Project Audio – Test 03

Basically the testing is completed to know which frequencies should be boosted, or notched or totally eliminated. I’ve learnt a lot although without doubt, there are so much more to discover. I still have no idea how some people can come up with good reverbs and chorus and all those effects. I guess, as long as I live, I get the chance to keep on learning.

First it was MIDI Programming. That took me too many years of programming. Then the AI Programming where I learned music theory and write programs to write songs. I still remember the day the computer composed its first song. I was like, ‘Holyshit! I wrote that program??!!’. That was nice and I thought that was it.

All the sudden I discovered audio mixing. That was two years ago. I wonder, after 20 years of audio programming, how come nobody ever told me this thing exist?!

So here I am, at 47 and the days of programming are so over. Now that I know audio mixing exists, I have no choice but to do this manually. I really want to buy a book on it but bloody hell, nobody is selling including Kinokuniya and the internet is so stingy!

So it is back to testing and experimenting and listening (listening is hard) and here is the third test. It passes the radio frequencies in mono:

Project Audio – Secondary Drums and Percussions

Project Illuminations has preset musical instruments considered as Secondary Drums and Percussions. Some are Chinese Cymbal, Cowbell, Vibra Slap, High Bongo, Low Bongo, and Open High Conga among many others.

The Secondary Drums and Percussions are important not just because they provide the beats and control the tempo and major during transitions, they also help to harmonize the music and give more timbres.

As they are secondary, to determine their key frequencies are more difficult because they may overlap key frequencies of previous tests.

Project Audio – Test 02

I think the result is satisfactory. I’m glad that the guitar mixes do well. I have no problem listening to the frequencies.

At the moment, I just want to listen to the frequencies with hope they sit well. There shall be a lot of frequencies boosting later on and of course a lot of guitar properties like pitch bending, modulation and all.

Arrangements are still key but now I notice I should start reading on final mixes and mastering.

Next is more drums and percussions to harmonize things up.

The test is conducted via radio frequency on car stereo in mono file.

More tests will follow through of course :-)

Project Audio – Guitar Challenges

As far as computer programming goes, writing audio programming on guitars is the toughest of them all. Too much to say about guitars so I guess I better cut the whole thing focusing on audio mixing.

The first thing that worries me a lot about guitars is that the frequencies overlap vocals and bass frequencies. Once the guitars are playing the solos, things get even worse because I am afraid that the frequencies get buried and not clearly heard.

Guitars too are unlike others have these pitch bending thing, modulation thing, wah-wahs thing, sweeping thing, echo thing, distortion thing, overdrive thing, grunge thing, reverb dry and wet thing, tremolo thing, scratching thing, this thing, that thing and so many things which when I started audio programming, I did not write these sound properties. Not having these properties attached to guitar sound does not make any sense so I have no choice but to use software like Adobe Audition 1.5 for the later add on.

I prefer the frequencies to start at the mid-range so I will straightly cut those frequencies below 200 Hz. This should help me to avoid any overlap frequencies against basses.

Depending on where the vocals are sitting, I will cut down the frequencies at least by 9db. I may want to cut 15 dB if I had to. Exceptional goes should I need the guitars to be heard as hard as possible where I will cut down maximum 3 dB only. Q is set to be at 1 or 2.

Rock sound is problematic. I can’t imagine rock music without distortion and overdrive guitars. I will cut down the bass frequencies at 400 Hz by 3 dB with Q at 1. I will substitute it by boosting the guitars frequencies at that range by 3 dB also with Q at 1.

Frequencies around 800 Hz is usually problematic for guitars. Should I see too much of it, I will notch the frequencies by 6 dB with Q between 1 and 2.

I will boost frequencies around 6000 Hz by 2 dB with Q = 1. This helps the guitar sound to sparkle.

Modulation effects such as chorus and flangers can be added to give the interesting character. Also, I won’t leave to add studio stereo effect too with a 100 ms delay and one repeat you can achieve a nice doubling effect that stands out just enough, but still sits well in the mix.

For solos, panning should be around the center while for rhythm, I may go far left and right.

I will cut out the far end depending on the spectrum.

I also may want to consider tremolo, vibrato and pitch bending.

