Harbal
An Indispensable Tool
Alongside WaveLab, Harbal is the one other program that I could not work without.
Harbal – short for Harmonic Balance – is a visual equalization program which attempts to solve one the most challenging phases of the mastering process. As far as I'm concerned it does superbly. Providing visual feedback by means of a spectral trace of a wav file, it allows you to see exactly where problems lie that you may be hearing. You can also find areas that will benefit from subtle enhancement boosts or cuts. You simply place your cursor on the specific frequency, select your range and apply the change you want directly on the trace. Sit back and listen. Nine times out of ten you get exactly what you want! A totally logical, intuitive way to work! This cuts down on time, considerably, by eliminating trial and error, and avoiding excessive over-equalization. The overall volume is compensated for by any EQ changes made. This is a critical feature for mastering since it lets you make judgements based on the quality of the filter you just created, rather than what merely sounds louder. Human perception, being what it is, always tends to favour the loudest signal! Harbal can also help in getting cleaner overall louder levels. Bass frequencies typically contribute a great deal to RMS levels. By allowing you to see where the lowest frequencies drop off, you know where you can safely cut out the low portion of a file without worrying if you've eliminated important bass tones. And you won't have un-necessary subsonics eat away at your RMS levels. CD mastering using har-bal is a an absolute joy! It lets you place two traces on your screen to allow you to compare files, and if you like, filter your file to match the reference. The program will then match volumes of the current file to the reference file based in your input criteria. Again, a feature like this is indispensable to having sonic consistency, track by track, on an album. This is where some of the controversy has been stirred up. Har bal has been accused of being nothing more than an 'EQ-ripping' program. While you certainly can, if you want, copy a trace from a reference file to one you're working on, if you've been reading about some of the benefits that I've outlined, you'll realize the real power behind this program. In fact this feature has been very innovatively used by one company to 'restore' classical recordings from the 78 era. You can indeed eliminate a lot of the need for restoration software on older recordings, by 'seeing' where to cut low frequency rumble and high frequency hiss. As well you can easily minimize the horn resonances on the very old acoustic recordings from the pre-1927 era. There's also a feature called Intuit-Q. It attempts to remove masking between frequencies while trying to maintain the individual character of the mix. This 'prevents' louder frequencies from unduly overpowering softer ones. It can provide greater clarity and power to a mix. Har bal will apply this de-masking on what it deems to be the overall average, or you can select the region. You're never bound by the results, you can freely change or undo any inappropriate adjustments. De-masking makes your music less fatiguing to listen to for longer periods of time. You don't want to tire out your listeners, do you?! The people behind Har bal are Paavo Jumppanen and Earle Holder. Paavo, who hails from Australia, does the programming and developing. Earle, a top flight mastering engineer from Atlanta, also contributes to the testing and development, as well as promotion of the program. Together they deliver exceptional support for all their users. This software has allowed me to give incredible results for my clients. Be warned though! Harbal is a tool. An extremely beneficial one at that. But you still need to be able to use your ears to properly judge the alterations the program directs you to make. No amount of software will ever replace those!!
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