Dialog Compression: Why You Need to Use a Compressor Pt.1

Have you ever had the experience while watching a movie of constantly turning up the dialogue to be able to hear it?

Then, a few seconds later, your head gets taken off with over the top loudness in an action scene... Ouch!

Why can't they turn DOWN the volume of the action scenes and turn UP the volume of the spoken words?

In short, lots of movies seem to need some balance or leveling in their audio and you'll need something similar in your dialogue for video, podcast or audiobook.

Instead of annoying your listeners with inconsistent volume in your spoken word recordings, why not delight them?

Let me show you how to engage and satisfy your listeners by using a compressor for balanced and completely clear sounding dialogue.

What Is Leveling?

A good start toward getting that balanced volume in your dialogue is something called "leveling" or "audio leveling".

This can be done manually using the volume control in your audio production software (DAW) if you have a lot of time on your hands.

Otherwise, leveling can be done automatically using a compressor.

Leveling is just a way to use a compressor to even out the quiet and loud spots in your spoken word recording.

You could call the loudest spots in your audio "the peaks" and the quietest spots "the valleys" using the idea of pointy mountain peaks and rolling valleys down below.

^{[ Peaks and Valleys of a Mountain ]} 

Similarly, your dialogue audio has "peaks" and "valleys", but they need to be evened out.

The loudest "peaks" need to be brought down in volume while the quietest "valleys" (and peaks) need to be brought up.

To see leveling in action, look at the waveform of my dialogue recording below (I used the compressor in the Brainworx bx_console N plug-in).

You won't see a drastic difference, but just a general resizing and evening out of the "peaks" and "valleys":

^{[ Before Leveling: peaks to be brought down or up ]}

 ^{[ After Leveling: first peak down; second peak up ]}

And if you look closely at the "After Leveling" image above, you'll notice a slight widening or "fattening" vertically of the waveform compared to the "Before Leveling" image.

This is the process of the "valleys" being brought up.

Again, take a look at another section of my dialogue below.

This section doesn't have as many high peaks, but is another example of the "fattening" from top to bottom of the waveform after leveling.

Notice in whole sections where the quieter "valleys" and "peaks" are brought up (see one section in red box).

Finally, see where a quieter peak is brought up after leveling (red arrows):

^{[ Before Leveling ]}

 ^{[ After Leveling ]} 

Why Do You Need To Level Your Dialogue?

Let's go back to the beginning of this post, where we talked about the frustrating problem of not being able to hear the dialogue in movies...

I don't want you to lose your listeners because of this same problem.

That's one of the primary reasons you need to start using a compressor sometime fairly early in the process after you record your dialogue to level the volume out.

Start learning how to use a compressor to level your dialogue so your listeners aren't constantly having to adjust the volume.

Try my tested dialogue leveling settings from my FREE guide using a FREE compressor to get started right now:

"Grab Your Free Dialogue Audio Problem Solving Guide Today"

Spoken word audio with a clear and balanced volume level will keep your listeners engaged and delighted with your content! 

What Can I Use For Leveling?

Like we already mentioned, you'll need a compressor audio plug-in to do the leveling of your dialogue recordings.

You can always use a clean sounding stock compressor that comes with your audio production software (DAW).

When we say "clean", we're talking about a compressor that doesn't color the sound of your spoken words too much since we're always aiming for clear and easily understood words in our dialogue.

But see below for some fantastic, highly recommended compressors that I've tested and used specifically on spoken word recordings:

• TDR Kotelnikov (free)
• Klanghelm MJUC Jr. (free)
• TDR Molotok (free)
• Brainworx Console N - compressor in the channel strip (paid)

Most of the compressors above can operate with fairly clear and transparent results when you set them up properly (which I'll show you in later posts).

A few of them are highly versatile offering a variety of tonal enhancements while one gives a more colored sound when leveling out your dialogue.

Nevertheless, you can't go wrong using any one of the wonderful compressors in the list above!

^{[ A Compressor from Klanghelm ]}

Summary

Remember, leveling is a way to use a compressor to even out the quiet and loud spots in your dialogue recordings.

Next, one of the most important reasons to level your dialogue audio (among other reasons) is to engage your listeners with clearly heard speech.

Don't frustrate them with unbalanced levels in your recording, causing them to constantly adjust the volume.

Finally, the tools we use for leveling out the audio in your podcast, voice-over for video or audiobook are compressor plug-ins.

Not every compressor will work well for clear sounding dialogue, so do try one out from the tested plug-ins above.

Do YOU use compression to level out your dialogue recordings or a different method?

What other suggestions do you have when it comes to compressing spoken word recordings?

Would love to hear your thoughts below! 

Cheers, Bryan
Your Dialogue Editing Mentor