The FIRST Step to Mastering a Song: Fixing Phase Rotation | Mastering Masterclass Ep. 4

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  • Опубликовано: 6 окт 2024
  • Ever wonder what the FIRST step is to mastering a song? It's not compression, it's not stereo imaging, and it's not EQ. The first step John Mayfield takes when mastering is fixing the PHASE rotation of a song, making sure that the file is symmetrical in its waveform values. John explains why this is important.
    More to come so stay tuned as we will deep dive into mastering a song from start to finish, and other tips, tricks and insights from renowned mastering engineer, John Mayfield.
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Комментарии • 386

  • @iZotopeOfficial
    @iZotopeOfficial 3 года назад +159

    Thanks for featuring RX!

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад +11

      Thanks for watching, guys!

    • @thegroove2000
      @thegroove2000 3 года назад

      Amazing tools thanks team. Very talented.

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад +1

      Thank you for watching 👍

    • @a3axon
      @a3axon 3 года назад

      run izotope and Adam monitors ❤ great tools.

    • @joannem3051
      @joannem3051 2 года назад

      What specific software is he using to do this?

  • @haidar6280
    @haidar6280 3 года назад +129

    Wow. This has completely opened my eyes to something I've never known about or thought of before. It's so rare to find completely new information in this engineering world 6+ years in. Gem of a video guys. one love

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад +5

      So happy you've enjoyed it! Make sure to let John know how much you've appreciated his knowledge! We simply captured it

    • @RonnieVaiArovo
      @RonnieVaiArovo 3 года назад +3

      Totally agree 👍

    • @cleantones
      @cleantones 3 года назад +5

      6 years. :) I'm 25 years in and still learn plenty. Maybe not on this video but it's a constant learning and evolving craft.

    • @ahriik
      @ahriik 2 года назад +2

      @@cleantones Right? If you're not still learning new things regularly at only 6 years, I'd be awfully concerned.

  • @DerperyPooslinger
    @DerperyPooslinger 3 года назад +20

    In 2013-2014 I got a chance to work with John in studio A. I couldn't believe the atmosphere that room has, and John's enthusiasm when it comes to explaining the science behind his craft. Quality guy and quality work.

  • @AndrewMcMillenium
    @AndrewMcMillenium 2 месяца назад +6

    With all my respect I have to say that in the video, where the beginning of the track was analyzed for phase rotation - the whole track was selected, that's why it showed +34 degree several times.
    Some sounds, mostly acoustic ones, are asymmetrical by nature. Imagine hitting a drum membrane with a stick. The first half-wave is the biggest in amplitude, because it's caused by the stick (or hand) directly being in contact with the membrane and moving it much deeper/further than what comes next. Every movement coming next is smaller and smaller in amplitude and if you analyze the whole drum hit sound - it will have a skew from the center line.
    Regarding the difference - many people say you don't hear a difference, BUT. People who work for example with car audio know that there is a difference. If you wire all the speakers in a given car in a wrong polarity - you'll have less punch, because the first movement of speaker membrane goes inside instead of outside. And all this phase correction thing (which I was using in the past too) is a wrong thing to do, because it messes with the original natural sound. It won't change RMS, frequency response, but it will sound differently. If you say "pumpkin" into a mic - it will be asymmetrical, because of how much the mic membrane is being moved by the air bursts. But it should be that way! And after using RX adaptive phase rotation for years on podcasts I finally stopped doing that and it sounds much better and natural.
    So, the only good thing about phase correction is that you can squeeze more volume out of it.

    • @doingittodeath
      @doingittodeath Месяц назад +1

      I totally agree with you...BUT I think, that some of the information given in this video may be helpful for some situations like the one mentioned in the video with the trombone solo. If you can't really make something out of a stem or so because of these phase rotation problems, this feature in RX could be really helpful for not distorting the sound. I myself had a vocal some days ago where the waveform looked really weird to me because there was more information above the center line than below. I only read something about phase rotation in the tooltips of one of the compressiors found in TDR Limiter No. 6 and couldnt really understand what phase rotation is until I saw this video now. But I think it would've helped me in a way if I knew about this topic earlier. Unfortunately these scientific and technical topics don't really get discussed that often.

  • @davidasher22
    @davidasher22 3 года назад +9

    Wow! It’s been a while since I actually learned something new from an audio engineering video on youtube. Faith restored..

