| Har-Bal Harmonic Balancer |
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Har-Bal™ new thinking, new directions... Menu CommandsThe top level menus provided by Har-Bal Harmonic Balancer include: File Menu
File | Open Command
Use the Open command to select and open a file to process in a Har-Bal session. The source file formats supported by Har-Bal include:
Note that support for mp3 format is provided by using the built in CODEC in your operating system. On opening an mp3 format Har-Bal will first convert the file to a .wav or .aif format file and then open the decoded file. Also note that VBR mp3 file encoding is not supported in Har-Bal on the Windows platform. On opening a source file for the first time Har-Bal will analyze the file contents and save the analysis in an analysis file stored in the same folder as the source file. The analysis file has the same name as the source file but with a .hba file extension. You should only open files in a folder that resides on the computer hard drive and the folder must be writable by Har-Bal. Har-Bal requires high speed disk access for the real-time spectrum display and playback to function correctly. File | Close CommandThe close command closes the currently open session. File | Record As CommandThe File | Record As command renders the processed track to disk to an output file of your choosing. By default the output file has the same format as the source file and the file name as the name of the source file with _eq appended. For example, if the source file is my_track.wav then the default output file is my_track_eq.wav. You can change the file name to one of your own choosing and you can change the output file format by selecting a different Save As type in the Save as dialog box. Recording files occurs in the background to allow you to continue working on another track in another Har-Bal session. The status of outstanding recording jobs is displayed in the Recording dialog. This dialog remains visible while recording jobs are queued and closes automatically when all jobs are completed. You can minimise this dialog and continue doing other work with Har-Bal at any time. File | Export Reference CommandThe File | Export Reference command allows you to create reference analyses from landmark recordings. The reference analysis contains a snapshot of the spectrums and histograms but no time dependent information (real time spectrum). Reference files are given the extension .hbref and can be opened as a session reference with the Open reference command. File | Batch Analysis CommandThe File | Batch Analysis command allows you to analyze any number of source files in the background, thus freeing up Har-Bal to do other work at the same time. Selecting this command opens an open file common dialog that allows multiple file selection. In the file list view select the sound files that you wish to analyze. After pressing the OK button the selected files are then queued to be analyzed and the status of the analysis jobs displayed in the Analyzing dialog. This dialog remains visible while analysis jobs are queued and closes automatically when all jobs are completed. You can minimise this dialog and continue doing other work with Har-Bal at any time. File | Manage Files CommandThe File | Manage Files command opens the Manage Files dialog box. Use this dialog box to manage and delete the working files that Har-Bal creates and uses to process your tracks. Har-Bal will delete .hba, .hbfb, .hbfbs, .hbfr, .hbfs, .hbir files but not .hbf files. This is by design as the .hbf file contains all the information required to re-create the processing designed for a given session and is something you are likely to want to archive for future reference. If you want to delete superfluous .hbf files then use Explorer (on Windows) or Finder (on Mac OS X) to do so. File | Filter | New Command
Use the Filter | New command to create a new filter. This command opens the New Filter dialog box. On opening a session file a new filter is created with a flat frequency response on all channels. File | Filter | Open Command
Use the Filter | Open command to open and use a previously saved session filter. File | Filter | Save CommandUse the Filter | Save command to save the session filter to file. The filter may then be re-loaded at a later time to reproduce the processing applied to a given source file. File | Filter | Save As CommandLike the Filter | Save command, the Filter | Save As command allows you to save the session filter to a specific file. File | Reference | Open Command
Use the Reference | Open command to open a given source file or reference file for use as a reference. The analysis of the reference source will be overlayed on the analysis plots of session. However, unlike the session spectrum, the reference spectrum is not altered by the filter. If the reference is playable then the toggle reference feature will be enabled. Note that for a reference to be playable it must be a sound file AND must have the same sampling rate as the session file. File | Reference | Close Command