Do enjoy my cousin Az Samad playing his guitar:

Project Audio – Test 01

I am very happy with the result of this test on Kick drum, Lower and upper basses, Toms, Snares and Side Stick. Currently, the key to audio mixing is still musical arrangement. Frequency notching, frequency boosting, compressing and band filtering help too.

The test is conducted via radio frequency on car stereo in mono file.

More tests will follow through of course :-)

Project Audio – The Bass Challenges

Now onwards, Project Illuminations will download pieces only when they pass the test of audio mixing. The pieces will be tested through the worst-case scenario – Radio Frequencies on Car Stereo in Mono Files. The pieces pass the tests only when all the audio frequencies are clearly heard. This is going to be tough and challenging.

The toughest mixing to deal with is when the bass sound start coming in mixing with The Primary Drums and Percussions previously mentioned. The worst part is when mixing bass with drum kicks as they share almost the same key frequencies ranges. Basses dealing with toms and snares too are very tough.

Revision:

Key frequencies of Kick Drums, Toms and Snares:

Kick Drums: 40 – 129.1 Hz
Toms: 80 – 180 Hz
Snares: 128 – 220 Hz

Key Frequencies for Basses

I prefer that the desired key frequencies are between 128 – 550 Hz but for some artistic reasons, the key frequencies could go as low as 110 Hz. To make matters worse, sometimes I like it when the kick drums have the key frequencies up to 192 Hz.

Kick Drums VS Basses

To me, both musical instruments are major. I guess this has a lot to do with the fact that I like Boney M and Gilla way too much. In fact, in music writing (programming), I make sure that they both are the foundation of the music yet to be written. And today’s high-powered, high-tech, industrial-strength rock and roll is no exception.

The drum kicks provide the punchy beats that control the tempo of the music while the bass is essential in building up the chord progressions that later on creates the harmonies. To me, these both communicate the most that give that emotional feeling, pulses and give the idea of what the grooves, the chords and the riffs of the rest of the musical instruments. The computer is programmed to give a lot of attention to these two no matter what the musical genre is to be written.

Unfortunately, both instruments rely heavily on the low frequencies sharing almost the same places in the spectrum. This is very problematic.

Of late, Project Illuminations has received quite an attention via www.facebook.com by professionals. I receive quite repetitive comments that they are confused when the kick drums and basses compete against another. They are also frustrated when listening to the muddy mix lack of power. I’m not sure how do they manage to download the music videos from facebook. Is there a software somewhere?

It is also strange to know that the trend is, people expect you not only as a songwriter but also a musician and a sound engineer and the main problem is, I am not any of the above.

How I wish I knew this like 20 years ago where I had the ability to sit and do programming for hours and hours without rest, food and sleep. At this age, I can’t even sit more than 30 minutes without backache. This is very frustrating because I know that I have the thinking ability to re-write programs that cover songwriting, musical arrangement and audio mixing at the same time. The problem is that I don’t have the physical ability. The disadvantage of getting old is now clear.

Anyway, to solve the problem, I must do two things concurrently (manually of course):

a) The musical arrangements should be written where the instruments should not hit at the same time.
b) Improved audio mixing.

Another way to solve the problem is to do something I have never done (or programmed) before which is to let both instruments to act as one. The kick drums are to start the punching and attacking while the basses echoed giving the decaying sound. Hopefully it works but still, that has a lot to do with arrangements. Maybe this should also give the unique signature to the sound of Project Illuminations.

Kick drums, toms, snares and basses are going to be problematic. Solve the problems I will. Life is always like that :-)

Project Audio – Primary Drums and Percussions

Project Illuminations has preset musical instruments below as Primary Drums and Percussions:

Kick Drums – Kick Drum B2 and Kick Drum C3
Toms – Low Tom 2 F3, Low Tom 1 G3, Mid Tom 2 A3, Mid Tom 1 B3, High Tom 2 C4 and High Tom 1 D4
Snares – Snare 1 and Snare 2
Side Stick
Crash Cymbals – Crash Cymbal 1 C#4 and Crash Cymbal 2 A4
Hi Hats – Open High Hat Bb3 and Closed High Hat F#3
Ride Cymbal 1 Bb4

The Primary Drums and Percussions are important because they provide the beats and control the tempo and major during transitions.

