Har-Bal download anyone?

[tigerflystudio]

Hi, can anyone direct me to a free download of the Har-Bal software please? Cheers.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

There are no legal free downloads of that hoodoo voodoo offered.

G.

[RAMI]

There are no legal free downloads of that hoodoo voodoo offered.

G.

Thank god. I imagine how many people would be using that shit if it WAS free.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Thank god. I imagine how many people would be using that shit if it WAS free.

Scary thought, eh? My god, I just went to their website to actually research my answer for 10 seconds (there's a new thing out there called "Google", people should try it sometime ), and it almost makes me sick to my stomach that they actually promote that garbage as "visual mastering software". That phrase is so wrong in so many ways it makes my head spin.

G.

[Chili]

Hi, can anyone direct me to a free download of the Har-Bal software please? Cheers.

If you're looking for crackz, warez, torrentz or whatever the latest illegal download is these days, you'll get immediately banned. If you're looking for a demo version of Har-Bal, it seems they don't offer one. However, Ozone 4 has a demo version. Check out their website @

www.izotope.com

[TeyshaBlue]

Hi, can anyone direct me to a free download of the Har-Bal software please? Cheers.

You don't want it, even if it were free. I wouldn't use it if they paid me.

It's as counterproductive a tool as I've ever seen. It's like using a hammer upside down.

[tigerflystudio]

Hi guys, sorry - didn't realise it wasn't free. Did a quick search on Google and there seemed to be a few people in various music forums saying they got it for free, so just thought I'd ask you guys if you know a reliable source to download it from? No worries if not. If there's a demo, that'd be just as good, as I was just intrigued to see how it worked - sounds interesting. I know most (experienced) folks slag it off, but still, being a software / hardware junkie, I like to play around with things and make my own mind up. Can I ask a quick, simple, question? It seems that in the main, the people who don't rate Har-Bal (and other such software) are either pro or experienced mastering engineers. So guys, would you say, in your honest opinions, that for us 'lesser mortals' who are looking to improve our mastering skills, that something like Har-Bal IS a help, if only as a learning tool? And that as our experience grows, there is no need for it any more?

[Chili]

Hi guys, sorry - didn't realise it wasn't free. Did a quick search on Google and there seemed to be a few people in various music forums saying they got it for free, so just thought I'd ask you guys if you know a reliable source to download it from? No worries if not. If there's a demo, that'd be just as good, as I was just intrigued to see how it worked - sounds interesting. I know most (experienced) folks slag it off, but still, being a software / hardware junkie, I like to play around with things and make my own mind up. Can I ask a quick, simple, question? It seems that in the main, the people who don't rate Har-Bal (and other such software) are either pro or experienced mastering engineers. So guys, would you say, in your honest opinions, that for us 'lesser mortals' who are looking to improve our mastering skills, that something like Har-Bal IS a help, if only as a learning tool? And that as our experience grows, there is no need for it any more?

Cool. Those who got it for free probably stole it.

I have never used Har-Bal, but I do have Ozone 3. The sentiment towards it is about the same as it is for Har-Bal. But basically, the sentiment is for a good reason, you can't let presets decide how a song should sound. You have to use your ears and that is the hardest part of mastering a collection of tunes. I started out using all the tricks and gimmicks with Ozone, but nowadays, I only use the limiter, dithering and EQ, (but EQ is mostly flatlined unless I need it).

You really don't "master" one song. Mastering is about taking a bunch of songs and putting them together so they sound like a coherent album. Like all the songs were recorded in the same studio on the same day with everyone drinking the same coffee. It's not an easy thing to do. Then the mastering stage will prepare that album for reproduction.

If you want to practice master skills, buy Wavelab Essential and practice assembling songs into an album. Getting levels to match, EQ'ing so they sound homogenous, song order, spacing, etc. Just getting levels to match is not easy. It's more than strapping a limiter across the master buss.

[Massive Master]

I've used it. Bought it (to make it actually work properly), used it for a bit and then took advantage of the "30-day No Questions Asked Guarantee" --

After being asked a bunch of questions, they finally refunded me.

It makes a decent EQ if nothing else. If it wasn't a stand-alone, I may have kept it (just as another EQ). But for the most part, I wasn't a fan...

[SouthSIDE Glen]

So guys, would you say, in your honest opinions, that for us 'lesser mortals' who are looking to improve our mastering skills, that something like Har-Bal IS a help, if only as a learning tool?

For the record, I am not a pro mastering engineer, though I have done some mastering; my main areas of interest are in mixing and production (classical definition).

Just a couple of the problems with Hair Ball are that - as John alluded to above - it waits until the mastering stage to do things that are supposed to be done in mixing; it is one of the biggest culprits to blame for today's newb misunderstanding of what mixing and mastering are actually supposed to be, and for today's rapid disappearance in the new generation of anybody with any real mixing skills.

Second is the whole ludicrous idea of "visual" anything when it comes to manipulating audio. You cannot tell how something sounds by looking at it. Period. You might as well judge a painting by licking it. Not only do you have to develop and hone and *use* you ears and analytical listening skills in this racket, and any software that claims to be able to allow you to do otherwise is not only shoveling you bullshit, but doing you and your music a complete disservice if trying to lure you to that mirage of an idea.

Third is the idea that you can take the "shape" of your favorite commercial cut, apply that shape to your own mix, and you'll magically sound like that commercial band. Unless you have the same players playing the same instruments in the same studio, that ain't going to work very well.

Fourth is the idea that the third one is even a good idea to begin with. If you just want to make music that sounds like someone else, then what's the point of making it? Your tracks have their own personality for numerous technical and creative reasons, and you should learn from the get-go to try and mix to fit the personality and character of the song, and not something else completely unrelated.

Can one do some interesting things with Hair Ball? Sure, just like Blue Man Group can do some interesting things with PVC pipe. You you don't see BMG actually using that pipe for the purposes for which it was originally designed, like plumbing and such. Similarly, one can do some interesting things sometimes with Hair Ball, just they are rarely the purposes for which Hair Ball was designed and is advertised.

In the right hands, Hair Ball could have a place in the tool kit. But those hands are NOT the audience to which Hair Ball is marketed; i.e. they should never be the hands of a newb who has not already developed a more-than-basic understanding and skill set of how this racket actually works. Let's put it this way, if you want to use it as "visual mastering software", then you should not go near it.

G.