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад +1

      Thanks for watching David! So happy you enjoyed it.

  • @cassio_zambotto
    @cassio_zambotto 14 часов назад

    yes, dc offset can steal significant headroom when you need it! great knowledge sharing!

  • @externity9569
    @externity9569 2 года назад +2

    Just when I think I'm starting to get over the first hurdles of learning to mix..
    I find this mind blowing technical wizardry.

  • @Barncore
    @Barncore 2 года назад +6

    Wow i've been doing audio for 8 years and i've never heard of this. Really grateful to have been exposed to this nugget! Thanks

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  2 года назад

      Thanks for watching!

    • @Vospi
      @Vospi Год назад

      but note that phase rotation is not "free" in terms of how it sounds (although it's very transparent), which wasn't mentioned in the video.

  • @beatchildproductions
    @beatchildproductions 3 года назад +7

    Mix With The Masters... TAKE NOTES! This is how you make educational content.

  • @intoalter
    @intoalter 3 года назад +17

    This is going to be a GOLDEN series!!! I would love to see a course regarding Audio Engineering through some subscription, It would be a absolute game changer, because the quality you guys give us is absolutely amazing.

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад +16

      Thank you for watching and so happy you're enjoying the series. No need for a subscription, we're happy to make this for everyone to watch!

    • @intoalter
      @intoalter 3 года назад +1

      @@ADAMAudioBerlin love you guys!

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад +3

      ❤️ Thanks for watching!

  • @sqcaraudio
    @sqcaraudio 2 года назад +9

    My take is that it's using an FIR algorithm to shift phase tilted from the highest frequencies to the lowest. So the 20kHz is delayed by say 30 degrees and then less at 10kHz down to no shift at 10Hz. You can do this with Meldamedia "free phase".
    The reason you can't do adaptive on main mixes is that it may introduce pitch artefacts due to the delay changes.
    The key term here phase is meaning delay but they don't say FIR time domain manipulation. So less delay at lower frequencies. Hope that helps. You could run two files against each other in Rational Acoustics Smaart and see what phase plot x y tilt they are using.

  • @iamsyntact
    @iamsyntact 5 месяцев назад

    this is incredible. I can't tell you how many times I have a sample or instrument that's way out of balance and before now I had no idea how to fix it. so many times I've heard "you can fix this with a highpass filter" but this is absolutely not always the case. thank you sir

  • @footsandersen
    @footsandersen 3 года назад +3

    John is amazing. I went to him for mastering and got a mixing mentor!!!

  • @TomWa
    @TomWa 3 года назад +3

    Wow! I wish I had known about this sooner. I'm working on a project where, from a stereo mix, I'm removing vocals, correcting them, and then replacing them back into the vocal-less stereo instrument stem. The RX8 music rebalance algorithm works WAY better once the rotation (which was off by quite a bit) is corrected. Thank you!

  • @chopsoe
    @chopsoe 3 года назад +1

    The fact that it gives more headroom for volume optimisation afterwards is so logical and I don't know why I never really thought about it before... Good stuff!!

  • @ADAMAudioBerlin
    @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад +12

    Did you know about the importance of phase rotation already? Let us know 👇

    • @maxduncan4473
      @maxduncan4473 3 года назад +2

      I read that it's applied in radio processors (Orban, etc) to optimize the available headroom, just as you're doing here in a mastering context. I did read also, though, that it has an interesting drawback for material which has been deliberately clipped (ie: with the wave flat-topped). Sometimes the flat-top is rotated around to being a straight line more in the middle of the waveform; it looks like a scar or a drop-out. (I'm not sure it would sound like a drop-out though; it would still just sound like the distortion that it is, right?)
      I don't work in mastering anymore, but I still do it sometimes when I'm working on unevenly-recorded vocal podcasts. Because the presenter is moving back-and-forth in front of the microphone, you end up having to apply heavy compression or limiting to even out the volume, with all the usual drawbacks. But male voices, particularly, are very asymmetrical, so applying phase rotation to them can mean you don't have to hit the compressor as hard.

