Amplify effect not working

[snazitto]

When copying cassettes to create mp3s, I followed the instructions in the manual. To amplify, I do what it says - select all, amplify etc. (not looking at instructions at this exact moment). However, it won't amplify. If I highlight a selection, it will. Any thoughts why it won't work when I select all? Kind of a hassle if I end up having to do it all manually.

[waxcylinder]

The quickest way to select the whole project is to use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+A - or if you just have a single stereo track, just click in the empty part of the Track Control Panel at the left of the track.

WC

[snazitto]

Hi. Thanks for the reply.

I understand that. What I was explaining was that when I selected the whole project, it would not amplify. Only if I selected a part. I just tried again on a new recording. However, this time I amplified BEFORE adding labels to tracks and it worked. So I guess you can't amplify the entire thing AFTER you apply labels? After applying labels it seems you need to amplify track by track? This is all completely new to me. Just discovered that I can transfer my tapes to mp3s. So I figured I was just missing something as a novice. The tutorial directed to add labels and amplify after that. However that did not work for me. It was amplify first, then labels and it works fine. I've only transferred 2 cassettes so far so not sure if it was a fluke. Will experiment some more. But if that is indeed the order, the directions should be modified to help other novices out! Thanks again.

[steve]

What I was explaining was that when I selected the whole project, it would not amplify.

the Amplify effect will amplify to a maximum of 0 dB (which is when a peak in the waveform reaches the top or bottom of the track).
Amplifying any higher than this will push the waveform off the edges of the track and cause distortion, so by default it is not allowed.
I suspect that some part of your track is already touching the top or bottom of the track - if you can't see where this is happening, try zooming in a bit. Also look carefully at the start and end of the track in case there is a high peak hiding there.

[Dth4h95]

What I was explaining was that when I selected the whole project, it would not amplify.

the Amplify effect will amplify to a maximum of 0 dB (which is when a peak in the waveform reaches the top or bottom of the track).
Amplifying any higher than this will push the waveform off the edges of the track and cause distortion, so by default it is not allowed.
I suspect that some part of your track is already touching the top or bottom of the track - if you can't see where this is happening, try zooming in a bit. Also look carefully at the start and end of the track in case there is a high peak hiding there.

Thanks steve. I was wondering why I could amplify some stuff and other stuff I couldn't. Now I know, Thanks

[billw58]

Following on Steve's point, Amplify is one of the last steps you want to perform. Look through your recording and get rid of any ticks and pops first. Although you are recording from cassette, there could be "thumps" when the machines starts or stops. If the cassettes were recorded from vinyl, there could be vinyl ticks and pops recorded.

-- Bill

[Alejandro]

If this helps, you'll also notice that when you use the slider on the amplify effect, the OK button will gain focus and go grey, affecting enabling the effect and disabling it. The point at which it goes grey is when your amplificatin dB's has gone too high. When this happens, slide the control over to the left a little until the OK button gains focus again. At that point, you should be able to hit OK and your effect should be applied to your selection. Hope this info helps.

[kozikowski]

And just to be clear, Amplify and its cousin Normalize are arithmetic tools. They do their job and don't pay the slightest bit of attention to the sound, music or show. If the loudest part of the show was a gunshot or other loud event, then that gunshot will be placed at the highest number (0 if that's what you used) and the rest of the show will be amplified the same amount whether it's appropriate or not.

This kills you when you have clicks and pops in your record. One pop at the 25 minute mark is enough to mess with the loudness of the whole show.

Another extreme is the show with gentle, flat loudness over the whole performance. That show will "Amplify" much louder than the first because there are no sudden peaks. The loudness will just keep going up until the first gentle bit of waveform happens to kiss 0.

So that's the problem with the people who want to batch process their vinyl transfers. You really need to listen to each batch of music so see if what Audacity did was appropriate or not.

Koz