Note: GEQ = Graphic Equalizer

Kick Drums – Audio Editing

Step 1: Band Pass 40 – 7630 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Notch frequencies of any possible vocal presence through GEQ
Step 3: Notch frequencies 500 Hz through GEQ
Step 4: Notch frequencies 200 Hz through GEQ
Step 5: Compress Kick Drums

Key frequencies = 40 – 129.1 Hz
Panning = +5 or -5

Toms – Audio Editing

Step 1: Band Pass 90 – 6160 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Notch frequencies of any possible vocal presence through GEQ
Step 3:
Notch frequencies 400 Hz through GEQ for Low Toms
Notch frequencies 630 Hz through GEQ for Mid Tom 2 A3
Notch frequencies 800 Hz through GEQ for Mid Tom 1 B3 and High Tom 2 C4
Notch frequencies 1000 Hz through GEQ for High Tom 1 D4
Step 4: Compress all toms as compressing kick drums

Key frequencies = 90 – 174.169 Hz with extension to 384.97 Hz
Panning:

Low Tom 2 F3 = -35
Low Tom 1 G3 = - 25
Mid Tom 2 A3 = -15
Mid Tom 1 B3 = +15
High Tom 2 C4 = +25
High Tom 1 D4 = +35

Snares – Audio Editing

Step 1: Band Pass 130 – 10000 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Notch frequencies of any possible vocal presence through GEQ
Step 3:Notch frequencies 400 Hz through GEQ
Step 4: Compress Snares

Key frequencies = 130 – 220 Hz

Panning:
Snare 1 = +10
Snare 2 = -1

Side Stick – Audio Editing

Step 1: Band Pass 300 – 10000 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Notch frequencies of any possible vocal presence through GEQ
Step 3: Boost frequencies 850-925-1000 Hz TWICE
Step 4: Compress as compressing snares

Key frequencies = 850 – 1000 Hz

Panning = +10

Crash Cymbal 1 C#4 – Audio Editing

Step 1: High Pass 300 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Band Stop frequencies:
1000 – 2000 Hz, Order 3
3900 – 4100 Hz, Order 7
9500 – 10000 Hz, Order 11
11000 – 12500 Hz, Order 5

Key frequencies = 3400 – 3700 Hz

Panning = +40

Crash Cymbal 2 A4 – Audio Editing

Step 1: High Pass 300 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Band Stop frequencies:
1200 – 1350 Hz, Order 6
1600 – 1900 Hz, Order 4
2300 – 2600 Hz, Order 5
2900 – 3400 Hz, Order 4
3900 – 4300 Hz, Order 3
4800 – 5000 Hz, Order 5
5200 – 5460 Hz, Order 10

Key frequencies = 3500 – 5000 Hz

Panning = -40

Closed Hi Hat F#3 – Audio Editing

Step 1: High Pass 300 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Band Stop frequencies 650 – 800 Hz, Order 5
Step 3: Boost frequencies 3720-3820-3920 Hz TWICE

Key frequencies = 3720 – 3920 Hz

Panning = -25

Open Hi Hat Bb3 – Audio Editing

Step 1: Band Pass 380 – 17550 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Band Stop frequencies:
640 – 900 Hz, Order 4
1200 – 1500 Hz, Order 4
1900 – 2100 Hz, Order 2
2240 – 2620 Hz, Order 4
2960 – 3700 Hz, Order 3
Step 3: Boost frequencies 3700-3790-3880 Hz TWICE

Key frequencies = 3700 – 3880 Hz

Panning = -25

Ride Cymbal 1 Bb4 – Audio Editing

Step 1: Band Pass 300 – 16000 Hz, Order 40
Step 2: Band Stop frequencies:
900 –2100 Hz, Order 2
5200 – 5800 Hz, Order 6
Step 3: Boost frequencies 4700-4800-4900 Hz TWICE

Key frequencies = 4700 – 4900 Hz

Panning = -25

Project Audio – Introduction

It is time for Project Illuminations to have own music sound not only through music composition but importantly through audio mixing.

Audio mixing is important because it determines the best possible result of the music production. The objective is to have the ability identifying the key frequencies of each musical instrument so they won’t overlap each other while playing. This should give the listeners listening to the frequencies at any platform.

