If the primary objective is to loosely match or mirror the average spectrum of the source material "very bright green" to the reference "dim green line," why do I need to see the other reference and source lines? If I don't need to see them, is there away to turn them off and only view the two critical lines (Green lines) so there is less clutter and to aid in visually focusing on the crucial aspects?
If there are purposes of the other lines (red and yellow) that I an missing, please enlighten me.
Also is there a way to return the program visual aspects to the default values. For example, if I get really created and change all the colors and fonts only later to determine I really don't like them, can I just revert back to the default set-up without a lot of hassle?
BTW I am very impressed with this program and will be buying it in the next day or so after I finish checking out the demo.
Green Line question...
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Dallas
Green Line Question
Hi Lavot,
I'm sure someone will be along shortly with a more authorative answer but my thought on the visual representations of the spectrum is that the reference spectrum is a guide only and that your source material will many times have unique spectral properties that preclude it from 'fitting' the reference spectrum.
Say you align the greens loosely and yet your material has unique peaks that are pushed or pulled way out of balance. If at these times you can see that the yellow (peak) and red (mean of the average and peak) are out of alignment it will immediately tell you that further adjustment of the green is necessary. Without them as a visual aid, you would have to rely on your ears which would somewhat negate the purpose and usefulness of Harbal.
Their presence make sense to me for this purpose alone and I hope this helps you to understand why.
Cheers,
Dallas
I'm sure someone will be along shortly with a more authorative answer but my thought on the visual representations of the spectrum is that the reference spectrum is a guide only and that your source material will many times have unique spectral properties that preclude it from 'fitting' the reference spectrum.
Say you align the greens loosely and yet your material has unique peaks that are pushed or pulled way out of balance. If at these times you can see that the yellow (peak) and red (mean of the average and peak) are out of alignment it will immediately tell you that further adjustment of the green is necessary. Without them as a visual aid, you would have to rely on your ears which would somewhat negate the purpose and usefulness of Harbal.
Their presence make sense to me for this purpose alone and I hope this helps you to understand why.
Cheers,
Dallas
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Har/Bal
Green Line Question
Thank you Dallas. You are right on point
There are those out there that really do not need to use the reference templates as guides, simply because they now understand how a frequency spectrum should appear. I implore those out there to please read the manual. It will teach you how to correct a spectrum without a reference template.
The other question you had was about returning the colors to the defalut state if one became to creative.
Do the following while when har-bal is closed. Find the harbal.ini file on your system and delete it. When you re-open har-bal everything will have returned to normal again.
If there are any lines that you would rather not work with you can make them disappear by clicking on Graph\Options and change the specific line to the background color.
Regards
Earle
There are those out there that really do not need to use the reference templates as guides, simply because they now understand how a frequency spectrum should appear. I implore those out there to please read the manual. It will teach you how to correct a spectrum without a reference template.
The other question you had was about returning the colors to the defalut state if one became to creative.
Do the following while when har-bal is closed. Find the harbal.ini file on your system and delete it. When you re-open har-bal everything will have returned to normal again.
If there are any lines that you would rather not work with you can make them disappear by clicking on Graph\Options and change the specific line to the background color.
Regards
Earle
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Lavot
Thanks for the help
Thanks to you both (Dallas, Harbal) for responding to my question.
It is starting to sink in (Im a little slow). However, I think a response to a previous question along these lines was what really turned the light on for me. It was by Harbal and if I may quote:
What I've found is that if you want the dynamics of the track to sound controlled then concentrate on the peak spectrum trace (yellow) and if you want to preserve the dynamics but just get the balance right use the average spectrum trace (green) and if you want a compromise use the geometric mean trace (red).
Those analogies and specific purposes of the traces make perfectly good sense to me.
I am reading the manual now and things are becoming a lot clearer.
Again, thanks for providing me with a deeper understanding of this excellent tool!
~Lavot
It is starting to sink in (Im a little slow). However, I think a response to a previous question along these lines was what really turned the light on for me. It was by Harbal and if I may quote:
What I've found is that if you want the dynamics of the track to sound controlled then concentrate on the peak spectrum trace (yellow) and if you want to preserve the dynamics but just get the balance right use the average spectrum trace (green) and if you want a compromise use the geometric mean trace (red).
Those analogies and specific purposes of the traces make perfectly good sense to me.
I am reading the manual now and things are becoming a lot clearer.
Again, thanks for providing me with a deeper understanding of this excellent tool!
~Lavot
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Landphil
Ahhh..! Just the post I was looking for! Per the previous posts, all but one question I was going to ask was answered! I've been learning Har-Bal by using extreme cases of badly equalized tracks, mainly old cassette tapes that I recorded in the '70's with a portable deck sitting in a chair in front of the band. While I realize that you can't polish a turd, (unless it's frozen! 
) it's still amazing what this program does to bring out the best from those old tapes! So, I'm confused when I have a peak in the yellow (peak energy) and a dip in the average (green) at the same point on the spectrum. Should I go for the red (mean) and average them out? Is this a sign of over compression from the past? I know, I should use my ears, but I was curious of what would cause a peak AND a dip in the same spots. On another note, while the manual has an example of a "generally good recording", and the ways to correct it, I think that you could expand it a bit by also showing a terrible recording, and the ways that it too can be helped. God knows there's a lot of terrible recordings out there! Made quite a few, myself! Thanks for this fantastic program, and for your patience in helping all of us newbies! Your forum support is greatly appreciated!
Phil
) it's still amazing what this program does to bring out the best from those old tapes! So, I'm confused when I have a peak in the yellow (peak energy) and a dip in the average (green) at the same point on the spectrum. Should I go for the red (mean) and average them out? Is this a sign of over compression from the past? I know, I should use my ears, but I was curious of what would cause a peak AND a dip in the same spots. On another note, while the manual has an example of a "generally good recording", and the ways to correct it, I think that you could expand it a bit by also showing a terrible recording, and the ways that it too can be helped. God knows there's a lot of terrible recordings out there! Made quite a few, myself! Thanks for this fantastic program, and for your patience in helping all of us newbies! Your forum support is greatly appreciated!Phil
Phil,Landphil wrote:...So, I'm confused when I have a peak in the yellow (peak energy) and a dip in the average (green) at the same point on the spectrum. Should I go for the red (mean) and average them out? Is this a sign of over compression from the past? I know, I should use my ears, but I was curious of what would cause a peak AND a dip in the same spots...
Phil
Imagine a track which has bass guitar hi-hat and lead guitar but lets also imagine (though it would probably be a horrible track) that the hi-hat and bass guitar play through the entire track of, say 3 minutes, but the lead guitar only plays 20 seconds really loudly somewhere in the middle. In this scenario the lead guitar will contribute little to the average spectrum but will contribute a lot to the peak spectrum (because it is a loud part). This would produce something similar to what you are describing.
On a point of advice, I'd probably be more inclined to pay more attention to the peak trace in the case you describe, particularly if the peak is much larger than those that surround it. However, it all depends on context. Without knowing the musical structure of the track you are Harbalising it is difficult to give the best advice. It will depend upon how much musical variation exists in the track.
Hope this advice helps.
Regards,
Paavo.