Topic: having trouble with audacity, matrix mixing

[crossthreaded]

I never used audacity before, and have tried searching for a how to thread on here but all that comes up are showed that were edited using audacity.

I just stepped up to 4 ch and have recorded 3 shows doing a 4 ch soundboard matrix, I have figured out how to get the files open and have both the sbd and aud visible on the screen but I'm having a little trouble figuring out how to mix the audio from there.  How much of each should I try to mix in and is there a better way to accomplish this than with the slider on the left side of the individual audios?

I recorded the first show in 16/44 but the last 2 I have done in 24/48, I'm sure there is something that I need to do to convert the shows but I'm not sure what. I think this is called dithering but I'm probably mistaken.

If there is a how to thread just point me in the right direction, otherwise a few words of advice would go pretty far right now.

thanks!

[capnhook]

You notice the sliders are in 3db increments?  You can get finer control using them in combination with volume envelopes.

[page]

You notice the sliders are in 3db increments?  You can get finer control using them in combination with volume envelopes.

The sliders are in 1db by default, but you can do fine tuning by double clicking on them.

How much of each should I try to mix in and is there a better way to accomplish this than with the slider on the left side of the individual audios?

In short, no. The bright side is that slider is real-time so hit play and then slowly increase one of the two sources and you should hear it grow more prominent in the mix. The downside is you cant say "I want an absolute volume of X, give me percentages of each source" and let it limit itself that way. Never hindered me, just had to think about it a little.

I recorded the first show in 16/44 but the last 2 I have done in 24/48, I'm sure there is something that I need to do to convert the shows but I'm not sure what. I think this is called dithering but I'm probably mistaken.

You'll need to setup dithering anyway, since all of your mixing is taking place in 32bit (default).

Preferences > Quality > and then set the dither options there. If you are using a plugin (VST or otherwise) then set your dither to NONE otherwise if you are using Audacity's dither, set it here. Be warned, when you set it to dither here, it dithers *all the time* during export, not just when you are using stuff that is greater then 16bit. Most people don't care, but if you are using Audacity for just tracking or something else that is not audio destructive, then keep that in mind. I recommend rendering the two track mix down before exporting so you can see if there is any clipping, but technically it's not required if you set it up correctly.

Its a quirky editor, but the price is right, and it has some features that I can't find in others.

[crossthreaded]

one other thing, how do I get the 2 stereo tracks to be one stereo track?

thanks for all the tips so far! I will play around with it sometime this week if I have a break in homework

[DLay]

one other thing, how do I get the 2 stereo tracks to be one stereo track?

all you have to do is route the outputs of the two stereo tracks to the input of a blank stereo track and record onto that blank track. making sure you like the mix of the two prior to 'bouncing' down to that blank track. bad news is....i dont know how this is accomplished using Audacity but its the concept that counts. sorry if this is no help.

[page]

one other thing, how do I get the 2 stereo tracks to be one stereo track?

all you have to do is route the outputs of the two stereo tracks to the input of a blank stereo track and record onto that blank track. making sure you like the mix of the two prior to 'bouncing' down to that blank track. bad news is....i dont know how this is accomplished using Audacity but its the concept that counts. sorry if this is no help.

In audacity, get your levels of mixture set as noted above, then hit Mix/Render and it will do the mixdown to a standard stereo track automatically. If you cant find it in the drop down menus, let me know and I'll look tonight.

There are lots of things in Audacity that don't fit with the rest of professional production at a proceedural level, but they work. I think that's part of the problem that folks have when they are new to it. It's not bad, just different.

[crossthreaded]

thanks a lot page, I will hunt it down in the menu.

I have always used cd wave editor to track and if any mastering needed to be done jagraham helped me with it because he knows how to run audacity.  My schedule has been pretty crazy so we haven't been able to meet up and work on it.  this is quite the learning curve for me but I'm just so short on time right now I can't really sit down and play with it for a couple hours on end.  Hopefully this weekend I will get a chance to fiddle with it.

[capnhook]

Have things really changed that much??  Audacity 1.2.6 has 3dB sliders (no double-click), and no such thing as mix/render.

Geeze, all I have ever done is get the mix the way I like it (with sliders and envelopes),  "Edit > Select > All ", and then "File > Export as .wav ".




.....then "Project > Import audio..." (get the matrix on the screen to check for overs), envelope any overs, kill the first matrix and re-"Export as .wav" if necessary......repeat if necessary until satisfied.

 

[page]

Have things really changed that much??  Audacity 1.2.6 has 3dB sliders (no double-click), and no such thing as mix/render.

Geeze, all I have ever done is get the mix the way I like it (with sliders and envelopes),  "Edit > Select > All ", and then "File > Export as .wav ".




.....then "Project > Import audio..." (get the matrix on the screen to check for overs), envelope any overs, kill the first matrix and re-"Export as .wav" if necessary......repeat if necessary until satisfied.

 

yeah, you can definately do it on the export, but you never see the output unless you pull the audio back in. That's why I do the mix/render option cause I'm lazy like that. 

1.3.12 is really where the (.)(.) are, tons of new features. 

[runonce]

1.3.12 for sure...the betas are pretty good.

Even exports in flac...

[capnhook]

hmmmm......I'll give it a try.....thanks.   

Viva Audacity!