|
Post by formica on Dec 4, 2005 0:20:29 GMT -7
Well, I was testing a disk in which I found the mix "lacklustre" in spectrum lab so... I decided to throw a couple of favourite albums in to see how they test in bass content. These are all regular 2-channel music recordings on CD... and not DVDA or SACD. The first one is Front242's song "Melt" from the live album called ReBoot98 .... it has great solid low level intensity. Although the bulk is centred at 40 to 50Hz... it actually extends below 20Hz.
|
|
|
Post by formica on Dec 4, 2005 0:22:15 GMT -7
This second one is Massive Attack's popular "Tear Drop" from the Mezzanine album... it actually extends down to about 15Hz with good content in the entire 20Hz range! For those who don't know this song, it's a great recording (actually the whole album is) but it's not a "bass heavy" song.
|
|
|
Post by formica on Dec 4, 2005 0:23:45 GMT -7
Another one from the same Massive Attack album... "Man Next Door". It has similar extension to TearDrop... but audibly a much heavier beat due to the mid 20Hz content.
|
|
|
Post by formica on Dec 4, 2005 0:27:08 GMT -7
This one is BreakbeatEra's title song from the "UltraObscene" album. It's a great album which falls in the Drum&Bass style, but has strong trip-hop and jazz influences. Good dynamic recording, although you can pickup quite a few of the mix's glitches usually blended out during mastering. I use this album when I auditioned equipement and it often just isn't right. Maybe this is why... with a strong beat centred at 40Hz... and extension to 8Hz, A LOT of info was missing... I got some more to post tomorrow... ROb
|
|
|
Post by formica on Dec 4, 2005 23:42:05 GMT -7
Another Breakbeat Era song... "Animal Machine" which has strong content down to below 10Hz. It really does work a subwoofer.... All these recordings were mastered with CD in mind, so they obviously weren't limited to the RIAA vinyl curve. xs58.xs.to/pics/05491/BreakBeatEra-AnimalMachine.jpg
|
|
|
Post by formica on Dec 4, 2005 23:45:39 GMT -7
Ok, How about Meat Beat Manifesto's "YURI" from their "RUOK" album? This is techno-industrial with excellent recording quality throughout the whole frequency range and beyond. I would refer to this as a bass intense recording though. Bass extends evenly to below 10Hz... a lot of info between 20Hz and 50Hz. It'll make most speakers (and a lot of subs) sweat. xs58.xs.to/pics/05491/MeatBeatManifesto-Yuri.jpg
|
|
|
Post by formica on Dec 4, 2005 23:49:17 GMT -7
OK, I can hear some people whining... "but we don't know any of those groups / songs" ... Well, I pulled out an oldie... recorded for vinyl. I have an old copy of Dark Side of the Moon, with the original mix. It's not the "remastered" version or even less the SACD one. Just the plain DSTM This is "Speak to Me" at the start of the album... and it has some pretty intense content at 32Hz which extends to about 22Hz. xs58.xs.to/pics/05491/PinkFloyd-SpeaktoMe.jpgmore yet to come... ROb
|
|
|
Post by jman on Dec 5, 2005 0:15:36 GMT -7
Sarah Mclachlan - Back Door Man Ignore the line at 1hz or so, just noise on my sblive.
|
|
|
Post by formica on Dec 5, 2005 23:15:26 GMT -7
Ok, here is one form Front Line Assembly, "Decoy" with extension down below 10Hz and a very strong showing in the low 30Hz range... I have to admit that I didn't scan all their albums (over 20 something?), but just pulled out "Epitaph" given it's post 2000... The mix does reflect their recent albums... xs58.xs.to/pics/05492/FrontLineAssemby-Decoy.jpg
|
|
|
Post by formica on Dec 5, 2005 23:17:37 GMT -7
This is for those who prefer "analog" instruments... Korn's "Did my Time" which many will remember from the Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life movie. Your typical metal band with guitar, drums, bass, and vocals. The whole album extends to the 10Hz region with very strong 30Hz material. xs58.xs.to/pics/05492/Korn-Did-My-Time.jpg
|
|
|
Post by formica on Dec 7, 2005 23:37:58 GMT -7
Here is "TV Song" by Blue Man Group with some pretty intensive 26Hz to 46Hz material... but seems to roll off pretty close to 26Hz. This is from the DVDV side of "Audio" as my PC isn't setup to play the DVDA side. Not as impressive as people make it out to be... xs58.xs.to/pics/05494/BlueManGroup-TVSong.jpg
|
|
|
Post by formica on Dec 7, 2005 23:41:35 GMT -7
|
|
db
New Member
Posts: 4
|
Post by db on Jan 16, 2006 14:32:19 GMT -7
Nice Job ROb!!
