Wondering about adding a short clip (a correction) to an existing track, for an audiobook. Still in WAV form, still unmastered. I have found that “fiddling around” with the Amplify effect can really help me match the new clip to the rest of the old track, but I don’t want to fiddle around. I want to have a system, and to understand this better. Any suggestions? Thank you very much!
Oh also- I googled to try and find a video on this subject, but could not. Which seems strange.
There are two (linked) settings. You can set Amplification (dB) or New Peak Amplitude (dB).
You want Amplification.
Example. Your main-original track reads -20dB RMS and the new track reads -18dB (2dB louder).
If you select/highlight the new track and set Amplification to -2dB they will now match. (Of course, that actually an attenuation of 2dB, not amplification).
Your peaks are limited to the “digital maximum” of 0dB unless you check Allow Clipping. Audacity itself can go over 0dB without clipping but if you do that, run the Amplify or Normalize effect on the whole thing after editing to bring the level down before exporting.
…If it doesn’t sound right you may have to make a manual adjustment.
Oh my gosh Doug THANK YOU, thank you, thank you. This is exactly what I needed to know, and could not find. I was thinking the amplification box was the level to which you wanted to set it! No, it’s the amount of amplification (or yes, attenuation, well said.) Okay, got it now! (I think. Haha.)