Flat waveform

[mikitachu]

Hello!

 

I'm use pod hd 500x to record guitar tracks. I want to watch the waveform to analyse if I hit the rythm/metronome. But the waveform is very flat and smooth, so I can't see an attack and can't distinguish notes. What could be a problem?

 

By the way, when a switched processor into tuner a mode and recorded a track, the waveform was ok, but I believe it's not the only way to get what I need.

 

OS: Mac OS X

DAW: GarageBand (tried Cocos Reaper as well - same result).

 

Waveform looks like this:

[cruisinon2]

I don't see a problem. Looks more or less like every track I've ever recorded, regardless of the DAW or other gear involved. I've used everything from Garageband to ProTools. Unless you really zoom in on a small section, that's what they look like.

[mikitachu]

Zoom doesn't work for me, I mean still can's see when the note starts/ends

[BillBee]

Wouldn't that mean that the notes are lined up? :)

 

Can't you view the separate wave forms in Reaper prior to the mix down? Unmixed at least would let you see the spikes from guitar and drums.

[silverhead]

It also depends very much on the nature of the sound being recorded. A very quick attack with a very short sustain and no compression (something like a snare drum hit) will have an evident peak. But a heavily distorted guitar sound with significant compression, sustain, and other FX processing (something like heavy metal) will show almost no peak at 'the note' because the sound has very little distinction between the note and its trails.

[cruisinon2]

It also depends very much on the nature of the sound being recorded. A very quick attack with a very short sustain and no compression (something like a snare drum hit) will have an evident peak. But a heavily distorted guitar sound with significant compression, sustain, and other FX processing (something like heavy metal) will show almost no peak at 'the note' because the sound has very little distinction between the note and its trails.

True.

 

Unless you're an incredibly simple rhythm, you'll have a hard time picking out individual notes, even with a crystal clean tone...straight quarter notes, you could probably pick out, as there would be slightly more defined peaks and valleys than on this example, but with a distorted guitar, forget it.

[duncann]

I wouldn't rely on the waveform displays to tell you any useful information at all. In fact, they may as well be solid, rectangular blocks, with maybe the ability to change the color, or maybe add some neat optical illusory patterns to it. If you want to know a specific point in a song's timeline, put a marker on the timeline.

[pfsmith0]

I would think you'd be able to pick out the  start-of-notes if you:

• Use a very clean setting (i.e., no FX, no EQ, no amps)
• Pick only 1 note at a time (no chords, no double stops, clean arpeggios, etc)
• Staccato playing will be easiest to detect
• 120 bpm = 2 notes per second for each beat. You'll need to zoom in to see that time frame.
• The B on the E string 7th fret has ~500 periods each second (or 1 cycle every 2msec), or 250 periods per 1/4 note beat at 120 bpm. So that waveform should look sorta like a sinewave with 500 cycles of decaying amplitude until the next beat appears. You'll need to zoom in even more to see that level of detail in the waveform.

[duncann]

Maybe, probably, I'm missing something, but with all those conditions applied, what kind of realistic use would this provide?

[panaman]

since the op says he gets what he wants in tuner mode, it must be something in the chain.like feedback from a delay or reverb,

if he can use an extra monitoring input on the pc for this purpose, the spdif in the "dry inputs" global setting or the loop output early in the chain should do it hopefully

[pfsmith0]

Use? I have no idea. I just thought he wanted to see the notes. It sounded like the OP just wanted to check himself against a metronome in a DAW.

[cruisinon2]

Use? I have no idea. I just thought he wanted to see the notes. It sounded like the OP just wanted to check himself against a metronome in a DAW.

I don't get it either. All you need to check yourself against a metronome are ears.

[pianoguyy]

When I was in the 'ringtone' business, I zoomed in. It was really the only way to make sure that the beats were lined up, and the musical upswings were right on the money. 

 

If zooming in doesn't work, get a new program. One that does allow you to zoom in.