Great advice from you all. I have basically the same problem on a master of opera. Venue is unamplified and applause just sends tthe hing over the edge. Rarely did I clip during the applause, but the contrast in dynamics is too vast. So, anyone walk me thru this in SoundForge 7? I'd sure appreciate it.
Do you have the waves plugs? I might be wrong, cause I only have SF6.0, but I don't think that has a compressor. There are other options, but waves is the best. If you don't, do yourself a favor and grab them!
In setting levels in acoustical environments, what is the best tact to take? I KNOW the applause is gonna be loud. What do I DO about it? Do I set my gain to the loudest MUSICAL portions and not worry about the clipping that will occur during applause, or just keep the levels down and boost it in post production?
This is exactly what I do, but I usually leave myself some headroom, because what I have noticed is that acoustic music also seems to be the most dynamic music to record... so, right about the time I get my levels set, and they are hot, the artist will raise the volume of their voice or something, and peak the shit out of my levels.
Its really a decision between the following:
1) running "not so hot" - which has the negative of not using the full dynamic range of your rig -or-
2) running hot, and peaking during loud parts - which to me can come close to ruining a recording. Most of the time the louder parts are loud for a reason, and you don't want them to be clipping all over!
To me the choice is clear...