  • @audiokemestry
    @audiokemestry Год назад +1

    Great info!! I have bumped into this problem many times...and addressed in different ways....but I never knew what it was called and never knew RX could fix it! Lol. Thanx much

  • @kelvinfunkner
    @kelvinfunkner Год назад

    WOW! I've been in this industry for a long time, and have never run across this in my own recording/mixing/mastering sessions, but I've seen others ask about it and didn't have a clue what was going on! Thanks for sharing this!

  • @feinklangmastering
    @feinklangmastering 3 года назад +4

    This is gold content! Thanks for this in depth specific look at this difficult topic.

  • @zsteinkamp
    @zsteinkamp Месяц назад

    hell yes! thank you for this. today I learned!

  • @JoelWard1
    @JoelWard1 3 месяца назад

    Wowza. I had absolutely zero clue that this was a thing. Geez, I'll be having trouble going to sleep this night knowing how many masters I could've saved just by having the feintest clue about this....

  • @RobertCow
    @RobertCow 3 года назад +2

    John gives me the impression of a great and interesting person!

  • @vadimmartynyuk
    @vadimmartynyuk 3 года назад +1

    These tutorials from Adam Audio are really great, every tutorial is very useful.

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад

      So happy to hear it, Vadim appreciate the kind words!

  • @derekrushe
    @derekrushe 3 года назад

    45 years old, in the industry years, never even heard about this until today. Thanks

  • @m.i.stapes
    @m.i.stapes 3 года назад

    John Mayfield is one of my new favorite people.

  • @davelordy
    @davelordy Год назад +6

    The reason the phase keeps showing you +34° is because you keep analysing the same audio - the whole track - when you think you are selecting a specific part, you are only zooming in on that part, not selecting it . . . . keep up : )

    • @Rene_Christensen
      @Rene_Christensen Год назад

      And phase is per frequency so what is even the 34 value?

    • @davelordy
      @davelordy Год назад +2

      @@Rene_Christensen 34° is how far out of phase something is, so (obviously) 0° is completely in phase, and 180° is completely out of phase.
      So if we were comparing two pure sine waves, it would be like the starting point of one of the sine waves (the point at which it crosses 0dB (or 0V / or 0°) is aligned with the second wave that is already 34° into its cycle.

    • @Rene_Christensen
      @Rene_Christensen Год назад

      @@davelordySure but he is not looking at single sinusoidal, he is looking at a piece of music. I have a PhD in acoustics and work with signal processing daily and I cannot see any sense in what he is doing.

    • @Todzuum
      @Todzuum 4 месяца назад +1

      @@Rene_Christensencan you go deeper into why you said this?

    • @Rene_Christensen
      @Rene_Christensen 13 дней назад

      @@Todzuum In the frequency domain, everything revolves around sinusoidal signals that started forever ago and will go on forever. This is where we can talk about the phase of each sinusoidal, as each frequency component ("phasor") then has a complex amplitude with positive magnitude and a phase. If you analyse a more involved signal that is described via several (possibly infinitely many) sinusoidals at each their frequency, it does not make sense to talk about a single phase. There is no "total' phase to discuss then, only phase that typically varies over the frequency spectrum. You can of course have the trivial situation of zero phase (a wire) or 180 degree phase change over all frequencies (flipped wires; polarity flip), but the 34 degrees make no sense here.

  • @Jarxiel
    @Jarxiel Год назад

    Thanks ❤

  • @soundkillah
    @soundkillah 3 года назад

    Am so happy I arrived here 🤗🤗. Never thought there was anything like that at all.

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад

      We are happy you arrived, thanks for watching 👍

  • @banyanmusicofficial8899
    @banyanmusicofficial8899 3 года назад +1

    Incredibly helpful and simple to understand. Thank you!

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад

      Thanks for watching, Banyan! Glad you enjoyed it

  • @fermendespaula
    @fermendespaula 3 года назад

    John Mayfield! Great professional and an awesome guy!

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад

      He really is! Thank you for watching, Fernando 👍

  • @HollywoodRecordingStudio
    @HollywoodRecordingStudio 3 года назад

    Excellent explanation about the how the imbalance issues impact RMS.

  • @edulimamusic.oficial
    @edulimamusic.oficial 3 года назад

    John you are amazing. Thanks for existing!

  • @LiamBradburyMusic
    @LiamBradburyMusic 3 года назад +2

    I'd love to sit in a room with this guy and chat for about 2 days straight

  • @andreymosin1884
    @andreymosin1884 3 года назад

    I've been looking for solution for ages! Thank you!

