The Levelator is a fantastic, free program that does one thing and does it very well: it adjusts the audio levels of an audio file, balancing the whole file in such a way that one will not feel compelled to turn the volume up & down constantly during playback because some parts are too soft while others are too loud. It’s pure genius by developers Bruce and Malcolm Sharpe, Norman Lorrain, and Doug Kaye. You can read more about The Levelator and its creators at (where else) Wikipedia.
For awhile, The Levelator wouldn’t run on macOS Catalina and above—a devastating blow to someone using the software on a regular basis. Before upgrading an operating system, I usually do extensive research to make sure my workflows aren’t going to get broken. Either that, or make sure that there are compatible, updated versions available for the new operating system. In this instance, though, it all came about because I was gifted a 2016 MacBook Pro running Catalina, and, at the time, all of my other machines were running macOS High Sierra or older. Even though the new (to me) computer had a semi-broken screen (but worked well in clamshell mode connected to two external monitors) and ran very hot—ALL the time it seemed—it was a notable and welcome improvement in speed from my other aging Macs.
However, the June 2020 renewal of the program into something once again compatible with up-to-date versions of macOS was a godsend, particularly in the midst of the looming COVID crisis.
Now, The Levelator is really designed for speech, not music. This makes it great for podcasts, panel shows, and the like—anything where multiple people/mics are involved that would lead to a possibility of varying peaks and valleys in the dynamic spectrum.
But I was creating radio programs every week with several musical interjections. I would need to have the music bits ignored and have The Levelator do its magic just on the spoken bits. The solution did not take long to figure out:
- render a .wav file with the musical tracks muted
- run the rendered file through The Levelator
- import back in the DAW1 on a new track
- mute the original spoken tracks
- unmute the musical tracks
- render a final file
Before rendering, I usually had to tweak the overall volume of the levelated file first—usually to be softer.
At this writing, it’s the day before October 2022 … I haven’t needed to use The Levelator in quite awhile because I’m no longer producing weekly radio shows and YouTube videos. But I was reminded of that great software today and thought a post was warranted while it was on my mind. It’s comforting to know that the software is quietly standing by for the next time it’s needed. ◼︎