[ardour-dev] Advice on FFT Analysis ... How to Read it, and What Can it Tell You?

[Shayne O'Connor]

Jack O'Quin wrote:
> On 11/3/06, Shayne O'Connor <flowbot at machinehasnoagenda.com> wrote:
>> i'm gettin ready to master some tracks, so i'm trying to get used to the
>> idea/purpose of FFT Analysis ... here's a composite graph of a short
>> region of all my tracks from a session:
>>
>> http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g11/machinehasnoagenda/screenshots/?action=view&current=BassGuitar.png
>>
>>
>>
>> ... and here's the guitar and bass alone:
>>
>> http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g11/machinehasnoagenda/screenshots/?action=view&current=BassGuitar.png
>>
>>
>>
>> ... would i be right to assume that this graph is suggesting the bass
>> and guitar are a bit close in frequency range and need to be eq'd to
>> avoid muddiness?
>>
>> any tips on how to get the most out of the FFT Analysis would be much
>> appreciated ;)
>
> Your xaxis needs to show the low end more clearly.  Try something like
> the spectrum analyser or the HDEQ in jamin.  Those frequency axes are
> based on the 1/3 octave values in a standard 30-band EQ.  It starts out
> like this...
>
>  25, 31.5, 40, 50, 63, 80, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 315, 400, 500, 630
> ...
>
> You need that kind of low-end resolution to see the difference between
> guitar and bass spectra.  Their ranges are only an octave apart.
ok, thanks!

shayne