I admire the work of Andreas Viklund:

The song is Riders, Unite! Notice how he manages the key frequencies all over the spectrum …

Hope Project Illuminations will achieve this level someday …

Sin City, Jay Bee – The chord Progressions Verse 3 and 4

There are some minor changes in Verse 3. Earlier, verse 3 was to start from Your hunchback of Tanjung Puteri to Segget river, stinks to eternity BUT now the verse is changed from Your hunchback of Tanjung Puteri to Nusajaya Johoreans adore. The computer and I could not found the ending as planned.

So verse 4 which is the Poem Reading starts from Sin City … Jay Bee … Your economy to END … You will no longer be.

For the time being, the genre for verse 3 is folk rock. The only purpose is for the singing recordings.

Below are the note notations of the Chord Progressions for Verse 3. The key scale is B Flat so the Major chords are Bb, Eb and F while the minor chords are Cm, Dm, and Gm. The diminished chord is Adim. The accidental chords are Bdim, C#aug, Edim, F#aug and G#.



Next is of course to write the musical arrangement but I cannot start on this one with the vocal and singing recordings. So allow me to take some time to do the sample recordings. Meantime also, I may want to standardize sound editing for Project Illuminations so that all songs onwards reflect the unique sound designed for the project.

As for Verse 4, I may want to only send the simple tempo progressions and let Samsara create the poem reading where the computer will then create the chord progressions based on her reading. Tempo is expected to be at 129 BPM as the folk rock.

Sin City, Jay Bee – The Chord Progressions – Verse 2

The length of the verse is projected to be 1 minute 34.02 seconds with tempo 97 BPM with 4 beats per measure.

The key scale is B so the basic chords are B, C#m, D#m, E, F#, G#m and A#dim with the basic accidental chords are Caug, Daug, Fm, Gaug and A.

Below are the notes that covering Verse 2:






So I am yet to convert the midi files into wave files and do the singing sample. Still, next is to write the chord progressions for the rest of the song.

Sin City, Jay Bee – The Chord Progressions – Introduction, Verse1 and Cross Over

The length of the combined grooves are projected to be 3 minutes 8.474 seconds (blank space included) with tempo varies from 120 BPM then increased to 180 BPM then slowing down to 97 BPM with 4 beats per measure.

The key scale is D Flat so the basic chords are Db, Ebm, Fm, Gb, Ab, Bbm and Cdim with the basic accidental chords are Ddim, Eaug, Gdim, Adim and B.

Below are the notes that covering The Introduction, Verse 1 and The Cross Over:

Sin City, Jay Bee – The Song Structure

There are some drastic changes in the way Azly Rahman wrote this poem where words are more rhyming but still there are very unstructured. This is cool as this is what chaos is all about. However, it is not so cool as it is a lot difficult that I thought in composing.

I’ve got some ideas on the melodies but then I had this problem where the poem is to be accompanied by different kind of different genres.

Azly Rahman prefers some combinations of genres – Hard rock + Soft rock + Some kind of New York Jazz. So out of what usually done, this time I had to take a very good look at the overall picture of what the piece supposed to be.

I came up with the idea to jump directly to Step 5 where The Song Structure has to come first:

Start
{
Introduction

Part 1 – Piano gothic introduction play
Part 2 – The rock sound with distorted guitar coming in.

Verse 1
Genre: Gothic rock.
Vocal: Fakhri
From: Where have all those memories gone
To: whose middle name is "filthy"

Cross Over
Genre: Gothic rock to Jazz Ballad.
Vocal: Fakhri
From and To: Ohh Jay Bee ... you are a soul that is one with me

Verse 2
Genre: Jazz Ballad
Vocal: Samsara
From: Jay Bee … Sin city … where politics stink
To: where the smell of ganja filled the air like a pissed-on fermented drink
… Ahh Jay Bee … City of Sins

Verse 3
Genre: Soft Rock
Vocal: Samsara/Fakhri
From: Your hunchback of Tanjung Puteri is dead and gone
To: Your economy, like a Segget River , stinks till eternity

Verse 4
Genre: Poem Reading + Jazz Ballad + Additional Background Sound (Optional)
Vocal: Samsara
From: Love is gone … Of the one my heart held on
To: You were once mine … You will no longer be

Ending
Genre: Jazz Ballad – Ending
}
End

Hope next is to write the preliminary melodies and the chord progressions.
It’s going to be tough.

