Audacity questions

[gogreen]

I have a few questions about Audacity. I know these questions might seem elementary to some. But sometimes, we just don't know what we don't know.

In the example I provided:

1. Why are the long lines light green and then dark green?

2. What do the separate green bar slices mean?

3. Occasionally, the separate green bar slices are red, yet the overall metering doesn't extend into the right border, and the graphic images below (not shown in png) remain in the borders. What does this mean?

4. What do the separate blue slices mean?


Thanks.

 

[mr pc]

They are your stereo levels - if you split the track and mute one it will only show one of the bars moving.

I believe the different greens are for your highest and lowest decibels in that section of the song - I'm guessing the red has something to do with clipping

 

[Dwarf]

A quick description of these bars from left to right. Firstly, the light green section represents the current amplitude level. The dark green portion represents the recent highest amplitude level, and the green line represents the peak amplitude in a given period of time. All of these will move dynamically with amplitude level and time. The blue lines represent the maximum permissable amplitude level. Should the amplitude exceed this level, the bar will turn red.

 

[Aphelion]

The separate slices are called "hold" marks, they remain visible giving reference to the highest (loudest) signal. Eventually, the only hold mark left should be the one on the furthest right, in your pic that would be the blue mark.

In Audacity the Green bars denote playback level, to the right of the green bars are another set of bars that would show "Record" level. L=Left R=Right.

The pic below shows the record meters in action, I'm running a guitar w/preamp into the Line-In.

Ap

 

[gogreen]

Thanks, all, for this information--and, I hope, for not laughing too loudly at my questions. I've been using Audacity for years and never quite understood much of what I was looking at and thus what was going on.