danimal cannon wrote:Been noticing some things about WAV basses when mixing my latest album. Notes E2 (E3 in earlier versions) are actually in the sub range, and if you have a sine wave, it will be almost inaudible on most systems. An A2 sits right the sweet spot of most bass EQ curves and will sound punishingly loud compared to lower notes.
I think a lot of this has to do with the difference in frequency in this range. A2 is like 100 Hz, and E2 is something like 80 Hz. This might not seem like a lot to most people (Dan, you and your wizardry will appreciate this), but sine waves are plain and have no overtones. Coincidentally, it is hard to make a standard sine wave more "interesting" unless work is done via additive synthesis. The Gameboy uses subtractive synthesis, and the E2 label actually applies to all other waveforms BESIDES sine waves. Theoretically, any other wave type can be made out of sine waves, so the lowest nominal octave for these "compound" sine waveforms LSDJ makes is the C2 and up range. Saw waves are made out of (I think 4 or so, with each wave being faster [ie higher pitched] and slightly less amplified than the one before) mathematically manipulated sine waves, pulse waves (also like 4 waves, different wave speed system and harmonics created from it) can be made from sine waves, and triangle waves are basically bass heavy pulse waves.
So if we know everything (theoretically) in the WAV channel is somehow derived from sine waves, why does a single sine wave itself sound lower?
I would imagine that this main cutoff in sound occurs for the following reasons: the human ear can hear down to about 20 Hz, and that is around A0. When I play tuba, the lowest I can hit is about Bb1. Considering the fact that the range of the once-common 3 valve tuba, traditionally tuned string bass and 4 string electric bass tends to stop at E2, and all the bass instruments were common around the time electronic filtering was first done via analog in the 50's for recording and mastering for vinyl. These instruments existed in the time of modern orchestra, rock, bebop, and other popular genres. Aside from special piano, organ, and instrumental works, there was a special need to make these super-low frequency waves "felt." (I'm not exactly knowledgeable on studio techniques from before the late 70's, but I would imagine some basic mixing happened.)
Unlike the sine wav, these instruments played overtones that could potentially form perfect octaves could affect the quality of a recording. With the help of filtering and spatial mixing, this became less of a problem. So basically, I think it is partially due to the consumer-level hardware standards for listening equipment plus a heavy impact by traditional "bassy" instruments being put into practice. Since sine waves are the only sound wave type typically lacking an overtone, the low sines sound lower than any kind of bass wave.
Don't hold me to this, I'm not an audio engineer, but I am pretty sure something like this is the reason for the lack of punch.