  • @musicbyea474
    @musicbyea474 Год назад

    This info is so valuable!! Thanks so much, John 👍🏻

  • @PremJHans
    @PremJHans 3 года назад

    Thank you John and Adam Audio for this video. New thing learned.

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад +1

      We are glad to hear that 👍 Thanks for watching

  • @burns46824
    @burns46824 3 года назад +1

    Very interesting. If you're mastering to make things loud, this makes sense to do. If you're making quiet masters, I don't think I would do the extra processing.

  • @Dan_Tan_Music
    @Dan_Tan_Music 3 года назад

    Thanks for a great topic. I get asymmetric waveforms a lot when recording piano, phase rotation can help to improve the sound here.

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад

      Thank you for watching, Dan! glad you liked it 👍

  • @IvanoIcardiOfficial
    @IvanoIcardiOfficial 3 года назад +1

    Pure wisdom... thx for sharing this!

  • @skk6811
    @skk6811 3 года назад +1

    A hardware company giving out professional courses for free. I'm sold.

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад

      Glad you enjoyed it thanks so much for watching!

  • @panorama_mastering
    @panorama_mastering 3 года назад +1

    Great video guys; top job!

  • @Hexspa
    @Hexspa 3 года назад +10

    This almost creates more questions than it answers. I’d like to see a way to achieve this without RX specifically. An industry-wide standard definition would be good too.

    • @Tibbon
      @Tibbon 3 года назад

      I don't think there are any ratified industry standards on it.

    • @rafriley6993
      @rafriley6993 3 года назад +1

      there’s a free plugin by air windows called DC offset. It doesn’t the the exact same thing but you can shift the entire waveform higher or lower which can help if you have asymmetric peaks

    • @Hexspa
      @Hexspa 3 года назад +2

      @@rafriley6993 Right. But I think they were saying that this isn't DC offset. Ableton has that built into Utility and I think Meldaproduction has it in their MUtility plugin also. DC offset is a pretty generic thing and that's why I was asking what's going on here.

    • @anthonycarr3495
      @anthonycarr3495 3 года назад +2

      @@Hexspa I'm pretty confident this its exactly the same as DC offset - no idea why he has decided to call it phase rotation

    • @Hexspa
      @Hexspa 3 года назад

      @@anthonycarr3495 Weird, huh? Never tried correcting DC offset on a master but it makes sense. I mean 'phase rotation' :)

  • @RonnieVaiArovo
    @RonnieVaiArovo 3 года назад +1

    mind-boggling 😇

  • @matrixate
    @matrixate 3 года назад

    I read about this exact problem many years ago in a discussion by the assistant engineer to Dolly Parton's mastering engineer. He said this was the first step even before they did any processing.

  • @Rhuggins
    @Rhuggins Год назад

    This was the best series you ever did @ADAMAudio

  • @tracker87
    @tracker87 3 года назад

    Magical information. Really grateful to @adamadio

  • @MelodicDreamers
    @MelodicDreamers 3 года назад

    This is extremely helpful. Thank you

  • @js5633
    @js5633 3 года назад

    Always wondered why the top was larger than the bottom or vice versa. Excited to do this with RX 😎🙏👍

  • @ASJerrell
    @ASJerrell 3 года назад

    This is incredibly cool and rather fresh information. Thank you!

  • @chadmichael_
    @chadmichael_ Год назад

    Thank you for a genuinely helpful video.

  • @justtosharefiles678
    @justtosharefiles678 2 года назад

    This was actually a really awesome video thanks for sharing bru

  • @wilcandou
    @wilcandou 3 года назад

    Now THAT was a great little bit of information right there. I had notice this looking at my waveform. It's interesting how this could happen on a mono stem though. It's something you can't really hear, but it makes a whole lot of sense in correcting the DC offset. Nice pickup. 👍

  • @matthewv789
    @matthewv789 3 года назад

    Super interesting and something I was not at all aware of. I will be going back and immediately checking a project for phase issues. Very well and clearly explained. (And now wondering if there’s anything else I might have missed that nobody else seems to talk about!)

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад +1

      Thanks for tuning in, Matthew! All the best 👍

  • @Ruekeen777
    @Ruekeen777 Год назад

    wow! that's some valuable info.

