Is there something better than a Compressor[?] to seamlessly bring down peaks in (dynamic) acoustic music?
Hi, I’m using aud2.2 win7/offline/ and playing with acoustic guitar and vocals (one stereo track take recordings, no over dubbing/no mixing). I record on a portable recorder (not w/audacity) http://www.soundclick.com/LostHere (If this link is inactive see my Audacity Forum profile/interests for current)
I do use audacity to edit/master these recordings and am now starting to become disenchanted with compressors, with their sloppy ‘attack’ ‘delay’ approach, so have started manually reducing peaks with the envelope tool.
With envelope you of course adjust the attack/delay per peak … is there a compressor like this? or some other effect/tool?
I clip (amplify) all unwanted peaks then envelope them down until not clipping which seems superior to any compressor I’ve seen so far but manually exhaustiing and time consuming.
You’d think limiters would be good but they seem even worse, with their unceremonious ‘leveling’ of things which seem to damage more than they help (‘What are they even for?’).
I read about an effect called “automation” but can not find a freeware/free plugin and am not even sure if it would be what I am looking for … but with computer possibilities you’d think there’d be something less choppy then the compressor or limiter to simply bring the peaks down with out deforming the sound any more than necessary.
My sound is exceptionally delicate as well, often balancing quiet with bursts and I’m trying to keep the dynamics, only bringing down the obvious ‘off peaks’, which can be numerous at times. Not wanting to raise the volume of the quieter parts either, except by default as the whole track is raised when peaks are reduced.
Any help/recommendations appreciated -thanks.
PS I realize mic placement matters (and room) as well but regardless my problem occurs. Though I am experimenting with various mic placements/positions. My recording device is a hand held portable, Tascam dr-05 which has two built in permanently positioned mics in a Y formation on top. I also use a 5 foot tripod when recording.
Chris’s Compressor?? seems to fail me as well, although it may be the closest freebie thing available??
https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/music-too-soft-for-youtube/41399/2