Har-Bal - I don't understand what it's used for!

[Odeon-Mastering]

Originally Posted by RasCricket

Now, now you two. Youre gettin all fiesty for nothing. Odeon, boy you really need to pay attention. No where do I claim to know anything about mastering. Youve obviously not been reading this thread.

Ahh, yeah - now I see what you two are getting at. The key of the song isnt really that big a deal when using HB for what I had previously detailed which was preparing songs for play over a large sound system for bass response purposes. Its really not that major of a factor for what Im using the tool for.

Boys...if you really want to be critics, how 'bout you critique my guitar playing in my link. "Ska One"...give it a go
Then tell me all you want about how Im not a "real musician".

Frankly, I could give a rats behind about the key of a song when Im taking a quick look at some bass frequencies. I have taken the info from people into considereation for the next time I need to prepare a playlist for such an event. Trust me, you can try to nail me to the cross for my lack of care about the matter of the key for what Im using HB for. Im not trying to "Master" anything, as previously mentioned. But to knock my musical skills, you need a lot better ammo than this, to be honest.

Didnt want to sound harsh on your musical skills, sorry I worded my furstration really badly.

I used to compose (not so good at it...but still I did some studies in cambridge)#

Anyway....heres something for you to consider.

Since I do not play the bass gtr, I liked using Virtual bassist and sometimes I gave myself some help on arrangement, utilising an orchestrator midi plug in.

How would it seem, if I came into a forum full of working musicians, composers, arrangers and claimed that I can compose GREAT stuff using the above tools....and then a few others would join in and say that actually composers are not that necessary anymore since a plug in can do a better job. How would u feel if I said that virtual guitarist performs better than you?
I think at the least some would laugh and some would start giving me tips on why I am wrong (and I know I am wrong). Think about it.

Another sidenote: Had a listen to your track....excellent stuff...I used to play gtr on a reggae band called "One Drop" 10 years ago here in greece. Keep it up man.

Soundwise you can do a lot better. Try another Mixing and Mastering engineer if you want my advice. Your sound is not bad but since your music deserves it, I suggest you make the most out of it, by presenting it in the best possible way.
Thnx for the tunes.
Irie man.

[flatfinger]

Ras ,

I admire your tenacity , but in the 3 years or so I've haunted this forum It has been , as expected , a bit claustrophobic when it comes to new software developments like HB ( and FFT's of any sort for that matter, with the exception of edward at least .. .. and he's taken some lumps for it !!)
As I mentioned before , I 'm quite sure that most of the critics haven't really cracked open the tin and spent any significant time with the program .( and I don't think it's something any M.E. worth his salt and a good room and the time spent learning it needs) I think it is for the home enthusiast , and it can be of great assistance in helping home grown stuff sound better if the user is thoughtfull and carefull in applying it . It is only one ingrediant to me though . If one is utterly serious about a project it is best to collaborate with a pro .

Of course when you consider the fact that you may not be able to make any scratch of off a project , ( music is supposed to be free now it seems ) That could be a dubious investment , and it is understandable that many want to try there hand at mastering and see what they can do .

Fact is is that a demo can't give you much of an Idea about sound quality of the eq algo( which is limited to 16 bit processing I believe; that may have changed and there is always the 30 days return policy to fall back on !) . I also have no idea how the analog/pultec comparisons got dragged in to the discussion because I don't think that HB is trying to be anything but a digital , colorless type of eq.



The thing is RAS , You can't really expect to crash a stone mason convention and expect them to give all the secrets of laying the keystone , now can you ??
There has always been ( and I suspect there always will be ) some serious whiplash knee-jerkery reactions to HB, I don't blame a tradesman for guarding against possible usurping of there livleyhood.

Most of these guys are probably sharing more in these forums than they really should in light of genuine self-interest !


Don't hold your breath waiting for some famous or super credible M.E. type to admit that this type of approach has even the slightest merit my friend .Just make your own judgements and leave it at that.

[shanecgriffo]

just wanted to jump in here as a happy har-bal user.
its a great tool for me when used as described in their new version tutorials- balancing peaks and troughs (making some 'extensions to the peaks/troughs for example will make a slightly muddy mix much clearer), yes there are some issues (as mentioned in their writings)with masking and some 'problems' become more apparent through this process but it is usually minimal and unobtrusive when compared with the clarity/quality of results.
Let me say that it really shines for me on problem/average mixes, done in a home environment, i doubt a well mixed track from a top studio/engineer would be needing too much help, but in my crappy spare room i can record mix and master well enough for a cd that my friends can listen to and say, "hey, that sounds great" instead of being assulted by rogue frequencies overbearing room sound or muffled bass heavy mix. so har-bal, i salute ya!

[michael callesen]

from what i know voxengo curve-eq also lets you compare spectrum slopes??
have any1 here used it for that?

[misjah]

my cat gets a har bal once every while