Sound evaluation. for instruments evaluation.

I am a instrument maker can I use audacity to evaluate high and lows and tone of the instruments I test? By Recording the sound opening the sound?

if so, can I please ask for some help to do this? I want to be able to view a clear difference in tone or pitch.

Thanks so much for your time.

I can hear the musicians rearing up to complain that the ear can detect variations that the instruments can’t handle, but yes, there are analysis tools. This is given you have a dead quiet, echo-free room and a very good microphone – two things you’re not likely to have.

One is analyze > Plot Spectrum. This is a spectrum of a G piano note.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/piano_G1.jpg

Fundamental on the left, harmonics and overtones toward the right.

You can also view the timeline in overtones versus time.

Left of the timeline > drop-down > View Spectrogram. I’m less familiar with that one. I think it’s high tones up, low tones down.

Enjoy.

Koz

Thank you so much I have a sound proof hearing test booth and a very good microphone. Do you have better reccomendations? Anything would be very helpful, thanks I will give your input a test.

Thanks

A “very good” microphone might not be the best tool. A “very good” vocal mic is designed to make vocals sound very good, not to give accurate measurements. You will probably get more useful measurements using a microphone that is designed for measurements. Behringer make an inexpensive measurement microphone: http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/ECM8000.aspx (it requires “phantom power” so it needs to be plugged into a desk or pre-amp that can supply phantom power).

The hearing test booth is likely to be a great asset, but if it is quite small and enclosed (as I assume it is) then the bass (low frequency) measurements are likely to be a bit off. Confined spaces can do strange and unpredictable things to low frequencies.

Wow. After my test from your advise you have been right on. Keep them coming. The bass was defiantly overkill I opened the door and it went back to normal / Average measurements. You may be shocked by the instrument I am measuring. It is a air instrument. Made of Wood some times acrylic. I am curious what you might think it is.

PS Is there a way to print out the plot spectrum?

Press the Export… button then you can print the saved TXT file.


Gale