Walk into every session with the right references

0:00 Hello, and welcome to this quick overview of ARADAR – a reference library for music producers on Mac.

0:08 When you open the app for the first time, you'll see this screen, which lets you import folders and tracks into your library. It's worth noting that ARADAR never moves, removes, edits, or modifies your files. It simply creates a database based on the files you already have. You can click the import button or simply drag in a folder, and ARADAR will start importing your files straight away. You can start using ARADAR while it's still processing your files. You'll immediately see metrics and metadata being collected for every track. Click any track to view the extracted details.

1:02 While the tracks are being analyzed, you can already explore the inspector. This is where ARADAR brings together all the information it extracts from your library in one place. In the metadata section, you'll find details such as artist, album, label, genre, year, BPM, and key. This information can be edited at any time to help keep your library organized and searchable. You can also view the track artwork by clicking the thumbnail to open the full cover image.

1:34 Scrolling down to the audio analysis section, you'll find metrics such as LUFS, loudness range, true peak, RMS level, and crest factor. You can also see how the track's frequency profile compares against a selection of built-in reference curves. These are broad reference points, but they provide a useful overview of a track's tonal balance and overall characteristics.

2:11 You'll also notice the label matches section. As ARADAR analyzes your library, it builds profiles for the labels in your collection and compares them against each track using metrics such as frequency balance, LUFS, BPM, and genre. For this track, for example, the strongest matches are mostly deep progressive labels. Click any label to explore it in more detail. You'll notice that some labels show a shaded range while others do not. That's simply because ARADAR needs at least three analyzed tracks to build a reliable label profile. In this example, Mango Alley has enough tracks, while Balance Music does not. The shaded area represents the typical frequency range of that label's catalog, making it easy to see how closely a track aligns with its overall sound. Further down, you can also rate tracks, add notes and tags, or mark them as your own work.

3:33 Now that all the tracks have been analyzed, let's take a look at the filters. You can filter by label, genre, key, BPM range, LUFS range, rating, and more. Additional filters include year, origin, format, mix type, and artist, making it easy to narrow down large reference libraries. You can also customize the columns displayed in the track list, adding fields such as mix type or any other metadata you want to see. Playlists allow you to group tracks for different workflows and organize your references however you like.

4:15 In addition to the built-in reference curves, ARADAR allows you to create your own custom profiles. For example, I can filter by a specific artist and select multiple tracks. ARADAR can then compare their frequency profiles, showing both the overall shape and the variation between them. You can compare these tracks against any built-in reference curve, or create a custom reference profile based on the selected tracks. The custom profile has now been created. You can compare tracks against the Maze 28 profile, and see how closely they fit within its typical frequency range. Once a profile has been created, it can be used as a reference for any track in your history.