  • @johnmoney910
    @johnmoney910 2 года назад

    Thank you!

  • @m.i.stapes
    @m.i.stapes 3 года назад

    Holy crap!! I did not know that. Super interesting!!

  • @methodofkolishin
    @methodofkolishin 3 года назад

    Wow! That's kinda of a game changer!

  • @BronsonOsborne
    @BronsonOsborne 2 года назад

    enjoyed this thanks for sharing

  • @eccentricworx
    @eccentricworx 3 года назад

    Very useful to know!

  • @LOLCoolJ
    @LOLCoolJ 3 года назад +2

    So ideally we'd do this before mixing?

  • @merrarimusic
    @merrarimusic 3 года назад

    incredible!

  • @sinsoftherich
    @sinsoftherich Год назад +2

    I don't think any of us realized we'd become scientists when we first got into music lol

  • @shotaro_music7625
    @shotaro_music7625 3 года назад

    Very Helpful!😊 Thank you🙏🙏

  • @QuarterpipeRecords
    @QuarterpipeRecords 3 года назад

    thank you Sir !

  • @neuroton3090
    @neuroton3090 3 года назад

    Thanks a lot 🙏

  • @LaminarSound
    @LaminarSound 3 года назад +24

    This is the first ive learned about phase rotation. Ive seen asymmetrical waveforms for years but never noticed any audible issue with them. However, i wasnt really *listening for it. I still dont quite understand why this happens though. Is this something that happens when the signal is being converted to digital? Or is this issue inherent in the source signal?

    • @peadybeatz6721
      @peadybeatz6721 3 года назад +2

      Can somebody give an answer on this question? I'd like to know too :)

    • @Tibbon
      @Tibbon 3 года назад +1

      Similarly, I'm curious about the cause.

    • @TjMoon91
      @TjMoon91 3 года назад +10

      It's just something that happens with different phase relationships between the fundamental and it's harmonics. Nothing to do with digital audio, we just weren't aware of it before digital because we weren't looking at waveforms.
      There's no "audible issue" except that the peak value is higher, even though it isn't any louder. Which mean's you can't turn it up as loud before hitting the threshold of a compressor or limiter.

    • @reedtaylor4846
      @reedtaylor4846 3 года назад +5

      @@TjMoon91That is correct. This is the answer. Just about every horn part I've ever recorded was positive heavy and looked funny on the screen. It's the timbre of the instrument itself causing it. Interesting though, is this lesson about how these waveforms create false peak levels that steal some of the mastering engineer's working headroom, I never considered that aspect.

    • @kelainefes
      @kelainefes 3 года назад

      @@reedtaylor4846 some vocal tracks have this issue here and there.
      I think it happens when there's a strong 2nd harmonic, which always causes asymmetrical waveforms.
      Some plug-in emulations of valve equipment will do it too, but I think actual valves will do the same.
      But I think there might also be different causes for this.

  • @rarelycomments
    @rarelycomments 3 года назад +8

    How does waveform asymmetry relate to phase?
    What does the Izotope algorithm do, in signal processing terms?
    What does he mean by a "false digital value"?
    Aren't a lot of real instruments naturally asymmetric? i.e. kick drum, trumpet etc.
    Does removing this asymmetry audibly change the signal?

    • @TjMoon91
      @TjMoon91 3 года назад

      It doesn't audibly change the signal, it just gives you a lower peak value. Which means you can push the signal louder before hitting the threshold of a compressor or limiter.

    • @michaelgraflmusic
      @michaelgraflmusic 3 года назад +1

      I think they just picked some guy off the street, gave him a list of buzzwords and a ten-minute introduction to Ozone and then filmed his improv performance.
      I have the same questions as you do, because none of this made any sense. He even used percent to describe the phase rotation instead of degrees. Pretty sure the phase optimization tries to find the position with the least amplitude so the limiter has to work less or something like that. It has no effect on DC-offset.

    • @TjMoon91
      @TjMoon91 3 года назад

      @@michaelgraflmusic 100% = 360 degrees, 50% = 180 degrees, 25% = 90 degrees. I'm sure you can work that out.

  • @joeljohansson6097
    @joeljohansson6097 3 года назад +16

    Basically, you get more sound out of the speakers with less energy. That's very good, now with the climate changing and everything.

