Amplifying portions of a recording

[Carey]

My primary use of Audacity is to create audio files from live concert recordings done from the soundboard of the concert series I run -- and to then burn CDs for archiving purposes (and my own personal listening).

The original recordings -- typically done on minidisc, but sometimes on a laptop computer which then burns CDS -- consist of one long (50-60 minutes) file (typically one of two sets by the performer). The level (volume) ranges from soft (spoken intros and between song patter) to louder (the loudest music passages) -- which means that the WAV file on my computer has wide dynamic range.

In most cases, the WAV file has been created so that the peaks -- the loudest passages -- are as loud as possible without distortion. So if I "select all" of the WAV file, and then choose "Effect" and "Amplify", there's no room to amplify the signal without risk of distortion.

But the softest passages are so low in volume that listening to any CD I'd create from that file -- after dividing it into individual tracks (by song) OR listening to it as a single, undivided track-- requires frequent increasing and decreasing of the volume knob of the CD player. Of course, the worst example comes when listening in a car -- but even in a quiet setting (such as my living room), there's far too much variance between the softest and loudest passages to listen without having to make any adjustments.

Other than the VERY time consuming, and inexact, task of selecting and amplifying the INDIVIDUAL softer passages -- which also results in obvious boosts of the level (i.e. very noticable transitions) -- is there a way to raise the lower volumes without raising the louder ones?

"Compression" doesn't seem to work -- it merely raises (or lowers) EVERYTHING, leaving the same difference between the louder and softer passages (albeit maybe with EVERYTHING either a little louder or a little softer).

What I think is needed is a way to "tell" the program to cap everything about a certain level (i.e. Don't amplify anything over X dB [or if dB isn't the right term/unit of measurement, then whatever is]) while raising everything below that measurement by a factor I could specify (in the manner that I can now amplify everything by a specific number of dBs that *I* specify).

If possible, any replies could be sent to me at [email protected] in addition to (or instead of) being posted here.

Thanks!

Carey

[alatham]

"Compression" doesn't seem to work -- it merely raises (or lowers) EVERYTHING, leaving the same difference between the louder and softer passages (albeit maybe with EVERYTHING either a little louder or a little softer).

What I think is needed is a way to "tell" the program to cap everything about a certain level (i.e. Don't amplify anything over X dB [or if dB isn't the right term/unit of measurement, then whatever is]) while raising everything below that measurement by a factor I could specify (in the manner that I can now amplify everything by a specific number of dBs that *I* specify).

Coincidentally, this is exactly what Compression does. You just have it set wrong.

To start, try these values:
Threshold: -20dB
Ratio: 5:1
Time: .5 sec

This isn't really the best way to do this, however. You're probably better off using the Envelope Tool. It'll take quite a bit longer though, but it will preserve the original performance better.

Here's a description of all the tools, there's a link on the side of this page with a video tutorial that should explain everything if you need it:
http://www.guidesandtutorials.com/audac ... lbars.html

[Carey]

Thanks for the reply and helpful info -- and my apology for this thanks being so late. I haven't been back to the forum since soon after posting my questions.

Carey