Phase Correlation Meter - Creating Tracks

This quick tutorial shares how to use a correlation meter, what to do with the results it gives you and how to troubleshoot and resolve phasing issues in your music.
Phasing issues can haunt us as modern producers. From boxiness to completely missing audio, phase alignment problems are something you always want to avoid. Luckily, most DAWs have a correlation meter for you to use. These small utility plug-ins can be a real lifesaver, as unassuming as they may appear at first glance. They are very simple in their design, providing you with meter showing a range of -1 to 1 but most do not offer any kind of help or explanation on the surface. So we are here to explain how it all works.
A correlation meter registers a +1 value when audio signals being measured are in perfect phase alignment and a -1 value when the signals are offset to the point that they can cause serious issues. These helpful meters cannot always alert you of phase issues in your projects, but they can be a big help in identifying and tracking them down. For instance, two duplicate sounds become slightly offset in your arrangement resulting in a very boxy and warped quality of sound. Obviously this is unwanted and it is because the two audio signals are not in perfect phase alignment. The correlation meter may not show anything to make you aware of this particular problem. Therefore we still need to be very aware of any small audible changes as we work to avoid surprises like this one.
If a correlation meter does happen to show you a problem exists in your mix, you may try (slightly) shifting one or more of the audio regions in your arrangement to alleviate the problem. If this does not work, you can use a simple gain plug-in to invert part of the signal or even convert the signal to mono right there on the spot. Certain types of plug-ins may cause stereo imaging and phase correlation issues. If you are having a tough time tracking down where the phasing issue is originating from, you may want to bypass any stereo imaging/spread plug-ins to see if they are the cause. There are many ways a phasing issue may creep into one of your music projects. But knowing how they happen, being as pro-active as possible to avoid them and being systematic in your approach to isolating them when they occur will help you greatly in your battle against them. Always use a correlation meter!
Cheers,
OhmLab

[@aholder4471]

Host:This what our sample sounds like Demon: Music

[@NeoRoX90]

Execellent tutorial about a subject that hasn't been explained that well, until now. Great job.

[@shplog2]

Shouldn't you pan these hard left and right for measuring correlation?

[@d.f.p.mprodstorie9146]

Great video on phase correlation!

[@MicroDotTV]

This helped me with my phase correlation problem, thank you for the video!

[@jeroenfigee]

Perfect ! There are not much vids out there about these meters, so this is a unique video. | Thanx 4 uploading : : :

[@Creatingtrance]

+JEROEN FIGEE thanks for watching Jeroen, cheers

[@Creatingtrance]

+JEROEN FIGEE thanks for watching Jeroen, cheers

[@olleyollet]

Awesome stuff! Thanks for sharing!

[@Creatingtrance]

+Olley Ollet Thanks for checking it out!

[@mcewan-media]

probably the most important video i've seen so far! :)

[@DestinyFreerun]

great tutorial man, i learned a lot from this

[@damoon57]

Hi there thanks for the video you made for us . a quick question . when i record sound from my piano digital through the logic ( piano sample ) the sound its not 100% in phase in correlation meter . what do I need to do to get whole song in phase ?

[@DaPanistA]

Thank you very much for this lesson.

[@marcomusictv3854]

Thank you so much, great explanetion!

[@rishabmehtaphotography]

People often forget these important tools!!!!

[@imadsuper4307]

Thank you for this :) I would have loved it a bit more with a bit more structure/plan to save some time but other than that you made me understand this process really well. I feel like a professional now :D Thanks!!

[@AudioLion]

This was really helpful!

[@arashandarmin]

How to correct phase issues of a piano sound???? Im working on an album and most of the songs uses Piano sounds, actually the Piano instrument is the structure of the songs. i have this problem where every track are in phase, on the correlation meter, everything is on green expect when it get to those piano notes specially to start with and the endings of the songs. now i have tried recording MIDI with logic x library instruments and also recording with external keyboards and synths using a piano sound is the same and the correlation meter is always around orange and red! I know there are different techniques to solve phase issues but not sure how to fix a piano sound phase, I tried changing it into Mono but it sounds really bad and would like to keep it Stereo Please Help Kind Regards

[@norepetitivebeats]

There are a few preset sounds on the ES2 synth in Logic that move/faze back and forth between +1 and -1 when a note is played. For instance try the preset sounds Synth Bass>Two Filter and Synth Bass>FM Plucked and look at the correlation metre, It goes crazy. What is happening here? Does anyone know?

