Using Audacity for Tone Adjustment
& Stereo Balancing
1. The
original field recording has promise but you notice that the right side is much
louder and has more bass than the left side:
Opening the file in Audacity you
can see this too:
2. To adjust
the tone on just the right channel, first, click on the down arrow nest to the
file name and select ÒSplit Stereo Tracks.Ó
3. Select just the bottom (right) track with the selector tool (darkened is selected):
4. Under Effect, select, Equalization:
5. In the ÒEqualizationÓ window that opens, click-draw a ÒcurveÓ starting at 300Hz that Òdrops-offÓ towards the left. This causes the volume from 300 Hz down to become increasingly lower. You can ÒpreviewÓ the results before you change the file. If a curve sounds wrong, click ÒFlat,Ó and try drawing another one. Click ÒOKÓ when you like the way it sounds. [Note that you can also create tone changes like boosting the treble of a recording by drawing a curve the goes above the middle line at the right side of the frequency scale.]
After it is equalized, the right (lower) channel looks thinner because the louder, low frequencies have been lowerd by the EQ curve:
6. The tone
between the channels is more closely matched, but the Right side is still a bit
louder. To shift the balance to make the left channel louder, drag the button
in the middle of the ÒL . . . . . .RÓ scale towards the left until the volume
is matches on both channels. IN this case I used 20% Left (20% louder on the
left).
7. To export the new version, selected both tracks and select File-> Export Selection as usual.
8. HereÕs what the changes sound like:
Listen to Right Channel Equalized and Balanced Recording
R. Danielson 2007.07