  • @scoremix8556
    @scoremix8556 Год назад

    Very good.
    Side note ; brass is always “ top heavy”.

  • @MistaMin
    @MistaMin 3 года назад

    Great video!

  • @edisonpep8404
    @edisonpep8404 3 года назад

    This is gold 🙌

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад

      Thanks for watching, Edison glad you enjoyed it!

  • @RubyRupendar
    @RubyRupendar 3 года назад

    On Point

  • @MR_Cellarpop
    @MR_Cellarpop 3 года назад

    Thanks, gonna try that :)

  • @jeffhirata
    @jeffhirata 3 года назад

    Thx!

  • @StefanoCrispinoSoundEngineer
    @StefanoCrispinoSoundEngineer 3 года назад

    WOW. Thanks.

  • @FrequencySummoner
    @FrequencySummoner 3 года назад +3

    I'm not sure it makes sense to refer to this as "fixing" or "correcting" phase rotation, as though some phase relationships are inherently "wrong". What you are doing is optimising the phase for digital headroom. What does this process do to transients? Don't people intentionally use all-pass filters to smear transients in time? How is that avoided here?
    (I'm not a professional audio engineer, just trying to make sense of this from a physics perspective and an artistic perspective.)

  • @JSBallard
    @JSBallard Месяц назад

    Does it make it sound better?

  • @jefjaeger
    @jefjaeger 2 года назад +2

    So what caused it in the first place?

  • @snapascrew
    @snapascrew 7 месяцев назад

    I always love reading the comments from the experts 😂😂😂

  • @phillipemery572
    @phillipemery572 3 года назад +1

    All interesting information, but I'd have liked to hear the difference as well as seen it.

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад

      Hi Philipp, glad you enjoyed it. Frankly, the sonic differences are extremely difficult to hear until later in the mastering phase when you start to bring up levels because the main issue that John is fixing is how this rotation can effect your headroom later down the process.

  • @BTC_MIM
    @BTC_MIM Год назад +1

    mastering with eyes

  • @JiihaaS
    @JiihaaS 11 месяцев назад

    Nothing weird about wind instruments causing the waveform to be lopsided like that. Air blowing from the instrument into the mic capsule will push the diaphragm back, and the diaphragm's position is directly related to the produced waveform. Same happens often with human voice, since there's blow of air involved, especially on plosives.

  • @BorgSoundlab
    @BorgSoundlab 3 года назад

    Great videos!

  • @MichaelSchuerig
    @MichaelSchuerig 3 года назад +15

    I don't understand how this is related to phase. What I understand from John's description and see in the graphs is that he is removing a DC offset. How does phase get into this?

    • @lkadshglkhvani
      @lkadshglkhvani 3 года назад +1

      Based on the RX documentation, it seems like the tool is using phase shift to change where the digital samples are taken, giving you slightly more headroom, but afaik that wouldn't change the true peak maximum.

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад +2

      Hi Michael, great question. Like the comment below, the answer comes from the Izotope manual: We are balancing asymmetric waveforms by rotating signal phase. Rotating the phase of a signal changes its peak values but doesn’t change its loudness, and otherwise has no audible effect on the signal. Asymmetric waveforms can occasionally occur in audio such as dialogue, voice, and brass instruments. Making the waveform more symmetrical gives the signal more headroom.

    • @matrixate
      @matrixate 3 года назад

      That's what I thought but this is not a DC offset.

    • @rocketman374
      @rocketman374 3 года назад

      Michael, how do you fix DC offset? The answer is, usually with a very low hpf. That hpf isn't linear phase, so it induces a phase change in the material. Dan Worral has a good video on that...

    • @MichaelSchuerig
      @MichaelSchuerig 3 года назад

      @@rocketman374 Dan has a lot of good videos, can you point to the specific one?

  • @dunkeldeutsch
    @dunkeldeutsch Месяц назад

    Thank you so much!! Can you or anyone in the comments recommend a Plugin for Phase Rotation (using Cubase) - Thank you!