Sin City, Jay Bee - The Poem

"Sin City, Jay Bee"
by Azly Rahman

Where have all those memories gone
Of the city that never sleeps
Sin-filled you are
... Offering life's panorama
A pandora box of a lushness of emotions

Jay Bee
You may be called a city of filth
Of gang wars and transvestite a galore
Of rock kapak geniuses conceived immaculately
From the womb of Papa Rock
Ahhh New Johor ... New York you may want to be
Thou shall never attain that notoriety

Sweet city sin city
Celebrating the velocity of money
It is there I knew love's inner beauty
As we walked up and down the Lido Beach
whose middle name is "filthy"
Ohh Jay Bee ... you are a soul that is one with me

Jay Bee
Sin city
where politics stink
where corruption gets a nice daily wink
where the power elites are the underground kings
where the poor are hoodwinked
where the children of the working class roam the streets in motorcycles with bilng bing
where the smell of ganja filled the air like a pissed-on fermented drink
Ahh Jay Bee
City of Sins

Your hunchback of Tanjung Puteri is dead and gone
Committed sepuku at the sight of what has become
Of you sin city Jay Bee
Si Bongkok died of a death he long-willed for
As the sight of the crooked bridge broke his heart that exploded with a roar
Ahhh... thanks to the Johor Corridor
And the Disney of Nusajaya Johoreans adore
Sin city
Jay Bee
Your economy, like a Segget River , stinks till eternity

Love is gone
Of the one my heart held on
As I walked countless miles
Along the Lido beach
Time has not been kind
To this city that never sleeps
To this sin city
That weeps
The yesteryears of the loss of pride that run deep
Love is gone
The deal is sealed
Sin city you are now sold
To the forked tongued nationalists grown old like ageing Disneys

Sin city
Jay Bee
You were once mine
You will no longer be

Project Illuminations - Work Flow

Project Illuminations is into Chaos and Complexities Theories through Poems and Music. Without doubt, a good work flow of connected steps are required to allow processes to be done accordingly and timely.

Year 2011, Project Illuminations has progressed with more elements of presentations where we have texts of poems, music, singing, poem reading and graphical footages.

This blog is the center of the operations.

Steps taken to systematically build the texts of poems into music videos are as follows:

Step 1: Poems written by Azly Rahman

Poems to be converted into music videos are posted by Azly Rahman onto his facebook pages. The poems then are copied and pasted onto this blog.

Step 2: Suggested Musical Genres to accompany the poems preferably by Azly Rahman

Azly Rahman informs me via facebook or emails regarding this.

Step 3: The preliminary singing melodies to the poems

I (or the computer) write the preliminary musical notes and send to singers in MIDI files where the musical notes can be read through free software that can be downloaded at www.notation.com.

Step 4: The recording of the preliminary vocal melodies

Step 4 is required to determine the singers’ vocal frequency waves to the melodies in order to project the suitable Musical Key Scale. Singers are required to record the melodies either in MP3 or M4A. Other wave formats are not acceptable.

Other tools suggested for the recording:

a) A recording software or an iPhone
b) The microphone
c) The earphone

Of course the preliminary melody notes can indicate the Musical Key Scale but the singers’ expressions on the melodies can generate other Key Scale. This is more important.

All files are sent via emails.

Step 5: The writing of song structures and chord progressions

Basically the song structures are:

a) The Introduction
b) The Verses
c) The Chorus
d) The Breaks
e) The Solos
f) The Ending

I (or the computer) write the song structures and the progressions which then are posted onto the blog.

Step 6: The Preliminary Musical Arrangements

I (or the computer) write the preliminary musical arrangements for the songs which then are posted onto the blog.

Step 7: The Singing / Poem Reading Recordings

I send the musical arrangements in MIDI files to the accorded singers together with the singing samples in MP3. Singers are required to record the singing / poem reading parts in MP3 or M4A with as low background noises as possible.

All files are delivered via emails.

Step 8: The Vocal Frequency Waves Editing

I convert any M4A files into MP3 and edit the vocal frequency waves through Adobe Audition 1.5. All background noises shall be eliminated as much as possible.

I (or the computer) determine the main vocal frequencies.

Step 9: The Final Musical Arrangements

I (or the computer) write the final musical arrangements that should have the following properties:

a) Minimal notes / frequencies overlap as much as possible.
b) Less than 10 minutes of arrangement including the blank spaces.

The final musical arrangements are then sent to the members of Project Illuminations in MIDI files for APPROVAL.

