Tone, I made the attachments so as to avoid a long winded description of what the tool does, hoping the graphical representation would provide the "thousand words" business... that and I'm not really all that technically proficient as to what is supposed to be going on with the process, I just find that I seem to have been able to harness it for my purposes. In your reply you suggest that I'm addressing each clap individually, but I'm not. Why? Well because it's time consuming that's why. This provides a bit of automation and a result that I'm able to live with. I select the stretch of offensive audience appreciation, make a judgment as to how hard to hit/limit the max clap level, apply the preset and BOOM! Move on to the next offense. It will work on individual incidences for sure, but it shines as a block editor. (I used to remove the ass hat clappers altogether but in my old age I have less time to obsess over that so I now modify the offenders by making it seem as though I've moved them... over there ------>| )
The other part, I will try to coach you through it though, since you asked and since you haven't tried the tool yet. Perhaps it will give you a little push... Buckle up, this could get wordy and keep in mind that specific details apply only to the Audition DAW.
In the graphical shot of the dynamics processing tool you saw a graph which has dB across the bottom and on the right side. These are sound levels, soft to loud, running LT to RT and Bottom to Top respectively. These axis represent
input levels (original signal) along the bottom and
output levels (processed signal) up and down.... Here, this is from the HELP pages of Audition, which I have to say are written well enough to have given me all the insight I need to make me happy....
The graph depicts input level along the x-axis (left and right) and the new output level along the y-axis (up and down). A line that flows directly from the lower-left to the upper-right (default) depicts a signal that has been left untouched {this is my NULL part}, since every input value goes to the exact matching output value. Adjusting the shape of this line will adjust the input or output assignments, thereby altering the dynamic range.
For example, you can boost all input that has a level of around -20dB, leaving everything else unchanged. You can also draw an inverse line (a line from upper-left to lower-right) that will dramatically boost low amplitudes while dramatically suppressing high amplitudes (that is, all quiet sounds will be loud, and all loud sounds will be quiet).
So, my set of presets allows me to address different ranges of clap peaks relative to the other signal levels around them. For example, the image I clipped represents an application where the peaks were relatively loud and I wanted to keep them relatively loud in comparison but tame the spikes. Jazz drum solos can be especially troublesome in this regard. In this example, everything in the selection to be processed, up to and including -16dB is unchanged or Null processed if you will. Then it starts to compress downwards the input levels on a ratio of 2:1 such that input levels of -8.8dB are reduced to output levels of around -12dB. From there input levels -8.8dB to 0dB are scrunched down at -2.6:1 such that the loudest output is around -15dB or so. Open the tool hover over the graph area and you'll see a read out like -8.8dB -> -12dB below the graph area. These number pairs depict how the output levels will change depending on the input level. Pick below the "null line" and the input is reduced; above it's amplified. I've built other presets, specifically for ass clappers, that start much lower than -16dB and begin knock down the peaks harder. The fact that the processing is based on ratios of input to output, instead of a hard limit value, makes for a bit more natural sounding applause which is, after all, the sure sign of a live performance. Without a little clap in our tapes, how would anyone know our work from store bought studio multi track productions?

In your most recent post re: DAW wish list, I'd agree that the best way to understand this tool set is to play with it, read the help pages, then read them again... and eventually you will start to understand the interconnectedness of the tool kit and how the various "edges" can be applied to shape your tapes for the better. Also, YouTube is a great help in learning general concepts and terminology. Have some fun!
[806 words via MS Word]