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#1 |
Regular Crew
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 148
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Making Sound Clip as Loud as Possible
What can I do aside from boosting an audio clip's levels to make it as loud as possible? Say I want a gunshot to be extremely loud and shock the audience. What can I do in mixing? Any ideas? Thanks.
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#2 |
Regular Crew
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Hants, UK
Posts: 185
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It's all about the dynamic range of your soundtrack. There can be no loud if there is no quiet.
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#3 |
Major Player
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Auburn Hills, USA
Posts: 217
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Hi Will, I am sure some of the experts can chime in, but I would think, raising the level of say a mic close to the gunshot versus the other sounds being lowered if you wished to go the mixing route(I must admit I am a novice, but this is sort of just common sense thought to me).
I would think though, that doing it in post and isolating the sound and boosting its amplitude, but not to the point of distortion would be better... If it were me, I would probably record the gunshot separately with a very near mic so it would be really loud for shock value, and then in post or the editor, simply drop it on the timeline. You should then be able to adjust it to fit your needs I would think. If need be, you could boost it a little in an audio editor also(once again, just my thought process as a novice...)? Damon |
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#4 | |
Regular Crew
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Olney, Maryland
Posts: 197
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Quote:
I would also want to enhance certain low frequencies so that the listener could also "Feel" the shot. Make it fat. |
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#5 |
Inner Circle
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: switzerland
Posts: 2,133
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energy of sound is contained easily into high frequency than low.
so make it sound like a "clap" more than a "boom". Loudspeaker from TV set are anyway more effective in medium/high range than in low. Dynamic also is the key. You need to keep sounds preceding the shot with low dynamic (and preferrably medium level). low dynamic can be obtained by cutting high frequencies or using compressor or limiters. if you ask , dynamic is the amount of modulation of a signal, while level is the average between the lowest and highest level. So you can have a high level audio with poor dynamic (modulation) or medium audio level with high modulation. This trick is often overused in advertising for voice (especially radio) , at the point it is now regulated to avoid transmission problems. |
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#6 |
Major Player
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Nevada City, California
Posts: 499
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Waves Ultramaximizer does a fine job of making a normalized file sound louder.
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#7 |
Inner Circle
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 4,750
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Use compression to make it sound right (Waves Ultramaximizer is one).
See this article: http://www.dv.com/columns/columns_it...cleId=19202270 registration may be required. His book (audio post production for digital video) I'm pretty sure has some good info on doing this. |
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#8 |
Trustee
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 1,570
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Gunshots are very brief, I doubt compression is going to help, in fact it could well work against the aim here. A better approach to making impulse sounds like gunshots or things crashing onto the floor scary is to turn everything else down, i.e. leave enough headroom.
An old trick in horror movies is to get the dialogue down so everyone is straining to listen or turned their TVs up, and then the gunshot or something metallic hits the floor or the unseen cat lets out a wail. Gets 'em every time. Also if you can get a good gunshot sound helps too, so your audience hears the bullet zing past. |
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#9 |
Regular Crew
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 148
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Thanks for your help guys.
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#10 |
Major Player
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Nevada City, California
Posts: 499
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I made a before and after using Waves Ultramaximizer. Files are posted below
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#11 |
Major Player
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Nevada City, California
Posts: 499
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OK...here are the files. Both are nomalized to .2 db below digital 0.
Last edited by Glenn Davidson; July 15th, 2007 at 01:08 PM. |
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#12 |
Inner Circle
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 4,750
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Compression helps bring out the tail end of the gunshot sound... all that roar that comes after the initial bit/impulse. Glenn has a good example in his two clips (and I'm not just complimenting him because he has the same name as me! honest...).
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#13 |
Trustee
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 1,570
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To me the first one sounds like a far away gunshot, after the compression has stretched it out it becomes a small explosion. Both are loud but neither sound close by and I think that is the trick to making an FX sound loud, it has to sound close if you want your audience it jump.
Not the fault of the compression, the original FX sounds like it was recorded from a good distance from the gun and probably not in front of it either. Which is interesting because in my brief look for good gunshot FXs they all seem to have this same problem. I've heard very realistic gunshots used in Hollywood productions and I think they're recorded with a stereo mic close to the path of the bullet. I guess those guys can afford to loose the odd mic or two. 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. |
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#14 | |
Regular Crew
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Olney, Maryland
Posts: 197
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Quote:
We don't really have any information on how this gunshot was recorded or what kind of gun is used. We also don't know who the audience is...film or video? And we don't know if it's a closeup shot for how "close" it needs to sound to match the image. All we know is that it needs to be exaggerated and sudden. It needs to be punched up w/ a little EQ and a little compression. It can't be thin or toyish. |
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#15 |
Trustee
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Sauk Rapids, MN, USA
Posts: 1,675
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To trick the audience even more, you can slowly ramp the volume down over several seconds to get quieter (not too quiet though)...their ears will adapt to the new volumes slowly, then BANG!
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