Another audio-related question, if you don't mind: What do you use to normalize audio files? In the sense of getting all parts of a certain track to be in the same volume?
Oh hey sorry I forget to respond to these sometimes.
In strictest terms, "normalizing" is just cranking the whole track up so that the highest peak hits 0dB, without changing the relation of the peaks to each other — what you're describing is "maximizing", "compression", or "limiting".
You have a few options. The shareware audio editor GoldWave has a compressor effect which you can apply to your track to squash the peaks so you can bring the whole thing up and make the average level louder. Free audio editor Audacity also has a compressor, but is also known for being a buggy unreliable piece of crap, so maybe you don't want to go there.
For serious-business computer-based audio production, you generally want highly tweakable dynamics control to get everything sounding as good as possible. I use a variety of software compressors (such as the free MDA Dynamics VST plugin) in digital workstation software which can host VST effect plugins, such as Cubase or FL Studio. However, for most purposes, the compressor effect in one of the audio editors I've mentioned is going to be fine. Highly customizable dynamics control is kind of something you need to develop an ear for before it can make any real difference for you in the first place.
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Date: 2008-03-21 01:47 am (UTC)In strictest terms, "normalizing" is just cranking the whole track up so that the highest peak hits 0dB, without changing the relation of the peaks to each other — what you're describing is "maximizing", "compression", or "limiting".
You have a few options. The shareware audio editor GoldWave has a compressor effect which you can apply to your track to squash the peaks so you can bring the whole thing up and make the average level louder. Free audio editor Audacity also has a compressor, but is also known for being a buggy unreliable piece of crap, so maybe you don't want to go there.
For serious-business computer-based audio production, you generally want highly tweakable dynamics control to get everything sounding as good as possible. I use a variety of software compressors (such as the free MDA Dynamics VST plugin) in digital workstation software which can host VST effect plugins, such as Cubase or FL Studio. However, for most purposes, the compressor effect in one of the audio editors I've mentioned is going to be fine. Highly customizable dynamics control is kind of something you need to develop an ear for before it can make any real difference for you in the first place.