Recorded Music Spectrum Analysis

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jdmrivera
Posts: 73
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2017 12:59 am
Location: Littleton, Colorado

Recorded Music Spectrum Analysis

#1 Post by jdmrivera »

I have been using Audacity with this plugin to do spectrum analysis of recorded music: http://www.voxengo.com/product/span/. It let's you see the spectrum change as the song plays. It's been pretty useful (Along with Audacity's own spectrum analyzer) to really get a feel for what is happening in the bass frequencies. A lot of music I thought was "low" really turns out to be strong in the 50-70Hz range.
Built:
Omni Tallboy 15 w/3015LF (My BBQ music Machine!)
2 Lab 12 T39s 24" Wide
4 OT12s, 2 Melded Array, 2 Flat Array

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Radian
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Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2008 12:56 pm
Location: Tucson, AZ

Re: Recorded Music Spectrum Analysis

#2 Post by Radian »

There's a musical reason for that.

Not to downplay the importance of capability below those frequencies (a whole 'nother topic), but suffice to say if you play around with music on a wide-band system at sufficient SPL, it becomes apparent which frequencies a crowd of people are most likely to be energized by. The average of that affect can be visualized by skimming spectral plots of recorded music.
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Bill Fitzmaurice
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Re: Recorded Music Spectrum Analysis

#3 Post by Bill Fitzmaurice »

Radian wrote:There's a musical reason for that.
There's a technical reason for that. The instruments used to create low frequency tones are far too small for the fundamentals to have anywhere near the output of the harmonics. In those genres where the recording levels below 60Hz even approach that above 60Hz it's due to boosting LF EQ in the mix down process.

jdmrivera
Posts: 73
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2017 12:59 am
Location: Littleton, Colorado

Re: Recorded Music Spectrum Analysis

#4 Post by jdmrivera »

Well so far I'm convinced that my decision to build T39s is justified. My Omni Tallboy15 is mostly playing while I'm knocking about in the garage (Jazz bass Guitar Pandora station) and I am constantly impressed with how well it sounds. I know the T39s won't go quite as low (40Hz pack of 4 vs 35 Hz 1XOTB15) but I'm sure the increased SPL will make up for it especially when I move them outside!

I need to post a new build thread - I'm almost done with two out of four T39s and two OT12s. Will do tomorrow.
Built:
Omni Tallboy 15 w/3015LF (My BBQ music Machine!)
2 Lab 12 T39s 24" Wide
4 OT12s, 2 Melded Array, 2 Flat Array

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