Read a single frequency curve#

The spectrogram shows every moment at once, which makes exact levels hard to read. The spectrum panel takes one column out of it, the moment under your pointer, and plots it as decibels against frequency. Use it when you need to know how loud a tone is, or whether a peak you can see is one tone or two.

Select Spectrum on the toolbar to open it. A strip appears below the spectrogram.

Read the curve#

Frequency runs left to right, up to half the file sample rate. Decibels run up the left edge. Sharp peaks are tones. Broad humps are noise or rumble. A flat stretch is the noise floor.

The horizontal axis is always linear, even when the spectrogram is set to Log or Mel. This keeps the frequency values easy to read straight off the axis.

The curve tracks your pointer#

The panel redraws from wherever your pointer is over the waveform or the spectrogram. It is not tied to the playback position. Move along a rising tone, and the peak walks to the right. Move off the panels, and the curve no longer updates.

The curve comes from the same analysis that draws the spectrogram, so the FFT and Window settings shape it too. If two peaks merge into one hump, raise the FFT size. See Display settings.

To save the curve as data, see Exporting.