Levelling the volume on two vocal tracks in Reaper

[Matt Houghton]

…it makes the audio sound a little choppy, because of course, I've not only lowered the peak, but a fraction of audio either side of the peak, and lowered that too, so when it's back in line with the rest of the track, it causes a very slight jump.

If there was a way of just bringing down the actual tops of any peaks across the whole track, that would be ideal.

To do this in automation just apply three (rather than my previously suggested four) envelope point onto the volume envelope and drag the centre point down where the peak shows on the waveform. You’ll end up with a rapid fade out/in that’s adjustable to taste.

The other answer, as mentioned by others, is any number of compressor/peak limiter units that will do the job automatically, although the result should be checked as one setting isn’t always appropriate for the whole track and adjustments may be necessary, which can also be automated with the envelope system.

The other other answer is editing. If you're going to go through an do it manually (as with automation) then I'd suggest just using edits and autofades instead of automation. Create a custom action/mouse modifier to select with a swipe/click drag on the waveform then use a mouse modifier to run an action to select the clip under the mouse cursor and reduce by x number of dB. (And run it again if you need to). Assuming you have autofades enabled, it's a similar result to automating, but (a) probably quicker and (b) allows you to change the levels before any processing (though you could also automate the pre gain instead of the fader of course).

It's not the same thing, but I wrote a workshop a while back on podcast editing in Reaper for which I created a few useful custom actions — you should be able to figure out from those how to roll your own...

[shufflebeat]

…it makes the audio sound a little choppy, because of course, I've not only lowered the peak, but a fraction of audio either side of the peak, and lowered that too, so when it's back in line with the rest of the track, it causes a very slight jump.

If there was a way of just bringing down the actual tops of any peaks across the whole track, that would be ideal.

To do this in automation just apply three (rather than my previously suggested four) envelope point onto the volume envelope and drag the centre point down where the peak shows on the waveform. You’ll end up with a rapid fade out/in that’s adjustable to taste.

The other answer, as mentioned by others, is any number of compressor/peak limiter units that will do the job automatically, although the result should be checked as one setting isn’t always appropriate for the whole track and adjustments may be necessary, which can also be automated with the envelope system.

The other other answer is editing. If you're going to go through an do it manually (as with automation) then I'd suggest just using edits and autofades instead of automation. Create a custom action/mouse modifier to select with a swipe/click drag on the waveform then use a mouse modifier to run an action to select the clip under the mouse cursor and reduce by x number of dB. (And run it again if you need to). Assuming you have autofades enabled, it's a similar result to automating, but (a) probably quicker and (b) allows you to change the levels before any processing (though you could also automate the pre gain instead of the fader of course).

It's not the same thing, but I wrote a workshop a while back on podcast editing in Reaper for which I created a few useful custom actions — you should be able to figure out from those how to roll your own...

I might be misunderstanding the process but doesn’t this end up with the instant gain drop/recover that the OP was trying to avoid rather than a fade out/in?

[simonmix]

I think you need compression and level normalization. It would be good to be able to extract the two voices on separate channels.

[shufflebeat]

It's not the same thing, but I wrote a workshop a while back on podcast editing in Reaper for which I created a few useful custom actions — you should be able to figure out from those how to roll your own...

That's a neat little custom action, by the way. I'll be incorporating a version of that for entirely different operations, including adding FX/processing to certain items and not others.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I can't help think this is all getting way more complicated and time-consuming than it needs to be!

1. Record conversation to separate tracks.
2. Adjust levels by ear to match and balance, leaving adequate headroom.
3. Edit out the unwanted crap.
4. Tweak the levels of any isolated sections which are overly loud or quiet (eg, riotous laughter, mumbles and asides, etc)
5. Insert gentle compressor / limiter on each track or the final mix to give modest dynamic range control and elimination of any big transient peaks.
6. Export mix.
7. Job done. Get a beer....

The only time-consuming and fiddly part should be No.3 The rest is trivial and simple.

[Matt Houghton]

I can't help think this is all getting way more complicated and time-consuming than it needs to be!

1. Record conversation to separate tracks.
2. Adjust levels by ear to match and balance, leaving adequate headroom.
3. Edit out the unwanted crap.
4. Tweak the levels of any isolated sections which are overly loud or quiet (eg, riotous laughter, mumbles and asides, etc)
5. Insert gentle compressor / limiter on each track or the final mix to give modest dynamic range control and elimination of any big transient peaks.
6. Export mix.
7. Job done. Get a beer....

The only time-consuming and fiddly part should be No.3 The rest is trivial and simple.

Yep, that's how I go about it! Was just offering advice because for some reason it seemed OP not satisfied with it!

[Matt Houghton]

I might be misunderstanding the process but doesn’t this end up with the instant gain drop/recover that the OP was trying to avoid rather than a fade out/in?

Depends how you do the edit. If you're not moving parts, just separating into different regions so you can apply clip gain, then you can manage the transition with cross fades.

But as Hugh says, this all feels a lot like hard work compared with the usual way of doing this stuff

[Wonks]

I'd be wary of just looking at waveforms and meters and just close your eyes and listen. Voices do go up and down when talking. Level the vocals too much and it can start to sound unnatural, boring and hard to listen to.

If you both learn to set up and record at similar levels, then you may find that some gentle overall compression (so things don't get too loud or too quiet) are all you need.

[shufflebeat]

I can't help think this is all getting way more complicated and time-consuming than it needs to be!

1. Record conversation to separate tracks.
2. Adjust levels by ear to match and balance, leaving adequate headroom.
3. Edit out the unwanted crap.
4. Tweak the levels of any isolated sections which are overly loud or quiet (eg, riotous laughter, mumbles and asides, etc)
5. Insert gentle compressor / limiter on each track or the final mix to give modest dynamic range control and elimination of any big transient peaks.
6. Export mix.
7. Job done. Get a beer....

The only time-consuming and fiddly part should be No.3 The rest is trivial and simple.

Yeah, it’s number 4 we’re concentrating on. The rest is pretty straightforward.

The “insert three envelope points and drag the middle one down” is neither time consuming or complicated.

Tea, thanks.