Freeware Hit Record Maker: Can it really help you make a hit?
Source: AirWindows/YouTube
Hit Record Maker from AirWindows promises to measure the hit potential of your tracks. The plugin analyses various sound aspects of your music and visualises them in a clear representation. But can a plugin really predict whether a track will be a hit? And of course it’s freeware!
Everything you need to know about the Hit Record Maker plugin
Hit Record Maker: The Secret Behind Your Next Hit
Here’s how it works: AirWindows’ Hit Record Maker measures four important parameters of your song: peak level, RMS level, slew energy and zero crossings of the audio signal. These values are then displayed graphically on three levels.
In the top line, the plugin displays the RMS level as a shaded area that represents the dynamic density of the mix. Above that is a point cloud that marks the signal peaks. A track that has been heavily optimized for volume will have a narrower distribution of peaks. Hit Record Maker considers the latter to be favorable for a “hit” sound.
In the middle row, the plugin visualizes the slew energy, which focuses on the energy of the high frequencies of the audio signal. The plugin shows where the most energetic events in the high frequencies occur and how they are distributed over the time of the song. The goal – for a hit song – is a balanced and present representation of the high frequencies.
The bottom line measures the zero crossing rate, i.e. how often the audio signal crosses the zero line. This gives an indication of the harmonic complexity of the signal. A higher value indicates a more complex and therefore potentially more attractive signal. The measured values are also visualized as a point cloud and give an indication of which frequency ranges contribute most to the sound structure.
How Hit Record Maker can improve your sound
In addition, Hit Record Maker displays the “hitness” of a track with rises, falls and color changes depending on the sound characteristics measured. In the beginning, the curve always starts at zero, so you have to let it run for a while before it becomes meaningful.
Hit Record Maker then assigns a two-digit hitness rating from AA to FF (similar to school grades), accompanied by short text descriptions such as “Warning” or “Biggest”. However, these descriptions are more of a rough guide.
But does it really work? The developer of AirWindows believes that certain sound profiles can be measured in successful tracks. Hit Record Maker is a tool that shows how well a production meets these criteria, which are often found in successful songs.
Tests with classic albums produced before the “Loudness War” era show that Hit Record Maker is sensitive to the quality characteristics of recordings often praised by audiophiles: a high crest factor, a close correlation between signal peaks and slew rate, and a zero-crossing rate focused on the mid- to high-frequency range.
Tip: In audio production and mastering, the crest factor is an important parameter for assessing the dynamics of a piece of music. A high crest factor indicates a dynamic, undistorted signal, while a low crest factor indicates strong compression and possibly a reduction in sound dynamics.
Interestingly, Hit Record Maker doesn’t like the sound of music produced during the volume war. This supports the audiophile view that overemphasizing volume and limiting the crest factor can lead to bad-sounding music. However, there are also styles of music where this “more than loud” sound is part of the style and the plugin shows weaknesses by not taking sufficient account of the explosive energy of such music.
Finally, the question remains whether Hit Record Maker really has the potential to predict the success of a track or if it just provides interesting visual feedback. In fact, while the plugin is good at identifying great-sounding audio recordings, there is evidence that it has a preference for certain production styles.
For producers who lean toward these preferred styles, Hit Record Maker can be a useful tool for checking the mix. However, there are just as many professional productions that don’t meet the tool’s hitness criteria but still sound good.
Ultimately, the human ear is still the best tool for judging sounds. Nevertheless, this plugin is an interesting and fun tool that is worth trying out – and maybe it will lead to the next big hit. And it doesn’t even cost a cent. Thanks, AirWindows!
Prices and specifications for the AirWindows plugin
AirWindows Hit Record Maker is available for free from the manufacturer’s website. It runs on Windows, Linux And macOS (including Apple Silicon support) as VST3, CLAP, LV2 And AU.
More information about AirWindows and Hit Record Maker
