that -- if it's a real sonic property, you ought to be able to tease out the details with some kind of algorithm. Otherwise, when people use those sorts of terms about the properties of a mix, they might as well admit they're talking as much nonsense as I am, since any "wamrth" or "thinness" or whatever that's naive to talk about showing up in any kind of fourier analysis is also probably not real in any sense at all. There may indeed be some properties of audio that are completely subjective voodoo, but my own sense is overall EQ balance shouldn't be one of them. It seems more like something that ought to be possible with some sort of spectrum and time analysis, somethine that is real and subject to mathematics, even if we might not have exactly the right software for that specific job. One of the problems may be that you probably can't capture what I'm talking about from a single sample. It would have to be averaged out over time, at least several seconds worth of audio, if not a whole song. The overall EQ characteristics of one particular moment may be very atypical for that recording's overall mix over time. I don't know if there's a tool that does what I"m wanting, whether DFasma or some other program could do it. Basically, I want a program that exposes what's different about mix A from mix B, not just in frequency spread, but also over time, and with regard to stereo field. But it would be nice if there was some quantifiable way to look at what the mix and mastering engineer has done and actually see it, and not just say, well that's voodoo. Whatever's there can be heard but never looked at. Remember, if what I'm saying about quantifying this is nonsense, then every time you describe a mix in any kind of descriptive words, then I think that would mean you're talking about non-empirical nonsense too. Either mix properties really exist or they don't. -- - Brent Busby + =============================================== + "With the rise of social networking -- Keycorner -- + sites, computers are making people -- Recording -- + easier to use every day." ----------------+ =============================================== _______________________________________________ Linux-audio-user mailing list Linux-audio-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-user
