Is there a way to figure out what frequency audio is at?

[Nick The Man]

sounds like a dumb question .. but i dont know the answer.


lets say i record a kick drum and i want to find out what its frequency is ... is there a way of just DOING this? or is it a hearing practice or something?

 

[bennychico11]

you can find the resonant frequency by using a spectrum analyzer. This will show you the existing frequencies and more likely than not the loudest one is the fundamental.

you can also use your ear....add a narrow boost using EQ and sweep the lower frequencies. When the pitch pops out at you, that'll be it.

 

[Nick The Man]

you can find the resonant frequency by using a spectrum analyzer. This will show you the existing frequencies and more likely than not the loudest one is the fundamental.

you can also use your ear....add a narrow boost using EQ and sweep the lower frequencies. When the pitch pops out at you, that'll be it.

lol thanks for the reply

but im pretty new with EQ's so could you define that last sentence

like sweep and narrow boost?

 

[bennychico11]

narrow boost would mean amplifying a portion of the EQ plugin and setting the Q to narrow. The Q changes the range of frequencies you boost. If you use a "wide" Q you are effecting lots of frequencies...if you use a narrow Q (cutting or boosting) you can effect only a few frequencies. Basically a narrow boost will graphically look like a sharp peak.

below is a pic of a graphical EQ. The orange boost is narrow, while the green one is rather wide. The terms are pretty self explanatory.

sweeping means just moving the frequency the boost is at, back and forth slowly until you find the frequency you're looking for. A lot of people do this when they're looking for a problematic frequency. When you finally come across the frequency while sweeping it, all of a sudden you'll hear it increase in amplitude fairly dramatically...so then you know that's the frequency you're looking for. I do this a lot when there seems to be a high pitched squeal coming from somewhere. I'll sweep the upper 15kHz range and when I find it, I'll just reduce that narrow frequency range by several decibels and adjust the Q as needed so that the frequency starts to go away.

A lot of times sweeping the EQ takes a good ear as well. You have to be able to recognize when you've got the pitch you're listening for. This has a lot to do with your ability to know an in-tune note from an out-of-tune note.

 

[PhiloBeddoe]

lets say i record a kick drum and i want to find out what its frequency is

An important concept to be aware of is that, besides a pure sine wave, any sound that you record will have harmonic frequency content. Therefore your kick drum will have frequencies accross the entire spectrum. You will see this with a spectrum analyzer.

You can get a free spectrum analyzer from Voxengo called 'Span'.

The relevant part of this topic is which frequencies need eq'ing. When someone says they boosted 10kHz on a vocal, it's not because there's any fundamental frequencies there. It's because there are harmonics.

 

[Nick The Man]

An important concept to be aware of is that, besides a pure sine wave, any sound that you record will have harmonic frequency content. Therefore your kick drum will have frequencies accross the entire spectrum. You will see this with a spectrum analyzer.

You can get a free spectrum analyzer from Voxengo called 'Span'.

The relevant part of this topic is which frequencies need eq'ing. When someone says they boosted 10kHz on a vocal, it's not because there's any fundamental frequencies there. It's because there are harmonics.

yeha thats defintly a good concept to understand

 

[RAMI]

yeha thats defintly a good concept to understand

hehe....for sure.

 

[gordone]

When you pluck a low 'A' string on your guitar, the "main" frequency is 440hz (ie the "pitch"). The overtones/harmonics (ie other frequencies) is what makes the note sound like it came from a guitar, rather than a piano/flute/sin wave generator (ie the "timbre")

 

[Farview]

The low 'A' on a guitar is 110 Hz. 'A' 440 is the high E string on the 5th fret.

 

[gordone]

Doah! Thanks for correcting me! Been staring at C++/CORBA code all day (yuck!)

The low 'A' on a guitar is 110 Hz. 'A' 440 is the high E string on the 5th fret.

 

[Farview]

I've been quantizing drums for two days. I'm suprized I can form a complete thought.

 

[Ethan Winer]

Jay,

> The low 'A' on a guitar is 110 Hz <

Indeed it is.

Note that the fundamental is not usually the loudest component with most musical instruments. With electric guitars and basses, with the strings plucked in the usual place above the pickups, the second harmonic dominates. On my Fender Precision bass the second harmonic is about 10 to 12 dB louder than the fundamental. An electric guitar generally has an even larger disparity, and a bright piano varies even more.

--Ethan

 

[legionserial]

I've been quantizing drums for two days. I'm suprized I can form a complete thought.

You too huh?

Yeah, I'm surprised my spolling hasn't tunned to sh1tub;blkbn ;hjkhmnv, z.cv/../.fdjgiujrgdk;lk.......

Oh wayt...thar iit gooes.

 

[TragikRemix]

I've been quantizing drums for two days. I'm suprized I can form a complete thought.

eesh!

im sorry for you...

what samples are you using with that midi track??

 

[Farview]

No midi, I'm quantizing audio. I can quantize midi files in about two minutes per album. Audio can take 8 hours a song.

 

[dirtythermos]

I'm quantizing audio.

Why would you do this? Honest question, I don't understand.

 

[Farview]

Why would you do this? Honest question, I don't understand.

To make the drums perfect like everything else on the radio.

BTW. I only bring the kick and snare in line most of the time. If the performance is really out of whack, then I have to quantize every hit.

 

[dirtythermos]

Thanks, Farview. So everyone quantizes drums? Why not use DFH or something similar?

Do you quantize any other instruments?

I'm amazed at all the little things people are doing that I don't know about.

 

[Farview]

Thanks, Farview. So everyone quantizes drums? Why not use DFH or something similar?

Because that's midi. It also is very limiting as far as the sound of the kit.

Do you quantize any other instruments?

Only if I have to. I really only do it to drums when the feel is inconsistant. If it feels good, I leave it alone. Once you start moving stuff around, you have to put it on a grid. Once one part is on the grid, the whole song has to be.

It is common practice to tighten up onther instruments as well. If it will be faster to play it again, you do that. If it's faster to just nudge it, you do that.

 

[Nick The Man]

what does quantizing mean ?

sounds like making drums fake??