Trimming transient spikes

Hi,

Something I’ve been spending a LOT of time over the years. I figured there might be a more ‘automatic’ way to do this.

I will often have a track where there are transients (and I mean ultra short spikes) that are -crazy- loud. I usually go through the track and manually chop them down with Spectrum Editor. It takes a lot of time, but it really helps make any output compression work -way- better.

Is there any way to automate this process in WL? ie. is there a way for WL to automatically detect these short peaks (like a snare hit) using a formula and reduce the volume of just those transients throughout the track. It should have a very fast attack and a very short release -and- only within a frequency range so that it doesn’t affect the surrounding material.

Is there anything like that in Wavelab?

TIA,

—JC

This is the purpose of a Peak Limiter. Try the WaveLab plugin Peak Master.

I know about PeakMaster, but it isn’t as -selective- as I would hope.

I guess I was hoping that there was some sort of way to select all the peaks automatically and then chop them off in one go. Maybe not in WL7, but perhaps in WL9?

—JC

How a plugin could know what “selective” means for you?

What you can do is use both, first tame the biggest 5 or 10 peaks manually so the threshold for the peak limiter can be set lower. When you find that your biggest transients still occur like in every beat then just put a compressor on and sooth them out that way, or try a limiter with a lower threshold.
There are multiple ways to do this, it really depends if YOU find upside or downside doing it a specific way.
There is no right or wrong.
You can even use a multiband compressor / de-esser if the spikes are in limited range.

You mentioned in the other topic you are working your way through Katz.
One of the more holistic lessons is that you need to learn the effect of your tools, so that you choose the right tool for what you’re trying to achieve. Again, there is no right or wrong, just experiment.
If just a few , just adjust manually
If many, range limit with peak limiter, limiter (multiband compressor) or de-esser. Depening if the peaks are broadband or range limited. Setting like threshold and ceiling should be considered “shaping tools” in this perspective