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Old 05-07-2017, 02:05 AM   #1
SymboliC
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Default Analyzing the values of a waveform?? Need advice...

Hi,

Currently I'm trying to improve in and learn the aspects of mixing & mastering dept. in a more mathematical and "visual" way.

For this occasion, I throw some tracks in Reaper for reference purposes and also insert Voxengo SPAN in the master channel.

I have a couple of questions... Most of them are related to analyzing professional records and audio works to get hints.

1) Is there any information that can be read/extracted/figured by simply listening to a pro-quality audio file and also looking at the waveform itself? I'm not talking about the numerical values that present in SPAN or any other plugins. Could you people out there, tell what sort of approaches one has used by looking at the waveform? I mean, the punchiness, clarity, low end and so...

2) What is Max Crest Factor in SPAN? I have read some information on the web but couldn't exactly get the idea... I see it as a value measured instantaneously(the point at where you start to play the song) instead of the overall song? If it is so, is it the difference between the peak point and the one closest to 0 dB?

3) This one is for people who are on the louder side of the so-called "loudness war". How do you people manage to preserve the punchiness, energy, of the songs you mix? I know that arrangement and the composition itself have a huge role with this. Especially arrangement. But, other than this, mix-wise and mastering-wise especially the latter?

4) Can you formulize a song's audible structure/identity/clarity with only RMS and Peak values? I mean, can you just say "if you keep them close you get this, if you keep them apart enough you get this" etc... There are lots of variables in the formula I know but just to round-up things in a more simplistic manner...

5) Proper reading of Reaper's Master Meter. This one is actually related to the previous question. When I do my mixes I usually keep individual tracks' meters below the yellow bar/area and pay attention to individual tracks and the master meter not to clip BY ONLY LOOKING AT the PEAK value. I keep total peak value between -6.0 to -5.0 dB. But, what are the sided bars on master meter? Are they RMS? If so, is there a genre-specific general thumb of rule or ratio that I should be tracking when doing my mixes? What is the relation between Peak & RMS values?

Am I sacrificing total loudness potential of the whole mix by just paying attention to peak values?


Any thought, correction or help is appreciated!

Thank you all,
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