Looking for some advice on getting peaks from multiple clips on tracks more consistent

There is only one approach. Measure the VU or rms levels of all these parts and adjust so they are all the same. Peaking to the same level is not the issue or the way to go about it.  It's all about getting rms levels the same for all these clips.
 
A decent VU meter (VST) is the best way to do it. Do not rely on what the Sonar rms readings are telling you. They are out by 3 db anyway. You need a VU meter that shows you 0 dB VU at the chosen ref level. You will need to decide what your ref level is going to be.
 
Its an old technolgoy and approach but it still works today. The Klanghelm or PSP meter will do the job very well.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Of course if the peaks themselves are the problem some clip gain automation to knock them down a bit (or turn them up if need be) is something to look at.
 
I'm guessing that you mean you have (for example) two tracks. Due to playing technique some of the accents/pickstrokes/strums on one track are louder than the other so in a panning situation the one guitar goes off balance or in a center blend situation gets buried.
 
So yeah... if that's the problem just a momentary gain boost/reduction at those spots is what I would do. Then they will hit any dynamic effects (and other stuff) more evenly giving you more control instead of having to use a comp/limiter just to nail the peaks which may or may not be as good and would require a second stage of compression to do the overall compression (which is still a decent technique but kind of annoying for only dealing with just a few rogue level spikes).
 
Hope that makes sense... and that I understood the question.
 
Cheers.

Thanks SO much to all who have given me guidance here.  I have to run to a couple of doctor appointments, and will dig into this when I get back later this afternoon.
 
Is there a way to see the peak levels for each audio clip in a track?  I have thus far only observed what Sonar displays for the whole track, after stopping playback.
 
Bob Bone
 

I had another I idea I THINK would work and provide a real time meter on just the clip... I do NOT know if this is correct though so someone smarter would have to confirm.
 
If you put some kind of metering plugin or an effect that has input metering (like a limiter set to do NOTHING) in the clip FX bin (with nothing else ahead of it) I think the raw output from the clip should hit that input meter giving you a real time readout of what it's receiving from the clip.
 
Again I am not certain of that but if NOTHING else comes before that plugin (just the clip with NO clip level/gain/pan adjustments) then by my logic and understanding of the signal chain in Sonar that plugin meter should be accurate (if the plugin itself is accurate).
 
Just a thought.
 
Edit: If that does work as intended it means you would not have to worry about any other stuff going on on the channel strip. So you'd have, in theory, a "before and after" meter reading... the clip meter being the "before" and the track meter being the "after". In fact I kind of want to try this out now. lol

I see. Okay well I thought of a "next in the signal chain" solution. Since you aren't going to be using any clip effects or clip automation you could take the premise I suggested in my previous post and instead take the metering plugin, put it in a PC FX Chain module and put it at the very top of the PC chain so it appears IMMEDIATELY after the Input Gain.
 
In that scenario you of course would a) want your Prochannel to be Pre FX Bin/Rack and b) make sure your track's input gain is set to default (0db or whatver the default setting is). Also don't futz with the input control on the FX Chain module (so that's set to default to... just don't touch it and it won't affect the incoming level). Essentially just get that metering plug as CLOSE to the actual clip as you can in the signal chain and have absolutely NOTHING altering the audio signal until it hits the metering plug.
 
That of course is based on my theoretical premise that such a metering plug, inserted in such a way will provide an accurate readout of the clips output level.
 
I am also assuming you cannot bounce those clips together to create one long clip (likely lots of takes... ya?)
 
So this method totally bypasses the multiple clip problem. You may get little spikes at the very start/ends of clips though if they start abruptly (which can be solved with fade ins/outs or going into Preferences and setting the auto fade in/out time which is always a good idea anyway if you haven't already set that up). I HIGHLY doubt that will be a big issue for you though being the smart dude you are... and you could just ignore any meter spikes caused by abrupt clip starts.
 
There is still that little ruler between the Clips and Track Pane you could just use for a quick reference. The more you drag a track out vertically the more accurate/easier to read it becomes as well. That really is the easiest way to find max spikes in the clips. You have to do that in the Parent track though... not the take lanes because they have that dumb height restriction and I'm not even sure the ruler is on those.
 
Sorry... that's a bit of a chaotic post but I'm logged in for a while if you need me to clarify my ramblings.
 
Cheers.

Yeah - thanks for all the thinking on this - I had a really brutal day with multiple doctor appointments, and I am going to lie down and see if my spine will stop yelling at me.  I'll read back through the thread a bit later and see what I can do with it all.  And, yup there are loads of takes throughout.
 
I'll get it - and thanks again,
 
Bob Bone
 

What I would do is, route the output to a bus, switch on the waveform preview for that bus in track view, play through the track, and thereby get a broad visual representation of the relative levels from one clip to the next. Drag the decibel scale in the space between the bus header and the bus itself to make sure you can clearly see the waveform size differences, and maybe even maximise the bus to make it easier to see. Pick the 5 or 10 clips that look to be loudest, drop each of their gain automation down by 3dB. Repeat. Eventually they will be broadly in line and you might want to nudge one or two up or down a dB or two. Then adjust the track gain to taste.
 
I don't think you need to worry about RMS or compression etc. If the only difference between the takes is the input level, then scaling the gain will bring everything into line (signal/noise ratio aside, but that's unfixable, but also thankfully unlikely to be relevant). If however there are other differences between the performances, such as the guitarist using a different signal chain in each case, that will require a more considered approach.

Thanks for the input - @Batsbrew - I completely agree.  The guitar player recorded a bunch of tracks off by himself, and has no recording experience, so he didn't know to match levels up front.
 
Bob Bone