Topic: How best to record a band alternating acoustic and electric songs

[Napo]

I wernt to tape Eric Sardinas and the Motor. They are a a power blues trio but often Eric switched to (semi)acoustic dobro.
Actually those numbers were the ones I liked the most.

Now the meters were all up in the red zone with the electric songs ( I adjusted the levels accordingly) and way done for the acoustic ones.
The result is of course a low recoding level of the latter. In post editing I twicked the gain up for them but it results unnatural as the difference in volume heard live is lost and the result seems unnatural.

Where did I go wrong while taping?

[admkrk]

The result is of course a low recoding level of the latter. In post editing I twicked the gain up for them but it results unnatural as the difference in volume heard live is lost and the result seems unnatural.

Where did I go wrong while taping?

that's why i never do that.

you did nothing wrong. remember you're capturing a live performance and not trying to master a cd.

[Scooter123]

I record so the loudest portion is -12db, and boost the quiet parts in post.  The boost is gradual, between songs, and is usually spans 10sec or more.  I can't speak for Audacity, but in Goldwave, you boost between cue points linearally, e.g., a straight line boost of 20% or so over a 10 sec span.  Then continue that boost for the accoustic song, and do the reverse on the next track, assuming it is electric. 

[page]

I record so the loudest portion is -12db, and boost the quiet parts in post.

I agree. If I were going to do that, I wouldn't amp the acoustic numbers so that they are equal to the electrics, but figure out the difference between the two and go for the middle. They weren't as loud live, so the ambient sound will sound unnatural if you tinker with it. As such, if I'm amping stuff like that, I avoid overdoing it.

[Napo]

Scooter123,

I will follow your good advice; Wavelab should have that feature, I hope.

End of the day, I second admkrk's point:
'remember you're capturing a live performance and not trying to master a cd'

[goodcooker]

I always draw in the volume envelopes in WL audio montage when I do thos sort of thing

[Napo]

I always draw in the volume envelopes in WL audio montage when I do thos sort of thing

goodcooker,

yeah, I found it on WL
T+

[adrianf74]

Again, keep in mind that any "boost" you make will gain up everything around you (including the guy next to you clapping).

Also... when there is the "switch" between loud and quiet, it's nice to hear that difference.  After you've drawn your envelopes, you could also do some very minimal hard limitting (that's what it's called in Adobe Audition) and try to get everything to sound somewhat similar.   When I'm doing audience records, I usually aim for around -6dB as my peak to allow a little headroom.