Hi Har-Bal
Can you explain what processes the audio goes through when I raise the "Air" slider? I had a client ask me while we marvelled at the transformation of his "mastered" CD as we increased the Air amount. Is there some frequency time-shift to accent mids and highs? I understand and use the Mid-Side coding technique, but I've never got results to compare to "Air". It is quite amazing.
What's going on there? Or what do I tell my enquiring clients how I've manipulated their mix?
Thanks,
/dave
Air explained
Hi
The LR Thingy
Basically you are creating a track that moves to the front and captues all the ambient properties of the track and gives it a real 3d sound.
Here are the steps using Sound Forge and Nuendo. You can use any other software that has similar tools.
1. Open your original song.
2. Click on Process and then "Channel Converter"
3. Choose the preset "Stereo to Stereo - Swap Channels/click ok
4. Now click on Process again and choose "Invert/Flip"/click ok
5. Save the file under a different name such as songname1.wav
Open Nuendo
1. Choose File "New project"
2. Open 2 empty stereo tracks
3. Import the original track
4. Now import the track you created in Sound Forge
You will notice now that when you play these two tracks together they seem to cancel everything out but the middle. (Only the ambient remnants of the track remain)
5. Export these two tracks as stereo interleaved and give it a name songname2.wav
6. Close your work window and choose File "New Project"
7. Open two blank stereo tracks
8. Import the original untouched track
9. Import the newest track songname2.wav
10.Play them together and notice how full the vocals now sound.
11. Mix to taste keeping at 0.0 or lower.
12. Export as stereo interleaved and you are done.
13. Add compressor and/or limiter and sweeten to taste.
Either Earle or Paavo are the genius behind this.
The LR Thingy
Basically you are creating a track that moves to the front and captues all the ambient properties of the track and gives it a real 3d sound.
Here are the steps using Sound Forge and Nuendo. You can use any other software that has similar tools.
1. Open your original song.
2. Click on Process and then "Channel Converter"
3. Choose the preset "Stereo to Stereo - Swap Channels/click ok
4. Now click on Process again and choose "Invert/Flip"/click ok
5. Save the file under a different name such as songname1.wav
Open Nuendo
1. Choose File "New project"
2. Open 2 empty stereo tracks
3. Import the original track
4. Now import the track you created in Sound Forge
You will notice now that when you play these two tracks together they seem to cancel everything out but the middle. (Only the ambient remnants of the track remain)
5. Export these two tracks as stereo interleaved and give it a name songname2.wav
6. Close your work window and choose File "New Project"
7. Open two blank stereo tracks
8. Import the original untouched track
9. Import the newest track songname2.wav
10.Play them together and notice how full the vocals now sound.
11. Mix to taste keeping at 0.0 or lower.
12. Export as stereo interleaved and you are done.
13. Add compressor and/or limiter and sweeten to taste.
Either Earle or Paavo are the genius behind this.
Thanks for the reply. Like I said, I'm familiar with M-S coding, and have never got the results that I do using Air. It seems thtere's more going on than L-R, R-L etc summing. I was hoping an explantion of the Har-Bal process would clarify this for me. Plus, I like to be able to tell a client what I'm doing to a track.
Thanks again,
/dave
Thanks again,
/dave
Hi Dave,
There is no more going on here other than the mid-side encoding you are talking about. I don't know why you are hearing things you haven't heard before when doing it by other means as the process is no different. The only possible explaination I have is that the combination of harmonically balancing the track and then adding air has made the ambience that much more audible. I'd be very surprised if "air" alone done side by side with another mid-side processor would give different results (not unless you get the phasing wrong).
Paavo.
There is no more going on here other than the mid-side encoding you are talking about. I don't know why you are hearing things you haven't heard before when doing it by other means as the process is no different. The only possible explaination I have is that the combination of harmonically balancing the track and then adding air has made the ambience that much more audible. I'd be very surprised if "air" alone done side by side with another mid-side processor would give different results (not unless you get the phasing wrong).
Paavo.
-
Mister
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2005 10:48 pm
- Location: misters.masters@sympatico.ca
Hi Paavo
Originally when everything concerning the LR Thingy began, you mentioned that you added reverb to the "side" channel - that is, the channel swapped, polarity inverted track mix. So does Har-Bal Air incorporate some reverb to this side channel; or is it just increasing the level of the side channel, like say WaveLab's StereoExpander does?
Mister
Originally when everything concerning the LR Thingy began, you mentioned that you added reverb to the "side" channel - that is, the channel swapped, polarity inverted track mix. So does Har-Bal Air incorporate some reverb to this side channel; or is it just increasing the level of the side channel, like say WaveLab's StereoExpander does?
Mister