Use the Reference | Close command to discard the reference file. The reference spectrum will be removed from the spectrum display. File | Reference | Swap Command
The Reference | Swap command allows you to swap the reference file and filter with the session file and filter. This command is only enabled if the reference file is playable. This feature is particularly useful when performing tonality and loudness balancing between two tracks when you need to make filter adjustments for both the source and the reference. Note that for a reference to be playable it must be a sound file AND must have the same sampling rate as the session file. File | Recent Sessions CommandThe File | Recent Sessions command lists the 10 most recently used source (and corresponding filter) files as a popup menu. The name of the files appear in the popup menu items. File | Recent References CommandThe File | Recent References command lists the 10 most recently used reference (and corresponding filter) files as a popup menu. The name of the files appear in the popup menu items. File | Print CommandUse the File | Print command to print any of the analysis views to printer. To select the printer use the Print Setup command. File | Print Setup CommandUse the File | Print Setup command to select the printer to use when printing analysis views and to configure the printer. File | Exit Command
Use the File | Exit command to close Har-Bal Harmonic Balancer. Edit MenuEdit | Undo Command
Use the Edit | Undo command to undo changes made to the filter. Each change made is recorded in an unlimited Undo stack. View changes are recorded in the stack to keep track of editing context so that you don't inadvertently undo something unintended and so that you can see what is being undone. Edit | Redo Command
Use the Edit | Redo command to redo undone changes made to the filter. Each change made is recorded in an unlimited Undo stack. View changes are recorded in the stack to keep track of editing context so that you don't inadvertently undo something unintended and so that you can see what is being undone. Graph Menu
Graph | View | Spectrum Command
Use the Graph | View | Spectrum command to display the session and reference spectrums. This view shows the session spectrum, the effect of the filter on the spectrum and the reference spectrum. You can edit the spectrum using the Gain, Low Shelving and High Shelving cursors. Graph | View | Frequency Response Command
Use the Graph | View | Frequency Response command to display the frequency response of the selected filter. You can edit the frequency response using the Gain, Low Shelving and High Shelving cursors. Graph | View | Histogram Command
Use the Graph | View | Histogram command to display the histogram of session levels. You can edit the histogram using the Dynamics Node cursor. Graph | Show Spectrum | Peak Command
Use the Graph | Show Spectrum | Peak command to toggle the visibility of the peak power plot on the spectrum and histogram views. If checked then the peak power is visible. You can use this command to temporarily hide the peak power plot. Graph | Show Spectrum | Real time Command
Use the Graph | Show Spectrum | Real time command to toggle the visibility of the real time power plot on the spectrum view. If checked then the real time power plot is visible. You can use this command to temporarily hide the real time power plot. Graph | Show Spectrum | Average Command
Use the Graph | Show Spectrum | Average command to toggle the visibility of the average power plot on the spectrum and histogram views. If checked then the average power plot is visible. You can use this command to temporarily hide the average power plot. Graph | Show Spectrum | Original Command
Use the Graph | Show Spectrum | Original command to toggle the visibility of the power plots corresponding to the original unprocessed track on the spectrum and histogram views. If checked then the original power plots are visible. You can use this command to temporarily hide the original power plots. Alternatively, showing these plots immediately shows you how the spectrum and histogram has been changed by overlaying the processed plots on top of the originals. Graph | Show Spectrum | Playback Focus Command
Use the Graph | Show Spectrum | Playback Focus command to toggle the visibility of the focus nodes on the spectrum and histogram views. If checked then the focus nodes are visible and are displayed at octave intervals on the plots that have focus. That is the plots corresponding to the spectrum and histogram coresponding to what you hear during playback. Graph | Show Spectrum | Reference Command
Use the Graph | Show Spectrum | Reference command to toggle the visibility of the power plots of the reference track on the spectrum and histogram views. If checked then the reference power plots are visible. You can use this command to temporarily hide the reference power plots. Graph | Show Spectrum | Segment Reference Command
