newbie: modify sound duration and dB

Effects, Recipes, Interfacing with other software, etc.
Forum rules
If you require help using Audacity, please post on the forum board relevant to your operating system:
Windows
Mac OS X
GNU/Linux and Unix-like
Post Reply
aleplgr
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:17 pm
Operating System: Please select

newbie: modify sound duration and dB

Post by aleplgr » Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:26 pm

Hi! I'm new to audio processing and I've just discovered Audacity, I was asked to modify and mp3 file, for example any from here:
http://www.findsounds.com/
to make it last only 50ms and rise it's dB until 130, the rise time should be as fast as possible (I was told 2 ms) so if it starts at 130 dB it's perfect. I've just downloaded Audacity 1.2.6 and I'm giving a try but could anyone please give me a hint? how could I control de 50 ms duration?
Thanks in advance and sorry for the newbie question..

steve
Site Admin
Posts: 80677
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:43 am
Operating System: Linux *buntu

Re: newbie: modify sound duration and dB

Post by steve » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:19 pm

I'm not sure what you are trying to do - when you say "shorten" the sound, do you want to trim off the beginning / end to leave a tiny clip, or do you want to speed it up?

Also "rise it's dB until 130" does not make sense. By default, Audacity has a scale of -1 to +1 where a signal that reaches these levels is at 100%. Usually in audio, signal levels are measured from -infinity to 0, where "0" is 100% and "-infinity" is silent.
9/10 questions are answered in the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

alatham
Posts: 1591
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:27 pm
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: newbie: modify sound duration and dB

Post by alatham » Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:53 pm

A 2ms rise time doesn't strike me as a very good idea. In my experience, anything less than about 8-9 ms sounds like a click at the beginning of the file.

To add to Steve's response about the dB level, the dB-SPL (sound pressure level) is dependent on the volume level of your speakers. Audacity has no way of knowing what the dB-SPL level of an audio file will be. Furthermore, 130 dB is beyond the threshold for pain unless you've got some hearing protection, it's not a good idea to play sound files that loud. You might blow out your ears or your speakers.

Post Reply