Har-Bal co-product idea: realtime VST/DX spectrograph!!!

This area of the Forum is where you can post your suggestions and ideas for future update releases of Har-Bal, as well as any gripes you may have on the software, its useability and its interface.
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mgc3003.com
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Har-Bal co-product idea: realtime VST/DX spectrograph!!!

Post by mgc3003.com »

(sorry for the barrage of posts, I promise this is my last one for tonight! :) )

In my thread "Better mixing as a result of what I learned from Har-Bal", I pointed out that I'm using a realtime spectrograph to fix problems before mixdown... before going into Har-Bal.
http://www.har-bal.com/ipw-web/bulletin ... .php?t=337

It just dawned on me that a Har-Bal branded realtime spectrograph would be WONDERFUL. You could sell this product separately or bundled with Har-Bal, suggesting its use to spot problems before mixdown. Ideally, the interface would look as similar as possible to Har-Bal.

OH MY GOD!! IMAGINE THIS:

1) You insert the Har-Bal REALTIME SPECTROGRAPH.
2) This spectrograph has no ability to EQ, but it DOES have the ability to provide a realtime spectrum display of the audio passing through.
3) You would have the option to load in an EQ REFERENCE file so you can, at the COMPOSING/MIXING stage balance your sounds in realtime to match the saved EQ spectrum as close as possible!!!!!!!
4) Then when you mixdown and load your WAV into Har-Bal, it's going to be a lot closer to your intended EQ curve than if you'd mixed without awareness of the curve.

Does this make sense? This is HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The important part is that the spectrograph should look very similar to Har-Bal, and preferably it would use realtime calculations as closely as possible to the way that Har-Bal calculates the spectrum, so your familiarity with Harbal would carry over into the spectrograph!

(And yes I understand that the core difference would be that the spectrograph only shows the realtime calculation as opposed to averaging over the whole song.)

HOWEVER, even with that, Izotope Ozone does something similar, where you can watch the frequency response and it gives you the option to watch it updated constantly, averaged over 1 second, 3 seconds, 5, 10, 15 seconds, etc.

The core difference is that this wouldn't be an EQ effect - it would simply let you display the Harbal analyzed EQ file references over the realtime spectrum so you can adjust the levels and EQs of instruments within your MIX!!!!!

This is ENORMOUS!!! Please don't confuse this thread with another "make Harbal VST" request. It's NOT that AT ALL! This is a co-product to be used BEFORE going into Harbal, so that you have a better MIX to use in Harbal than you would have otherwise!


PLEASE, Harbal team, consider this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It clearly makes all the sense in the world. It would be the ULTIMATE Harbal companion product because the ONLY limitation of Harbal right now is that you're stuck with whatever you have in your mixdown. If you have a severely unbalanced mix to begin with there's only so much Har-Bal can do to correct it.


Oh, I hope to God you guys consider this!! If I've explained myself well, you'll get it and you'll be like "Whoa! That IS a great idea!"

If you don't have that response, please discuss it with me further... these are complicated matters to explain, but if I could just get what I'm thinking across -- I know your team could be equally excited about this!!!

The thing is, I've done this using the Fruity Spectrograph - to an extent - as I described in the other thread. And it worked wonders. The downside is that 1) it didn't have the great Har-Bal interface, and most importantly, 2) I didn't have the ability to load in a Har-Bal EQ reference display... BUT I was able to use my memory of what a good spectrum looks like to know first hand that this would be an EXTREMELY useful way to work!

I am begging -- BEGGING that you guys consider this!! ***begging***!!! :D
electro
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Post by electro »

This is a brilliant Idea.
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Post by HarBal »

Actually, we have considered it and are planning on doing something along those lines in the future. We were intending on having averaged spectrums exactly the same as in HarBal standalone except that the spectrum is updated progressively (stable averaging approach). You'd then have a reset button to clear the spectrum and start the average process again whenever you'd want to.

I basically had this functionality largely working, except for some issues to do with high CPU usage on some DAWs, in the plugin propotype that I brought to a halt. I plan to revisit it in the future but we are concentrating on the Mac port for now.

Thanks for the suggestions, and no, we don't mind you being verbose. We actually prefer it that way. Then we can get inside the heads of HarBal users.

Thanks,


Paavo.
Robert H
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Post by Robert H »

Sounds good. Look forward to it. At the moment Iuse voxengo's real time analyser. Its OK, but the hal Bar one would be much better.
kylen
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Post by kylen »

HarBal wrote:We were intending on having averaged spectrums exactly the same as in HarBal standalone except that the spectrum is updated progressively (stable averaging approach). You'd then have a reset button to clear the spectrum and start the average process again whenever you'd want to.

This would be a very important update IMO Paavo. There are many pop/rock songs where I need to have a slow averaging but not average the entire song. Right now the only thing I trust to do that is Voxengo SPAN - I use averaging time of 8 sometimes, 4 usually, and if I want it slower I think there is a 2 and 1 speed. It really helps to be able to "see" how an individual verse and chorus look (and sound) for example. The reset button is key here also. This would be a most amazing and important update IMO. It has been one of my complaints (is complaint the right word? not that strong I think...) about Har-Bal from the beginning and I've stated this many times - I just said that so you wouldn't think I was keeping it to myself. It's obvious you think this is a worthy update also! Here's to all you watchers (oops I should say & listeners too!) of the spectrum!!!
Thanks Paavo
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Post by HarBal »

Hi Kyle,

"Complaint" is not too strong a word. Your suggestions are pretty much spot on.

I think you'll be happy to know that Har-Bal standalone will support a partitioning model whereby you can break a track up into sections and see the average spectrum for each section. It should be possible to do this on the fly with one analysis file (albeit bigger) that caches the results for the entire track. This will also mean that I can add a moving spectrum to the spectrum display so you can see the spectral content change while you play a track in largely the same way you'd see it in a RTA. This is one of your suggestions I believe.

Regards,


Paavo.
kylen
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Post by kylen »

Whoa! This is big news Paavo - the evolution continues, the HarBal vision - very cool! THanx
Jrel
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Post by Jrel »

If all or some of Har-bal's functions could be used like a VST, that would be a Godsend. I could use low-shelving to fatten/tighten up the bass, high-shelving for the high end. It would definitely be awesome.
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