Is there a way of doing what used to be called Auto Level Adjust

[jade]

Is there a way of doing what used to be called Auto Level Adjust which would work over an adjustable time constant and strength?

Sometimes the band plays louder and then quieter unintentionally during a 3-minute song and it falls on me to equalize the volume.

Up to now I have been using splits and applying 0.5dB to 2dB boosts, but it is a coarse rough approach, risking sound glitches.

[57Gregy]

Try Normalizing. First, make a copy of the tracks for archiving, in case it's not what you like and you hit save.
Then experiment with the different Normalize settings. 

Process>Apply Effect>Normalize.

[jackson white]

sounds like your issue is -relative- dynamics which normalization will not help.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_normalization

you could try some fidgety combination of compression and/or automation or perhaps leveling tools in Melodyne might get you closer.

Edited October 24, 2022 by jackson white
clarification / elaboration

[Andres Medina]

1 hour ago, jackson white said:

you could try some fidgety combination of compression and/or automation or perhaps this might get you closer.

Agree.

I would analyze the songs to see how much difference there is in terms of volume.

If those are relatively small, apply compression and it will level up everything. Be careful to proper configure your compressor settings (specially attack time and  compression ratio).

If the jumps are big, try using level envelopes first and then apply compression if needed.

I think is important to get the right treatment for your audio, depending on the music content .

[A Tolerable Quietude]

This is exactly what compressors/limiters are made to do, tame and constrain the dynamic range of a signal. 

Since you're talking about live recording, you might consider a compressor/limiter on the mics of the worst offenders, so that the signal is reasonably constrained before it even gets to the DAW.

Although there's nothing wrong with doing it "by hand" either, with automation envelopes on the volume of the tracks that need adjusting.  If you've got the time and patience for it, this is arguably the best way, because you can change the dyanamics artistically as it suits the song.

11 hours ago, jade said:

Up to now I have been using splits and applying 0.5dB to 2dB boosts, but it is a coarse rough approach, risking sound glitches.

I would definitely not do it this way, for the reason you mention--the abrupt changes will be audible and make clicks and pops.  If you want to do it by hand, automation envelopes are the way to go, so you can fade the volume up and down.

[Michael Vogel]

You could also look at the source of the problem. Perhaps investigate better monitoring of the bands playing during recording and of course practice and improving musicianship. 
Also examine what is louder or quieter and when. Sometimes the arrangement of a song can create a wide dynamic range. 
There’s so many areas to explore before trying to fix it in the mix. 

[msmcleod]

You could try an auto-leveller plugin, such as Melda's MAutoVolume, or HoRNet's AutoGain. 

These plugins automatically adjust the level so that it falls within a specified range.

 

[treesha]

Melodyne has a feature that has 2 functions- make loud notes quieter , make quiet notes louder, each with a slider to refine how much of each to do. I have melodyne version studio 5 not sure if other versions have this. I think it works well. 

[Bristol_Jonesey]

16 hours ago, Eric S. said:

This is exactly what compressors/limiters are made to do, tame and constrain the dynamic range of a signal. 

Since you're talking about live recording, you might consider a compressor/limiter on the mics of the worst offenders, so that the signal is reasonably constrained before it even gets to the DAW.

Although there's nothing wrong with doing it "by hand" either, with automation envelopes on the volume of the tracks that need adjusting.  If you've got the time and patience for it, this is arguably the best way, because you can change the dyanamics artistically as it suits the song.

I would definitely not do it this way, for the reason you mention--the abrupt changes will be audible and make clicks and pops.  If you want to do it by hand, automation envelopes are the way to go, so you can fade the volume up and down.

I would add that it is always better to use volume cuts, rather than increases.