Compress it all or one by one.

[Gustavs]

Hey guys.

I'm recording vocals under the beat and I am not sure on how to use compressor tool properly

Since the whole vocal track consists of many small recorded fragments and some of them are in different volume/audio levels since I am recording at home and not in a studio.

I read an tutorial that I have to use the compressor tool in Audacity by checking the highs and lows of each clip on the output level meter and then adding the middle average in the Compresorr effect Threshold scale.

But that seems a bit messy, and also since each clips highs and lows are a bit different, wouldn't it make the track uneven?

Is there a way to equalize/compress all the vocals together so that they are on the same level so to speak ?

I'm rather new to recording process, and my workflow for recording a song is like this.

1. Record vocals, (I'm using Zoom H4N )
2. Get noise profile.
3. Remove noise.
4. Use compressor tool to each clip by adjusting the threshold.
5. Export in the end.

http://hiphop-producer.com/20-minute-gu ... -computer/

Basically it's this guide.

If you can give me a good link where I can read up on these things and improve my workflow getting a better sounding end result would be great.

[steve]

As a 20 minute tutorial that looks pretty good, but I've been working with sound for many years and I'm still learning - Like learning to play an instrument, it's one of those things that never ends.

If you're recoding the vocals in multiple sections I would suggest using the Amplify effect on one section at a time to get them all sounding about the same volume before you apply any compression (adjust the "Amplification (dB)" setting to a negative amount if you want to make the selection less loud).

Once you have done that, select all of the vocal and apply the Amplify effect once more, but this time use the default "Amplification (dB)". This will make the highest peak in the audio just touch the top or bottom of the track (0 dB). Then apply the Compressor effect to even out the dynamics.

[Gustavs]

Hey.

Interesting.Thank you for your input. Ye, I will have to do that since the volume is indeed jumping for each individual clip.

Bad thing is that right now if i select only the vocals w/o the beat and apply compressor the Audacity Crashes, but if i just ad compresor w/o selecting anything( meaning that everything is selected even the beat) then it works, and this goes for every other effect. But I will make a new project and see how it goes there.

My sound waves are looking a bit too peaky, meaning that they are very loud, but that is what I get from my mic. If i move further from the mic then the cloud mayebe looks more subtle, but it sounds weird as if i am in a Room, and if i adjust the mic level very low then i have to move really close to the mic and again it sounds a bit weird, so the average satisfactory mic level is about 18 now. But the cloud is usually takeing up the whole section, (top to botom.) But ehh, Still sounds rather good.

[steve]

if i select only the vocals w/o the beat and apply compressor the Audacity Crashes

Oh dear, that shouldn't happen.
Could you look in the Help menu > About Audacity and tell us the exact version that you are using.
It should say something like: "Audacity 1.3.14 beta (Unicode)"
All of the numbers are important, so please give the full version name.

[Gustavs]

Hey

It's this.

Audacity ® 1.3.14-beta (Unicode)

It crashes, but it seems that when i have closed it down trough Ctrl+ alt + delete and then loaded the last save I had + file recovery it gets me back to where i Last was+ the Compression has been applied as well.

Another problem is that I get some Host audio device error quite often + I have to wait 3 secs +- each time i press play( But That's due to the fact that I have like 50 Tracks after all those Vocal takes)

Sorry that I cant specify the exact error since i forgot, but i will take a print screen next time to be sure.

[Gale Andrews]

Audacity ® 1.3.14-beta (Unicode)

It crashes, but it seems that when i have closed it down trough Ctrl+ alt + delete and then loaded the last save I had + file recovery it gets me back to where i Last was+ the Compression has been applied as well.

If a project gets "flaky", you can do File > Export Multiple, which will export each track as a WAV file. Then you can import each track into a new project window and save it as an .aup project with a new name.

If these crashes happen a lot, it would help us to see the .aup file (or if you never saved a project, the "autosave" file, here):
Windows 2000/XP: Documents and Settings<user name>Application DataAudacityAutoSave
Windows Vista/7: Users<user name>AppDataRoamingAudacityAutoSave

Those folders might be hidden, if so, see these links:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutoria ... al151.html for Windows Vista or 7
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutoria ... ial62.html for previous versions of Windows .

You can attach those using "Upload attachment" underneath where you post messages.

If you think a crash could happen, also click Help > Show Log... then Log > Save... . If there is a crash, the log may be useful too.

Another problem is that I get some Host audio device error quite often + I have to wait 3 secs +- each time i press play( But That's due to the fact that I have like 50 Tracks after all those Vocal takes)

Sorry that I cant specify the exact error since i forgot, but i will take a print screen next time to be sure.

Audacity will struggle with 50 tracks, that is a lot of data. It is possible a large number of tracks could cause a crash sooner or later. You can select some of the tracks and Tracks > Mix and Render when you no longer need them to be separate. Here are some tips:
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Playb ... h_Playback .



Gale

[Gustavs]

Hmmm, I'm sorry. I did not have AppData in this location "Windows Vista/7: Users<user name>AppDataRoamingAudacityAutoSave" And I did the Unchecking of hidden files. Weird.


Il check on it tomorrow again, will do some search. Maybe I can find it in different place.

[Gustavs]

Bit off topic, but How can I decrease the whole work tracks length? Right now I am working with a 3 min song but my total track has extended to about 40 mins. It's hard to scroll back and forth like this. Id like that the whole working area extends only to about 4 mins.

Also, If I want to export just a short part of the song and all the vocals recorded underneath this part lined up in a long trail going downwards, how can I do that?

Thank you

[Gale Andrews]

Hmmm, I'm sorry. I did not have AppData in this location "Windows Vista/7: Users<user name>AppDataRoamingAudacityAutoSave" And I did the Unchecking of hidden files. Weird.


Il check on it tomorrow again, will do some search. Maybe I can find it in different place.

Users<user name>AppDataRoamingAudacityAutoSave is in the drive Windows is installed on (usually C:).

So if Windows is on C: and your account name is "Gustavs", you want C:UsersGustavsAppDataRoamingAudacity .



Gale

[steve]

Bit off topic

Yes it is
I'm not totally clear what you're asking but I think that you may be looking for Zooming and Export Selection. This section about Selection may also be useful.

It's generally better to start a new topic for new questions so that the thread does not become fragmented and confusing.