I am using Audacity 2.0.5 on a Windows 10, 64 bit system. I mostly do audio books. I recently used the noise gate plug-in for a file with excessive mouth clicks. I find it really hard to get good results from that plug-in. That’s probably due to my inexperience, or perhaps it just can’t do what I want, which is to get rid of the mouth clicks and smacks that tend to drive me crazy without clipping the ends of words. So that’s a little background, and advice on that is welcome, but to the issue at hand: Before applying the noise gate to this file, I wanted to save it without doing any post-production, so I would have the original in case I didn’t like what noise gate did. I chose “save project” rather than “save project as” (what I normally do). This is because I had made a couple of edits before the noise gate and I knew I wanted those edits saved even if the noise gate didn’t work. So I assumed that “save project” would save the file under the original file name. It wasn’t greyed out and so I figured it worked. I then applied the noise gate and re-saved it under a different file name. After finding out I didn’t like what noise gate had done, I went back in to locate the old file, and although I could find the .aup file, I couldn’t find the associated data file. So, best I can tell, the old file is lost. It looks like I’ll have to re-record 18 pages of text, unless someone out there has a brilliant solution. Any ideas? Many thanks!
I mostly do audio books.
Announce them? How many books are published? ACX/AudioBook?
I find it really hard to get good results from that plug-in.
Noise Gate reads better on the package than it actually works. Your experience is perfectly normal.
I wanted to save it without doing any post-production
Backups are Very Highly Recommended. File > Export: WAV (Microsoft) and change the filename. “Thursday-Chapter-Two-Backup.” That will give you a plain, common, uncompressed, very high quality WAV file for when the compost hits the fan, the computer goes toes-up and you don’t feel like announcing it again. True Obsessives will copy it over to a thumb drive.
Lip Smacks can be helped along with a sibilance processor. This is where it gets a little messy. There is a good custom one not posted for regular use, and a couple of third party offerings.
I need to drop off. As we go.
Koz
Koz,
Thanks so much for the prompt response. Yes, I narrate the books, and through ACX. Based on what you’re telling me, I won’t spend much more time trying to get noise gate working. I may research the sibilance processor though. The really puzzling thing, though, is that Audacity did not save the file when I did “save project.” I suppose I should have chosen “save project as” and renamed it. Well…onward and upward.
Sorry, maybe someone else has some ideas for recovering your file…
…You can probably re-record the 18 pages faster than you can figure-out how to recover the file (if it can be done at all).
As far as a general procedure, I’d export to WAV immediately after recording, then open a new project and bring your WAV file(s) into the project. And, you can export your work to WAV and save your project as often as you feel necessary. And, you can make backups to whatever extent you feel necessary depending on how critical the files are, how much work you’ve put in, and the extent of your paranoia.
I recently used the noise gate plug-in for a file with excessive mouth clicks.
The Click Removal or Repair effects will probably work better for you. The Repair effect requires you to select the sounds you want to repair, and Click Removal will usually work better if you also select the parts you want to fix, rather than applying it to the whole file (and potentially damaging some of the good audio).
Or if the clicks are between sentences you can just manually mute them out.
A noisegate kills (or reduces) the sound when it falls below a threshold. For example, it can kill the room noise & preamp hiss between sentences (or between songs on a musical recording). If the threshold is set too high, you’ll remove sounds you want to keep. Even when a noisegate is working properly it can sometimes get distracting to hear the room-noise cut in-and-out. Our brains can get used to constant low-level background noise, but when it suddenly disappears we notice that “something’s wrong”.
Regular Noise Reduction (where you take a Noise Profile) also works on constant low-level background noise so it won’t remove clicks. It works continuously so you don’t hear it cutting in-and-out, but you can sometimes get artifacts/side-effects that damage the sound.
As a “last resort” there are [u]speciailzed applications[/u] made to remove clicks & pops from digitized vinyl records.
You may be looking for the wrong thing. There is no data file. There is a _data folder. Did you move or rename the _data folder? If so, rename it back to the same name as the AUP file, or put it back in the same folder as the AUP file, then the project should open.
Gale
That’s a Project.
If you completely lost the filenames, you can get them back by opening the AUP file in a text editor and read the first few lines. The original show name is listed under projename=".
Because the show name is burned into the work, you can’t change it outside of Audacity.
Koz
These are my notes on this.
https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/updated-de-clicker-and-new-de-esser-for-speech/34283/1
http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2013/05/01/sleepy-time-dsp-lisp/
http://mda.smartelectronix.com/
And the traditional SpitFish (whose link seems to be napping).
http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=5
Koz
What are you using for a microphone? Newer microphones hit high pitch, harsh tones really hard because “It Sounds More Professional.” It also hurts my ears.
It hurts other’s ears, too, so that gave rise to the De-Esser list and custom equalization curves to get rid of the excessive crispness.
I don’t have that problem with the older dynamic (moving coil) microphones. I would give you a list, but I’m not at home right this second. The RE20 Electrovoice is found in many broadcast studios.
By the way, that harshness makes it hard to hit ACX AudioBook Compliance. The high, sharp peaks mess up your RMS/Peak readings. I can create a simple voice test that passes ACX right out of the studio recording. I’ve done it twice. No filters or effects.
Koz
Could you do us a favor and post a clicky, essy sound test? Create it in mono WAV roughly according to this formula:
http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/TestClip/Record_A_Clip.html
“Sister Suzy samples sausages by the sea shore.”
Any text or presentation you hate.
Don’t filter it or apply any effects past possibly Amplify which doesn’t affect the sound quality.
We have had instances of posters complaining bitterly of destroyed recordings only they could hear. Everybody else thought it sounded just fine. Headphones or a good sound system are required for production.
Thanks,
Koz
I can create a simple voice test that passes ACX right out of the studio recording. I’ve done it twice. No filters or effects.
Except Amplify. Recommended peak waves for recording are -6dB. The peaks for ACX are -3dB, so you’re likely to have to change the volume a little no matter what. But no Compression, De-Essing, Eq, Gating etc.
Koz
True. In fact, that’s just what I did.
Good advice, thanks. Exporting as a WAV like you’re saying seems better (safer?) than merely saving the project as an AUP.
I need to reacquaint myself with those two effects; it’s been a while and I only remember having a bit of trouble getting the results I wanted.
My mistake. I meant the data folder.
I didn’t rename or move it. I simply chose “save project” after making a couple of edits (but before the noise gate application).
If you’re trying to post a sound file, you may be doing it wrong. It should be in WAV (Microsoft) and not exceed ten seconds stereo or twenty seconds mono. Roughly like this.
http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/TestClip/Record_A_Clip.html
The forum will not support long clips unless you choose one of the compressed formats like MP3, and if you do that, we won’t be able to use it.
Koz