Basic classical audio processing

Special Interest Groups Audio Processing
1

Hi - This is a pretty basic question about processing a live recording.

I have piano and voice stereo .wav tracks, recorded in a decent acoustic (slightly too boomy for my taste, but not bad) on my Zoom H2. I’m happy enough with the recording.

I’ve been fiddling around with audacity for some time, but just need some advice on what standard tools to run to make the end product sound more professional.
I know it’s normal to normalize, sometimes equalize, compress… I just try them out, but I’m aware that I’m not doing anything systematically. Does it matter what order to do things in? I would just like the sound to be more immediate, maybe warmer. Perhaps there’s not much I can do post-recording, I just don’t know.

I’d be very grateful for some advice. Cheers!

2

The purist would say Normalize and that’s it. In any case Normalization should be the last step.

If you want to apply all three processes, the order I’d do them in is: Equalization, Compression, Normalization.

Personally, I’d not compress the recording, but that’s a matter of taste. I wouldn’t object to some gentle Equalization to correct the boominess (if possible).

– Bill

3

Thanks for replying. I’ll try that!