Har-Bal Users Forum BBS

I read through all of the documentation and reviewed the tutorial demo. I also played around with Har-Bal for about an hour. It's clearly an amazing product, and it became immediately apparent how valuable this will be as I learn its nuances. Two questions:

Average Energy Content (AEC): If I have a source file that has mixed content - for example an acoustic guitar and vocal for the first 45 seconds and then a fuller production for the next 3+ minutes (drums, bass etc.), I would assume this affects the AEC. When I compare this source to a reference, how should I take that into account? I noticed when I smoothed out peaks and raised levels to a similar response curve to the "rock" ref file, the source seemed somewhat strident in the high frequency areas, although there was significant added clarity in the lower frequencies. Obviously I can use my ear to adjust, but am looking for some basic guidelines.

Magnitude: My source file, though very similar in curve shape to the reference, was on average about 2 or more points (20dB?) lower. Does this matter? If I just move the whole AEC up 2 points, without making any other changes, what real effect does that have on the sound? Or does it just make it louder? I'm confused about this.

Sorryfor the long post. I'm really excited about learning how to best use Har-Bal. Thanks,

Larry

Tightrope

We are glad you are enjoying the program.

Lets start from the beginning for a moment.
When you load a file into Har-Bal lets think for a moment what we are really looking at.
First of all lets remove one of the lines (red) by clicking on the red button on the bottom right of your screen.
So, your song starts from the left and peaks out and starts sloping down all the way until you get to about 15khz. Lets look at what is happening in between...probably a lot of spikes and dips.

This is what you "don't" want.

Start working on the yellow line by holding down your left mouse button and pressing your tab key.
Now start bringing down those peaks until they are only about 1/8 inch. this is good because the dynamics will still be preserved.

Okay, lets start working on the green line. Do you remember how we changed lines?

Do you see any holes in the spectral content of your song between the 60 and 500hz region? If so lets fill it in because it means your track may be lacking in depth.
Get the picture?

Now we did this without a reference file.

Here is something to remember.

1. If your song already sounds good prior to harbalizing, simply use the process above and the sonicality of your song will be preserved and tremendously enhanced.


2. On the other hand if you have a song that really needs shaping, then by all means use a reference file. You can easily create your ow. This process is usually more successful when the genre of music is closely matched.

You do not have to exact match the entire spectrum. Maybe you just need to correct your bass region.
Also...if your track only covers the region from 60 to 14khz and your reference covers the entire spectrum, only use the area that your song covers otherwise you will be opening masked frequencies.

Onward to your second question. If you load a track and then open a reference file and find that you need to drag your entire track either up or down to work more accurately the volume will not change.

Hope this helps

Earle

Thanks Earle, that's very helpful. I'm really looking forward to digging in. I think I was too drawn into the idea of tracing my source to a reference. I now realize that smoothing the larger peaks and holes is the key. The reference, while very useful, is not meant to be "traced" by the source - or as I've read elsewhere, you would have had a button to execute that!

Larry