AccessiblePhaseMeter

AccessiblePhaseMeter is a development of AccessiblePeakMeter.

It uses real-time sonification to deliver information to the user about phase correlation of stereo audio signals, and so supports core activities in audio production.

AccessiblePeakMeter was developed in 2014/2015 at Queen Mary University of London as part of the Design Patterns for Inclusive Collaboration research project.

Usage

The phase correlation of the stereo signal is measured as value from -1 (out of phase) to +1 (in phase). Well mixed audio productions go from +1 to 0 (mono). A good warning or threshold value is +0.5.

The plug-in comes with the following tweakable parameters:

1. Sonification Type: to switch between continuous mode mode and clipping mode mode;
2. Dry: controls the level of the input audio, namely the audio content you want to analyze;
3. Wet: controls the level of the sonification;
4. Threshold: sets the threshold for the clipping mode, it has no effect on the continuous mode.
5. Decay: this only affects the continuous mode sonification. The value ranges from 1 second down to 0.05 seconds. This is the time the meter would take to decay from 0 db to -inf after an impulse. These numbers don't give a real feeling of how the sonification will sound - it is easier to think that when set to 0.05 the sonification will stop pretty immediately when you stop the audio; whereas if the value is set to 1, it will take longer to decay. In general, though, the latter sounds cleaner and normally the audio level doesn't go all the way down to silence, as during the decay it encounters other peaks that bring it back up. So it's up to you to find the right trade off.

The AccessiblePhaseMeter provides access to the parameters by exposing them to inspectors - such as ReaAccess plug-in or the Cakewalk Sonar inspector - in a clear and well formatted way.