2 Ardour allows adjusting region gain by a constant amount as opposed to
3 adjusting gain envelope where it's possible to change it gradually over time.
4 Like everything in Ardour, this is a non-destructive change. The result can be
5 adjusted at any a later time or discarded altogether. Internally, region gain
6 is an inherent property of regions, it can be edited directly in the region
11 <img style="width:50%;" src="/images/region-properties-gain-adjusted.png" alt="Region Properties">
18 There are two additional ways to adjust region gain: by boosting or cutting
19 gain with a 1dB step, or by normalizing audio.
22 <h2>Boosting and Cutting Gain</h2>
25 The quickest way to increase or decrease gain of selected regions without
26 involving the gain envelope is to use <em>Boost Gain</em> and
27 <em>Cut Gain</em> commands respectively.
31 These commands can be accessed via the main <em>Region > Gain</em> menu or
32 region's context menu. A much easier way is to use shortcuts:
33 <strong>Alt+6</strong> boosts gain by 1dB, <strong>Alt+7</strong> cuts gain
38 When gain is boosted or cut, the region caption in the bottom of the affected
39 region specifies the amount in parentheses. In an example below, gain was cut
44 <img style="width:50%;" src="/images/gain-cut-example.png" alt="Gain cut">
50 <h2>Normalizing Audio Regions</h2>
53 Audio normalization is a way to bring the amplitude of a signal to a target
54 level by applying the same amount of gain to an entire piece of audio data.
55 Unlike other ways to treat perceived loudness, such as compression,
56 normalization retains the original dynamic range.
60 Normalization is a common step in exporting an entire project to an audio
61 file. However, with Ardour, it's also possible to normalize some of the
62 regions. This effectively changes the region gain setting, the same one that
63 the boost/cut gain commands change.
67 Region-level normalization in Ardour can be accessed via the <em>Region >
68 Gain > Normalize…</em> menu command
72 <img style="width:50%;" src="/images/normalize-region-settings.png" alt="Normalize Region">
79 The normalization tool locates the part of the audio region that has the
80 largest amplitude and adjusts the whole region so that that part matches the
81 normalization target. In an example below, an audio region was normalized
82 to -3dBFS, which led to -2.5dB gain reduction, and this is the part with the
83 largest amplitude hitting the exact -3dBFS target:
87 <img style="width:50%;" src="/images/peak-normalization-zoomed-in.png" alt="Normalized region, zoomed in">
89 Normalized region, zoomed in
94 It's also possible to apply additional constraints by analyzing perceieved
95 loudness of the material. The first option is to constraint root mean square
96 (RMS) to a certain amplitude value. The second option is to constrain loudness
97 units (LUFS) to a certain value.
101 The normalization tool will use the peak amplitude value, but will also
102 correct the calculated gain adjustment when the constraint demands that.
103 In the example below the same region as in example above was normalized to the
104 same peak amplitude of -3dB but with an additional constraint of -21LUFS.
105 The normalization tool took the peak amplitude into account and made sure it
106 wouldn't exceed the target value of -3dBFS, then adjusted the region gain
107 further from -2.5dB to -3.3dB to meet the LUFS constraint demands. This
108 resulted in the peak amplitude hitting -4.2dBFS rather than the target -3dBFS.
112 <img style="width:50%;" src="/images/peak-normalization-with-lufs-zoomed-in.png" alt="Normalization with LUFS constraint, zoomed in">
114 Normalization with LUFS constraint, zoomed in
118 <h2>Resetting Gain</h2>
121 To reset gain correction for a region entirely you can either set it to
122 <tt>0</tt> in the region properties dialog or use the
123 <em>Region > Gain > Reset Gain</em> menu command.