I have Windows 10 and Audacity 2.4.2
I am trying to tone down the stridency of a voice. The person was at a large gathering and spoke loudly as if he were not mic’d. There is great variation in loudness with the voice going from somewhat normal to loud words or syllables. It’s as if the person learned to speak before the era of microphones and never learned to bring down his voice. Is there any way to tone down the loud words so the recording is not so grating? Thanks!
The Amplify effect with a negative value will reduce the volume, but I have a feeling that’s not what you want…
There is a [u]Leveller Effect[/u] which can even-out the volume. (It’s classified as a “distortion” effect but in moderation it doesn’t sound like distortion.)
The [u]Envelope Tool[/u] can be used to fade-up and fade-down the volume in selected parts. (And the “trick” is to fade to avoid sudden up or down jumps in volume.)
And, you can experiment with the [u]Graphic Equalizer[/u] to see if you can "tone down’ the harshness.
The offer to listen to a segment led me to go back to the original audio file, and I realized that I had distorted the speaker’s voice by using too much noise reduction. I am a newbie but love the software and appreciate your quick replies and helpfulness.