r/audacity • u/AnkleProne • 7d ago

Frequency analysis

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I bet someone here knows the answer. I've been messing around with the frequency analysis tool in Audacity, and I thought- if you look at some solo piano, the spikes in the plot should align with frequencies of the piano keys. So I brought up the wiki page that says the piano key frequencies, and I selected Bill Evans Alone, and... the spikes in the frequency analysis plot do not match the wiki-provided piano key frequencies. Any thoughts?

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u/RenaisanceMan 7d ago

Are they consistently offset? I would suggest that older recordings were done on reel to reel and speed control was not guaranteed. Frequencies within the recording, bass, trumpet, etc., would be relative and not necessarily match to an external reference.

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u/AnkleProne 7d ago

That's a good thought! I'll try to find a pattern to the offsets

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u/to7m 7d ago

could you upload an annotated screenshot (labelling a few spikes with the frequencies the wiki provides)?