Hello,
I have downloaded the free version of Audacity.
I am completely new to Audacity and to recording audio.
I want to record a 10 hour section of noises and then make a log (on paper) of all the sounds and their associated start and stop times. My concern is that I will have to trawl through the 10 hours of recording which would presumably take 10 hours.
Is there a different way to do this to speed it up?
Best Regards
ppeetteerr
What noises are you going to record? How are you going to do this recording (just set a recorder up and let it record)? will this be done on a continous recording or will there be breakes inbetween the different sounds? I believe that these are questions that will be needed to be answered before there can be a answer to your questions. Have a great day Marty 
Others may be able to advise you better but I think that recording 10 hours as one file will place a strain on any computer.
However;
If it is possible then you will be able to see the noise waveform in the Audacity window Using the magnifying glass symbol + in the tool bar will let you zoom in and out and identify the start and stop times of noises.
Hello,
Thanks for the replies.
I want to record the audible reversing alarms of the vehicles from the builders opposite my property. This would be one whole continuous 10 hour day. I had planned to use (just as a trial) my usb webcam microphone connected directly into the PC.
Perhaps somebody could advise a better solution or better microphone??
Best regards
ppeetteerr
To save recording continuously you “could” use Transport > Sound Activated Recording. Use the menu item underneath that one to set the threshold level so that it only records when the reversing horn (or other loud noises) occur. The drawback is that this feature does not yet label start and stop times. You can vote for that if you like.
Otherwise you may be able to use Analyze > Sound Finder to label the horn sounds automatically if they are sufficiently louder than other noises. Then type the time in the label.
Note that you won’t be able to save more than 13.5 hours as an Audacity project, assuming your project rate (bottom left of the Audacity window) is 44100 Hz. You probably don’t need it higher than 22050 Hz which would let you save 27 hours as an Audacity project. See http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Release_Notes_2.0.0#Large_Projects .
Gale
Thanks guys,
I’ll be trying some of those suggestions
Best Regards
ppeetteerr
Hello,
Just to re-cap a couple of queries I have:
- Can anyone suggest a low cost USB microphone that would suit
- Is there an easier/better way to review the 10 hour recording other than trawling through for 10 hours. Any advise please
Best Regards
ppeetteerr
At “low cost” the microphone in your webcam is probably the best you can do. Some are directional and you can point it at the noise.
Audacity does not have “scrubbing” where you pull the cursor back and forth and the sound goes by rapidly. Tens of hours is rough to manage in post production. You may find that the computer will stop or fail before you finish the recording. Audacity is not a good surveillance recorder.
You may find that you can recognize the blue waves on the timeline when the trucks back up. The tone series is fairly recognizable by looking. However, you can’t do it viewing ten hours at once. You will need to zoom into the blue waves and then zoom back out to see the “show” in segments.
http://manual.audacityteam.org/help/manual/man/zooming.html
Surveillance recorders have convenient tools for searching by content and Audacity tends to be missing those tools. Its usual job is recording Gibson, not Peterbilt.
A friend of mine who is really good at making a fuss at problems such as construction noises had to move.
Koz
You may have answered your own question. Use the video recording software that came with the camcorder. Most video editors have scrubbing and it’s a snap to zip through hours of footage (OK, not a snap, but you know what I mean). You point the lens at a clock and that will give you real time of day. If you can see the trucks, so much the better.
Real time of day can be a problem for consumer camcorders. Grown-up cameras use SMPTE Timecode which can capture the time you recorded the show. It’s the time stamp.
Koz
Hello Guys,
Thanks very much for all your help and advise.
I have found, on some trials I did that my pc stops recording after about 2 hours so I may have to try some of your other suggestions (not the moving though).
Best Regards
ppeetteerr