User Guide

Chapter 10: New Audio Plug-Ins Added 41
Rhythm'n'Blues tends to be bass-heavy. Most R&B tunes have an overall negative slope, with the high-frequency
bands quieter than the low-frequency bands. If you mix an R&B tune with a straight-horizontal-line frequency
distribution, it is probably too bright for the R&B genre.
Classical music tends to be even darker than R&B, except for low bass frequencies. Techno and Dance music is
often very bass-heavy. Jazz is typically pretty mellow, with low frequencies louder than high frequencies, but not
necessarily a lot of very low bass.
Country music often has rolled-off low bass. Many country tunes use bright bass and bright kick drum, so that the
bass is not as deep-sounding as R&B or Dance styles.
Some people have to work very hard to get a good mix, while others almost effortlessly find the proper combination.
An RTA doesn't turn mixing into a “paint by number” game. For instance, if you only change the level of drum hi-
hat, it can radically change the RTA display. One can make a bad-sounding mix which has the same frequency
distribution as your favorite famous recording. But an RTA is an excellent reality check. If your mix sounds good
to the ear, AND THE RTA IS ALSO IN THE BALLPARK, the odds are good that you are getting close to a
finished mix.
Control Descriptions
Enable Plug-in Checkbox
Toggle the checkbox to turn the RTA ON or OFF.
PG RTA only does processing when:
1. The plug-in is enabled.
2. The plug-in is visible.
If PG RTA is not enabled or it is not visible, it does not add to the computer load during playback.
It does no harm to leave several instances of the plug-in assigned to various Tracks, Aux Returns, or Masters.
When you don’t have the plug-in visible onscreen, it will not load down the computer.
Frequency Resolution
The Octave button displays ten bands, representing the level of each octave in the audio. The Third-Octave button
displays 28 bands, representing the level of each third of an octave in the audio.
There may be situations where it is more useful to have a 'general' overview at octave resolution, but the main
reason you might prefer Octave resolution is to reduce the CPU load. Compared to third-octave resolution, Octave
resolution only presents one third of the computer load.
Channel View
Channel View is only meaningful when metering a stereo track, or Aux/Master inserts (which are almost always
stereo). The Channel View setting has no effect on a mono track.
If metering a stereo insert, select the Left+Right button to view the summed frequency response of both the Left and
Right channels. Select the Left or Right buttons to view only one of the channels.
Zoom In/Out (Adjust the vertical amplitude resolution in dB.)
If a track has wide dynamics, zoom out to see all the bands without scrolling. If zoomed out too far, it can be
difficult to visually judge frequency levels. All the bands may appear about the same level.
Zoom In to see the best amplitude resolution. For instance, in the screenshot above, the display was zoomed to 3 dB
per ruler line, which emphasizes the differences between loud and quiet frequency bands.
View Range Scroll
Adjust the Scrollbar to center the display to taste. When zoomed-in on a quiet track (as in the screenshot above), you
would scroll down to get a good view of the frequency distribution.