Mastering audio (Sony Vegas Pro 11)

[ElmerVSworld]

Hey guys,

I have a quick question:
I'm working on a video with different vocal set ups (close to the camera, far away, shouting, whispering) and music (which have all different volumes). What is the best way to get all the volumes on a comfortable volume. I find the controls in Sony Vegas very confusing when it comes to audio and volumes: Standard setting of a file is always 0,0dB, while some are very loud at 0,0 and others are at a very low volume.
Does this mean I have to keep listening to my video and keep adjusting every piece one by one?

 

[L.G.]

pretty much...unless you have a seperate Audio software that u can use

 

[Tarmack]

Well, mixing audio is a bit of an art form. When mixing and mastering songs for albums, the engineer will go over every last second to ensure everything is perfect. For YouTube, we don't really have that kind of time.

Your issue sounds more like a compression issue than a volume one though.

If the audio track is normalized to 0dB then it should mesh perfectly with another track normalized the same. The problem with "normalize" as a function in editing is that most people select the entire track and normalize it all at once. If you have a few random high peaks in the track, then normalize won't react as well because it's trying to avoid pushing peaks into clipping territory.

What a lot of people don't do, is compress it first. Compression is a way of evening out the audio. The theory is that you can bring the volume of high portions down, while leaving the low volume portions alone. You'll have to play with the settings to determine what's actually best, but if you compress and then Normalize. You should end up with an even signal that meshes well with other tracks. It also leaves the intensity of a scream or yell, without the volume which is a great way of not blowing out the ear drums of your audience.

I have Audition and Audacity tutorials in a playlist on my channel if you feel the need to poke further. They're intended to be fairly introductory and may be of some use. I've been pondering more advanced tuts, but just haven't had the time.