|
|
|
Post by formica on Jan 16, 2006 23:43:33 GMT -7
Thanks Deon, I originally started those to counter some of those familiar 2channel forums arguments like "we don't need bass because there are no instruments below 40Hz" ... It's one thing deciding you don't want to hear it, it's another claiming it's not there...
|
|
|
Post by dewardh on Jan 17, 2006 2:46:37 GMT -7
formica:
I'm curious just what it is "down there" . . . not acoustic instruments obviously . . . is it coming straight from a synth, or from something like a dbx subharmonic synthesizer? Guess I should check the manuals on my Yamaha keyboards . . . it never occurred to me to see how low they'd go since they're never used with speakers that go below 35-40 <g>. I'm pretty sure the P-120 doesn't have output that low, but I just got one of the cheap PSR-295 thingies (for a play around toy) that has all sorts of new "features" . . . maybe I can rattle the walls with it <g>.
dewardh
|
|
|
Post by ThomasW on Jan 17, 2006 8:44:58 GMT -7
Low 'E' string (42hz) from a standard electric bass guitar.
|
|
|
Post by formica on Jan 17, 2006 9:19:40 GMT -7
I'm curious just what it is "down there" . . . not acoustic instruments obviously . . . is it coming straight from a synth, or from something like a dbx subharmonic synthesizer? Like Thomas's post, instruments do produce all sorts of harmonics with each note and not just the single tone. Although a lot of what I posted is electronic, PinkFloyd was produced using a simple bass drum while Korn is a bass guitar. Even Breakbeat Era's songs use bass guitar samples... If the recording equipment doesn't have high pass filter there is quite a bit to be captured. Unfortunately a lot of older stuff does... for example the RIAA vinyl curve actually has a 50Hz ( ) high pass filter. ROb
|
|
|
Post by dewardh on Jan 17, 2006 12:41:20 GMT -7
Thomas:
That looks a lot like what you'd see from an acoustic instrument too . . . with the second harmonic stronger than the fundamental, similar to the distributions in the tuba article. Interesting that the counter locked on the second harmonic (11 db stronger than the fundamental, so I suppose it should). What's curious is that 3rd subharmonic down at 14 Hz (60+ db down, so it hardly matters, but . . .). Where's that coming from? Something in the electronics?
The dbx sub synth would take that 42 Hz fundamental and add a 21 Hz subharmonic of comparable loudness . . . apparently a lot of bands use them (if they can afford the PA to actually make the sound <g>). I gather that it's popular with the car audio "boomers" . . . it's not a style of music that I'm much familiar with, but the technology is interesting . . .
dewardh
|
|
|
Post by ThomasW on Jan 17, 2006 13:30:59 GMT -7
Standard subharmonic syths don't really function that low. From the dbx website.... Synthesis Frequency Range: 26-56Hz (from 54-110Hz input signal) Many modern musical pieces use what's called a bass 'pedal' synth. They look like a short section of a piano with huge keys, and are usually played with one's feet. They use a MIDI interface and can be programmed to play infrasonics. Any band that uses one of these, travels with a sound system capable of reproducing the output. And even in an outdoor concert it's blatently obvious when they're being played...
|
|
|
Post by formica on Aug 22, 2006 16:46:45 GMT -7
Low 'E' string (42hz) from a standard electric bass guitar. Been meaning to ask you if you made the plot yourself, or if others are available? I'd be interested in seeing the FR curves of several acoustic instruments (Drum, Bass Guitar, Bass, Chello, etc...)... and a larger image would be even better...
|
|