Volume Adjust Automatized

JoaoBC wrote on 11/11/2020, 5:04 AM

Good Morning ! I made a recording with a microphone. On the street, using a portable recorder. For various reasons, there are times when the sound gets too loud, and there are times when it gets too low. Passing the recording to the computer, I selected the high volume parts and turned the volume down. I selected the low volume parts and increased the volume. Is there any way to automate this? Does the program automatically increase and decrease the volume as needed? To sum up: how to simulate an automatic gain control (AGC) or an automatic level control (ALC)? Thanks!

Comments

Former user wrote on 11/11/2020, 9:26 AM

First of all, which program are you using? Second of all, did you consult the instruction manual?

rraud wrote on 11/11/2020, 10:12 AM

One word: compressor/limiter (or is that two). A manually drawn volume envelope ahead of a comp/limiter is recommended, as is EQ when needed. RMS normalizing in SF Pro can help, but it is very difficult to find a 'perfect' setting.

There are also specific utilities that work OK for leveling.
The VST 'Broadcast' by JB has an unobtrusive sounding AGC circuit ahead of a multi-band (3) compressor, which is followed by a separate limiter stage. The many parameter settings may be too complex for non-audio folks though. In that case, the fully automatic stand-alone Levelator may work. Levalator is a separate application for PCM files, so EQ and/or other processing should be done prior in SF. Both B'cast and Levelator are free.

 

JoaoBC wrote on 11/11/2020, 9:55 PM

First of all, which program are you using? Second of all, did you consult the instruction manual?

Excuse me, I forgot to write. Sound Forge 14 pro.

JoaoBC wrote on 11/11/2020, 10:02 PM

One word: compressor/limiter (or is that two). A manually drawn volume envelope ahead of a comp/limiter is recommended, as is EQ when needed. RMS normalizing in SF Pro can help, but it is very difficult to find a 'perfect' setting.

There are also specific utilities that work OK for leveling.
The VST 'Broadcast' by JB has an unobtrusive sounding AGC circuit ahead of a multi-band (3) compressor, which is followed by a separate limiter stage. The many parameter settings may be too complex for non-audio folks though. In that case, the fully automatic stand-alone Levelator may work. Levalator is a separate application for PCM files, so EQ and/or other processing should be done prior in SF. Both B'cast and Levelator are free.

 

I will try this.

Thanks a lot of

JoaoBC wrote on 11/12/2020, 9:53 AM

Hi, Rick. Good Afternoon .

Forgive me if the text gets confused, I'm using google translator.

I did the tests. Using LEVELATOR, it's about the same as using MP3Gain. It increases or decreases the volume of all music evenly. The higher parts remain high, and the lower parts remain low. It does the same thing that, in Sound Forge, I use: Menu -> Process -> Volume -> Preset. The difference is that the LEVELATOR program chooses the Preset automatically, while in Sound Forge, I choose the Preset Manually. The "VST 'Broadcast' by JB", (note: this program is for 32 bits but it worked perfectly on the SF-i64), by choosing the preset "LOUD" and pressing / passing 3 times in a row, did exactly what I needed : made all the sound stay at the same volume, as if it were (simulating) a continuous tone.

 

Thank you very much for the tip. Helped me a lot.

rraud wrote on 11/12/2020, 11:28 AM

The legacy Sonic Foundry Wave Hammer could be used as well. WH is a two-stage compressor/limiter that has an auto-compensate option which is similar to auto gain FWIW, the legacy Wave Hammer (Direct X plug-in) was included with all versions of Sound Forge Pro and has a sound reminiscent of the vintage UA 1176 leveler (which just about any old school recording engineer is intimately familiar with)