Use the Graph | Show Spectrum | Segment Reference command to toggle the visibility of the power plots of the segment reference on the spectrum and histogram views. If checked then the segment reference power plots are visible. You can use this command to temporarily hide the segment reference power plots. This command is only active if a segment reference is selected. Graph | Show Spectrum | Spectrum Resolution | 1 Octave Command
Use the Graph | Show Spectrum | Spectrum Resolution | 1 Octave command to show the spectrum analysis with a 1 Octave band resolution. This command is used to visualise how the spectrum trend changes with resolution. When displayed with high resolution it becomes harder to visualise the trend but specific issues become more apparent. Graph | Show Spectrum | Spectrum Resolution | 1/3 Octave Command
Use the Graph | Show Spectrum | Spectrum Resolution | 1/3 Octave command to show the spectrum analysis with a 1/3 Octave band resolution. This command is used to visualise how the spectrum trend changes with resolution. When displayed with high resolution it becomes harder to visualise the trend but specific issues become more apparent. Graph | Show Spectrum | Spectrum Resolution | 1/6 Octave Command
Use the Graph | Show Spectrum | Spectrum Resolution | 1/6 Octave command to show the spectrum analysis with a 1/6 Octave band resolution. This command is used to visualise how the spectrum trend changes with resolution. When displayed with high resolution it becomes harder to visualise the trend but specific issues become more apparent. Graph | Show Spectrum | Spectrum Resolution | 1/12 Octave Command
Use the Graph | Show Spectrum | Spectrum Resolution | 1/12 Octave command to show the spectrum analysis with a 1/12 Octave band resolution. This command is used to visualise how the spectrum trend changes with resolution. When displayed with high resolution it becomes harder to visualise the trend but specific issues become more apparent. The bin centres in 12th octave view is aligned with the western equal tempered scale. Graph | Zoom all Command
Use the Graph | Zoom All command to zoom the spectrum or histogram graph into full view so that all the graph features are visible. Graph | Clipboard copy CommandUse the Graph | Clipboard Copy command allows to place a captured image of the spectrum into the clipboard, which can then paste into another application that accepts images. Graph | Properties CommandUse the Graph | Properties command to adjust the range (zoom factor) for the spectrum and hisotgram views using the keyboard rather than the mouse. This command opens the Graph Properties dialog box. Equalizer Menu
Equalizer | Stop Command
Use the Equalizer | Stop command to stop playback of the session. Equalizer | Play Command
Use the Equalizer | Play command to play the session. If the Air In menu is checked or the AIR toolbar button is depressed then playback will include the air ambiance processing. You can toggle the Air In menu during playback to hear the effect of Air on the source material. If the EQ In menu is checked or the EQ toolbar button is depressed then playback will include the equalization filter. You can toggle the EQ In menu during playback to hear the effect of EQ on the source material. If the Dynamics In menu is checked or the dynamics toolbar button is depressed then playback will include the dynamics processing. You can toggle the Dynamics In menu during playback to hear the effect of dynamics procession on the source material. If a reference file is loaded and it is playable you can toggle playback between the session file and the reference file using the Reference In menu command or REF In toolbar button. Playback of the reference will include equalization filtering if a filter file was specified when the reference was opened. Pressing any of the processing related buttons mentioned above has no effect on the reference playback. This feature is particularly useful for normalising songs to have consistent tonality and loudness. Equalizer | Record As Command
The Equalizer | Record As command renders the processed track to disk to an output file of your choosing and includes any processing that is enabled at the time of invoking this command. By default the output file has the same format as the source file and the file name as the name of the source file with _eq appended. For example, if the source file is my_track.wav then the default output file is my_track_eq.wav. You can change the file name to one of your own choosing and you can change the output file format by selecting a different Save As type in the Save as dialog box. Recording files occurs in the background to allow you to continue working on another track in another Har-Bal session. The status of outstanding recording jobs is displayed in the Recording dialog. This dialog remains visible while recording jobs are queued and closes automatically when all jobs are completed. You can minimise this dialog and continue doing other work with Har-Bal at any time. Equalizer | HB Air In Command
