Having some trouble applying compression and normalization

[Cyath]

I uploaded a cover which has been mixed...do you think I'm doing it ok?

[kozikowski]

How much mixing do I need?

Maybe none. If you set up and use overdubbing...

https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tut ... rdubs.html

...that will give you a series of instruments and voice tracks one over the other all in sync. They will all play at the same time unless you tell them not to with Select, Mute, and Solo buttons on the left and you can apply effects, filters and corrections to each one individually. If you simply export the work, Audacity will mix and push everything into one sound file. There are some steps in the middle there to make sure you don't overload anything, but that's essentially it.

You are warned that there are no "Studio" filters. There is no convenient way to get rid of "recording in the kitchen" sound. Once you perform with that room echo in your voice, it's forever.

Koz

[Cyath]

I read the articles on overdubbing but I am kind of confused. What do you mean by setting it up? I am just recording one vocal track over a karaoke track.

[kozikowski]

https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tut ... rdubs.html

Audacity doesn't automatically record your voice in sync (in time) with the backing track (the instruments). That's computer specific and has to be adjusted.

There is a setting that prevents the backing track from recording twice by accident. If you like recording streaming or internet, those Audacity settings will have to be changed for overdubbing.

Headphones are required for overdubbing, but you can't hear yourself very well in your headphones. Many "digital performers" wear only half of their headphones so they can live mix during their performance.

Screen Shot 2020-03-07 at 6.34.01.png (58.65 KiB) Viewed 433 times

You can hear yourself and the backing track in the headphones if you have a microphone or microphone interface which allows that.



Koz

[kozikowski]

You can avoid the sync adjustments and setup if you're willing to do post-production editing later—push the out-of-time voice track in sync with the backing track with the Time Shift Tool (two sideways back arrows). This can work OK if you're only singing one track over the music.

This is less convenient if you're trying for multi-track harmony because you may need to edit and correct each time you sing. If you go through the sync setup before you start, you can sing or play as many tracks as you want one right after the other.

Koz

[Cyath]

This sounds a little more complex than I need...my setup is just one track over the karaoke. Do I technically even need overdubbing and/or mixing? I mixed one track and I think it sounds a little better than unmixed but not by that much.

[kozikowski]

This sounds a little more complex than I need

There are simpler ways to do it. The problem is getting Audacity to record and play at the same time. It doesn't much like doing that.

So play the backing track in Windows Media to your headphones and sing into an Audacity recording. Move the backing track to the same Audacity Project and you'll get two timelines one above the other. One backing track and one your voice. Adjust the track timings as needed. Audacity will mix everything into one show when you export.


I don't think there is a good way to sing into a live mix. I'm beginning to think maybe that's what you're aiming for.

You could, I guess, play Windows Media into your computer speakers and then sing. Record the whole room. That should sound terrible, like recording in a kitchen with a cellphone playing the music, but that does work, and that will give you a theatrical mix in one pass. No overdubbing or split sound files. You'll have to adjust everything during the performance, Microphone spacing, speaker volume, and tone. There's no going back and fixing anything later.

Koz

[kozikowski]

Let me know if I get close.

Koz

[Cyath]

What I am doing is that I have a karaoke track. I play the track and then sing while it's playing - it's a karaoke track so I provide the vocals. Then I export the finished product. Makes sense?

Do I compress overly loud parts in my recording? Parts which are very loud sometimes sound really unpleasant. Is this what compression is for?

[DVDdoug]

don't believe those power specifications though, that's marketing lies I'm afraid,

"Unpleasant" could mean clipping(distortion) or maybe you are straining your voice. Compression or adjusting the levels generally won't help unless the vocals are not clipped before mixing.

Compression may help a little and it's worth trying.

Adjusting "manually" with the Envelope Tool might be better, but that can be tedious.* The trick with the Envelope Tool is to fade-up and fade-down without changing the end-points so there are no sudden-unnatural up or down jumps in volume.




* Pros using DAW software use something similar called "Automation". DAWs are designed for this so it's a little "easier", but a DAW is a LOT more complicated than a "little audio editor", like Audacity.