I am trying to normalize some audio. I select the audio and then click normalize, leaving the settings as they are defaulted. When I preview, the sound is quite a bit louder - this is good. When I click OK to actually run the normalization, it looks like it’s processing (blue process bars display), but when complete the audio is unchanged. Other effects seem to be working - I’ve tried speeding up the audio and it works fine.
Any ideas? (And what should those default settings be anyway?)
If the audio is already at the specified peak level, or if “Normalize maximum amplitude” is not selected, then there will be no audible change.
See here for how to use the Normalize effect: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/normalize.html
Normalize and Amplify are not loudness tools. They’re arithmetic tools.
“Increase the size of the blue waves until the highest peak reaches 0 (or wherever you set).”
That’s it. If one of the peaks in your performance is already at 0 (maximum) the tool won’t do anything. This can be anything like the noise you made when you dropped the microphone or the dog barked.