The Equalizer | HB Air In command switches the air ambiance processing in and out of playback and record operations in real time so that you can evaluate its effect on the source material. Use air to add a sense of space to stereo recordings that lack a coherent space. Air uses cross coupled FIR filters to realise a Haas zone ambiance effect. Moderate use of air will not colour the track tonality. Heavy use of air will have some effect on colour though the degree of colouration is small owing to the ambiance being in the Haas zone. You can use air processing to stereo'ise monophonic material. In this application heavy use of air can be useful. Note that the Air effect is most noticeable in stereo reproduction through loudspeakers in a reasonably dry listening environment. The more diffuse ambience present in the listening environment the less audible the air effect is. Headphones are an idea way of judging the air processing. Equalizer | EQ In Command
The Equalizer | EQ In command switches the equalization filter in and out of playback and record operations in real time so that you can evaluate the effect of the filter on the session. Equalizer | Dynamics In Command
The Equalizer | Dynamics In command switches the dynamics processing in and out of playback and record operations in real time so that you can evaluate the effect of dynamics processing on the session. Equalizer | Reference In Command
The Equalizer | Reference In command switches playback between the session file and the reference file in real time so that you can compare the tonality and loudness of the session with the reference. Equalizer | Apply intuitQ Command
The Equalizer | Apply intuitQ command uses a smoothing algorithm to loosely smooth the average spectrum shape of the session file. Equalizer | Apply intuitMatch Command
The Equalizer | Apply intuitMatch command uses a fitting algorithm to loosely match the session spectrum shape to that of the loaded reference. Equalizer | Match Loudness Command
The Equalizer | Match Loudness command matches the average loudness figure of merit of the session track with the current reference. Loudness matching using this approach is generally only accurate when the style of the music in the reference is comparable to the session track. The most accurate means of matching loudness is through A/B comparison and manual gain adjustment. Cursor Menu
Cursor | Disabled Command
Use the Cursor | Disabled command to disble editing of the session filter. If you have completed designing a filter for the session track, select this cursor to avoid accidently altering the design through un-intended mouse clicks. Cursor | Zoom In Command
Use the Cursor | Zoom In command to zoom into a specific feature in the spectrum, frequency response or histogram views. Once selected the cursor icon changes to the zoom in cursor. Zooming can be done in two different ways : by clicking or by clicking and dragging a zoom frame. If you click on a specific region then the view is zoomed in by 50% centred upon the point clicked. If clicking and dragging a zoom box, the view is zoomed into the region bounded by the box. During this cursor mode the axis values at the cursor position are displayed in the status bar. Cursor | Zoom Out Command
Use the Cursor | Zoom Out command to zoom out of a specific feature in the spectrum, frequency response or histogram views. Once selected the cursor icon changes to the zoom out cursor. Zooming can be done in two different ways : by clicking or by clicking and dragging a zoom frame. If you click on a specific region then the view is zoomed out by 50% centred upon the point clicked. If clicking and dragging a zoom box, the view is zoomed outof the region bounded by the box such that the corners of the view are mapped to the corners of the zoom frame. During this cursor mode the axis values at the cursor position are displayed in the status bar. Cursor | Pan Command
Use the Cursor | Pan command to pan the spectrum, frequency response or histogram view in any direction. Once selected the cursor icon changes to the pan cursor. You can then pan the view by clicking and dragging the pan arrow in the desired direction. When you release the left hand mouse button the point where the mouse button was pushed down is moved to the point where the mouse button was released. During this cursor mode the axis values at the current cursor position are displayed in the status bar. Cursor | Harmonic Command
Use the Cursor | Harmonic command to uncover the harmonic relationships of the peaks in the track spectrum and there values. Pressing and holding in the left mouse button will highlight the first ten harmonics with cross-hairs. Moving the mouse left or right while the left mouse button is down will move the cross-hairs along the spectrum line. The status bar shows the frequency and magnitude of the fundamental (the left most cross-hair). The frequency value is displayed in both Hz and the closest equal temperament scale note. You can display the values of the other harmonics in the status bar by pressing and holding in one of the number keys: the harmonic displayed corresponding to the number pressed. That is, to display the value of the second harmonic press and hold in the '2' key. The tenth harmonic is displayed by pressing the '0' key. Cursor | IntuitQ Command
