Hi:
 
I'm mastering a 45 minute piece of music and would like to be able to analyze or see the how the volume of the piece changes throughout its entire duration. Is there a application within sonar X1 that will do this?
 
Thanks for the help.

The only real graphical image over time in Sonar is the wave form itself which you can see in the wave form. This is not the same as 3D analytic tools that give a spectral analysis over time in a 3D representation. There are lots of products that do this, but Sonar doesn't have any built in tools for this purpose. It does have an Analyst spectral analyzer but it doesn't show a graph over time.
 
You might try this...
http://spek.cc/
 
Volume can be measured by frequency... that's why I'm recommending a spectral analyzer.
 

Wouldn't a Sonogram accomplish this?  That shows:
 
Frequency vertically
Time going sideways
Amplitude is shown by color
Timbre is represented by a series of additional lines above the fundamental frequency, for the partials
 
If you go to downloads.com (run by CNET magazine), and search for Sonogram, then check the box for 'Free' you get back 12 results, and maybe one or more of these tools would give you what you seek.
 
Please note that while anything coming from the CNET site is guaranteed virus free, the install process DOES try to sneak in extra software - that's how they pay the bills, I suppose.  SO, when installing from software downloaded from their site, it uses an installer that ALMOST ALWAYS has checked boxes for 'yes I would love your unwanted software'.  MAKE SURE you remove any such checks or you will have extra stuff isntalled on your computer.
 
Once you DO remove the check boxes, you are generally good to go, but you STILL should watch the install process, just to make sure there are not similar things during install.
 
Bob Bone
 

m analyzer is fee and has a sonogram http://www.meldaproductio...oduct.php?id=MAnalyzer

I think we both just recommended the same thing, except you gave him more choices, Bob.
:-)
Great minds, you know.
:-)
My suggestion has GNU Public License, but I didn't see the timbre marks that Bob was mentioning.
 
I want to add that I own the Melda Production M-AutoAlign and I love it. So +1 for Melda Production software. I think I'll download this MAnalyzer myself, Chregg. Thanks for the link.
 

To do it properly you need a proper plugin. Here is a video about a few of the current range of loudness meters available.
 
http://productionadvice.co.uk/the-best-loudness-metering-plugins-money-can-buy/
 
 
 
 

"Wouldn't a Sonogram accomplish this?"
 
Yes, sort of... you'll want to look at the subset of sonograms known as spectrograms, and to do so you'll want a tool known as a spectrograph.
 
I enjoy using the Nugen Visualizer spectrograph and the Adobe Audition spectrograph.
 
best regards,
mike

Robert Morin
Hi:
 
I'm mastering a 45 minute piece of music and would like to be able to analyze or see the how the volume of the piece changes throughout its entire duration. Is there a application within sonar X1 that will do this?
 
Thanks for the help.

 
If you are just interested in "volume" rather than "loudness" you can simply look at the waveform display of the mix.
 
It is a volume graph.
 
One thing I really like about SONAR is the little switch that lets you display the wave form graph of the master bus during playback. That feature is 5 star!
 
 
I forget what the official name of that switch/choice/command is... can someone suggest the proper name for it?
 
 
best regards,
mike
 
 
 

Mike, you are always full of good useful info. Is it called wave form preview?

@gswitz - you were quite correct.  I had not noticed the link in your post above.
 
And Mike, you were SPOT ON with taking it further with explaining the subset of spectrograms, displayed using a spectrograph.
 
To the original poster, I hope some of this can assist you with what you are seeking.
 
Bob Bone