Interactive Frequency Chart

[rocketboy]

A great guide for EQ'ing instruments

http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm

[xjepoyx]

Nice find!


but even if you know all this stuff and you still cant mix good a recorded song....

this is still useless...

its still all in the ears...


but then... this is a ggood reference

[skunkyfunk]

Magandang reference ito but sometimes mixing engineers tend to use intuition rather than memorize those properties across the whole frequency spectrum.

[makinao]

I like the adjectives in the bottom under the keyboard. I'm be interested to collect the Filipino translations for these terms from local music/engineering/production practitioners. I personally use:

ugong = rumble
lata = tinny
baho = bottom
tining = treble
ese = sibilance

On the other hand there are some here that I don't think are the same. For example, I suspect "air" is not in the same region as "hangin" or "ere".

Kayo, anu-ano ang ginagamit ninyong mga terms?
 

[rocketboy]

Right on, let the ears be the judge...i find this to be a great guide for cutting or shelving freq's to give way to other, more important instruments...

[KitC]

It also shows an instrument's true range; useful for midi artists trying to sequence an orchestra. Like who ever heard a tuba playing above middle A (although I will sometimes layer such a range with another brass instrument or different instrument group altogether especially if I find that it works).

[Tarkuz Toccata]

Nice find!


but even if you all this stuff and you still cant mix good a recorded song....

this is still useless...

its still all in the ears...


but then... this is a ggood reference

The more you know about sound the more you realize your limits. It is those that know who are aware of their limits. Be careful of those that know it all. Di puwede tenga lang, our ears can be easily fooled. There's no way to be certain that everyone else hears what you are hearing.  

[Tarkuz Toccata]

Kayo, anu-ano ang ginagamit ninyong mga terms?

Common terms used to describe loudspeakers

A.
Airy: Spacious. Open. Instruments sound like they are surrounded by a large reflective space full of air. Good reproduction of high-frequency reflections. High-frequency response extends to 15 or 20 kHz.

B.
Bassy: Emphasized low frequencies below about 200 Hz.
Blanketed: Weak highs, as if a blanket were put over the speakers.
Bloated: Excessive mid-bass around 250 Hz. Poorly damped low frequencies, low-frequency resonances. See Tubby.
Blurred: Poor transient response. Vague stereo imaging, not focused.
Boomy: Excessive bass around 125 Hz. Poorly damped low frequencies or low-frequency resonances.
Boxy: Having resonances as if the music were enclosed in a box. Sometimes an emphasis around 250 to 500 Hz.
Breathy: Audible breath sounds in woodwinds and reeds such as flute or sax. Good response in the upper-mids or highs.
Bright: High-frequency emphasis. Harmonics are strong relative to fundamentals.

C.
Chesty: The vocalist sounds like their chest is too big. A bump in the low-frequency response around 125 to 250 Hz.
Clear: See Transparent
Colored: Having timbres that are not true to life. Non-flat response, peaks or dips.
Crisp: Extended high-frequency response, especially with cymbals.

D.
Dark: Opposite of bright. Weak high frequencies.
Delicate: High frequencies extending to 15 or 20 kHz without peaks.
Depth: A sense of distance (near to far) of different instruments.
Detailed: Easy to hear tiny details in the music; articulate. Adequate high-frequency response, sharp transient response.
Dull: See Dark.

E.
Edgy: Too much high frequencies. Trebly. Harmonics are too strong relative to the fundamentals. Distorted, having unwanted harmonics that add an edge or raspiness.

F.
Fat: See Full and Warm. Or, spatially diffuse - a sound is panned to one channel, delayed, and then the delayed sound is panned to the other channel. Or, slightly distorted with analog tape distortion or tube distortion.
Full: Strong fundamentals relative to harmonics. Good low-frequency response, not necessarily extended, but with adequate level around 100 to 300 Hz. Male voices are full around 125 Hz; female voices and violins are full around 250 Hz; sax is full around 250 to 400 Hz. Opposite of thin.

G.
Gentle: Opposite of edgy. The harmonics - highs and upper mids - are not exaggerated, or may even be weak.
Grainy: The music sounds like it is segmented into little grains, rather than flowing in one continuous piece. Not liquid or fluid. Suffering from harmonic or I.M. distortion. Some early A/D converters sounded grainy, as do current ones of inferior design. Powdery is finer than grainy.
Grungy: Lots of harmonic or I.M. distortion.

H.
Hard: Too much upper midrange, usually around 3 kHz. Or, good transient response, as if the sound is hitting you hard.
Harsh: Too much upper midrange. Peaks in the frequency response between 2 and 6 kHz. Or, excessive phase shift in a digital recorder's lowpass filter.
Honky: Like cupping your hands around your mouth. A bump in the response around 500 to 700 Hz.

M.
Mellow: Reduced high frequencies, not edgy.
Muddy: Not clear. Weak harmonics, smeared time response, I.M. distortion.
Muffled: Sounds like it is covered with a blanket. Weak highs or weak upper mids.

N.
Nasal: Honky, a bump in the response around 600 Hz.

P.
Piercing: Strident, hard on the ears, screechy. Having sharp, narrow peaks in the response around 3 to 10 kHz.
Presence: A sense that the instrument in present in the listening room. Synonyms are edge, punch, detail, closeness and clarity. Adequate or emphasized response around 5 kHz for most instruments, or around 2 to 5 kHz for kick drum and bass.
Puffy: A bump in the response around 500 Hz.
Punchy: Good reproduction of dynamics. Good transient response, with strong impact. Sometimes a bump around 5 kHz or 200 Hz.