Use the Cursor | IntuitQ command to apply the intuitQ spectrum smoothing algorithm to a selected frequency range of the session spectrum. To do so, move the cursor to the starting point of the frequency range, click and hold down the left mouse button and then drag the cursor to the end point of the desired frequency range. When you release the left mouse button intuitQ will be applied to the selected frequency range. Cursor | IntuitMatch Command
Use the Cursor | IntuitMatch to apply the intuitMatch spectrum matching algorithm to a selected frequency range of the session spectrum. To do so, move the cursor to the starting point of the frequency range, click and hold down the left mouse button and then drag the cursor to the end point of the desired frequency range. When you release the left mouse button intuitMatch will be applied to the selected frequency range. IntuitMatch is only available if a reference is loaded. Cursor | IntuitNull Command
Use the Cursor | IntuitNull command to loosely undo the effect of intuitQ or intuitMatch over a given frequency range. To do so, move the cursor to the starting point of the frequency range, click and hold down the left mouse button and then drag the cursor to the end point of the desired frequency range. When you release the left mouse button intuitNull will be applied the selected frequency range. IntuitNull can be thought of as a 'loose' undo operation for IntuitQ or intuitMatch. For many tracks you will want to apply intuitQ or intuitMatch to the full spectrum range of the track but some areas in that range may become over-emphasised (typically when the track has few instrument parts). By selecting the overemphasised parts of the spectrum you can undo the emphasis that intuitQ created whilst keeping the changes in the rest of the spectrum that intuitQ made. Note that because of the way in which intuitNull operates this operation should typically only be used before any use of the shelving tools. If you happen to do it after using those tools the accuracy can be severely affected. This is an algorithmic limitation. Cursor | Match Loudness Command
Use the Cursor | Match Loudness command to do loudness matching based on a selected frequency range of the track spectrum. Typically when performing loudness matching of a quiet track to a loud reference (say a piano vocal duo with a rock song) full spectrum loudness matching gives poor results, with the quiet track being over amplified. This behaviour arises because the instrumentation is very different between the two tracks. In the rock song the entire spectrum is filled by sound from all the instruments whereas the piano vocal duo is largely confined to the spectrum below 2kHz. In effect, if you do a full spectrum match in such a case the match loudness function demands that the piano and vocal play much louder than they would normally to make up for the shortfall of loud instruments present in the rock track. What we really want to do is make the track loudness match the reference in the spectrum range that the instruments in that track occupy. Performing the matching over this limited range where the track spectrum energy is high results in better level match between loud and soft tracks. To perform match loudness based on a limited frequency range move the cursor to the starting point of the frequency range, click and hold down the left mouse button and then drag the cursor to the end point of the desired frequency range. When you release the left mouse button match loudness will be applied based on the selected frequency range. Match loudness is only available if a reference is loaded. Cursor | Gain Command
Use the Cursor | Gain command to design a matching equalization filter for the session file. Once selected the cursor icon changes to the gain cursor. You can then use the gain cursor to alter the shape of the spectrum plot. The gain cursor is, in essence, equivalent to a parametric equalizer. The centre frequency is chosen by moving the cursor to the desired frequency on the spectrum plot and then pressing and holding down the left mouse button. The gain is controlled by moving the mouse up or down and the Q is controlled by moving the mouse left or right. During the dragging operation a preview of the filtered spectrum follows the mouse movement. To keep the Q fixed while making boost/cut adjustments hold the SHIFT key down (when the left mouse button is down). To keep the Q at the maximum value press and hold the M key down. When you release the left mouse button the filter change is made and the spectrum plots updated. If you wish to cancel an edit press the ESCape key prior to releasing the left mouse button. Note that when using the gain cursor you can switch focus from average to peak spectrum plots by pressing the tab key whilst the Gain cursor is active. Cursor | Low Shelving Command
