I’m using Audacity 3.1.3 on a Windows 10 machine.
I have downloaded some old recordings that show up as stereo channels although they aren’t truly stereo, there’s different data on each channel and they don’t play as stereo.
The cursor proceeds to the end of the display so it looks like the second part that show up in the second channel doesn’t get played.
How can I make this whole recording into a mono channel and make sure all of it is played?
How do I attach a screenshot?
How do I attach a screenshot?
Scroll down from a forum text window > Attachments > Add Files.
make sure all of it is played?
Select the stereo track > Tracks > Mix > Mix Stereo Down To Mono.
That reduces each side by half and smashes them together into one mono track.
If you listen to the show on good headphones, does it sound like it’s trying to be stereo? Is one channel noise and the other clear show? Might you be better off isolating the one good side and make that mono? It’s super good to figure out what the producer tried to do.
Koz
Perhaps you are thinking of “Split Stereo to Mono” in the drop-down menu of the track control panel.
Then Tracks > Align Tracks > Align End To End.
Select the stereo track > Tracks > Mix > Mix Stereo Down To Mono.
That reduces each side by half and smashes them together into one mono track.
If you listen to the show on good headphones, does it sound like it’s trying to be stereo? Is one channel noise and the other clear show? Might you be better off isolating the one good side and make that mono? It’s super good to figure out what the producer tried to do.
No, there’s no sign that it’s “trying to be stereo”, the lower channel does not play.
It really should be one longer mono track, but shows as two simultaneous L/R tracks, except that the two tracks don’t play simultaneously. That is, I can only hear the top track in both sides of the earphones and nothing I do can switch to the lower track. Also, the cursor stops at the end of the visible tracks and play stops.
So you’re saying one channel is the first part of the concert and the other is 2nd part? That can be fixed by “splitting to mono” and shifting one of the tracks.
I have to log-off for an hour or so I can’t give you the details yet… And a true-mono file will play through both speakers so everything should be OK.
I assume those “blips” in the right channel noise that needs to be edited out?
P.S.
That is, I can only hear the top track in both sides of the earphones and nothing I do can switch to the lower track.
Actually… It looks like right channel (bottom) is the same as the left in the beginning before it “dies”, except it’s a little lower in volume.
Try this: [u]Split to Mono[/u]. Now you have two mono tracks that you can edit separately and each track has a separate mute button.
Mute one channel at a time and if the bottom track is the same as the top except lower in volume and messed-up in the 2nd part, you can click the little “X” to delete the bad track, and you’re good to go.
If that’s not the situation, tell what’s going-on with each track and we can figure-out what to do.
OK! That worked, but there’s something odd now: when I paste the separated lower channel onto the upper, that very quiet section is at -35db where on the original lower channel it’s up to -15 or so and very noisy.
I can do some clean-up, but don’t understand why the volume and noise quality changed.
OK! That worked, but there’s something odd now: when I paste the separated lower channel onto the upper,
I’m assuming the lower channel is “junk” and you can simply delete it.
Then you can Amplify or Normalize the remaining mono channel to make it louder.
Yep, that’s what it is.
Thanks to you I’ve got a decently playable version of my old group’s concert from 40+ years ago. Too bad the recorder operator, me, screwed up the sound levels in places, but that’s what they paid for and I was worth every penny.
