[LAU] DFasma 1.4.4 - A tool to analyse and compare audio files in time and frequency

Brent Busby brent at keycorner.org
Fri Mar 11 11:16:00 UTC 2016


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."
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