Use the Cursor | Low Shelving command to design a matching equalization filter for the session file. Once selected the cursor icon changes to the low shelving cursor. You can then use the low shelving cursor to introduce a low shelf boost or cut at a given corner frequency with a given slope. The low shelf cursor is similar to the shelving response of a bass tone control without the plateau. The corner frequency is chosen by moving the cursor to the desired frequency on the spectrum plot and then pressing and holding down the left mouse button. The slope is controlled by dragging the mouse up or down. During the dragging operation a preview of the filtered spectrum follows the mouse movement. When you release the left mouse button the filter change is made and the spectrum plots updated. If you wish to cancel an edit press the ESCape key prior to releasing the left mouse button. Note that when using the low shelf cursor you can switch focus from average to peak spectrum plots by pressing the tab key whilst the low shelving cursor is active. Cursor | High Shelving Command
Use the Cursor | High Shelving command to design a matching equalization filter for the session file. Once selected the cursor icon changes to the high shelving cursor. You can then use the high shelving cursor to introduce a high shelf boost or cut at a given corner frequency with a given slope. The high shelf cursor is similar to the shelving response of a treble tone control without the plateau. The corner frequency is chosen by moving the cursor to the desired frequency on the spectrum plot and then pressing and holding down the left mouse button. The slope is controlled by dragging the mouse up or down. During the dragging operation a preview of the filtered spectrum follows the mouse movement. When you release the left mouse button the filter change is made and the spectrum plots updated. If you wish to cancel an edit press the ESCape key prior to releasing the left mouse button. Note that when using the high shelf cursor you can switch focus from average to peak spectrum plots by pressing the tab key whilst the high shelving cursor is active. Cursor | Dynamics Node Command
Use the Cursor | Dynamics Node command to design a dynamics processing scheme for the session file. Once selected the cursor icon changes to the dynamics node cursor. You can then use the dynamics node cursor to create, edit and delete dynamics control nodes. Dynamics control nodes are created by clicking and/or dragging the dynamics node cursor on the histogram view. Doing so creates a control node comprising two circles and vertical lines. This schema represents the mapping of input level to output level at that point. The solid circle represents the input level and the open circle the output level that the input level is mapped to. The vertical positioning of the nodes has no bearing on the transfer function characteristic that the nodes define, only the horizontal position has. Once placed a control node can be edited by mousing over the appropriate circle and clicking and dragging to the desired location. The input level circle if dragged, moves the output level in tandem and maintains the difference in level between them. The output level circle if dragged, does not move the input level circle. A control node can be deleted by dragging it off the histogram view. For more information on how dynamics processing is achieved in Har-Bal, consult the discussion of dynamics processing in the introduction. Options MenuOptions | Preferences CommandUse the Options | Preferences command you to customise the behaviour and setup of Har-Bal. This command opens the Preferences dialog box. Options | Open Tips CommandUse the Options | Open Tips command to open a tip file that can be displayed on the spectrum view as a guide to filtering tracks. Har-Bal is supplied with a number of tip files that can be found the the HarBal\tip_files folder and include:
When filtering post-mixdown tracks use the General.etp tip file. When filtering mono tracks from a multi-track source (ie. prior to mixdown) use the tip file most closely corresponding to the type of instrument recorded in that channel. Note that you can create your own tip files with a text editor. Open any one of the above files and use it as a guide in creating your own tips files. Options | Show Tips CommandUse the Options | Show Tips command to toggle tips on and off. If a tip file is loaded and the Show Tips command is checked then tips will be displayed on the spectrum view when using the Gain, Low Shelf and High Shelf cursors. Help MenuHelp | Contents Command
Use the Help | Contents command to open the help file for Har-Bal at the contents page. Help | Example Tutorial CommandUse the Help | Example Tutorial command to open the example tutorial document. New users of Har-Bal are encouraged to study the tutorial in detail as it provides a good introduction to Har-Bal and effective ways of using it. Help | Using help CommandUse the Help | Using Help command to get help using Har-Bal help. Help | About CommandUse the Help | About command to open the About dialog which displays version and copyright information for Har-Bal and contact details for the purposes of product queries and/or complaints. |
