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Hello All
Sorry I have been a little scarce on the forums lately. This Periscope thing has been consuming all of my attention span lately!
One of my problems in life is that my 200 plus back tracks are all at different volume levels so I am forever adjusting the fader on my mixer while performing live and since I do not have a sound engineer (maybe one day when I am big) it is of course very distracting to have to do this.
Setting the volume manually through something like Audacity for all the tracks is going to be a mission and I was wandering if anybody knows of a tool that can easily do this.
I look forward to hearing from you.
LyricLab A.I assisted chords and lyric app. Export lyrics and import directly into Band-in-a-Box 2024. https://lyriclab.net Play-along with songs you know and love, download SGU files https://playiit.com/
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Hi Jo There was a program called Levelator, but I don't think it's still under development There's also this product, which I've never used. but maybe useful. Do a Google Search for Audio Leveling Software. In my experience, steer clear of companies that offer it for free right up front. Softonic is a name I avoid, it could sometime contain bloatware (advertising etc). HTH Trev
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It's not very tedious to do in Audacity except for setup.
Several ways to go and the best way is determined how you access your 200 files when you perform.
A suggestion to try out Audacity and see if it works for you before you tackle 200 songs:
1. choose a lower or mid level song to be your reference.
2. choose 3 other songs (pretend this is a set)
4. load all 4 songs into Audacity with a small gap between the end of a song and the beginning of the next song.
5. Normalize the songs using your reference song as your level. It is better to bring down the level of hotter songs than bring up levels if possible. If a song is too low, use the Audacity compressor on that song to bring up the level before you normalize. Watch for clipping. The default compressor levels will work in most cases. -1 is a good standard to avoid clipping. Inert labels in the gap between each song. Delete the reference song and no need to place a label at the beginning of the file since you will be discarding the reference.
5.5 Choose export multiple songs from the file menu. Follow the directions and Audacity will separate and export each individual song.
6. choose 3 new songs, load them into Audacity and load and use the same reference song from the first normalization.
7. play and reference the six songs against each other and determine if you are happy and the songs normalized to your satisfaction.
8. If you are happy, you can continue the process and use the same reference song for each load.
You could probably do all 200 in a single file but that would likely tax your computer resources. But, I chose 3 arbitrarily, Audacity can handle many more with no trouble. You could bulk the process with 10,20 or 50 songs each time. You can do it on a per setlist basis so that each performance set list is normalized to the other songs in a set.
For future backing tracks. you can do this on an per song basis and avoid having to do this in bulk again. Just use the same reference song.
Last edited by Charlie Fogle; 12/06/15 04:23 AM.
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Thanks Trevor
I see NCH has one as well. I use their video software so I may give that a try.
LyricLab A.I assisted chords and lyric app. Export lyrics and import directly into Band-in-a-Box 2024. https://lyriclab.net Play-along with songs you know and love, download SGU files https://playiit.com/
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Thanks Charlie. I had thought of using Audacity. I didn't know about the multiple file output. Will give the NCH a try first.
LyricLab A.I assisted chords and lyric app. Export lyrics and import directly into Band-in-a-Box 2024. https://lyriclab.net Play-along with songs you know and love, download SGU files https://playiit.com/
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Me, it's not about how many times you fail, it's about how many times you get back up.
Cop, that's not how field sobriety tests work.
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Thanks Charlie. I had thought of using Audacity. I didn't know about the multiple file output. Will give the NCH a try first. Audacity can also do volume envelopes that allows you to raise or lower the overall level of a song. That is how and why your first song should be a lower level song that is your reference for the entire file, be it two songs or 50. At export, the destination folder will have each song as a separate file, and properly named. Batch exporting this way also allows you to only have to input the meta data once, and the meta data that is common to all the songs will remain the same and only the title and song number will update.
BIAB Ultra Pak+ 2024:RB 2024, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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To your point Josie, it would be also wonderful if BIAB had a "One Button" method to set all .sgu files at the same volume.
Later,
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Yup, there's quite a lot of variation in levels between styles and even between instruments in styles. I just noticed a violin or fiddle going off like a rocket in one of my mp3 conversions (wav) originally. 
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I personally don't mind if the tracks are different levels and I would not want to use a leveler to make all tracks in a song the same. the way I look at it, when you record different tracks, you're going to get different levels of tracks for different people playing, different instruments being played, different amps, different mics, preamps, etc. But there's not a problem with that, this is why we have programs like RealBand (and Sonar, Cubase, etc). when you mix a song, you don't necessarily want all of the instruments to sound the same level in the mix anyway. Realband (sonar, etc) is used for exactly that - setting the levels where they need to be in the mix. as far as leveling all songs of a set or songs for a CD, that's a different horse and yes, I can see where that would be useful. Limiters and compressors, volume envelopes are all good tools for creating these levels. you can also use metering tools such as Voxengo's SPAN plug to monitor the peak, rms and "perceived" outputs of each channel, plus you can also check out the stereo separation and phase between channels. all great functions on one tool to help with getting the sound of the song(s) at the right level. BTW - Voxengo's SPAN is FREE! and it's an awesome tool! http://www.voxengo.com/group/free-vst-plugins/there are several other free plugins there as well, SPAN is at the top of the list.
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“I am forever adjusting the fader on my mixer while performing live...”
Merely normalizing the tracks will not solve this problem. Unless they contain the same instruments mixed in the same manner, there will still be noticeable changes in dynamics that make one file seem louder than the rest.
We cover everything from Folk to Hard Rock, and the “levels” are miles apart. The best method I've found is to first normalize all of the tracks to -4dB, then actually play them through our PA, making notes. (One needs to come down 2dB, another up a couple dB, etc.). Then I go down the list and make the volume changes in Wavelab. It is essential that you mix through your PA. People will tell you that a good mix will translate from phones or studio monitors to a PA, but it simply won't.
Others may disagree, but using this method I never touch a fader onstage. Hope this helps.
Merry Christmas!
Regards,
Bob
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Josie, I've used Audacity and Charlie's methodology with good success.
Normal dynamics within a song need to be preserved while making levels consistent for an entire batch of songs such as across an entire album.
The problem can also be minimized "up front" by striving to standardize your recording levels and mic placement. Nothing irks the sound person more than the singer who drifts in/out of the mic's pickup pattern. Some will place the mic in physical contact with the singer's lips to prevent drift.
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Josie:
Two thoughts come to mind, although they may or may not apply to your situation.
First, you could insert a volume control pedal between the source (laptop, desktop, tablet etc.) and the output (amp, mixing board etc.).
That would allow you to quickly change the volume of a song if it is too loud or soft in your set.
The other option might be even simpler. Is it not possible to just use the volume slider in BIAB called "This Song"?
You'd still have to go through all your files to set the volumes but it looks like you may have to do that anyway.
What I would like to see (and perhaps Beagle's SPAN suggestion could be used), is a desktop digital VU meter with peak hold, so you could just run your songs through BIAB and make a note of the out max in the digital VU, then make adjustments as required.
Please let us know what you end up doing. It's the same situation a lot of people struggle with. You may recall some posts by Notes Norton when he indicated he spent/spends a lot of time getting the instrument and song levels "right" so he doesn't have to fuss with them during a performance.
Good luck!
LLOYD S
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“I am forever adjusting the fader on my mixer while performing live...”
Merely normalizing the tracks will not solve this problem. Unless they contain the same instruments mixed in the same manner, there will still be noticeable changes in dynamics that make one file seem louder than the rest.
We cover everything from Folk to Hard Rock, and the “levels” are miles apart. The best method I've found is to first normalize all of the tracks to -4dB, then actually play them through our PA, making notes. (One needs to come down 2dB, another up a couple dB, etc.). Then I go down the list and make the volume changes in Wavelab. It is essential that you mix through your PA. People will tell you that a good mix will translate from phones or studio monitors to a PA, but it simply won't.
Others may disagree, but using this method I never touch a fader onstage. Hope this helps.
Merry Christmas!
Regards,
Bob There is the solution. Bob's last comment about needing to do the adjustments in the venue through your PA is on the money. Play different sized venues, some adjustments will be necessary.
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Invest some money and rent Adobe Audition for one month. More or less it works like many of the other music manipulation applications. But it also has some good features. One is the feature for batch processing. Normalize all your tracks in one giant step.
Edit: Didn't know how much money, it is about 24 Euros in Europe. On the African site they offer a trial download. I don't know if there are any restrictions. Adobe products can only be rented now. They are called "product name CC" where CC stands for Creative Cloud.
Last edited by GHinCH; 12/09/15 12:13 AM.
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Thanks guys. I don't think there is any short cut unfortunately. I either have to live with setting the volumes on stage or go through each of the tracks as mentioned by quite a few folk here and make the volume adjustments to each and every track. I did purchase nch switch which has a batch function with normalize but there are some tracks that stick out like a sore thumb.
I have just updated my repertoire on my website and have 220 tracks so it will be no small feat to go through each and every one!
I think a foot pedal may be a good idea (except I usually perform long sets sitting on a bar stool).
It is not easy being a one person band but at least my "band" doesn't pitch up drunk!!
Last edited by JosieC; 12/09/15 06:30 AM.
LyricLab A.I assisted chords and lyric app. Export lyrics and import directly into Band-in-a-Box 2024. https://lyriclab.net Play-along with songs you know and love, download SGU files https://playiit.com/
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Josie, welcome to the world of Mastering.
Your problem is very common in recording audio, especially in making an album where your listeners don't need to constantly ride the volume control.
Knowing what you know now, you'll be aware of the nuances that plague studio engineers. Eliminate everything you can up front rather than on the back end of the project.
An admirable quality in you is your willingness to learn and apply from what you glean, both pro and con.
Don
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Thanks Don. Indeed...I can understand mastering an album and have been through the process, but applying the process to 220 tracks all produced in different ways with different technologies is something I am not looking forward to ha ha!
LyricLab A.I assisted chords and lyric app. Export lyrics and import directly into Band-in-a-Box 2024. https://lyriclab.net Play-along with songs you know and love, download SGU files https://playiit.com/
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Invest some money and rent Adobe Audition for one month. More or less it works like many of the other music manipulation applications. But it also has some good features. One is the feature for batch processing. Normalize all your tracks in one giant step. I was going to suggest Adobe as well since I'm an avid user. Love the batch job feature when I need it.
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