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Failcore 
Forum Senior Member 
Joined: October 27 2006 Status: Offline Points: 4625 |
 Topic: Normalizing VolumePosted: May 19 2009 at 02:23 |
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Hey what's the best way to volume level a song? I know iTunes has a function for doing it across your library, but I want to be able to take a song and make the loud parts softer and the soft parts louder. Any ideas?
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Dean
Special Collaborator 
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: May 19 2009 at 02:31 |
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^ That's not called normalising, that's called compression and you can't do that with iTunes. Audacity has a compressor utility, but I honestly would not advise doing it since what you are doing is completely buggering up the dynamics.
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What?
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Petrovsk Mizinski
Prog Reviewer 
Joined: December 24 2007 Location: Ukraine Status: Offline Points: 25210 |
Posted: May 19 2009 at 06:37 |
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If you like your music to sound like absolute turd, sure, go ahead and compress it. I cannot think of one rational reason as to why anyone would want to do that to their music collection.
We are already facing an uphill battle with producers/sound engineers compressing the sh*t out of music "the loudness wars". The world does not need anymore people to join in on the "HEY MAN LETS COMPRESS DAT" thing thanks. Grab any decent recording of classical music and compress the hell of it, and you'll see what I mean. It completely sucks the life out of the music. The aim is to preserve dynamics, not take them away. |
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Epignosis
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: December 30 2007 Location: Raeford, NC Status: Offline Points: 32552 |
Posted: May 19 2009 at 07:01 |
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I use the volume knob.
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Negoba
Prog Reviewer
Joined: July 24 2008 Location: Big Muddy Status: Offline Points: 5210 |
Posted: May 19 2009 at 10:16 |
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As a guy who's done a share of mixing and a little mastering, compression is a valuable tool that has been used incorrectly (though on purpose). I wish stereos had compression available as a post effect, so that when you're in the car or other place with alot of background noise, you can pull up the low stuff a little. Other than that, what they said.
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You are quite a fine person, and I am very fond of you. But you are only quite a little fellow, in a wide world, after all.
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Philamelian
Forum Groupie 
Joined: May 01 2009 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 67 |
Posted: May 20 2009 at 12:18 |
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I think compressing a final media will be useless becouse every album, band, genre... has its own dynamics in the means of producers or bands choice. Moreover when you compress low parts of music with a low attack and release time result will be terrible. I think radios are using compressors as a final touch to keep level in a determined range but they should be not that much sensitive.
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Slartibartfast
Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam Joined: April 29 2006 Location: Atlantais Status: Offline Points: 29630 |
Posted: May 20 2009 at 12:30 |
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It is sometime amusing how if you're listening to album in succession, you'll have to crank one up a little only to have the next one come on and blast your eardrums out. Oh how we must suffer for our music.
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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crimhead
Forum Senior Member
VIP Member Joined: October 10 2006 Location: Missouri Status: Offline Points: 19236 |
Posted: May 20 2009 at 13:10 |
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So how big is your music library again? |
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jimidom
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 02 2007 Location: Houston, TX USA Status: Offline Points: 570 |
Posted: May 20 2009 at 14:18 |
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I think what you are looking for is Replay Gain.
With regard to compression, just remember the following....
This is GOOD.
 This is BAD.
 Unfortunately, the second example is the norm these days thanks to the perpetuation of the Loudness Wars.
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"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - HST
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Negoba
Prog Reviewer
Joined: July 24 2008 Location: Big Muddy Status: Offline Points: 5210 |
Posted: May 20 2009 at 14:20 |
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The second example was from several years back. It's much worse now. There are actually a few dynamics in that example and the peaks are below distortion level.
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You are quite a fine person, and I am very fond of you. But you are only quite a little fellow, in a wide world, after all.
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StyLaZyn
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 22 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4079 |
Posted: May 20 2009 at 14:31 |
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Hey! I know that song! Good tune. |
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Slartibartfast
Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam Joined: April 29 2006 Location: Atlantais Status: Offline Points: 29630 |
Posted: May 20 2009 at 15:18 |
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Just talking CDs here, 1408 or so, just added Tori's newest, so 1409 or so.  It's growing at a slower and slower rate these days. Not such a bad thing if you've built up a big collection. I was kinda liking that one until my ears started to bleed. Edited by Slartibartfast - May 20 2009 at 15:20 |
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Failcore
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 27 2006 Status: Offline Points: 4625 |
Posted: May 21 2009 at 00:46 |
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Yeah, I have some fusion stuff that has lighter parts that are really hard to hear over road noise, but if I turn it up to hear those, then loud parts pwn my ears.
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Mr ProgFreak
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 08 2008 Location: Sweden Status: Offline Points: 5195 |
Posted: May 21 2009 at 02:23 |
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I recommend this plugin for Winamp:
http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details/79888 I agree with what has been said about normalization/compression so far ... but there are situations where it comes in handy. I only use it at work, where I can only play the music at low volume, in the background. In that situation the normalization spares me the need to constantly adjust the volume of the music. At home of course I would never use it ... |
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Normalizing Volume
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Slartibartfast wrote: