*NEWBIE*How to use and understand Spectrum Analyzers etc...

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JonjoeDw

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Hi all im new here so im hoping i dont get too hard a time!! :)

Been mixing and recording for a few years now and i finalling think im getting somewhere i can ba proud of, well nearly!! One thing i cant grasp is Spectrum Analyzers...now i know your probably think..what a nut its easy and i dont blame you!!

Seems to be any music i use as reference is reading about -24 across the Spectro Graph. My mixes are way taller than that and i cant seem to work out what im doing wrong?? Ive tried messing with eq, comp, etc...not even sure if this is the best place to start but ive tried everything.

Can someone kindly explain, what this is all about?

Also, any reference mixes ive used seem to be cut at 20k and boasted at 15k, can some explain the reasoning for this and how can i make the 20k cut?

Sorry if its a dumb question, but something i cant seem to find an answer for!

Many thanks in advance and im sorry if this information is posted somewhere else!!

Regards!:)
 
Mix with your ears, not with your eyes. Spectrum analyzers are for precisely defining problems that you hear. If you don't hear a problem then you don't need a spectrum analyzer. I can't think of the last time I used one to look at a mix. Just because you have a tool doesn't mean you have to use it on every project.

For live sound they (real time analyzers) can be helpful to identify the exact frequency of some feedback and some other stuff.
 
About the only time I use a frequency analyzer is for de-essing purposes, so I can see which frequencies the "sss"s come from.
 
Cheers for the response. I do mix with my ears and as time goes by im getting happier with the results. Interested in learning more about the Spectro graph readings.

td.webp
An example of one of my source files.


sg.webp
And an example of one of my recent projects.

See how the top example is uniformed and the below example is taller and more messy?

In my limited experience i have for this in all my reference CD's..just interested in learning whats happening.

Thankyou :)
 
I don't like them at all for anything musical. I use them sometimes for analyzing speech, but for music the are useless 99% of the time.
 
JonjoeDw said:
View attachment 67626
An example of one of my source files.
View attachment 67627
And an example of one of my recent projects.
See how the top example is uniformed and the below example is taller and more messy?
Click to expand...

It looks from the spectrograph as if the reference track has been low-pass-filtered at 15kHz -- is it an MP3? MP3s often exhibit this characteristic. If it isn't then I'd say it's pretty unusual, and probably not something to emulated. As such, I wouldn't worry that your own mix looks different -- you'd normally expect a gradual roll-off towards the 20kHz extreme in a CD-quality mix file.
 
Just to add to that -- I don't think spectrographs are particularly useful for mixing purposes, to be honest. A high-resolution spectrum analyser can be very handy, however, particularly if you can't rely on the low end of your monitoring system.
 
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