Workflow for correcting audio recorded unevenly

Audacity Help Forum macOS
1

Mac OS 10.12.5
Audicity version 2.1.3
Obtained .dmg installer

Hello Everybody:
I’m hoping to learn how to correct this audio, which has quite varying volume levels, as well as other issues.
It is a video/audio recording of a panel discussion with audience questions. One hour in length.
I’ve exported the audio from iMovie, importing the one mono audio track into Audacity

Some of the audio is fine as far as volume is concerned: right around -12dB
Other parts: too loud, sometimes up to 0dB or more, including some clipping.
And: still other parts, the person’s voice is too soft to be understood.
There is a fair amount of room noise, as the room has hard walls - a pretty live room.

My main concern is: which audio effects to use, and in which order, to get the volume at a reasonable level.
I’m pretty sure that if I can make things sound more uniform, I can work with the noise reduction effect.

I would appreciate any help that other may offer.

Thanks
George

2

This is the exact place you post the DropBox address of the work so we can tell what we’re up against.

There’s a couple of fuzzy rules. We can’t take out echoes. So all that room resonance, deep bounce and bathroom sound is forever. If you can’t clearly make out words or the spaces between the words, then the volume processors and noise reducers are useless.

This isn’t production effects and filters. You’re in Disaster Recovery.

If you have an unlimited budgie, you can scoop up what you can and have voice actors read the work. If you have good production people, you can make it sound like the original venue.

Is this the microphone on top of the camera in the back of the auditorium?

Koz

3

Steve made a plugin for Audacity called LevelSpeech.ny which could be what you’re looking for …

https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/level-out-sound/44245/4

4

could be what you’re looking for

Let us know if it worked.

Koz

5

Thank you to those who responded. I would say that LevelSpeech helped some, probably as much as could be expected.

George