The all-new "HELP! I have an Audacity problem" thread

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lymiewithpurpose
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Post by lymiewithpurpose »

Ok, I have a bit of a dilemma here. I am helping a newbie with a one minute test, and there are some strange things happening. He uses Audacity and has claimed to apply noise reduction multiple times and yet I still hear no difference. In addition, he has attempted to export at constant 128 kpbs, but it remains stuck at variable 119. He sent a screenshot of the settings he has been using here in case anybody wants to look (beware, it is in Spanish), but all of the settings look perfectly fine to me. I am posting for him as he does not really speak English and I think we will get more results here in the English forum, but the thread is here if anybody wants to look/ask questions, etc. Does anybody know what could be happening here?

EDIT: I have checked and there are multiple uploads so it's not that he forgets to upload (but he did get an error message last time he tried to upload)
Campbell
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KevinS
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Post by KevinS »

pmessina wrote: May 2nd, 2019, 5:13 am Hooray!!!! That worked. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Glad to hear it!
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Post by KevinS »

lymiewithpurpose wrote: May 2nd, 2019, 7:24 am Ok, I have a bit of a dilemma here. I am helping a newbie with a one minute test, and there are some strange things happening. He uses Audacity and has claimed to apply noise reduction multiple times and yet I still hear no difference. In addition, he has attempted to export at constant 128 kpbs, but it remains stuck at variable 119. He sent a screenshot of the settings he has been using here in case anybody wants to look (beware, it is in Spanish), but all of the settings look perfectly fine to me. I am posting for him as he does not really speak English and I think we will get more results here in the English forum, but the thread is here if anybody wants to look/ask questions, etc. Does anybody know what could be happening here?

EDIT: I have checked and there are multiple uploads so it's not that he forgets to upload (but he did get an error message last time he tried to upload)
I'm far from expert, but I would start from the beginning and have the fellow upload (or re-upload) the newest version of Audacity as a start. I know that sounds stupid, but it has helped me in the past. I would also recommend that the fellow record in mono rather than using the 'force mono' feature.

As for a lot of noise in the recording, I don't hear it. It's slightly 'tinny,' but I think that he's altering it too hard.

My two cents.
lymiewithpurpose
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Post by lymiewithpurpose »

KevinS wrote: May 2nd, 2019, 7:56 am
lymiewithpurpose wrote: May 2nd, 2019, 7:24 am Ok, I have a bit of a dilemma here. I am helping a newbie with a one minute test, and there are some strange things happening. He uses Audacity and has claimed to apply noise reduction multiple times and yet I still hear no difference. In addition, he has attempted to export at constant 128 kpbs, but it remains stuck at variable 119. He sent a screenshot of the settings he has been using here in case anybody wants to look (beware, it is in Spanish), but all of the settings look perfectly fine to me. I am posting for him as he does not really speak English and I think we will get more results here in the English forum, but the thread is here if anybody wants to look/ask questions, etc. Does anybody know what could be happening here?

EDIT: I have checked and there are multiple uploads so it's not that he forgets to upload (but he did get an error message last time he tried to upload)
I'm far from expert, but I would start from the beginning and have the fellow upload (or re-upload) the newest version of Audacity as a start. I know that sounds stupid, but it has helped me in the past. I would also recommend that the fellow record in mono rather than using the 'force mono' feature.

As for a lot of noise in the recording, I don't hear it. It's slightly 'tinny,' but I think that he's altering it too hard.

My two cents.
That’s what it sounded like from the beginning.... I have heard absolutely no change whatsoever in it, but when I have experimented I managed to reduce it without changing the sound of the voice, so I suspect that somethings not sticking on his end. If he were going at it hard, there would have been a decrease in the actual noise, but I still hear it and Checker still alerts me. That’s not so much what I’m concerned about though, it’s not too bad. I’m more worried about the bit rate. I’m making sure he’s downloaded checker to run it through on his end, and maybe I will ask him to re download. Thanks for the suggestion!
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lymiewithpurpose
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Post by lymiewithpurpose »

Ok, well it seems as if the problem resolved on it's own (even though it wouldn't work multiple days in a row :hmm:), so we are all good now. Thanks, Kevin, for your suggestion!
Campbell
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ColleenMc
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Post by ColleenMc »

I may have partially solved this -- please see edit at the bottom.

I apologize if this has been asked a hundred times but I'm not having much luck with searching for answers and I'm sadly clueless about the technical side of things with Audacity. I set it up once following step by step instrctions back when I first started 2 years ago and now have no idea what I did.

The problem I have right now is that my computer seems to have taken it upon itself to reinstall or update my version of Audacity. I noticed when I first opened it that it was giving the the sort of information and notices that you can tell it not to tell you anymore, which should have been a clue, as should have been the fact that when I started a recordng, it was in stereo and had to be set to mono.

However, I didn't realize until after I recorded a 45-minute piece and ran it through Checker for volume that the basic settings had been changed. It failed with these messages in Checker:

--The bit rate should be 128 kbps.  

--The recording should use a constant bit rate rather than variable bit rate (VBR).  

My two questions are:

How do I fix these settings back to what they should be? I've checked the various menus and the Preferences but don't see anything familiar.

Do I have to re-record the 45-minute thingie or will changing the settings on the recording and then re-saving fix the issue? If I do have to re-record, at least I noticed this before I prooflistened and edited the whole thing!

Oh and a third question -- any other settings and adjustments I should check again before recording anything else?

If there's a handy dandy guide to dealing with all this already done, just point me to that if possible. Thank you all so much!

