Hi everyone...

[Guest]

Hi guys, i'm new here and am very interested about the harmonic balancing of Har Bal.
But what I really need to know is...
Before we had this great program, how on earth was it possible for the Mastering engineers to eq a song etc??? when most of them use manley massives(with only about five ands of eq) or other similar eq unit.
This has often puzzled me, especially when you look at certain tracks from the 80's or 70's etc on an analyzer and see that peaks are minimal and the general curve is smooth.
I'm puzzled...

[har-bal]

Hi guys, i'm new here and am very interested about the harmonic balancing of Har Bal.
But what I really need to know is...
Before we had this great program, how on earth was it possible for the Mastering engineers to eq a song etc??? when most of them use manley massives(with only about five ands of eq) or other similar eq unit.
This has often puzzled me, especially when you look at certain tracks from the 80's or 70's etc on an analyzer and see that peaks are minimal and the general curve is smooth.
I'm puzzled...

Remus

The answer is a simple one. Sure we had great ears back then but we also made use of our meters especially the spectrum analyzer. Back then a spectrum analyzer (hardware) cost a small fortune.

You have to be able to identify the areas in the spectral content of your track that are weak.
If you are looking at a spectrum analyzer (hardware) and you see in a peak in the 500hz region you would just pull it down a notch in your $5000.00 Manley eq and so on. Another thing you have to remember is that the music didn't have to be as stupidly loud as it is today. So you have superb dynamics and could actually discern the location of the instruments.

Those were definately the days. What we have done is presented you with two major tools in one.

1. Spectrum Analyzer
2. Equalizer

Not to mention the loudness compensation among a host of other things.

Earle

[Guest]

Hi guys, i'm new here and am very interested about the harmonic balancing of Har Bal.
But what I really need to know is...
Before we had this great program, how on earth was it possible for the Mastering engineers to eq a song etc??? when most of them use manley massives(with only about five ands of eq) or other similar eq unit.
This has often puzzled me, especially when you look at certain tracks from the 80's or 70's etc on an analyzer and see that peaks are minimal and the general curve is smooth.
I'm puzzled...

Remus

The answer is a simple one. Sure we had great ears back then but we also made use of our meters especially the spectrum analyzer. Back then a spectrum analyzer (hardware) cost a small fortune.

You have to be able to identify the areas in the spectral content of your track that are weak.
If you are looking at a spectrum analyzer (hardware) and you see in a peak in the 500hz region you would just pull it down a notch in your $5000.00 Manley eq and so on. Another thing you have to remember is that the music didn't have to be as stupidly loud as it is today. So you have superb dynamics and could actually discern the location of the instruments.

Those were definately the days. What we have done is presented you with two major tools in one.

1. Spectrum Analyzer
2. Equalizer

Not to mention the loudness compensation among a host of other things.

Earle

Thanks for your wisdom Earle, I guess i was just a little confused cause of all this new technology, plugins etc.
I find it interesting though thinking back to the days when all they used were a stereo comp, eq limiter though.
Nowadays it seems everyone just HAS to smash their mix through the latest multiband comp or whatever.
It's great to get an insight from an expert like yourself.
So thanks man.