Exporting as Stereo WAV Files

[ejonesy]

Hi,

hopefully this will be easy to answer! I've just recorded a couple of tracks that I'm sending to a studio as WAV files to be properly mastered, however they have reviewed them and asked me to do a couple of things first:

1. The files are mono at the moment and they need them in stereo. How do I change this? When I hit file - export as WAV there is no option to to select as stereo, I take it there's a setting somewhere I need to change?

2. Secondly the output has been set too high causing it to clip and distort. They said to bring the master fader down so that the mix doesn't peak over 0db at any point? Again, not sure how I do this.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Ed

[steve]

The files are mono at the moment and they need them in stereo.

Did they say that they "need" them in stereo or did they just warn you that the recordings are mono?

What exactly are you recording and how are you recording it?

They said to bring the master fader down so that the mix doesn't peak over 0db at any point?

Again, what exactly are you recording, and how, and with what equipment?

[ejonesy]

Thanks for the reply. Yes they have asked for them to be changed to stereo, not sure the exact reason they need them in stereo.....

The tracks are just acoustic guitar and vocals recorded with a mic into a mixer, and an external soundcard from my mixer into my laptop, pretty simple set-up!

The files are all multi tracked if that makes a difference? Recorded guitar bits and vocals separatly.

[ejonesy]

Just realised I've put this in the wrong section. I'm using version 1.2.6 of Audacity on Windows XP..........

Moderator note: moved it for you

[steve]

Irrespective of how good their reputation may appear to be, I'd avoid that studio. It should be absolutely no trouble at all for them to work with mono files if they know what they are doing. If they were merely "advising" you that your files were mono (in case you hadn't realised), then that would be different, but they should have no difficulty in converting them for you.

The tracks are just acoustic guitar and vocals recorded with a mic into a mixer, and an external soundcard from my mixer into my laptop, pretty simple set-up!

The first and most important thing is to ensure that your original "raw" recordings do not distort.
We generally recommend setting the recording level so that the highest peaks reach up to about -6dB (that's about half the height of the track). This will allow a small safety margin. If any peaks reach the top or bottom of the track (zero dB) then it's time for a re-shoot. Digital audio has zero tolerance for recording too high (too "hot"). Zero dB is an absolute limit and exceeding 0dB will cause clipping distortion. (there is one technical exception to this "rule", but it's a very good rule and if you stick to it you will avoid problems).

Sometimes it's better to leave a bit more "overhead" (safety space) than -6dB. The important thing is to keep the highest peaks away from the top and bottom edges of the track. (Obviously it is not advisable to go to extremes of low level recording as eventually the sound quality will suffer).

Once you have your "raw" recordings (and they are not clipped) you can start mixing them together. When tracks are "mixed", in effect what is happening is that the sounds are being "added" together, so the level of the mixed tracks will be higher than the levels of the individual tracks. Again it is important that the total level does not reach 0dB. As long as you are careful, you can go pretty high, and with Audacity 1.3.12 you can usually go a bit over 0dB while you are working without damaging your show, but the final mix must not go over 0 dB. Use the volume sliders in the Track Control Panels (left side of the track) to adjust the levels of each track.

Note that if you have multiple tracks, you can use the "Pan" sliders in the Track Control Panels to make individual tracks sound like they are more to the right or left in the mix. The final mix will then be in stereo.

While mixing, keep an eye on the green playback meters (you can grab the meter with the mouse pointer and pull it out of the main Audacity interface, then stretch it to the full width of your screen. This will help you see the peak level more clearly.

When you are happy with the mix (and you are sure that the peak level is below 0 dB), Save the project, then select all tracks (Ctrl+A = Select All) and Mix the tracks down into a single track. (if any of the track Pan sliders are off centre you will get a stereo track produced).

Finally, before Exporting your masterpiece, use the Amplify effect to bring the overall level of the mix close to 0 dB (around -0.3 dB is a good level for the final mix).
If the mix will be going onto a CD, check that the Project Rate is set to 44100 (bottom left corner of the main Audacity window) and Export as WAV.

I'm using version 1.2.6 of Audacity on Windows XP..........

I would highly recommend upgrading to Audacity 1.3.12. It has many enhancements over the (very) old 1.2.6 version.

[ejonesy]

ok thanks some good info there! Does that mean there's no way of editing what I have to get rid of the clipping/distortion? Took me ages to record the tracks and don't want to start from scratch again if at all possible.

Tried downloading ver 1.3.12 before but wouldn't download properly. If I can get it downloaded is there anyway of importing my tracks and bringing the db level down to a reasonable level?

[kozikowski]

<<<It should be absolutely no trouble at all for them to work with mono files if they know what they are doing.>>>

...or they work in a large company trying to manage thousands of clips and files. Nothing is more irritating than to have one submission that doesn't match the others for whatever reason. It contributes uncertainty. Producers all up and down the food chain hate uncertainty.

If you look up and down the forum, I never agreed that mono files can do everything and are perfectly acceptable in all circumstances. I record mono voice tracks all the time for major productions and I wouldn't dream of submitting anything but a proper stereo sound file to the Avid, Flame, Inferno, Final Cut editor, or worse yet, the nebulous, unknowable client.

Duplicate the track (in Audacity 1.3.12) Control-D and Make Stereo Track in the drop-down menus on the left of the track(s).

You shouldn't be using Audacity 1.2 for serious work. It's too unstable, the tools are too simple, and it's no longer patched, updated, or improved. On certain computers, it won't run at all.

http://audacityteam.org/download/

Koz

[kozikowski]

<<<is there anyway of importing my tracks and bringing the db level down to a reasonable level?>>>

Certainly, in many different tools like Effect > Amplify (using a negative number).

But what you can't do is fix crunchy, crackling overload distortion. That's usually fatal and we warn people until our lips are blue to avoid that always.

If it's not too bad, you can try Effect > Clip Fix (again in Audacity 1.3.12). try it multiple times on the same clip and listen carefully each time. Reduce the level before you do that. Repairing clipping audio increases the size of the blue waves (to where they should have been before you clipped them off.)

Koz

[kozikowski]

I don't know that we ever established this, but if you Saved an Audacity Project in 44100, 32-bit Floating (Audacity default) then the show may not be clipping...yet. Open the project -- not the Export -- and apply Effect > Amplify at -3dB and see if the harsh, gritty sound goes away. You may not need Effect > Clip Fix at all.

Koz

[whomper]

If it clipped or is distorted there is really no way to undo that.
A few things, if it is very minor, might help a little but the best approach is to re-record it right and use this as a learning experience.
Record at -24dBFS to be safe, then you can then mix and amplify later to make it really loud.

Do not ever try to record as loud as possible.
Loudness is the last thing you adjust to achieve.

I second the idea to run as fast and far away from that mastering engineer as you can. Sounds like a teen ager on the net trying to make money for his next guitar.

A real studio can take mono tracks and make stereo. That is how most CDs are done these days. Single MONO recordings - up to 64 channels of them - are made of instruments singers etc and then mixed to make STEREO.

Every studio has their own process but they all include keeping the levels low. They need room to do their thing with eq. And adding two tracks goes up 6db or so anyway. Get the studios guidelines before you do anything. DL one from discmakers.com and a couple of other places and compare them.


Pls tell us who this "studio" is that you WERE dealing with.