Making Sound Clip as Loud as Possible

Glenn Davidson · June 18th, 2007, 11:04 AM

The clip I posted is just an example of how to make an audio file that is normalized, sound louder. The effect I chose is just for demonstration. It is not meant to be used in his film. My library has dozens of shot effects, I loaded one at random. This was just to show that whichever effect Will chooses can be dynamicaly enhanced.

If Will does not have access to this or a simular plug-in, he could zoom in on the waveform and lower the gain on the peak spike, them normalize. This will make the effect louder, especially when combined with the other editing tips provided in other posts.

Glenn Chan · June 18th, 2007, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Our perception of how close a sound is has as much to do with its spectrum as it's volume, muffled sounds seem further away even if they're quieter than less muffled sounds. Both of those sounds seem far away, the quiet snap of dry twig would sound closer and depending on the scene more troubling than the distant booms.

I believe a huge part of it is how long it takes the first "echo" (if you can call it that?) to reach your ear. The sound from the gun will bounce off the ground and then into your ear/mic. There's a slight delay between that and direct sound.

Glenn Davidson · June 18th, 2007, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Grant

I think that is the trick to making an FX sound loud, it has to sound close if you want your audience it jump.

Good point. Here is an interesting real Hollywood Gun recording. Luckily the Papararzzi was not hit as the bullet zips past his head.

http://www.tmz.com/2007/06/15/shots-...kathy-griffin/

Ty Ford · June 19th, 2007, 04:23 AM

"Hollywood" gunshots are built from a number of different layered sound effects in addition to the original gun sound. No amount of normalizing or compression/limiting can get you there.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Giroud Francois · June 19th, 2007, 12:12 PM

this is just an explanation for why any hollywood gunshots sound like atomic bombs. artistically speaking, guns usually sounds bad.
any cop shooting on a car would in reality just make a Bang and a small hole in a car. Mr Arnold when shooting in a movie makes KABOOM and makes the car to explode with huge flames. That's Hollywood and the way we like it.
In the fact, normalizing a sound usually has two effects.
1) it increase general volume
2) it increase dynamic
For sure, if you start with a bad sample, it will not sounds better by just normalizing it.
you can filter it , squeezing energy where it will be audible (removing very high and low frequencies), adding a little echo and making it "clean" so the waves are more efficient at moving air.
You can find on the web many samples that could perfectly fit your needs, if they are sampled with sufficient quality.

June 19th, 2007, 04:23 AM	#19
Ty Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Baltimore, MD USA Posts: 2,337	"Hollywood" gunshots are built from a number of different layered sound effects in addition to the original gun sound. No amount of normalizing or compression/limiting can get you there. Regards, Ty Ford __________________ Ty Ford's Audio Bootcamp Field Guide Ty Ford's Audio Video Blog

June 18th, 2007, 11:04 AM	#16
Glenn Davidson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Nevada City, California Posts: 499	The clip I posted is just an example of how to make an audio file that is normalized, sound louder. The effect I chose is just for demonstration. It is not meant to be used in his film. My library has dozens of shot effects, I loaded one at random. This was just to show that whichever effect Will chooses can be dynamicaly enhanced. If Will does not have access to this or a simular plug-in, he could zoom in on the waveform and lower the gain on the peak spike, them normalize. This will make the effect louder, especially when combined with the other editing tips provided in other posts.

June 19th, 2007, 12:12 PM	#20
Giroud Francois Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: switzerland Posts: 2,133	this is just an explanation for why any hollywood gunshots sound like atomic bombs. artistically speaking, guns usually sounds bad. any cop shooting on a car would in reality just make a Bang and a small hole in a car. Mr Arnold when shooting in a movie makes KABOOM and makes the car to explode with huge flames. That's Hollywood and the way we like it. In the fact, normalizing a sound usually has two effects. 1) it increase general volume 2) it increase dynamic For sure, if you start with a bad sample, it will not sounds better by just normalizing it. you can filter it , squeezing energy where it will be audible (removing very high and low frequencies), adding a little echo and making it "clean" so the waves are more efficient at moving air. You can find on the web many samples that could perfectly fit your needs, if they are sampled with sufficient quality.