Topic by Jake Johnson

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  • Jake Johnson
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Topic: The SPEAR analysis program still lives! (Which may not be news.)

This may be news to me only. Two years ago or so, I tried to open SPEAR, the spectral analysis program, but a message appeared saying it could not open. Since the Windows version was written for Windows Vista, and I had bought a new computer running Windows 10, I assumed that the code would simply not work any more. However, today I ran across a reference to the program, revisited its home page, and downloaded it again, simply because it was so good that I wanted to, despite all odds, try to get it working. To my surprise, the Nov. 29, 2009 Version 0.7.4 for Windows Vista now works fine in Windows 10. (It may have always worked, with a fluke on my system causing my earlier problem.)

The Mac version, on the other hand, has undergone revisions. The latest update was fairly recent--in September of 2021. Both versions are still free:

Home page with a screenshot showing an analysis of a note: https://www.klingbeil.com/spear/
Download page with Windows and Mac versions: https://www.klingbeil.com/spear/downloads/

(Why this is important: SPEAR, a program that was discussed now and then in the Piano World forum several years ago, is a spectral analysis\synthesis program that displays all of the partials of a note or sound as they evolve over time, and as the note is heard. You can also take the original sound, synthesize it, change the amplitude of any of the partials over time, and then save it as a wave file. Great for analysis and editing samples. The synthesis is not perfect--you can't reproduce a human voice in a way that will be absolutely convincing--but for analysis, such as comparing the same notes from different piano sample libraries to understand why they differ in timbre, it's excellent.)

EDIT: And here is Mr. Klingbeil's formal academic paper explaining his program: https://www.klingbeil.com/papers/spearfinal05.pdf

Last edited by Jake Johnson (03-01-2022 22:35)

Reply by Jake Johnson

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  • Jake Johnson
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Re: The SPEAR analysis program still lives! (Which may not be news.)

And Prout, over on the PianoWorld forum, has found another free spectral analysis program that does not allow synthesis, but does give a clearer view of the decay rate of each partial. (SPEAR does this, but in a way that is harder to see--the darker the partial's line at any point, the louder it is. One can see the amplitudes fading in this way, but not see the actual amplitude of each partial.) The other program is called Oscillometer. See the rendering of a C1 note near the top of page two in this thread:

http://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads....048/2.html

May take some staring at before it becomes clear, if one is not accustomed to these displays. The time domain runs from back to front, NOT from left to right, in a visualization that we are seeing from a corner angle. The notes are decaying over time as they approach us, or at least as they approach our right elbow, outside of the screen.

Here's the link to the Ocillometer:

http://shmelyoff.ru/2020/03/07/oscillometer/

(The advantage of the far less colorful SPEAR is that it lets you see the frequency of each partial, and lets you isolate partials, so you can listen to only one or several, letting you better judge, aurally, the contribution of each to the note. These two programs would ideally be combined...)

Last edited by Jake Johnson (09-01-2022 06:42)