Hi there! when I record a bass track
I noticed that numerous negative peaks are formed in the waveform why?, and how do I handle them?
thx

 

Because the string moved a lot in one direction and then stabilized. Waveform going down is the same as waveform going up in audio. Limiter or compression if you really feel there's a huge jump in volume. If it works in a song, it works and you shouldn't touch it.

 

Thats really cool

I know its kind of obvious when you think about it, but it never occurred to me that the waveform is such a direct representation of the way the string vibrates

Also water is wet

 

I agree with this, however, what could be done about it is applying phase rotation.
what this does (done right) is making the sound more symmetrical in favor of headroom. (without changing the timbre)

but as of this moment, I cannot think of a kind of real-world situations where it is needed.
that in itself says a lot.

Edit: monotone 4 on the floor kick or bass samples that tickle your master limter to much maybe?

 

The only problem is watching the waveform instead of listening :-P

 

yeah whats wrong with it ? does it sound bad or just looks bad (to you) ?

 

Try some sidechain compression to even it out a little. Or volume automation

 

This should help!

Izotope RX7
Phase - > Adaptive Phase Rotation

It will make all the assymetries of phase to be in the center.

Usually it causes smallest amount of preringing. So it will not affect too much on sound, but some stuff can be heard on master applied effect and complex sounds as dubstep growls, but in 95% cases you will not hear effect.
But it evens peaks, offsets them to center (better symmetry) and lowers peak level there in negative area accordingly, and peaks will grow in positive area, because it offsets them to be in center.
So, i did some quick test with very dynamic one-shot sound and i got 1.6 dB more headroom after that.

 

that's like your opinion, man

 

That's a good thought, lol. We are so used to see waveforms and spectrums sometimes they can mislead us.
Don't know if it's the case.

 

Watching waveforms helps. How can listen through such things as DC offset or wave/phase assymetries? Your wave maybe very quiet, but how can you make it louder if it clips and at same time it is too quiet? Waveform watching shows you such problems.
Visually I can see 18 kHz whistling, but I can't hear it, but my wife or younger brother hear it. So, analysers, meters, editors help too much. They show what you can't hear, but probably other people can.

 

just ignore the negative peaks, they be haters...

 

You know, I see more and more people judge sound quality by waveforms or frequency spectrums/spectrograms.
Yes, you might be able to see what you cannot hear but the best waveform or spectrogram cannot tell you if your instrument or music sounds good and if what you're about to correct visually is something that needs a fix acoustically.
No spectrum can tell you if these high frequency peaks make the percussive hits sound crisp or annoying.
Of course there are many applications where you need a spectrum or waveform display, but the OP has seen a "problem" in the waveform that nobody would have considered an issue just by listening, and that was my point.

 

You could mess around with a good stereo tool to balance the waveform, I often find it has a positive effect on the sound.

 

There are two types of people in this world. Those who make use of visual audio tools, and those who dont.