When I go to the “Effects” tab, there is no option for the “clip fix” function.
Can anyone help me? Is this even the best way to fix my problem?
My recording has peaks that exceed -3.Db and I need to reduce the overall volume for an ACX audiobook.
I’d love any help anyone can offer!
Thank you!
We publish an ACX Mastering suite of tools. They guarantee Peak and RMS (Loudness) and if you recorded in a quiet room, Noise should pass. Those are the three technical standards for AudioBooks.
https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Audiobook_Mastering
It’s only three tools. That’s the explanation of what to do and where to find the tools. Scroll down to Process.
Clip Fix is a tool that tries to fix problems when your sound gets louder than zero, or 100% on the timeline. That’s a very serious problem and usually creates permanent damage.
We can also give you a head start before you get that far. Record a 20 second sound test and post it on the forum.
http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/TestClip/Record_A_Clip.html
Koz
Thank you so much for this answer.
I’m still stying to figure Audacity out and having a bit of confusion.
I recorded over 14 finished hours of a book in Garageband I was told that all the files have peaks that exceed -3dB so now I’m trying to upload the wav files into Audacity and fix them that way.
But trying to lear a whole now program is proving difficult.
I tried the tutorials from the link you gave me but I don’t have all of those tools under Effects.
And also, I can’t seem to put my wav files into MP3 afterwards.
Thank you,
Evie
HI, I can’t even make my 19 second wav sample upload here. It keeps saying the file is too large.
At SELECT CURVE, it doesn’t have a “low roll off for speech” option
My tool bar under EFFECTS doesn’t have “RMS normalize” option
Also doesn’t have a “Limiter” option
Effect > Equalization > Select Curve: Low roll-off for speech, Length of Filter: about 5000 > OK.
Effect > RMS Normalize: Target RMS Level -20dB > OK.
Effect > Limiter: Soft Limit, 0, 0, -3.5dB, 10, No > OK.
Analyze > ACX-Check.
Effect > Equalization, Effect > RMS Normalize, Effect > Limiter and Analyze > ACX Check are all separate tools.
RMS Normalize and ACX Check are custom tools and need to be installed in Audacity. There’s instructions where to get the tools from in the instructions for Mastering. That’s one reason the instructions are so long.
If you’re using Audacity 2.3.2, Equalization > Low Rolloff for Speech and Export to MP3 are included. Audacity (upper left) About Audacity.
Also doesn’t have a “Limiter” option
The Effects listing is in two groups with a line in the middle. Limiter is below the line
It keeps saying the file is too large.
It also says the submission needs to be Mono, one blue wave, and not Stereo, two blue waves. There are instructions how to convert. Look in the blue instructional link on that page.
There is a computer hygiene problem as well. Are you working on the MP3s you created in Garage Band? Did you make WAV copies of all the work? MP3 creates some sound damage each time you make a new one. You should do all work in WAV and only convert to MP3 just before you post to the internet or ACX.
Are you under time constraints? Did you promise someone you were going to read a book by the end of the week?
It’s sometimes difficult to reach ACX quality standards from a home studio. We have a good record for getting you published, but it happens with delays and across multiple time zones and it’s not fast.
Koz
This may seem to be a little scattershot, but Audacity started out life a good, general purpose audio editor and show manager. Only later did we discover how handy it would be for audiobook production. That’s why the tools are scattered all over the place and also why you need the Audacity 2.3.2 version or later.
Koz
Hi, I’ve attached a sample to see if it meets ACX standards. Thank you
sample.aup (2.53 KB)
Sorry, but an AUP file is just the “instructions” for the project and doesn’t contain the actual audio. You’ll need to upload/attach an MP3.
I suggest you take some time and figure-out how to install, enable, and run ACX check (and then the other tools).
Or if you are uncomfortable with the technical side of things, maybe you can be the talent and find someone else to the producing and engineering. I once saw a clip on TV of an author recording his audiobook and he was in a professional studio on one side of the glass with a technical person (maybe two people) on the other side of the glass taking care of the recording and asking the author to re-read certain sections. Of course the editing and mastering would be done later by an engineer too.