Har-Bal Users Forum BBS

Hello,

I am a newbie har-bal user and I've spent the past day studying the posts to learn as much as I can. I just have a few additional questions (If I missed these answers somewhere, please forgive me!)...

Question 1: So I've read in several different places you guys refer to using the waves linear multiband...On the tutorial earle describes a more invasive approach of deeper compression, then on another post using the "basic multi" and just setting the appropriate threshes for light compression, then on another discussion referring to how do to the nature of Har-Bal, compression shouldn't even be necessary...I do realize that it greatly depends on the genre of music...My tracks are sounding like they need some compression to fill them in and around, I just thought maybe I'd ask in terms of those first two examples and see if I could save myself some long hours of blind experimentation. I've been trying all different combinations (linmb before har-bal, or linmb after har-bal, with all different linmb settings) but there's so many variables that when something sounds like sh*t I get overwhelmed in trying to figure out where I went wrong
:-X

I've been experimenting with these two settings in particular:
-----LinMB with "Basic Multi" and "Adaptive = +12.00," setting the threshes "to the yellow numbers" and leaving it alone...
-----LinMB with "Electro Multi Adaptive" preset and "Adpt = -12.00," then going through the whole process described in the Mastering Tutorial...

But like I said, I've been doing before Har-Bal, after Har-Bal, and also trying several different limiters to top em off...It's like a science experiment with 5 variables and no control...

Question 2:

I was reading your recommendation for "T-Racks" on another posting and downloaded the demo to feel it out...I know you said to slap on the "half inch + opto" plugin in the "suites" section, but it's not there!! :'( Could anyone send me the patch file (or whatever its called), pretty pretty please? I was experimenting with another tape simulation-type suite preset and I think the saturation sounds great (I was finding ozone to sound a little too harsh/unnatural even in the smallest portions), but I'm not sure if the limiter sounds firm enough (but of course this could be because I'm biffing things up with the LinMB :-X:-X:-X)...

Question 3:

Ok and a quick one, does anyone have any recommendations, T-racks verses the L2 or L3...?

And finally, Question 4:

Ok I was reading another post about this, regarding the Har-Bal alpha program...I'm finding that I'm misusing the limiter in there. I kept pushing it higher and higher because I didn't hear any effect (SMAARRRRRRRRRRRRRT). But I finally realized that it's supposed to be subtle and transparent (genius), I'm just confused as to how much to use it...Just enough but not so much that the green saturation meter starts flarin up?? (This saturation meter is going to kill us all.)

Ok, thank you guys, sorry about the novel...Oh, and in case it changes your recommendations, the material I'm working on right now is most comparable in production sound to someone like Janet Jackson, the All For You record and some of the Damita Jo record (although I found that one to be less consistently pleasant sounding from track to track...). In terms of your compression break down and how it should be used differently for Jazz, Rock, Rap/Hip-Hop and Techno, this stuff seemss to practically be a mix of all those together so I'm feeling a bit confuddled.

Thanks again!!!!
adam

adamlloyd83 wrote:Hello,

I am a newbie har-bal user and I've spent the past day studying the posts to learn as much as I can. I just have a few additional questions (If I missed these answers somewhere, please forgive me!)...

Question 1: So I've read in several different places you guys refer to using the waves linear multiband...On the tutorial earle describes a more invasive approach of deeper compression, then on another post using the "basic multi" and just setting the appropriate threshes for light compression, then on another discussion referring to how do to the nature of Har-Bal, compression shouldn't even be necessary...I do realize that it greatly depends on the genre of music...My tracks are sounding like they need some compression to fill them in and around, I just thought maybe I'd ask in terms of those first two examples and see if I could save myself some long hours of blind experimentation. I've been trying all different combinations (linmb before har-bal, or linmb after har-bal, with all different linmb settings) but there's so many variables that when something sounds like sh*t I get overwhelmed in trying to figure out where I went wrong
:-X

I've been experimenting with these two settings in particular:
-----LinMB with "Basic Multi" and "Adaptive = +12.00," setting the threshes "to the yellow numbers" and leaving it alone...
-----LinMB with "Electro Multi Adaptive" preset and "Adpt = -12.00," then going through the whole process described in the Mastering Tutorial...

But like I said, I've been doing before Har-Bal, after Har-Bal, and also trying several different limiters to top em off...It's like a science experiment with 5 variables and no control...

Question 2:

I was reading your recommendation for "T-Racks" on another posting and downloaded the demo to feel it out...I know you said to slap on the "half inch + opto" plugin in the "suites" section, but it's not there!! :'( Could anyone send me the patch file (or whatever its called), pretty pretty please? I was experimenting with another tape simulation-type suite preset and I think the saturation sounds great (I was finding ozone to sound a little too harsh/unnatural even in the smallest portions), but I'm not sure if the limiter sounds firm enough (but of course this could be because I'm biffing things up with the LinMB :-X:-X:-X)...

Question 3:

Ok and a quick one, does anyone have any recommendations, T-racks verses the L2 or L3...?

And finally, Question 4:

Ok I was reading another post about this, regarding the Har-Bal alpha program...I'm finding that I'm misusing the limiter in there. I kept pushing it higher and higher because I didn't hear any effect (SMAARRRRRRRRRRRRRT). But I finally realized that it's supposed to be subtle and transparent (genius), I'm just confused as to how much to use it...Just enough but not so much that the green saturation meter starts flarin up?? (This saturation meter is going to kill us all.)

Ok, thank you guys, sorry about the novel...Oh, and in case it changes your recommendations, the material I'm working on right now is most comparable in production sound to someone like Janet Jackson, the All For You record and some of the Damita Jo record (although I found that one to be less consistently pleasant sounding from track to track...). In terms of your compression break down and how it should be used differently for Jazz, Rock, Rap/Hip-Hop and Techno, this stuff seemss to practically be a mix of all those together so I'm feeling a bit confuddled.

Thanks again!!!!
adam

Below is a user preset put together for us by the good folks at T-Racks

It recreates the Opto + Half inch settings from the stand-alone unit.
It is only for the PC, any plug-in users may add this to their T-Racks presets by simply unzipping and placing into the T-Racks presets folder.

C: > Program Files > IK > T-Racks Plug-In > T-Racks Presets > T-Racks Suite

You can download the opto + half-inch preset file for the plugin from

Link address www.hdqtrz.com/T-Racks

Try this out first after harbalizing your track and let us know how it goes. We will start here first.


Cheers

Earle

Cool, ok I got the plugin file...sounds pretty good with the analogue sound but the preset doesn't get it very loud...I tried a threshold of about -5.8 with an aggressive setting on the L3 following the T-racks and this sounds much better I think...although still not quite thick and full enough...but that's where the linear multi could come in, right?

Thanks!!!
Adam