Colleen, who is in no ways a sound engineer

EDITED TO ADD: Okay I found the original setup instructions in the wiki and walked back through configuring so I THINK I have that part fixed. So my main question at this point is whether I need to re-record the piece or just re-export it in MP3 format to fix the problem.
Colleen McMahon

No matter where you go, there you are. -- Buckaroo Banzai
lymiewithpurpose
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Post by lymiewithpurpose »

ColleenMc wrote: May 22nd, 2019, 7:32 pm I apologize if this has been asked a hundred times but I'm not having much luck with searching for answers and I'm sadly clueless about the technical side of things with Audacity. I set it up once following step by step instrctions back when I first started 2 years ago and now have no idea what I did.

The problem I have right now is that my computer seems to have taken it upon itself to reinstall or update my version of Audacity. I noticed when I first opened it that it was giving the the sort of information and notices that you can tell it not to tell you anymore, which should have been a clue, as should have been the fact that when I started a recordng, it was in stereo and had to be set to mono.

However, I didn't realize until after I recorded a 45-minute piece and ran it through Checker for volume that the basic settings had been changed. It failed with these messages in Checker:

--The bit rate should be 128 kbps.  

--The recording should use a constant bit rate rather than variable bit rate (VBR).  

My two questions are:

How do I fix these settings back to what they should be? I've checked the various menus and the Preferences but don't see anything familiar.

Do I have to re-record the 45-minute thingie or will changing the settings on the recording and then re-saving fix the issue? If I do have to re-record, at least I noticed this before I prooflistened and edited the whole thing!

Oh and a third question -- any other settings and adjustments I should check again before recording anything else?

If there's a handy dandy guide to dealing with all this already done, just point me to that if possible. Thank you all so much!

Colleen, who is in no ways a sound engineer
Sorry that happened to you. Luckily, these issues are easily fixed as they occur when exporting (at least in every version I have heard of). When exporting you should see a 'Format Options' section or something along those lines. There, you should see options to choose the bit rate to be 128 kbps and constant. No need to rerecord. As far as other settings, as long as your volume is good, it is in mono, has the right sampling rate, and noise reduction (or any other effects you usually run) are working fine, I think you should be fine. Someone may chime in and say differently.

EDIT: just saw your edit, yes exporting it with the different bit rate should be fine.
Campbell
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moniaqua
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Post by moniaqua »

ColleenMc wrote: May 22nd, 2019, 7:32 pm So my main question at this point is whether I need to re-record the piece or just re-export it in MP3 format to fix the problem.
As lymiwithpurpose already told you, re-exporting is just fine.
Image are the settings you need. Usually Audacity remembers them once you used them.
ColleenMc
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Post by ColleenMc »

Thanks guys, as always, for being so helpful and reassuring, and talking me off the ledge! The technical aspects of this stuff always send me into a panic.

Colleen
Colleen McMahon

No matter where you go, there you are. -- Buckaroo Banzai
Scarlettohara
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Post by Scarlettohara »

Hi everyone! I'm a newbe and I'm trying to download audacity into my new Apple ipad. I have a bluetooth keyboard that I use with it. Does audacity work with apple ipads? It's all that I work with because I travel and regular laptops are so cumbersome. Thanks ahead of time for helping!
KevinS
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Post by KevinS »

Scarlettohara wrote: May 25th, 2019, 2:19 am Hi everyone! I'm a newbe and I'm trying to download audacity into my new Apple ipad. I have a bluetooth keyboard that I use with it. Does audacity work with apple ipads? It's all that I work with because I travel and regular laptops are so cumbersome. Thanks ahead of time for helping!
I don't believe it does, but there are alternatives. I would ask here about WavePad. (Or one can hope that someone familiar with WavePad will chime in.)

https://alternativeto.net/software/audacity/?platform=ipad

EDIT: Typo.
Last edited by KevinS on May 25th, 2019, 7:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
Scarlettohara
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Post by Scarlettohara »

Oh thank you so much! Well major bummer! I don’t think I can participate then. Not unless audacity upgrades or there’s an easier way to record and edit by using an ipad. :-(
tovarisch
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Post by tovarisch »

You can still participate as a proof-listener...
tovarisch
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    to PLers: do correct my pronunciation please
Scarlettohara
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Post by Scarlettohara »

Oh! That’s right. Ok cool! :-)
sacredsounds
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Post by sacredsounds »

philchenevert wrote: June 12th, 2012, 1:42 pm When there is a pop or something strange in a word, usually my Ss and the defect is not obvious I highlight the area and slowly decrease the selected area from the right, constantly listening, until the pop is found, then remove just that tiny spot. but I must use my mouse to do it, slowly dragging it across the area, and it is tiring to my had and arm, so I'd like to be able to do it with the keyboard.
I'm also struggling with editing defects that are on TOP of a word not just background noise or an easily muted sound between words. Now for you, when you say you remove the tiny spot do you just delete it? In my case that might chop up the word. Sorry I don't have tips to offer, just more questions. :|

I'm a *total* newbie to editing in Audacity. If it's not possible to do that (clean up sounds on words) would y'all recommend re-recording a small section and trying to patch it together again? If so any links to tutorials on how to do that would be super appreciated! Whenever I try to record a section I didn't like it goes onto the next track (which is fine) but it always sounds totally different and I don't know why since I haven't changed settings as far as I know and would continue recording in the same way as before. o.0 I also have no clue how to edit it to make it sound similar so it doesn't break up the flow (in terms of noise- volume etc) I dunno what the hekk to do since I can't possibly get the recording perfect in it's entirety especially if it's a longer reading (which I am only now moving past the 1 minute range with much frustration lol) Any help is much appreciated!
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