-
Does anybody knows how to increase the volume of a recording once is done? Postproduction process. Any opinion?
The recorded was ok but I would like to upload It with a higher volume...maybe 20% more. But I don't want to lose quality.
-
10-03-2022 11:07 AM
-
You mean perceived volume? I could simply say use a limiter. But those questions cannot sincerely be answered without listening to the actual recording — too many factors involved.
-
yes good, you can do that with reaper I think
-
This I call good instruction
Originally Posted by Marlot
-
I never tried reaper. But I am asking for perceived volume yes, the one displayed by YouTube or any audio player. Limitator? Originally Posted by Bop Head
-
Limiter - Wikipedia Originally Posted by JimmyDunlop
-
Use the normalise function in any DAW.
Reaper can do that and is free for evaluation.
Normalising will bring the highest peak of the recording up to a ‘normal’ volume level. Sometimes you need to limit the peaks first if the peaks are very high compared to the rest of the recording.
Do keep in mind you will also raise the background noise in volume, so normalising doesn’t always yield good results with noisy recordingss
-
Excuse my ignorance. But isnt that gonna decrease the sound quality? Originally Posted by Little Jay
A limiter isnt a software as I could see. I am looking for a software
-
Normalising is only possible if there is headroom available. Otherwise you need some sort of dynamics processing (compression, limiting) — in return EQ might become necessary before or after the dynamic processing as the latter changes the frequency balance. The OP wants to keep quality. Originally Posted by Little Jay
I think there are plugins that do all that automatically which might work. Google “automatic mastering plugin”. Do not expect wonders.
-
Only if you have very noisy recordings with low signal to noise ratio normalising leads to bad results.
I always normalise all individual tracks of my multitrack recordings right after I import them into my DAW, Reaper. I don’t percieve any decrease in sound quality, but maybe Reaper’s normalisation algorithm is intelligent in the sense that it doesn’t normalise any noise? But I don’t think so, actually.
-
A really simple way to do this would be to download Audacity (free software), import the audio file, and apply the Amplify effect (it has an option to increase volume to the maximum before it starts to clip).
As others have pointed out, if there is not enough headroom to do this then you will have to look at compression/limiting (Audacity also has a compression effect), but this is more complex and will potentially change the sound of the audio.
-
Normalising won’t hurt your audio at all but you need headroom available. Try to normailize to -0.2 dB (you should not normalize to 0 dB because of a thing called inter-sample clipping). If that’s enough — go for it. You do not need a fully featured DAW (digital audio workstation) like reaper for that. Try the free and open source audio editor Audacity or if you are on Windows Wavosaur. Originally Posted by JimmyDunlop
Software limiters exist since about 25 years. Google “limiter plugin”. A plugin is a program that works within another program — in this case a dynamics effect within an audio editor or a DAW.
-
+1 if everything gets equally louder the noise gets louder too. Originally Posted by Little Jay
Normally not necessary to normalise all tracks Originally Posted by Little Jay
-
If you use Reaper, you can use the built in limiter plugin, with the built in settings. If uploading to Youtube, install this free plugin in Reaper and use it in the master bus effects. It doesn't do anything, just shows you how loud your mix is. Ideal level for Youtube is intergrated level -14 Lufs.
Youlean Loudness Meter - Free VST, AU and AAX plugin
-
I use Audacity, which is completely free software. It has all the functions that you're talking about and a lot more - amplifier, limiter, normaliser, compressor, etc, etc.
Download | Audacity (R)
Audacity Manual
https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/...analyzers.html
-
If you are on Windows or Mac you can use the (very useful) metering plugin mentioned by Alter inside Audacity. It comes in plugin formats that Audacity can “host”. Audacity’s built in metering shows only digital peaks but not perceived loudness.
-
Ok so looks that audacity is the solution. What is the name of the process I am looking for so I can look for a tutorial? Normalising? Or limitation? Originally Posted by ragman1
-
Not at all. If all you literally want to do is up the volume, that's simple. Import it and slide up the volume switch :-)What is the name of the process I am looking for so I can look for a tutorial? Normalising? Or limitation?
Tutorials on YouTube. Don't let them confuse you. It's very simple. Half the stuff you'll never use.
-
Simplest way is Amplify. Set it to not allow clipping. Originally Posted by JimmyDunlop
Amplify - Audacity Manual
-
Thanks for the help everybody
-
The amplify function is generally used on a particular section or specific notes of a recording. There's no need to select a complete track if all you want is to make it louder.
It will clip ( produce distortion) if you overdo it. There is an anti-clipping tool but you'll almost certainly lose a lot of quality overall. The best way is to make it all a bit louder, export it, and repeat. If it still clips it's far too loud for anybody's purpose.
-
Not sure I agree with that, the clipping limit will stop you increasing it too far, and you can preview the result as many times as you like inside the Amplify effect, before applying it. Much easier than doing multiple exports until it sounds right. I used to use it all the time when I was doing recordings in Audacity.
-
I think it depends on the quality of the initial recording. If it's professional quality (or electric guitar through an interface) then probably you wouldn't notice the loss unless it was extreme.
But I've found that almost all these functions (except the simple volume control) lead to noticeable dullness of the original. But my stuff is not good. That's not the fault of Audacity, it's because I'm recording acoustically straight into the computer microphone. Not to be recommended :-)
(On my version of Pith Erectus I used amplify for that Ab note on the stop. Also later on. The crazy stuff was deliberately amplified to produce distortion and used a gradual volume increase which can be done as well).
-
Well I can’t see why the amplify effect should be any different in operation from increasing the volume, except that it helpfully prevents you from going over the limit where clipping occurs.
As others have said, you would probably want to pull it back a little below that limit, just to give a little bit of headroom.
-
As I said, I think it really depends on how good the original recording is. Probably experimentation's the answer.
Reply With Quote
Recommandations for Hollowbodies for $600 and under?
Today, 05:20 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos