Hi Steve
Any level that is too high is not good, unless of course you like
distortion (smile).
A little while ago I went to quite a lot of effort to write a script to
check levels in Audacity. Then version 2.1.1 (I think) was released and
made my work redundant. The Audacity people's work is much more elegant
than mine.
Here is some background for newbies. Audacity consists of three main
areas. The track view, which is where you land when launching, is in
the middle. Pressing control-f6 takes you to a section that has lots of
goodies for checking/adjusting time. Pressing shift-control-f6 from the
track view takes you up to the toolbar area. There are lots of really
useful facilities there too, but I will concentrate on the level meters.
Having pressed shift-control-f6, tab until you reach Record Meter. As
you tab to it, the current peak level will be reported. Pressing the
Application Key will give you options. One is to start/stop monitoring.
This is a great facility for setting levels before starting a
recording. The play meter is similar.
Check out the Audacity Manual for more details. Keep in mind that the
current peak level is shown. That is, the loudest sound. If using JAWS
you have to tab out of the meter and back in to check whether the peak
has gone up, while asking NVDA to read the current line will do the trick.
Andrew
On 18/07/2017 10:25 PM, Steve S (Redacted sender sgsmg49 for DMARC) wrote:
Helloe andrew and All,
Well I’ve done my first successful cassette recording. I’m using a cassette deck and line input into a Dell laptop. I used the Split New method for breaking up the tracks. Now Andrew or anyone if you could please give me some direction for using the recording level meters I’d really appreciate it. I feel that the levels are just a bit too high straight out of the box but not horrible. Thanks much.
Steve
*From:*audacity4blind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:audacity4blind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On Behalf Of *Andrew Downie
*Sent:* Friday, July 14, 2017 8:05 PM
*To:* audacity4blind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [audacity4blind] Re: Recording Audio Cassettes
Further to the resource that Vito provided, I have copied quite a lot of vinyl records to the computer with Audacity. The following may accelerate your learning (or confuse you completely smile).
Firstly, make use of Audacity’s record level meter before you start recording to avoid disappointment later. Ask if you need more details.
One feature I have found really useful is Audacity’s label facility and it is even better in 2.1.3 than previously. A label can be set at a point or can cover a selection. My process is to create a label for each song. That process is faster by using the store cursor position and select to stored position options in 2.1.3. If you then select Export Multiple from the file menu you can export each song (or whatever) to separate files. If you name your labels appropriately the files will then be in the right order.
Andrew
*From:* audacity4blind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:audacity4blind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> [mailto:audacity4blind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On Behalf Of *Steve S (Redacted sender "sgsmg49" for DMARC)
*Sent:* Saturday, 15 July 2017 3:24 AM
*To:* audacity4blind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:audacity4blind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [audacity4blind] Recording Audio Cassettes
Hi All,
I’m new to the list and new to Audacity. My plan is to convert some audio cassette tapes to MP3. I’m using a designated cassette deck with audio outputs and a cable converting them to the smaller input jack on my Dell Inspirin laptop. I’ve already installed Audacity 2.1.3 and the lame encoder. I’m going through the Audacity for Blind Users manual now so I’m sure many questions will follow. Any helpful suggestions tossed my way would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Steve
