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

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ppcunningham
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Post by ppcunningham »

I just had that happen, too, when I was testing a new mic.
I believe the problem was that the settings on the computer regarding input and output were not the same as the settings in Audacity preferences.

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Sue Anderson
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Post by Sue Anderson »

Kastor wrote:I keep getting,

'Error opening sound device. Please check input device settings or project sample rate.'

when I try to record.

I have no idea what to do.

Hi Kastor, When I get this message; I shut down my computer and re-start it, and this clears up the problem. The Audacity question and answer page has a long discussion of the problem (for what it's worth): http://manual.audacityteam.org/help/manual/man/faq_errors.html#sound_device
J_N
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Post by J_N »

I broke my audacity - and I don't know how... :shock: It won't let me scroll (have exited and re-entered, tried different files) it always scrolls right to the end and that's it... neither mouse nor scroll bar gets me anywhere... :evil:

I am sure it's a case of 'only as good as the person using it' but I honestly have no clue what I could have done... and now I can't edit... :(

:help:

Edit: OK, I think it was my mouse acting up... gone now... but it's still doing stuff it didn't use to do... oh well... nevermind :)
Last edited by J_N on July 31st, 2012, 12:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ashleighjane
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Post by ashleighjane »

J_N wrote:I broke my audacity - and I don't know how... :shock: It won't let me scroll (have exited and re-entered, tried different files) it always scrolls right to the end and that's it... neither mouse nor scroll bar gets me anywhere... :evil:

I am sure it's a case of 'only as good as the person using it' but I honestly have no clue what I could have done... and now I can't edit... :(

:help:
Could you not try uninstalling it and re-installing? :)
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Post by J_N »

ashleighjane wrote:
J_N wrote:I broke my audacity - and I don't know how... :shock: It won't let me scroll (have exited and re-entered, tried different files) it always scrolls right to the end and that's it... neither mouse nor scroll bar gets me anywhere... :evil:

I am sure it's a case of 'only as good as the person using it' but I honestly have no clue what I could have done... and now I can't edit... :(

:help:
Could you not try uninstalling it and re-installing? :)
of course, but I prefer to understand my problems first... so I can prevent them from happening again... :D but it solved itself (well mostly) now anyway
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ashleighjane
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Post by ashleighjane »

J_N wrote: of course, but I prefer to understand my problems first... so I can prevent them from happening again... :D but it solved itself (well mostly) now anyway
Sometimes there's nothing to understand. Like sometimes computers can be fixed by turning them on and off again, but no one has any idea why ;)
lulularsen
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Post by lulularsen »

Hi

I just got myself a new and better microphone, but I had to amplify a lot after recording to reach the 89 db. After I did the amplify I got a lot of air-puff sounds though. I recorded about an hour before I discovered, so here´s my question:

Is there anything I can do to get rid of the air-puff sounds after recording?
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Post by ashleighjane »

lulularsen wrote:Hi

I just got myself a new and better microphone, but I had to amplify a lot after recording to reach the 89 db. After I did the amplify I got a lot of air-puff sounds though. I recorded about an hour before I discovered, so here´s my question:

Is there anything I can do to get rid of the air-puff sounds after recording?
By air-puffs, do you mean plosives on your p's and th's?

Could you upload another test so someone could listen to the problem?

ETA: I doubt there's anyway to remove them though, aside from editing them out. Depending on how noticeable they are, you might be able to get away with just leaving them in. :)
lulularsen
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Post by lulularsen »

Yes that´s it

I think I just record it again. I can hear it too much
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Post by annise »

You are allowed to breath , without any breath sounds the reader sounds a bit dead, but if you feel they sound like you just finished the marathon , you may be better to squash them rather than cut them out (amplify at say -2 and listen). Sometimes cutting bits out ruins the pacing of the recording .

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Post by gypsygirl »

annise wrote:You are allowed to breath , without any breath sounds the reader sounds a bit dead, but if you feel they sound like you just finished the marathon , you may be better to squash them rather than cut them out (amplify at say -2 and listen). Sometimes cutting bits out ruins the pacing of the recording .

Anne
If you do want something completely gone, but don't want to ruin the pace of the recording, copy a bit of silence from the end of your recording of about the same length, and paste it over the bit you want gone.
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Post by neckertb »

lulularsen wrote:Yes that´s it

I think I just record it again. I can hear it too much
The trick is to find the position for your mic so that your breath won't hit it directly. A bit to the side of the mouth usually works fine. And I did not hear a single plosive in your new recording, so I guess you found a way :D
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Post by TriciaG »

I'm still confused as to whether the problem was loud breathing or plosives. LOL!
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alanmapstone
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Post by alanmapstone »

I am having a problem with my Audacity recordings and would appreciate any help.

When I play back the recording, some words contain tiny clips, which do not make the words incomprehensible, but do make it sound 'swallowed' or rushed. I have been told by a proof listener that these clips are acceptable for standard PL, but I would like to get rid of them.

If anyone can help on this, I can upload a sample file or point to a file already uploaded which contains examples.

alan
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Post by philchenevert »

alanmapstone wrote:I am having a problem with my Audacity recordings and would appreciate any help.

When I play back the recording, some words contain tiny clips, which do not make the words incomprehensible, but do make it sound 'swallowed' or rushed. I have been told by a proof listener that these clips are acceptable for standard PL, but I would like to get rid of them.

If anyone can help on this, I can upload a sample file or point to a file already uploaded which contains examples.

alan
a sample would be nice. Of course, watching the wave pattern while you record allows you to see how high it is and so modulate your voice or settings and avoid clipping.
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