R.
Rich: See Full. Also, having euphonic distortion made of even-order harmonics.
Round: High-frequency rolloff or dip. Not edgy.

S.
Sibilant: "Essy" Exaggerated "s" and "sh" sounds in singing, caused by a rise in the response around 6 to 10 kHz.
Sizzly: See Sibilant. Also, too much highs on cymbals.
Smeared: Lacking detail. Poor transient response, too much leakage between microphones. Poorly focused images.
Smooth: Easy on the ears, not harsh. Flat frequency response, especially in the midrange, Lack of peaks and dips in the response.
Spacious: Conveying a sense of space, ambiance, or room around the instruments. Stereo reverb. Early reflections.
Steely: Emphasized upper mids around 3 to 6 kHz. Peaky, nonflat high-frequency response. See Harsh, Edgy.
Strident: See Harsh, Edgy.
Sweet: Not strident or piercing. Delicate. Flat high-frequency response, low distortion. Lack of peaks in the response. Highs are extended to 15 or 20 kHz, but they are not bumped up. Often used when referring to cymbals, percussion, strings, and sibilant sounds.

T.
Telephone-like: See Tinny.
Thin: Fundamentals are weak relative to harmonics.
Tight: Good low-frequency transient response and detail.
Tinny: Narrowband, weak lows, peaky mids. The music sounds like it is coming through a telephone or tin can.
Transparent: Easy to hear into the music, detailed, clear, not muddy. Wide flat frequency response, sharp time response, very low distortion and noise.
Tubby: Having low-frequency response resonances as if you're singing in a bathtub. See Bloated.

V.
Veiled: Like a silk veil is over the speakers. Slight noise or distortion or slightly weak high frequencies. Not transparent.

W.
Warm: Good bass, adequate low frequencies, adequate fundamentals relative to harmonics. Not thin. Also excessive bass or midbass. Also, pleasantly spacious, with adequate reverberation at low frequencies. Also see Rich, Round. Warm highs means sweet highs.
Weighty: Good low-frequency response below about 50 Hz. Suggesting an object of great weight or power, like a diesel locomotive.

[KitC]

Hehe... I've seen that list before over at IAA. How about the tagalog version, Tarkuz? 

[xjepoyx]

The more you know about sound the more you realize your limits. It is those that know who are aware of their limits. Be careful of those that know it all. Di puwede tenga lang, our ears can be easily fooled. There's no way to be certain that everyone else hears what you are hearing.  

yes i know what your pointing at...

but the thing is some people tend to be more visual rather than really using their ears and brains!.

[Tarkuz Toccata]

It also shows an instrument's true range; useful for midi artists trying to sequence an orchestra. Like who ever heard a tuba playing above middle A (although I will sometimes layer such a range with another brass instrument or different instrument group altogether especially if I find that it works).

Its purpose is not only to inform you of a contrabassoon's bottom note or a piccolo's top note, but also to encourage you to orchestrate your music with instruments outside the conventional rock armory of guitar, keyboards, bass, drums and the occassional squealing saxophone. If you should suddenly 'hear' an oboe part for one of your tunes, you can avoid making impossible demands on the player by checking the oboe's range before you write its melody. (It should also go without saying that a real oboe, unlike a sampled one, can only play one note at a time!)

Vocal Range: Singers may not be at their most expressive when straining for their highest or lowest notes, so you should try to pitch your vocal melodies somewhere comfortably in the middle of the singer's range. Low notes notes can be very effective, but they tend to sound breathier and quieter than high notes. Wherever possible, play through your arrangement with the singer to identify any problem areas. You may find that changing key by as little as a semitone makes a noticeable difference to the vocal performance, so be prepared to lean your song's backing in a new key!

Instrument Range: Much the same goes for instruments, although they are not quite so sensitive to slight changes of register. The ranges given are for general purposes, but the upper extremities will vary from player to player. In some cases (for example, trumpet) higher notes than those shown can be produced, but their musical quality cannot be guaranteed! If in doubt, check your melody's highest and lowest notes with the instrumentalist you have in mind.

[Tarkuz Toccata]

but the thing is some people tend to be more visual rather than really using their ears and brains!.

I tend to agree with your view of this. That's stupid!

[xjepoyx]

hehe

its nice to see you here more often again

[KitC]

Its purpose is not only to inform you of a contrabassoon's bottom note or a piccolo's top note, but also to encourage you to orchestrate your music with instruments outside the conventional rock armory of guitar, keyboards, bass, drums and the occassional squealing saxophone. If you should suddenly 'hear' an oboe part for one of your tunes, you can avoid making impossible demands on the player by checking the oboe's range before you write its melody./quote]

Try telling that to the basoon player when Igor Stravinsky gave him the score to the Rite of Spring. 

Seriously though, with an orchestra (real or midi), one should try to stay within the range of an instrument's capability; to go above or below that would not only be impossible physically, but approaching the higher limits puts undue strain on the instrumentalist. With midi, the instrument will sound unnatural, that's why some sample libraries limit the playable range of some sample libraries.

When one is programming patches on a synth or doing some kind of sound design, however, one can disregard those limitations. For example, one can layer  the attack of a kick drum or timpani into a bass sound to give it more attack, or vice versa, add the release tail of a bass sound to a kick to give it more sustain. Play around with other synthesis parameters and you can even make an organic into something more synthy. Anyway, I digress...