[@FreddieJulee]

great video! Thank you!

[@MrWolff__]

Thank you so much. i was making my tracks 100% correlated lol

[@Creatingtrance]

Perfect ! Cheers for watching !

[@ojreal925]

thanks

[@a.b.hmusic3065]

hi Mate,big thnx for making this video thats very helpfull really,Im liking this channel more and more :) ,keep it up.always here for the support.

[@Creatingtrance]

+A.B.H Music No problem at all! Sorry for the mangled audio issue I'm having at the moment. Popped up after running a couple of updates. Still trouble shooting it! We should have more new stuff up tomorrow. :)

[@a.b.hmusic3065]

+Creating EDM Thats Amazing Cant wait to see them tomorow, if you need Other Sujjestions Of videos From Me let me know, i got some Nice Ideas That May Help Many Users Even Advanced Ones,kind Regards Waheb.

[@Creatingtrance]

A.B.H Music We are always happy to take requests and hear what our community members really want to learn. That's what we're all about!

[@a.b.hmusic3065]

+Creating EDM Thats Awesome :) .Well there is a Secret tip i Have learned From high skilled engineur that i would like to share and that Many People still dont realise it even Pro Producers ,Its About Using Linear EQ Before The Reverb On the Send and not After the reverb for Many Reasons Related with Acoustic Laws , this tip made My mixes More cleaner And the Reverb is more integrated with elements on the mix Softly and hearable with out conflicting with other stuffs.This is worth to make as video For People who dont know it :).

[@Creatingtrance]

+A.B.H Music Great tip! All of these little things can really add up in a bigger mix, too. I will add it to the list!

[@rings4433]

Great video! What about with reverb? I seem to have issues with Pads in correlation. I use the "Gain" mono function to fix it, but when I add reverb to widen the sound, it goes slightly back towards the 0. Any tips?

[@sethtaylor7519]

Yeah, zero is fine and less than 0 isn't.

[@Daniel-ro9if]

Side Signal is not in correlation. Even when i switch the Side-Phase in "msed" it shows thats its still uncorrelated 🤷‍♂️ What should i do? 😊

[@normanlove222]

This was VERY helpful and just what I was looking for. Thank goodness you were the first one in the results on youtube, and for good reasons.

[@beakf1]

when it was 180 degrees out of phase and the sound was canceled the phase meter was to the right showing ok?

[@EricPeelMusic]

Probably because it was literally PERFECTLY out of phase, so there was no sound for the meter to read. I could be wrong but it makes sense to me.

[@codking82]

mine doesn't even work pos logic it just hangs there and says FU i recorded an acoustic guitar track doubled it open up correlation meter nothing shows up

[@muratmetin82]

thanks for great tutorial. learned too much. but i follow your instructions they didn't cancel eachothers phase they just lost gain.why may cause this?

[@n3gmusic640]

Finest video among all others...can you send the link of linear phase eq

[@kurtishigh8653]

at 10:22 when u inverted, why didn't your meter go into the red?

[@JustinNathanielAdams]

Thanks!

[@DeeKeyLP]

Thank you

[@bengom1279]

Feed Me (or Spor) sent me here to learn Phase Alignment!

[@CRayBeats]

Maybe the meter would have worked correctly if you place both sounds in a bus then added the effect to the bus. The meter stays +1 the whole time because it's only reading from 1 insert not the sum of both. therefor sliding one audio clip will not trigger the meter & stays inphase. hmmm... I get what you mean tho.

[@benja303]

Help. I still don't understand what correlation is? Can any engineers help?

[@mephistovonfaust]

Audio in general are made of waves. Now do one simple thing and you will understand perfectly. Take a piece of paper and draw a few sinus curves on it or a sine wave from Google. Now you have to cut the paper along the sine wave. When you put it back together the pieces fit perfectly and make one whole piece of paper. If you start shifting one of the two halfs, the waves of one of the papers start to cover up the waves of the other half of the paper. This is basically what happens in the stereo field in terms of audio, the left and right channel canceling each other out. If they cancel each other out completely you get no sound and if they cancel each other only partially out you get a changed sound. The same goes for the piece of paper. The two halfs cancel each other completely out if the waves lie on top of each other and they cancel themselves partially out if they lie partially on one another... It's a convoluted explanation but try it with a piece of paper and you will understand, I'm sure of it.

[@dearlittlefoxxx]

oh you sound like the guy from pyramind