Oh look, an audacity problem!

[Deathcrush]

:p

I have been pretty much totally satisfied with this program, apart from my last two recordings.

I went to work on a previously saved project, and gave it another listen first. Suddenly, half way through the song, the track that contained a wav. of all the instruments excluding the vocals and samples just went silent.

The music is still there, you can see it visually, nothing has disapeared, but somehow, some of the track seems to just go silent, and then eventually come back in until the end of the song. The rest of the tracks still play during the silent area.

I have never experienced this before, only my last two recordings. Can someone please give me a reason for this happening? :confused:

I'm looking at you, Moseph. :p

[Moseph]

Well, thanks for putting me on the spot.

Anyway, did you check to see if this was happening on old projects too? If so, then I'll need to think about it some more before I can make a recommendation.


Probably more important, did you move data around on your hard drive, or delete files or folders recently?

It sounds like maybe you're .aup file is pointing to files that aren't there anymore. If that's the case, then either you moved or renamed some files and Audacity remembers the waveform shape in the .aup file, or those files are gone some other way. If that's the case, I don't think you've still got your data.

[Deathcrush]

Nope, I certainly have all of my data.

Even so, why would it only select about ten seconds or so of silence, rather than the entire wav. file track?

:confused:

[Merkaba]

yea...nothing like a free program letting you know why its free.

Its good for fartin around but i refuse to do any real recording with it because I've lost too much already.

[Deathcrush]

So you get the same problem?

Yeah, it's a great program apart from this, especially for free. :)

[Merkaba]

Well I've just had data tracks disappear, or be corrupted or unopeneable. And sometimes the timing gets off and you have to try to reposition the thing. I just dont like it. I supposed to be getting a booted copy of audition from a buddy. Now, I love that program. Plus Audacity just looks....playful. The console doesnt even look serious. ...meh

[Vitriolic Rage]

I used Audacity for a short while, then got frustrated with it, and downloaded Cool Edit Pro 2.
It's annoying how you can't punch-in with Audacity, it records onto a new track.

[Moseph]

Nope, I certainly have all of my data.

Even so, why would it only select about ten seconds or so of silence, rather than the entire wav. file track?

:confused:

Audacity works by a "pointer" system. If you look into the "_data" folder of your save folders, you'll see dozens of .au files that are 10 second chunks of audio.

What audacity really does is take a .wav file, and chop it up into .au chunks and use a series of algorithms to display, edit, and move them. As you make more edits, additional .au files are created. It's how the program handles its non-destructive editing programs.

Since it sounds like you've only lost a few .au files, you may have done something damaging to only a few file blocks on your hard drive, such as obtaining a virus. I'd check for that first.

Secondly, it sounds like maybe you're screwed. You should report this error to the audacity devs (there's a link to their listserv at their website). If you're feeling ambitious (or desperate, whatever), you can go hunting for your lost files by importing those .au files into Audacity and hoping that you can find the chunks you've lost.

I've done this, and it's not exactly a fun process. If anything, it's very tedious.

If you have the option, it's probably best just to re-record. But do things to minimize this from happening again: increase your buffer size for incoming audio (note: this increases latency), and back up everything as soon as it is recorded to a CD-R. I suggest you export multiple .wav files and backup those, so you'll have all of the original tracks in their entirety.

Sorry I can't help more than that.

[Deathcrush]

No, that's great, thanks alot. I never knew about the pointer system before, so perhaps the 'virus' theory is correct. :)

While I have this thread up, I may aswel ask about another problem I have with Audacity.

When I record something, I have to have it very loud in order for it to record properly. This was never a problem for distorted guitar, however, now I want to record keyboard.

http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=ap8dft

The above picture is of a recording of a note on my keyboard. The note was played at a constant volume, it never changes. The keyboard is up pretty loud, and this is me testing a note played lightly. If I were to turn up the keyboard anymore, the heavier notes would clip horribly.

As you can see in the picture, the recording starts off very low volume, and proceeds to reach the correct volume that it would be, were it not screwing up.

That screenshot actually shows one of the less extreme cases.

If anyone could please tell me why it does this, if it ever happens to them, or how to resolve it, that would be excellent.

[Moseph]

what settings are you using on the keyboard?

what output on the keyboard are you using to record with?

[Deathcrush]

I'm not really sure what sort of setting's you're reffering to, but I am using the headphones output.

I'm not sure how that helps though, the program does this to any instrument.

[delinquent]

I'm not really sure what sort of setting's you're reffering to, but I am using the headphones output.

I'm not sure how that helps though, the program does this to any instrument.

yeah i have the same problem with my bass recording on audacity. can barely hear it.

[Deathcrush]

It's not really like that, it's that when you first start playing, it's really quiet and as you keep playing, the volume builds up to what it should be and sounds fine aslong as you keep going. As soon as you stop, when you start playing again, you get the same problem.

[Moseph]

I'm not really sure what sort of setting's you're reffering to, but I am using the headphones output.

I'm not sure how that helps though, the program does this to any instrument.

ok. I was checking to see if you were using a patch setting on your keyboard that had a "swell" effect on it.

The only thing I can think of is if your sound card has a hardware or software compressor or automatic level adjustment. It's rare, but they do exist sometimes.

[Deathcrush]

So the only way to sort this out is to buy a new soundcard?

[fuzzyhair]

So the only way to sort this out is to buy a new soundcard?
I wouldnt go that route. Try Kristal and see if it still does it. If it doesnt than its audacity.

[Phototropic]

Well I've just had data tracks disappear, or be corrupted or unopeneable. And sometimes the timing gets off and you have to try to reposition the thing. I just dont like it. I supposed to be getting a booted copy of audition from a buddy. Now, I love that program. Plus Audacity just looks....playful. The console doesnt even look serious. ...meh

I have audition

:)

It's awesome

I just put the drum tracks on, double-miced the amps up and bang, played

No tweaking, I was happy with the outcome straight off :)

[airborne50caliber]

Oh well, I use Logic now.

[moaner]

I'm thinking of getting that tascam interface sometime if it comes with a version of cubase.

[Deathcrush]

I wouldnt go that route. Try Kristal and see if it still does it. If it doesnt than its audacity.

I already tried, and I initially thought the problem was solved, but it soon proved that it wasn't. :(

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to crank the volumes up really high for my recordings; lower quality, but better than nothing, and plus it's only demo material. :p

[Merkaba]

I have audition

:)

It's awesome

I just put the drum tracks on, double-miced the amps up and bang, played

No tweaking, I was happy with the outcome straight off :)

...bastid

[Moseph]

I'm thinking of getting that tascam interface sometime if it comes with a version of cubase.

I've got an FW-1804 on its way right now. I'm eager to try it out.

[Moseph]

So the only way to sort this out is to buy a new soundcard?

Did you check into a build-in hardware/software compressor? Some compressors have an "RMS" style behavior, where the average of the last few seconds is the output volume.

If you have this option on your soundcard, it's software, or some other software that handles sound in your OS, you can probably disable it.

If it does this in Kristal, it might also be a driver issue. Try updating your soundcard's drivers.

[Win A Rabbit]

about audacity, i was 99% done a song i was working on, then i went to fade a part out, and it froze. it said that the files had been saved, and could be recovered, but i couldn't find the folder they were in. does anyone know what folder these files would be under?

thanks, and sorry for the hi-jack.

[Moseph]

did you save at all before this happened?

there's a temp folder created where you save your files that has all the .au files that audacity uses to create your project.

You'll probably need to import and rearrange the files manually now. It can be done, but it's a huge pain.

Remember everyone: save often! Don't let this happen to you.