"Intensity" of each frequency range Options

[jalexm]

Hello.

Different songs have different "intensity" of each frequency range. I call it "intensity" but I'm sure there is a correct technical name for that. Correct me please.

So when I increase the high frequencies of a song using an equalizer, if I keep that eq. setting and play another song the result will not be good if the second song has "stronger" high frequencies than the first one. So I need to change equalizer for each song.

Is there any software that can analyze a song and tell me the "intensity" of each range of frequency?
This way I can reprocess the WAV files and add a fine tuning equaliztion for each one.

I have Cool Edit Pro but don't know if it can do it.
Can anyone help me?

Thanks.

[SpasV]

I think every professional sound editor should have something called Spectrum Analyzer or Analysis which could help you.
By visual inspection while listening you could evaluate what you try to.
As to the "Intesity" - I do not know a suitable word for that. The "Intensities" are usually phisical quantities related to a surface units while spectra are formal objects close to power, so they could be called power densities of the sound waves.

[buktore]

It sound to me like you want some sort of Multi-band dynamic compressor.

But if you going to edit them you better use your ear instead.

[DVDdoug]

I believe Adobe Audition has some good spectral analysis tools (but I don't own Audition). Most spectrum analyzers will display the instantaneous (moment-by-moment) frequency content of the sound as the sound is playing. You probably want to analyze the peak and average levels over the whole song. I'm not sure about Audition's options.

But if you going to edit them you better use your ear instead.

I agree. It doesn't hurt to use a spectrum analyzer as an aid, but your ears should be the final judge. You can use instruments to set-up your playback system, but the sound of the actual music requires human input.

This way I can reprocess the WAV files and add a fine tuning equaliztion for each one.

Unless you have a lot of old recordings, most of your songs shouldn't need adjustment! With modern recordings, most of the spectral differences are intentional. So, you should only try to fix a recording if you really think there is something wrong with it. In general, you can improve a "slightly dull" or "somewhat harsh" recording, but big adjustments may be less successful. And, if you try to boost notes & overtones that simply don't exist on the recording, you are going to make it sound worse!

This post has been edited by DVDdoug: Feb 4 2008, 22:12

[Woodinville]

Well, I can provide some definitions for intensity and loudness, which is a bit orthogonal to your question, but it will define what "intensity" really is, which is in fact the energy (in a given signal, or in a given part of a spectrum for a given signal, or part of a signal, whatevr).

Intensity is a measured paramater. You can measure intensity across all frequencies, in a frequency band, over a long time window, over a narrow time window, etc.

Loudness, on the other hand, is the sensation level, i.e. it's perceptual.

[SebastianG]

Intensity is a measured paramater. You can measure intensity across all frequencies, in a frequency band, over a long time window, over a narrow time window, etc.

I think it's also worth mentioning that intensity, power and pressure are three different physical measures that are often falsely used:

• Sound Power [W]: The power. A measure for the acoustic source -- usually in reference to 10^-12 W
• Sound Intensity [W/m^2]: The "power density" -- usually in reference to 10^-12 W / m^2
• Sound Pressure [Pa]: The pressure level you try to pick up with a microphone -- usually in reference to 2*10^-5 Pa

(This is what a friend was telling me who's working on his PhD in the field of aero acoustics.)

Of course these are somehow related to the perceived loudness but the relationship is not trivial.


Cheers!
SG