by Julie Nichols
A “step” is the change to the frequency. If your beginning frequency is 600Hz and your step is .1, the second frequency it will play is 600.1Hz (600 + .1), the next frequency will be 600.2Hz (600.2 + .1), and so on. The “time” value is the amount of time each step will play. Clicking “Calculate-n-Save” will yield the total amount of time in minutes to run this sweep.
In this example, the target frequency is 602Hz, and we want to sweep 2Hz on either side of the target frequency, so we use the starting frequency is 600Hz, the ending frequency is 604Hz. The change in frequency (steps) is .1Hz (see below for additional information on steps), and the amount of time it plays each frequency (step) is 30 seconds. Playing every frequency from 600Hz to 604Hz in .1Hz increments using 30 seconds for each frequency takes a total of 20 minutes.
Set the volume and use the “PAUSE RUN” button just like you do on the regular screen.
In general, with sweeps you want as smooth of a transition from the first to last frequency, playing as many frequencies as possible along the way within the time allowed. When you are trying to make the sweep fit within a specified amount of time, it is better to increase the value of each step (e.g., use .1Hz rather than .05Hz per step) rather than decreasing the time spent on each frequency. If this does not give good results, instead of increasing the value of each step, try shortening the sweep range (e.g., instead of using 600Hz – 604Hz, use 601Hz – 603Hz). Either way allows for the most time on any given frequency within the sweep range.
NOTE: Before running sweeps, it’s a good idea to read Bob’s article about sweeps and when they are appropriate to use.