Step 10: The Audio Mixing

I edit and mix all wave frequencies.

Step 11: The Overall Audio Mixing

I edit and overall mix the wave frequencies. Now onwards, the final mixing shall be tested via radio waves which determine either the waves are acceptable to all possible platforms.

I then send the final mixes to the members of Project Illuminations in MP3 files for APPROVAL.

Step 12: The Suggested Preliminary Video Footages

Members of Project Illuminations are highly recommended to suggest anything regarding the video footages. The projected video files sizes however must not be more than 20 MB.

I also suggest the footages which then are posted onto this blog.

APPROVAL REQUIRED for all suggestions via email or via this blog.

Step 13: The Making of The Music Videos

Once the music videos are completed, I post the videos onto this blog and facebook.

Mao of Love: Preamble - The Music Video

Mao of Love: Preamble – Vocal Recording, Overall Mixing and Panning

As usual, the vocal recording was done the same as here. The musical instruments were arranged via MIDI then converted to waves. The rest of the mixing processes are the same as previously written. For some reasons, I did not document a thing due to lack of time.

Panning:

Kick Bass – Left 5
Snare – Right 10 Volume -3
Claves – Right 10 Volume -3
High Wood Block – Left 15
Low Wood Block - Right 15
Vibra Slaps – Left 45
Chinese Cymbal – Right 45
Splash – Right 45
Crash Cymbal 1 – Left 45
Crash Cymbal 2 – Right 45
Closed Hit Hat – Right 25
Acoustic Bass – Right 5
Synth Bass – Right 45
Harpsichord – Left 100
Electric Guitar Clean – Left 100
FX Rain – Right 100
Koto – Right 100
Acoustic Grand Piano – Right 20
Pedal – Right 100
Strings – Left 30
Pad Warm – Left 50 and Right 50
Synth Strings – Left 50 and Right 50
String Ensemble – Left 50 and Right 50

Mao of Love: Preamble – Poem Reading and Overall Harmonies

Although the vocal frequencies vary, still I have to narrow down the key frequencies which was decided to be between 600 Hz and 1000 Hz. So this area was boosted:

Adobe Audition 1.5 > Effects > Filters > Parametric Equalizer:


The musical instruments selected for the harmonies are arranged to not really disturb the frequencies above but to make things safe, I protected the frequencies:

Adobe Audition 1.5 > Effects > Filters > Scientific Filters:


Same thing was done on other harmonic instruments for the whole piece.

Mao of Love: Preamble – Poem Reading and Chord Progressions

The poem reading was done without music. The idea is to have Samara expresses the expression on the poem – tone, pitch, tempo, pace and all. So it was the reading first not the music.

As the reading is very passionately done and sounds so serene, I thought of accompany the reading with the Inspirational Serene grooves. The genre is a bit different from the singing part and that should add more colors to the piece.

So how does the music sounds like?

The poem reading determines the music. This is possible because with the varieties of the key frequencies given by each word give own chords. Since this is possible, I wrote a program to determine the chords related to the words.

It was too random so I decided to filter out some chords to fit only those of C Major Scale. It works so we have the poem reading with inspirational serene music. Why I didn’t think of doing something like this 20 years ago?! The way I look at it, all people’s readings can be turned into music!

The reading then was adjusted to sit well with the 4-beat measure of 60 BPM.

Mao of Love: Preamble – Poem Reading and Frequencies Editing

3 poem reading files were received in m4a format so the first thing to do is to convert them into mp3 or else there is no way I can mix the reading with the rest of the piece.

The recording was well done with quite acceptable noise level so the next thing to do was to eliminate the background noises as much as possible through Adobe Audition 1.5.

The wave amplitude was quite problematic. The frequencies were something I have not seen for a very long time where they vary from the low frequencies of the basses to as high as above 15 000 Hz. So I decided to listen to the reading instead of being too technical to the properties.

I was surprised. I thought poem reading is just another reading but that was stupid of me. There must be reasons why they call it poem reading.

It was a very passionate reading. That should explain why the frequencies vary.

Having discovered that, next is to edit the amplitude:

Adobe audition 1.5 > Effects > Amplitude > Dynamic Processing > Attack/Realease:


However, there were problems with certain waves which did not yield strong enough amplitude so I have to select those waves and edited them again as above.