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Is there an app? Yes there will soon be. Twistedwave ** updated
I record the sermons at my church using Audacity and save them as a .flac file. Is there an application that allow me to adjust the volume levels of particular parts, say the preacher got loud and clipped a little at a certain part, delete and trim portions of the sermon, and export it as an MP3? I am not sure what software they are using to conduct the audio editing on a PC but I know they only have one licsence for the software. It would make it much easier if after a sermon I could upload the file to Dropbox or something then download it into a program on the iPad to conduct the editing, then export it back to dropbox so that we can upload it to our web-server.
That way I can take the load off of the one guy that has been tasked with editing all the sermons.
Comments
Are you familiar with sweeping the EQ? I would use a parametric EQ and a narrow Q and basically "find" where in the frequency spectrum the preacher's voice lived and do a combination of boosting that part and filtering out all the other unneeded frequencies. Can't remember if there's a standalone parametric EQ as I have fabfilter q in auria but if you don't already that those apps, that'd be about $50. Maybe audacity has a parametric EQ in one of the settings (sorry been awhile since I last used it)
Actually here's a youtube vid on fl studio but that can give you a good reference on using parametric EQ to find the "sweet spot" or in your case, where your preacher's voice lives in the frequency spectrum
@synthandandson - actually I'm sorry, just reread op initial post and it seems like he just wants to correct the clipping. I made the mistake of assuming he wanted to just boost (or only have the preachers voice) to separate it from everything else
Once it's clipped, it's clipped. You can do a certain amount of smoothing with hard filtering, but it can't restore clarity that's been lost. The problem is that clipping introduces harmonics that shouldn't be there as well as losing ones that should, along with all sorts of transients, etc.
Yea there is no music. I sit and adjust the levels as he is preaching but sometimes he gets excited and it clips a little. I would like the ability to select that portion and adjust it.
I emailed the folks at iMusicAlbum (masterFX) and they are adding the ability to edit certain portions but none of their apps can do what I want yet.
I think I can do it in audacity but their mp3 export isn't great. So I guess if I had a .flac to .mp3 converter I could edit the .flac file in audacity and convert it to mp3.
This sort of rote editing work is handled in the desktop easily. I'd check out repear. And maybe a compressor for the preacher's mic! Like everyone is saying, you really have to deal with that before it records. Also, record it quieter and boost/normalize it later. This isn't analog - you should have plenty of headroom.
Thanks for all the advise.
Also, if possible, recording the preacher on a different track initially might be an alternative. It might require some cost for hardware, but it might save a lot of time in the long run.
You need the compressor as an analog device between the mike and the A/D. Compressing after digitization will not help. Unless you record at low levels, but that loses definition. Might be good enough for speech though.
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Two great economical hardware solutions (thanks @dwarman for clarifying that these are for before the recording device):
FMR's "Really Nice Compressor" - http://www.fullcompass.com/product/260578.html $175 new, usually around $125 used. Put it in 'super nice' mode and forget about it. Doesn't have XLR inputs. Bonus: sounds good on everything.
Alesis Micro Limiter - Here's one on the bay for $50 http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/271322116867?lpid=82 There are a few more up there. Also 1/4" inputs. Great little unit for the price. Bonus: you can smash stuff with this to great effect.
You might also look into the dbx 166 series units. good and cheap.
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@simon Yes, he would. The clipping is happening at the D/A converter (the soundcard/interface) and the signal doesn't get to Audacity until it's already converted and clipped.
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You can put a compressor at the start of the chain of recording as some people have said above. The compressor will help compress the sound of the preacher's voice.
I guess you don't want to spend a lot of money on this so think creatively. Mic placement will help so you'll need to do a trail and error to find the optimum sound for recording. Find a sweet spot. At a certain distance from the preacher, the recorded sound will not clip. That is your sweet spot.
Make use of your VU or your audio spectrum analyzer. Record the preacher when he/she gets very loud and ensure the recorded sound doesn't get into the red; at the loudest points in the sermon, you must ensure the sound is in the green. As long as you ensure this happens you can always boost the sound by using a limiter/compressor on the final recording.
Have fun.
Is there any reason that no one is suggesting that the input level of the mic is set too hot?
You never need to peak out your input, just raise your output to compensate.
Use compression on your board inbetween to balance the sound out.
Sounds to me that whomever is running the board is giving way too much range on the mic.
Question: Is the preacher peaking out a microphone on a board, or are you somehow peaking out with your own mic, or are you recording direct from a board?
I actually think you might just have a small logistics issue which won't need any money thrown at it at all.
That said, if you want to seriously get into mastering on the ipad, Auria with the fabfilter and fxpansion plugins is what you want.
@aq808 I did.
Could also be a lav mic peaking at the capsule. Some preachers get into it!
Thanks for all the suggestions. I will look into combining audacity and iTunes and see.
The sound from the board is being routed to a presonus interface to the computer. I can adjust the levels on the interface so I can solve the clipping issues from there. I just don't want to record to quietly. I am no sound engineer. From what everyone is saying you can boost levels up but does that effect the sound quality or is it basically like turning up the volume?
In a practical sense, It's like turning up the volume. Particularly if you're recording at 24bit. If the presonus has multiple inputs you record two versions and compare.
Sorry syrupcore, somehow missed that post.
It's better to come in at a safe range low and then compress/expand/raise volume later since there is no fixing clipped audio.
Thanks again. i have solved the clipping problem. I just started recording at a lower level.
Is there an app that allows .flac import, edit the audio by trimming and deleting parts and .mp3 export? When I say deleting parts I mean sometimes he talks about mission trips in certain countries that does not need to be on the recording so I need the ability to delete parts of the audio in the middle of the recording.
Is there an advantage between flac or wav? I record with audacity. I need an app I can trim the beginning and end and cut out anything in the middle if need be. Also convert it to MP3.
FLAC is usually smaller file size than wav but still has lossless audio however there aren't that many audio editors that I'm aware of which can read the files at least not on iOS.
So it seems aiff or wav would be a lot easier to edit on an ipad. What apps can trim and cut aiff or wav and export as MP3?
I don't think I have to use flac.
Does it have to be exported as mp3? AudioShare will trim and convert to m4a.
Keep in mind for the best sound quality your digital file should ideally be peaking around -18 on your digital meter ( called dbfs, decibels below full scale). That means at analog 0 (0vu) you still have plenty of room before clipping. Of you're regularly hitting 0dbfs you are killing your presonus input with way more than it was designed to take. But you'll have no loss in quality, digital has virtually no noise floor and 24 bit has more dynamic range than a human can really perceive. Certainly for a sermon you're not going to want that much range anyway.
Look up some articles on gain staging, that will help you a lot. Also, a guy named Chris huff has a site devoted to doing church sound- although he is selling his book for $27 or so (you know, the standard ebook site with the price ending in 7...), he has tons of free articles and good info.
Also, on iPad, check out twisted wave, it may do what you want. And auria, which is half price for a few days (and well worth it). No flac though as far as I know- audacity can save to wav files though.
I went back and read the thread again and unless you have to edit in iOS just do it all in Audacity and export as mp3 but you would need the free plugin (ffmpeg?) which allows Audacity to export as mp3. Info about this should be mentioned where you download Audacity.
I have asked if it has to be mp3. Hopefully I will get an answer soon. As far as Auria goes I didn't see mp3 anywhere so it wouldn't work.