Reducing Vocal Loudness using Adobe Audition 3.01

[AudioWav]

I recently recorded some music at my Church. In order to compensate for the acoustics of the room, I had to have the vocals louder than they should be for listening back to the recording on a CD. Everything else is mixed at acceptable levels, so if I can reduce the loudness of the vocals I'd have a decent little recording. I've got Adobe Audition but I'm still learning how to use the mastering effects. Is anyone familiar with a way to reduce the overall loudness of the vocals using Audition 3.01? Thanks!

 

[old_bassist]

Hi AudioWav,

 

This advice is not specific to the Audition software but I hope it will be helpful.

 

The only way I can see you evening out the mix is with equalization. True parametric EQ would be my best suggestion. It will allow you to adjust the center frequency to cut as well as the amount of cut and the width or Q of the filter.

 

It would also be good to run your mix through a real-time analyzer. This could be a hardware device or the analysis can be done with software. TrueRTA would be one software option. I would suggest 1/3 octave analysis (~31 band) or even finer.

 

The RTA will allow you to see where the voices sit in the mix frequency-wise. You will need to strike a balance because there will be instruments in the same frequency ranges. You may not be able to attain perfection but you should be able to make a noticeable improvement.

 

You didn't say how the music was recorded. If all of the instruments and voices were miked you could approach things differently the next time and run two different mixes--one for the sanctuary and a second to your recording system. A skilled assistant and a good pair of headphones would be recommended.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Ross

 

 

[RayW]

Assuming your recording is stereo and the vocals are in the center, you may be able to get the effect you want using the Channel Mixer effect. With this, you can subtract a fraction of R from L and a fraction of L from R. So whatever is the same in L and R gets reduced. Vary the fraction as you listen to get it right.

 

I've used this on Church recordings as well, which were recorded from a mix in which the vocal mics fed L & R equally, and a stereo pair of mics more distant from the source provide ambiance. Sometimes the vocals are too strong, and this technique makes it better.

 

Ray

 

[Desk Jockey]

Hi AudioWave,

 

Based on your description the vocals were over-compensated in your recording and you now want to de emphasize the volume. As you are now finding out, it is very difficult to recover a problem after the track has been recording. Aside from some equalization tricks it will be difficult to compensate for an over emphasized vocal track unless you have a multi track recording that isolates vocals. I am guessing that is not the case since you are requesting help.

 

I am afraid this advise comes too late for the recording you are trying to fix but hopefully it is in time for the next recording. Sound check, sound check, sound check. In carpentry, it's measure twice and cut once. It can be a challenge to convince everyone involved of the importance of sound check, but relative to investment of time necessary to fix a problem after it has happened, the investment in a sound check is miniscule. Good luck on future recording projects.

 

Best Regards,

 

Greg

 

[AudioWav]

Thanks to everyone who replied with the great advice! It is really appreciated. The orginial recording was done on a Tascam DM 4800 64 ch digital board. We're compensating for a room that is basically shaped like a bull horn and we'll be in our own location soon so we're not trying hard to fix things acoustically. Guitars/vocals/drums are Mic'ed. We've EQ'ed the room, etc. We don't normally record the music portion and probably for this reason. I just do it as a form of "study" to hear my mix and how I can do better next time. Sometimes I'll hear something nice that I'd like to take the time to fix and so I thought I'd ask. I'm not a professional by any means but I do have years of experience behind the board on Sunday morning, primarily analog until we got the 4800. Nice board by the way if you're shopping. Thanks again!

 

[AudioWav]

Thanks a lot! Do you know of a good software spectrum analyzer for wav or MP3 files? Or can I do with with TrueRTA software?

 

[old_bassist]

but you might get all you need from the 20-band analyzer in foobar2000. The bands are non-standard (50-69-94-129-176...) but that won't hurt if you are using parametric equalization.

 

EDIT: And it's free

 

Hope this helps,

 

Ross

 

[AudioWav]

Thanks very much. I will check it out!