  • @Almostbakerzero
    @Almostbakerzero 5 месяцев назад

    while this is interesting, i dont quite understand how it works. now the issue here is that a waveform is for some reason offset from the digital zero point (which is basically equal to an analog signal thats offset by a positive or negative DC voltage). however, i wonder what fixing this might cause. he gives an example of a very small part thats being fixed. in order to fix just a part of the track, its necessary to offset the part so its in the middle. but at the point where the "non-offset" transitions into the corrected part, you automatically have some sort of audible transition. either a click, or RX has some sort of smudging feature to mask it. when editing the whole track, you could offset it without having any clicks. But since i would assume that the track has some "real" silence in it, (beginning or end), this silence would be offset to a point where it is not really zeroed but rather above or below zero.

  • @martijn_nl
    @martijn_nl Месяц назад

    The phase tool in RX also has an adaptive mode. Is there a good reason for not using it?

  • @soundtoys795
    @soundtoys795 3 года назад +3

    would it be a better to check phase rotation on individual tracks, to minimize the cumulative effect in a stereo mix??

    • @TjMoon91
      @TjMoon91 3 года назад

      Doing it on a stereo file doesn't create an audible change. However, if you did it on each track individual track, the phase shift will mean those tracks will now stack up differently.
      If you have already carefully layered sounds together like multiple snares, or layered synth bass lines, applying phase rotation on these individually will potentially change how they sound when mixed together.

    • @soundtoys795
      @soundtoys795 3 года назад +1

      ​@@TjMoon91 So the correct way to do it is to fix the phase on all tracks before doing any mixing

    • @TjMoon91
      @TjMoon91 3 года назад

      @@soundtoys795 yeah I suppose so. Two different sounds both with symmetrical waveforms can still result in an asymmetric waveform when mixed together, so I’m not sure you’re achieving much. Maybe if you have a particularly uneven stem like a lead vocal it might be worth doing it with those select tracks.

    • @parentteachernight
      @parentteachernight Год назад

      @@soundtoys795 In that case you'd be altering the phase relationship between all multi-mic'd sources. This is a solution in search of a problem.

  • @jfilbert
    @jfilbert 2 года назад

    LOL- excellent ending... or perhaps beginning? =)

  • @BrandonTmusic
    @BrandonTmusic 3 года назад +3

    I would love to know WHY this happens to wav files in the first place. What causes a digital recording to have a lot more information above or below the center line? Is it faulty recording equipment? Electrical issues?

    • @tightsnare
      @tightsnare 3 года назад +1

      Dc offset due to additional voltage in the circuit i believe :)

    • @gbebici
      @gbebici 3 года назад +3

      Its a natural behavior once you're pushing more the capsule than pulling it. When you're recording a Brass, for example, the blow will always push the mic (if the player is standing on front of it)

    • @matthijshebly
      @matthijshebly 2 года назад +3

      It's not specific to digital recording. It has to do with the presence of even harmonics (e.g. 2nd harmonic) in the signal, causing an asymmetric waveform. The phase between fundamental and these harmonics determines how high the peaks will be, without changing the sound. What he does in the video changes this phase, thereby lowering the peaks.

    • @TWEAKER01
      @TWEAKER01 Год назад

      it simply shows a natural acoustic event for mostly positive going waveforms (read: acoustic pressure).

  • @allourep
    @allourep 2 года назад +2

    Anybody know what caused the Trombone recording to have the phase rotation issue to begin with? What can the engineer do on his end to fix it once noticed during the session?

    • @TWEAKER01
      @TWEAKER01 Год назад

      @@ShroomJesus exactly. It's not a "problem" at all. Applying the "fix" to a full mix will always affect other elements.

    • @rikkshow
      @rikkshow 4 месяца назад

      It is typical for brass sounds. By getting the waveform to center, you don't change the sound, but you reduce the digital peak value in one channel, thus getting more headroom.

    • @allourep
      @allourep 4 месяца назад

      @@rikkshow So recording in 32 bit would be a way of avoiding this issue in that case?

  • @oscarpatxot659
    @oscarpatxot659 3 года назад +1

    As a Latin producer working with many brass instruments I have notice this all the time. I just why it is so common for brass to have the rotation wrong

    • @semilumi
      @semilumi 3 года назад

      I have noticed this too. I would assume it has to do with the high pressure wind energy coming off the instrument and hitting one side of the microphone membrane... But the picture is incomplete, got to go to google...

    • @parentteachernight
      @parentteachernight Год назад

      Because the timbre of the instrument creates an asymmetric waveform. It's not a problem in need of correction!

    • @rikkshow
      @rikkshow 4 месяца назад

      Air pressure I think

  • @ronaldanderson9263
    @ronaldanderson9263 2 года назад +1

    Is this not the same as DC offset? Cakewalk, what I use has a DC offset removal which should center the waveform around 0.

    • @naughtyducky6325
      @naughtyducky6325 7 месяцев назад

      It’s not the same thing, when you have DC offset the waveform is perturbed from the Center line, fixing DC offset moves the waveform back to the Center. An Asymmetrical wave form isn’t symmetrical on both sides so while it may be on the Center line it’s positive amplitude is different from its negative amplitude.

  • @gbebici
    @gbebici 3 года назад +1

    this phase asymmetry its a natural capsule's behavior, once you're pushing more than pulling it. When you're recording a Brass, for example, the blow will always push the mic (if the player is standing on front of it). Not saying that it must not be corrected later. Am i right?

    • @matthijshebly
      @matthijshebly 2 года назад

      This is more about even harmonics.

  • @kick4ss4life
    @kick4ss4life Год назад

    This is the only video/piece of information I could find so far that approaches this topic in mastering, for the rest it's all about fixing it mixdowns, but unfortunately I'm in no position to be able to fix the problems in the mix. Since I'm doing an assignment for school that's solely focussed on mastering, I must ask: If there is a lot of Anti-Phase issues going on in the Mixdown/Premaster you're mastering, how much should/could one do to correct this? Especially if you don't have a plugin like RX at your disposal for example? I have analyzed professionally mastered files with the PAZ meter, and a lot of times I still see a lot of spikes in the Anti-Phase Region. Anyhow, I'm supposed to be in the final stage of the project, but this keeps breaking my head. Thanks in advance to anyone who might give me some clarity on this!

    • @machoman7655
      @machoman7655 Год назад

      Basically, phase rotation is to algin your track from causing phase. You can also take care of phase in the mixdown stages when you are mixing down drums, bass, guitars, etc. Also, when you bounce a track down it never aligns up perfectly, that will also cause phase. For example, if you bounced a beat down and want to use it to record. You have to make sure you put in back in phase before you use it. This is one of the hidden gems that no mastering engineer will tell you. What's even better he gave up the magic number of -2 that will give your master a smooth feel. Basically, if you don't algin your tracks and take care of phase, it doesn't matter how good your mix and master is it will sound bad.

  • @nikolaki
    @nikolaki 3 года назад

    Great video, thanks.
    Shame we have to deal with the loudness wars.

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад

      Hi Nikolaki! Thank you so much for watching! 🔥

    • @jorriffhdhtrsegg
      @jorriffhdhtrsegg Год назад

      We don't anymore. Only if you are making CD with a now " old school no dynamics" vibe

  • @mistati8000
    @mistati8000 4 месяца назад

    Thanks for the great advice! I have a few (possibly stupid) questions:
    1. Is it recommended to fix the phase issues for every single track of a mix individually or for the overall mixed track? (I am asking because Mr. Mayfield only shows a single track in this example that looks like a complete mix)
    2. If the answer to question 1 is "for each track individually", is it also recommended to fix the phase issues for *vocal* tracks individually?
    3. Is anyone familiar with alternatives to the RX Audio Editor's Phase Algorithm shown in this video to fix phase issues? I saw that RX 11 Standard version starts at 330€ which is a bit much for a hobby - home studio producer, given you are only interested in the phase fixing functionality.
    Any help greatly appreciated, thanks in advance :)

  • @tylerbarr5733
    @tylerbarr5733 3 года назад

    Woah this is news to me, I’ve always wondered in my head why sometimes my audio files will be unsymmetrical on the “plus” side or “minus” side
    But never knew how to describe the pondering on that subject, wow this is really good to know even in a tracking/mixing scenario

    • @ADAMAudioBerlin
      @ADAMAudioBerlin  3 года назад

      Happy it can help you for future projects, Tyler!

  • @JohnDoe-wl8ti
    @JohnDoe-wl8ti Год назад

    Would you do this in the beginning or at the end of your master right before the final limiter(s)?

  • @Daneidorff
    @Daneidorff 3 года назад

    Great… now i need new ADAM monitors AND RX8…💸💸💸🙄 jokes aside - nice video. Been seeing this a lot on waveforms, but never knowing why and what it is.