[joshd]

I'm sure this has been asked and answered before, so if there's another posting or an FAQ somewhere that answers this, then just point me in that direction. Otherwise....

I have a few audience shows that are way too quiet, except when the audience applauds. So, I'd like to boost the music and lower the applause.

I have Cool Edit Pro. The show I'm looking at now has very low levels during the music, but then spikes of applause in between the songs. The applause spikes are at roughly the amplification that the music should be, while the music is virtually a flat line, way too low.

What I'd thought of doing was amplifying the entire recording until the music parts are at the appropriate levels (which would make the applause way over the red line) and then going in and manually reducing the applause.

Is this the proper way, or is there some kind of tool or setting in CEP I should use that will zone in on those applause spots and reduce them for me automatically (in a way that doesn't sound unnatural)?

Any hints would be welcome. It seems like this should be a fairly easy task, and I have a number of AUDs that could use this treatment, but I don't want to do it wrong and mess up the recordings.