Spectrum analyzers... halp?

[Johnst]

So i've started to get to the point where i can/want to make all of my instruments and sounds have the frequency room they need for a tune to sound full. Specifically, i'm trying to find a good way to test samples to see where their most pronounced frequencies are, so that hopefully i can use subtractive eq and a little bit of boosting occasionally to make stuff sound, well, good. I've been thinking that I need a spectrum analyzer, but from what i understand/have seen they're vst's, and i have reason. i know that frequency sweeping is a good method, but i have crap headphones and only laptop speakers to judge at the moment, so some visual feedback would help my mixes a lot.

any methods i can use in reason for this? or are there good spectrum analzyer's that i can just stick a sample in and see where it's sweet spots are frequency wise?

also, if anyone feels like responding to this, i'm still confused by eq as compared to filters. i've read/heard that eq is gentle and filters are extreme, but i've also heard/read the other way around. what the hell is the truth?!

[hideouz]

i think you could use a standalone spectrum analyzer (if they exist they probably do) and then put the stereo output into that and that'll tell you on a seperate window?

[deadly_habit]

i'm a fan of the inspectorxl pack
http://www.vertexdsp.com/products_multi ... rfree.html this one is good for dealing with overlapping freqs and iding problem areas quickly, i need to buy the full version for more
voxengo span is free and a good one, though not a fan of v2 vs the old one
i really like the one built into foobar2000 do to how many bands you can adjust it to and the response time to it and on my blog (see sig) did a tutorial on using it with any source, but introduces some latency
have a couple others i was testing but the names elude me atm
trying to come up with an ideal pack of metering plugins that are pretty, easy to read, quick response, and low on resource use

[komanderkin]

banzaiiiiii!

[deadly_habit]

lol i missed the whole reason thing when i was reading lol

[Johnst]

banzaiiiiii!

Und nun starte den Beat
*UTZ UTZ UTZ* i fucking laughed until i cried. awesome link though, thank you, even though i don't know what the hell he's saying it's easy enough to figure out from the figure. i'll give it a go.

and deadly you're post was honestly so helpful that i didn't even want to correct you lol. cheers for the help guys, much appreciated.

[RmoniK]

i used the method where i use the stereo imagers, to make bands of frequencies, but there has to be something off there. I get volume in the low band (should be below 100 Hz) from my kick even if i hi-pass it to 800 Hz...
Anyone knows what i'm doing wrong?

[Ongelegen]

other thing you could do, is download reaper demo (fully functional), rewire reason into it. Get blue cat's freq analyser, or any other freeware equivalent and put that on the master. I know it's not the most convenient way, but it's an option.

[eric0177]

Thanks so much Deadly Habit for the Vertex link.

[RmoniK]

Bleh. I'll just wait for my new macbook and buy Logic.

[futures_untold]

Don't wait until your MAcbook arives, there are several easy alternatives.

Downloading Reaper or Audacity and using free spectrum analyzers is a good method. ---> Free spectrum analysers

A very accurate dedicated method for Reason can be created using the stereo imager and several mixers. Watch this video to find out more, suffice to say you can split the sound more times than is shown in the video to create more frequency bands of needed.

[stompzi]

I get volume in the low band (should be below 100 Hz) from my kick even if i hi-pass it to 800 Hz...
Anyone knows what i'm doing wrong?

Assuming that a HPF removes everything

Or are you talking about a considerable amount?

[futures_untold]

The eq may only attenuate the volume by a certain number of dB. Find an EQ with ove 90dB of attenuation or more.

Don't get hi-pass and hi-shelf confused.

Also, set the poles on the filter to the highest number possible. This changes the slope of the filter providing more attenuation tot he frequencies immediately next to the filter cutoff point. A shallow slope will only gently reduce the volume of nearby frequencies.

Try stacking multiple parametric bands on the same frequency point to provide more attenuation.

But the first thing to check, is if the FX bypass button is engaged!

[RmoniK]

I get volume in the low band (should be below 100 Hz) from my kick even if i hi-pass it to 800 Hz...
Anyone knows what i'm doing wrong?

Assuming that a HPF removes everything

Or are you talking about a considerable amount?

Considerable amount, which shouldn't be (think it was a 24 filter too, so really shouldn't be)

I'm using the vocoder system now, it's a hell of a lot better.