The first and most important criterion is that we want the tonal balance meter to be level-independent, i.e., we want to measure the overall shape of the frequency spectrum not how loud or quiet a mix is. In zooming out from the typical spectrum analyzer, we first need to understand the things a spectrum analyzer is measuring that might complicate or confound our ability to measure tonal balance. To analyze tonal balance we want a zoomed-out view that displays things more at the level of a country, state, or province. I like to use the analogy of GPS navigation software, where the spectrum analyzer is showing you the equivalent of detailed maps at the street/neighborhood level. While the spectrum analyzer is a great tool for identifying resonant and fundamental frequencies, it provides too much information for analyzing tonal balance. The spectrum analyzer is one of the most important metering tools in any audio engineer's toolkit, and it works by displaying the frequency content of an audio signal typically computed using an algorithm called the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). In this post we'll explore the technical details of the approach we developed at iZotope to quantify tonal balance. To read about tonal balance from a variety of perspectives-musicians, recording engineers, mixing engineers, and mastering engineers- check this blog out. To learn how Tonal Balance Control fits into your audio production workflow, check out this article. To this end, iZotope created the Tonal Balance Control plug-in, which allows you to visualize spectral information in a unique way while also serving as a remote control for any Ozone or Neutron EQs throughout your session. Our hope is that understanding tonal balance can help save you from a non-ideal listening environment and speed up your mixing and mastering workflow. A common example of a mix that exhibits poor tonal balance is when you can’t quite hear the vocals, so you turn up the volume, but then the bass becomes overwhelming. Tonal balance refers to how frequencies interact with each other, and is often the main culprit in mixes that don’t translate between listening environments (e.g., a mix sounds great in the studio, but not on a car stereo). What is tonal balance, and how do I tell whether my mix has it? This is probably a question most musicians and audio engineers have asked at one point or another, even if they didn’t use those exact words.
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