Reverberation ?

[Hammond]

Your manual on reverb is difficult to understand - seems all about bouncing off walls in rooms. I am recording from a clavinova. The sound from the clavinova is fine but replayed from audacity is poor. Is this reverberation ? ...and how can I improve it ? Peter Hammond

[Locopomo]

I doubt we're talking about reverb here. Could you post some more details about your setup? How you are recording, exactly what's poor about the recording, etc? It would help to pin down exactly what the problem is.

[Hammond]

Thanks for a speedy reply. My clavinova works fine and gives a clear output through its speakers. Via Audacity and my computer a soft piano sound is o.k. but if I try to record a piece with different loud and soft expression it "reverberates" - or buzzes, or is distorted. Also, I can split the keyboard where the music is played with a doublebass and another (treble) instrument. The bass is awful ! I have played around with various effects on a copy with no success.

I should add that whilst being a fair musician, I'm a lousy computerbuff. If you CAN help, you will have to write very simple instructions as if communicating with an idiot !...............Peter

[Locopomo]

It's not reverb, it's distortion. I suspect that the input level is too high, which would explain why soft passages are ok but bass or harder playing distorts. How are you connecting the Clavinova to the PC? Line Out or Headphone Out on the keyboard? Are you connecting to a Line In or a Mic In on the PC?

If your using a combination that includes the Headphone Out or Mic In (or both) then the input signal is too "hot". Even if it's Line Out to Line In then the input level could still be too high - try adjusting the input volume in Audacity - it's the right-hand slider in the toolbar.

[Hammond]

Thank you so much. I connect from clavinova outlet to Line In on computer. Your "reduction of input" volume has worked....followed by use of amplification effect. This has eliminated the distortion and increased the volume again. But why don't these reduction/increase amendments cancel each other out ? Also, in the top box in the Amplification window (when I try to use) how is this figure selected ? Sometimes I get e.g. 3.3 (which is useless) and another time e.g. 26.2 (which is fine).

Also- to use this forum - how do I delete my first "topic" (January) - no longer of interest ?

[Locopomo]

Experiment a little more with the input levels, you should get a happy medium where you don't have to record at one level then amplify to get the desired result. As for "cancelling out" - recording at too high a level causes your audio hardware to distort, but if you record at a lower level then you have a clean recording which you can then adjust without adding distortion. Which leads to your next question - The difference in the amplification (dB) figure is determined by the original level - it's how much adjustment is needed to bring the Peak level in the file up to zero dB.

[Hammond]

Thanks once again.