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I asked this in the wrong section...so I'm using Audacity...I want to try using the effects but they do not light up to click on...help said audio needs to be on but I don't know where that click is...I can't use reverb or fades nor nothing...any ideas?...Thanks

First you need to select what the effect is being applied to. If you have a track recorded, either choose Edit>Select All and then the effect, or click and drag the mouse to highlight the area you want to do, then you can choose the effect.

Also, you can't record with the effect, you have to apply that effect to something you already recorded. When you select an area, that part of the track turns light blue...If the track still looks gray, nothing is selected.

Good luck!

Thanks Mark...great that helped and I got it to work...now...lets say I hilight a section for wahwah and it works great...then I want to fade out that last section...I can't seem to get a second set of effects to hilight... how do I get that to work so I can have more than one effect for a section?...thanks again

I saw you moved your question here so I copied and pasted my answer here:

Ted,
If you click on the left side of the track where the mute-solo and volume and pan bars are it highlights the track. Then, click on Effects to add your effect. If the track is still highlighted you can click Effects again and add another effect. If it isn't highlighted then just click on the left side of track again. It's just another way of doing it.

Okay, so wahwah works and sounds good. First deselect. Make sure everything is gray again...maybe click outside of the track or whatever. NOW, click and drag to highlight the length of section you want to fade (it should turn blue), then select the effect.

David...got it ...thanks

Mark...think I got it now...thanks you guys ...BIG help...watch me now!! ...you can't stop me...you can only hope to contain me!!

would like to do a test...just something simple...if one of you has Audacity I would like to send it the way you describe as an mp3 or Wav and you add something to it and send it back...if it works I then won't be afraid to send an original out and I will feel confident I'm doing things right...it does not need to take much time...just a track of some yelling or whatever to see how this works...

Any takers?

Hi Ted.... See other thread.

I have a question if someone can help please let me know....

Using Audacity I cannot get the recording volume slider to stay where I put it...it bounces back to zero everytime...is there a setting I can use to keep it in place...my recordings are coming out with low volume...

Also...now that I've recorded at these lower levels can it be brought back up...

One more question...home vocal recordings often sound vauge or as if in a chamber...how do you get that more pro sound...is it mic quality or more enginering or distance from the mic...I want to get that up front sound instead of a background hollow type sound....thanks

Hi Ted re the slider I have no prob with setting this. I admit it does jump about when you try and move it but it does not jump to zero. Are you using version 1. 2. 6. or the more unstable beta 1.3.? I suggest 126 is possibly easier to use less glitches.
Make sure you have selected mic and not line in. It would be better if you coud get a good record level during record but there is a facility for boosting or reducing this post record.
There is an amplify under the effects tab. just select all and go to amplify, then increase the percentage by a few percent. You may want to experiment and try it in small increments. Remember you can undo. Tip.... the highest peaks should be just inside the .5 lines both above and below the zero. Above that distortion and clipping comes into effect you do not want that.

It stands to reason that quality input is crucial as the old saying goes crap in crap out. Obviously you want a good quality mic and possibly a pre-amp to get the best sound quality. You may want to consider an interface or small mixer to help with this. Any probs PM me I will help any way I can.

You could of course send me a return plane ticket and I would be happy to come out and give you personal tution.

Ted,
Try this way. Right-click or double-click on the speaker icon in the right bottom system tray. It will bring up your playback control. Click where it says Options. Click where it says Properties. Click the Recording spot. Click OK. Now you can adjust your recording level. More than likely it will be Microphone.

For adjusting after recording, highlight entire track. Click on Effect. Click on Amplify. Best Way is to put new number in NEW PEAK AMPLITUDE. As Jim says, Stay around -5. Click OK.

DG...those were perfect instructions...I did that ..it works better but still wants to revert to zero when I end a track..it seems to be hit or miss...better now with your instructions...I wonder if I have to do that evry track or series of tracks

Thanks again...if there are more ideas out there ...let me know...I'm getting this a little more each time...pretty soon!!I will be ...Na..well leave it at that...

Hi All did you know that you can use VST plugins with Audacity. This first link takes you to the VST enabler you must install this first.

http://www.audacityteam.org/vst/

This next link takes you to a selection of useful plugins please paste this into plugins folder. It is found if you open program files, Audacity, then plugin.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/plugins

Other plugins can be added by opening and copying and pasting into the plugin folder.

I have like 200 in my Audacity pull-down effects even though I only use a few.

Hi David have you got a decent Hammond/Leslie sound you can recommend

Jim...I downloaded what you suggested...ok...now I got lots of stuff I have no idea what they are for...but I got em...what about instruments...are those avail with this type of thing?

any vst plugin should now work. Keyword here is - should. Unless Jim or someone else knows something I haven't learned yet. Audacity doesn't let the Graphic User Interface show on the vst's. In other words, say a keyboard synthesizer. So, it would require a vst stand-alone host.

David...so all the effects I just downloaded are just that...effects...how do ya get stand alone vst's that will play violins or keyboard?...or is that when you get into midi?...

Ted,

Jim or someone else will probably have to take this one. I don't do a whole lot of that stuff. I normally use Band-in-A-Box to make my background music. I also have a midi keyboard but I very seldom ever use it. So, I have never really learned up as much as I need to on vst instruments.

Ted you are now talking about MIDI and unfortunately Audacity as yet does not have a MIDI capability. These effects you have can be added to audio only.

For MIDI editing and recording you will need a keyboard and other software programs plus a MIDI interface. I believe Reaper can handle MIDI. I use Cubase and other Steinberg software for this. Warning this hardware and software is expensive and complicated to use. I only dabble and know the basics. I have been dabbling for years and am still a beginner. LOL.

However if you have a keyboard with all the presets like violins and drums etc you can record that part separately as audio and add FX using Audacity.

It is a case of trying the different fx and experimenting to see what they will do.

Best of luck.

How do I get a more full sound using audacity

Hi April. To get a fuller sound you need to follow the basics.

1. You need a good mic positioned correctly and good recording/interface equipment.

2. You need to record using the correct input output levels.

3. You need to know how to edit mix and master.

There are tutorials, tips, ideas and links covering all these issues and more if you read all the various threads on Audacity.
Generally the best advice I can offer is I would record dry and then use a little compression and FX depending on the voice and style of song. Use everything sparingly in small increments till you get the sounds you want and save regularily... just in case.