Message
Normalizing... was: Things I like about Logic
2005-02-17 by GAmoore@aol.com
> 3. Instead of Normalizing, I like to use the increase volume
> window in the wave editor
> to find the highest peaks, I will then lower these peaks by
> 1-2 or 3 db until I get a more uniform output for the file,
> It's easy then to raise the overall volume by 1-2 or 3 db.
> Useful if you want to keep the fader around 0 db.
So you are manually compressing each peak. Thats exactly what a compressor
does, all the peaks over some threshold get lower proportionally, and then when
you up the level thats the "makeup" level on the compressor.
It seems very time consuming to go through a long piece of audio.
It seems you could get a manual noise gate by lowering the level of the whole track
a few db and the raising it again - that would clear out the low level stuff.
Interesting. How about normalizing and then reducing the volume by 3db?
I recall a discussion about this years ago and f-erenc was saying he doesn't normalize.
And I have come to see why. If its a final cut already processed thats probably fine, but
if you run plugs on that audio, it can easily overload. I'm a little unclear about how this
works internally, but it seems that different plugs have different abilities to handle over
0 dbfs. In theory you should get digital clipping. But it seems to not happen, although its
hard to handle the levels of a chain of plugs.
Normalizing is non-destructive (as far as I know).
I think it is destructive.... or at least irreversible.
In addition, an increase
of a multiple of 3db is also non-destructive as long as you are increasing
volume. That's because a 3db increase is exactly twice the power as 0 db so
you are multiplying by a whole integer rather than by a fraction. Decreasing
by a multiple of 3db will only affect what you normally could not hear
anyway and is still an integer math operation.
Hmmmm. Interesting. I'm not sure about that. For a sound to be twice as loud, it doesn't mean
that the wave form is twice as high. There is a log scale for hearing and the 3db is a perception thing - and in fact there are disputes about 3db and 6 db and so forth. Anyway, the waves you see in the sample editor... what is the vertical scale? It seems like it might be 16 bit levels and its certainly not 2^16 resolution when you draw.
As a matter of fact, I think a similar thing happens with midi velocities. 32 to 64 is not the change as 63 to 126 although both are doubled.