[ardour-users] Newbie help with dynamics in Ardour...

Peter Hagen peter at wingsofdeath.nu
Sun Jun 25 23:24:23 PDT 2006


On Monday 26 June 2006 04:55, Jan Depner wrote:
> On Sun, 2006-06-25 at 21:33 -0400, kannoll wrote:
> > I have been using Ardour for a while now just to record simple
> > spoken voice tracks (lectures and the like). I am comfortable
> > doing this, but now I have been asked to make some of my
> > recordings available on CD.
> >
> > It's pretty easy to export ardour sessions and burn them to CD.
> > I've done this and the results aren't all that bad (to my ears
> > at least).
> >
> > The problem that I have is adjusting the dynamics of the recording
> > and the subsequent export for CD. Generally the tracks are too low,
> > so that once burned to CD, I have to crank the volume up higher
> > than I would for most other CDs (typical music CDs).
> >
> > Then there's the range of dynamics. Sometimes the speaker is loud
> > and sometimes soft, so I end up adjusting the CD player volume
> > while listening, and there's the occasional pop when the speaker
> > bumps the mic or speaks a p or t works really loud.
> >
> > So I'm trying to figure out a good way to produce a final "mix"
> > that eliminates the pops, brings the general volume up, but
> > still preserve some of the dynamic range.
> >
> > I've tried some combinations of compressors and limiters (and
> > the various settings on them), but just can't seem to get it right,
> > and I'm a little frustrated because there doesn't seem to be a way
> > to visualize the signal level in the track displays (I think this
> > would help me figure out how to adjust some of the compressor
> > and limiter settings).
> >
> > Can someone give me some advice or pointers on how best to handle
> > this?
>

hi

you can create a new stereo track, and record the master-out in it. If you 
have turned on "show waveforms while recording" (options menu -> display), 
you can see what happens when you adjust the limiter and compressors. Don't 
forget to disconnect the output of the new channel!!!

peter





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