Making loud screams so that they aren't unbearable

Special Interest Groups Audio Processing
1

To sum this up rather quickly, I do videos on the youtube thing and play a bunch of horror games/games that kinda make me angry and can get pretty loud in the process. I was just wondering what I can do to make the screams softer/quieter without toning down the rest of the audio.

2

Babies screaming on jets, fingernails on blackboards, etc. They all produce tones in about the same 3KHz range of frequencies that the ear likes a lot. The problem is I know of no way to recognize these tones and compress them. I guess you could leave them loud but take the edge off, or you could leave the tones the way they are and just duck the volume whenever the tones appear.

My guess is somebody would have to write that.

Koz

3

If the screams have got so loud that they distort, then you’ve blown it.
You need to set the recording level low enough to handle the loudest sounds cleanly (without distortion). If the recorded level smashes into the top or bottom of the audio track, then you’ve blown it - it will distort and it can’t be fixed. The absolute maximum peak level that can be handled is 0 dB, but it is safer to allow some “headroom”. When setting your recording levels, ensure that you can record your loudest scream cleanly without distortion. This will make “normal” conversation very quiet, but that can be fixed later.

Screaming directly into a microphone may be too loud for the microphone (depending on the capabilities of the mic) and may cause distortion no matter what settings you use. In this case the only solution is to either scream less loudly or back off from the mic when you scream.

Assuming that you have a clean recording, then in order to bring normal conversation up to a reasonable level you will need to use aggressive “dynamic range compression” (reduce the difference between normal level and very loud screams). For this I’d recommend using a limiter, such as “Limiter (2)” (Missing features - Audacity Support) or perhaps “Pop Mute” (Missing features - Audacity Support).

To install Nyquist plug-ins, see: Missing features - Audacity Support